"U-bahn & S-bahn" Berlin Transportation Tip by toonsarah

Berlin is too large to navigate entirely on foot so you will need to take public transport of some sort during your stay. It is very cycle-friendly, with designated cycle paths everywhere (watch out for them if on foot as they often seem to cross over pavements!), lots of bike hire shops and a city-wide hire scheme. But we chose to rely on the public transport network, which is excellent but a little confusing at first as there are two types of urban rail line (S-bahn and U-bahn), plus buses and trams. We used a bus to and from the airport (see my other transport tip) and on one occasion in the city centre, but otherwise relied on the S- and U-bahn.

So what is the difference? U-bahn is short-hand for Untergrundbahn, i.e. underground train. Confusingly perhaps these don’t run exclusively underground, but as in London tend to do so in the centre and surface further out. The lines are much shallower than in London however, and a short flight of steps will usually bring you down onto the platform. Many more stations than in London are also accessible by lift, and the free map available at the stations (or online – see below) indicates all of these.

The S-bahn trains run on lines that are above ground, and indeed usually above street level, so whereas you walk down for an U-bahn line, you walk up for an S-bahn. The two types intersect at a lot of stations – if changing from one to the other look for the large “S” or “U” signs.

Tickets are bought from machines on the platform (photo 2). Unless you are going some distance out of the city (maybe to Potsdam), you will need one for zones A and B only. When we were there in May 2011 a single ticket cost €2.30, and is valid for a journey lasting up to two hours, regardless of how many changes you make. But we found the day tickets, at €6.30, to be much better value – you only have to make three journeys in the day for this to be the case. Make sure you validate your ticket (photo 3) before boarding (unlike on the buses where you do so on board) – if an inspector finds that your ticket is not stamped, it is the same as if you had no ticket at all.

Trains are pretty frequent on all the lines, or so it seemed to us – the longest we waited was nine minutes but three to five was more normal, even at night. Our guidebook said that the U-bahn trains are more frequent than the S-bahn but I didn’t notice that this was the case. I was very impressed with the system and would be happy to travel on it alone, day or night, just as I do in London.

You can download a map of the S- and U-bahn network here: http://www.visitberlin.de/en/article/line-network

Mode: AROUND
Type: Subway/Metro