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Delays and Cancellations \u2013 Travelling with public transportation in Berlin can be a pain in the neck<\/b><\/p>\n
With an area of nearly 900 square kilometers, Berlin is the largest city in Germany. Also counted by its inhabitants the capital is the most crowded area in Germany. About 3.4 million people track through the streets every day zu Fu\u00df<\/i> (by foot), mit dem Fahrrad<\/i> (by bicycle), mit dem Auto<\/i> (by car), and of course mit \u00f6ffentlichen Verkehrsmitteln <\/i>(by public transportation).<\/p>\n
Since distances are usually long, streets jammed with cars, and parking spaces hard to find, many people travel mit Bussen<\/i> (by busses), Stra\u00dfenbahnen<\/i> (trams), der U-Bahn<\/i> (the subway), and der S-Bahn<\/i> (city trains).<\/p>\n
Anyway, travelling around Berlin\u2019s city and its suburb is not always that trouble-free as most passengers wish. Very often, trains are delayed or cancelled and people are forced to spend much more time at stations than actually intended.<\/p>\n
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The ultimate means of transportation that take you quickly to all the distant places to be are the U-Bahn<\/i> (the German subway) and S-Bahn <\/i>(commuter trains). Unfortunately, technical maintenance of Berlin\u2019s trains and railroad tracks has long been deficient, which now takes vengeance apparently every other day by resulting in delays and even cancellations of trains.<\/p>\n
What causes any of these interruptions is usually not expounded precisely. Over loudspeakers you are only informed that there are either Signalst\u00f6rungen<\/i> (route signaling distortions), Stellwerkst\u00f6rungen<\/i> (signal tower distortions), Weichenst\u00f6rungen<\/i> (points failures) or simply kaputte Z\u00fcge<\/i> (broken trains).<\/p>\n
Only this week I underwent a delay because of a signal tower distortion, a cancellation because of \u201cproblems in rail traffic\u201d (direct quote!), and a swapping of trains with no explanation at all.<\/p>\n
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Although delays are always annoying they are nevertheless only just acceptable as the staff of the BVG does everything conceivable that you are taken to your workplace or home as soon as possible. However, whenever you visit Berlin and take die<\/i> \u00d6ffentlichen<\/i> (coll. \u201cthe publics\u201d; short for public transportation) be prepared to experience any kinds of disruptions.<\/p>\n
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No, BVG is not a swearword. It is the abbreviation of B<\/b>erliner V<\/b>erkehrs-AktienG<\/b>esellschaft (BVG), which was founded on 10 December 1928. Back then Berlin hadn\u2019t been a unified congregation and there were several independent transport services, which had different economic interests. In order to accommodate all those interests the governing body BVG was brought into being.<\/p>\n
In 1938, the BVG became an owner-operated municipal enterprise and was renamed Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe<\/i>. Strangely, the abbreviation remained the same – probably,\u00a0to avoid confusion with the football club of Dortmund (BVB).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Delays and Cancellations \u2013 Travelling with public transportation in Berlin can be a pain in the neck With an area of nearly 900 square kilometers, Berlin is the largest city in Germany. Also counted by its inhabitants the capital is the most crowded area in Germany. About 3.4 million people track through the streets every…<\/p>\n