M-Bahn
Encyclopedia
The M-Bahn or Magnetbahn was an elevated Maglev train line operating in Berlin
, Germany
in 1991. The line was 1.6 km in length, and featured three stations, two of which were newly constructed. The line was built to fill a gap in the public transport network created by the construction of the Berlin Wall
, and was rendered redundant by the reunification of Berlin.
The M-Bahn was the second Maglev line to open to public traffic, after the Birmingham Maglev but before the Shanghai Maglev Train
. Construction and running were undertaken by Magnetbahn GmbH.
to be built included an elevated section between Gleisdreieck
and Potsdamer Platz stations. After the partition of Berlin, Gleisdreieck station was in West Berlin
whilst Potsdamer Platz station was just in East Berlin
. After the building of the Berlin Wall
in 1961, the stretch of line between the two stations, as well as the platforms used by the line at Gleisdreieck, were abandoned.
The area of West Berlin adjacent to Potsdamer Platz then required a connection to the U-Bahn, and this need was eventually met by the construction of the M-Bahn, which used the abandoned U-Bahn platforms at Gleisdreieck and the U-Bahn tracks northwards towards the border. It then diverged slightly to the west to terminate close to Potsdamer Platz but still in West Berlin.
Work on the line started in 1983, and the first test runs, without passengers, took place in June 1984 on the southern section of the line. Initial testing used a car previously used on Magnetbahn GmbH's test track near Braunschweig
, and the first two cars specifically built for Berlin were delivered in late 1986. The original intention was for public service to start in May 1987, but a fire at Gleisdreieck station in April of that year destroyed one of the two cars and badly damaged the other.
Eventually four more cars, of the same design as the original two, were built. Several planned opening dates were not met, and in December 1988, a test train failed to stop at Kemperplatz and one of the cars crashed to the ground and was destroyed. A public service eventually started in August 1989, although service was intermittent and not guaranteed, and fares were not charged. Official regular passenger service, as part of Berlin's integrated public transport system, started in July 1991.
By this time the Berlin Wall had fallen, something that could not have been predicted when construction started. It became desirable to re-establish the U-Bahn line that had previously been severed, requiring the removal of the M-Bahn from its right of way. The principal need for the M-Bahn had also been removed, as the area served by it was again easily accessible from the Potsdamer Platz station.Dismantling of the M-Bahn started only two months after its official opening, and was completed during February 1992. The U-Bahn connection between Gleisdreieck and Potsdamer Platz stations was reinstated, becoming part of line U2
.
park, with three stations in total, the most southernly being on the lower level of the present-day Gleisdreieck
U-Bahn interchange.
The new section from Kemperplatz and through Bernburger Str. was double track with two parallel guideways, narrowing to single track between Bernburger and Gleisdreieck as it transferred onto the existing U-Bahn viaducts. The M-Bahn guideway used the western side of the viaducts approaching and into the single platform at Gleisdreieck, with standard gauge railway track remaining on the eastern side.
Both Kemperplatz and Bernburger Str. stations have since been demolished, along with structure carrying the M-Bahn between them.
. However, unlike the Transrapid
and other magnetic levitation trains, only 85% of the M-Bahn vehicle weight was supported by magnetic levitation
, with the balance being supported by traditional wheels.
During operation, the Berlin M-Bahn line ran as an automated driverless operation, although the system had been designed to be driven by a human driver if required.
A cross-over existed just south of Kemperplatz, to allow use of double-track running. The M-Bahn train was supported across the points by a length of traditional rail below the guideway to support it across the gap.
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
in 1991. The line was 1.6 km in length, and featured three stations, two of which were newly constructed. The line was built to fill a gap in the public transport network created by the construction of the Berlin Wall
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin...
, and was rendered redundant by the reunification of Berlin.
The M-Bahn was the second Maglev line to open to public traffic, after the Birmingham Maglev but before the Shanghai Maglev Train
Shanghai Maglev Train
The Shanghai Maglev Train or Shanghai Transrapid is a magnetic levitation train, or maglev line that operates in Shanghai, China. It is the first commercially operated high-speed magnetic levitation line in the world...
. Construction and running were undertaken by Magnetbahn GmbH.
History
The first section of the Berlin U-BahnBerlin U-Bahn
The Berlin is a rapid transit railway in Berlin, the capital city of Germany, and is a major part of the public transport system of that city. Opened in 1902, the serves 173 stations spread across ten lines, with a total track length of , about 80% of which is underground...
to be built included an elevated section between Gleisdreieck
Gleisdreieck (Berlin U-Bahn)
Gleisdreieck is a Berlin U-Bahn station located on a viaduct on the and the lines in the Kreuzberg district. The station has platforms elevated above ground level for both lines...
and Potsdamer Platz stations. After the partition of Berlin, Gleisdreieck station was in West Berlin
West Berlin
West Berlin was a political exclave that existed between 1949 and 1990. It comprised the western regions of Berlin, which were bordered by East Berlin and parts of East Germany. West Berlin consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors, which had been established in 1945...
whilst Potsdamer Platz station was just in East Berlin
East Berlin
East Berlin was the name given to the eastern part of Berlin between 1949 and 1990. It consisted of the Soviet sector of Berlin that was established in 1945. The American, British and French sectors became West Berlin, a part strongly associated with West Germany but a free city...
. After the building of the Berlin Wall
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin...
in 1961, the stretch of line between the two stations, as well as the platforms used by the line at Gleisdreieck, were abandoned.
The area of West Berlin adjacent to Potsdamer Platz then required a connection to the U-Bahn, and this need was eventually met by the construction of the M-Bahn, which used the abandoned U-Bahn platforms at Gleisdreieck and the U-Bahn tracks northwards towards the border. It then diverged slightly to the west to terminate close to Potsdamer Platz but still in West Berlin.
Work on the line started in 1983, and the first test runs, without passengers, took place in June 1984 on the southern section of the line. Initial testing used a car previously used on Magnetbahn GmbH's test track near Braunschweig
Braunschweig
Braunschweig , is a city of 247,400 people, located in the federal-state of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located north of the Harz mountains at the farthest navigable point of the Oker river, which connects to the North Sea via the rivers Aller and Weser....
, and the first two cars specifically built for Berlin were delivered in late 1986. The original intention was for public service to start in May 1987, but a fire at Gleisdreieck station in April of that year destroyed one of the two cars and badly damaged the other.
Eventually four more cars, of the same design as the original two, were built. Several planned opening dates were not met, and in December 1988, a test train failed to stop at Kemperplatz and one of the cars crashed to the ground and was destroyed. A public service eventually started in August 1989, although service was intermittent and not guaranteed, and fares were not charged. Official regular passenger service, as part of Berlin's integrated public transport system, started in July 1991.
By this time the Berlin Wall had fallen, something that could not have been predicted when construction started. It became desirable to re-establish the U-Bahn line that had previously been severed, requiring the removal of the M-Bahn from its right of way. The principal need for the M-Bahn had also been removed, as the area served by it was again easily accessible from the Potsdamer Platz station.Dismantling of the M-Bahn started only two months after its official opening, and was completed during February 1992. The U-Bahn connection between Gleisdreieck and Potsdamer Platz stations was reinstated, becoming part of line U2
U2 (Berlin U-Bahn)
U2 is a line on the Berlin U-Bahn. The U2 line starts at the Pankow urban rail station, runs through the eastern city centre to Potsdamer Platz, the western city centre and finally to the Ruhleben terminal station.The U2 has 29 stations and a length of...
.
Route
The line ran approximately north-south from a station at Kemperplatz on the edge of the TiergartenTiergarten
Tiergarten is a locality within the borough of Mitte, in central Berlin . Notable for the great and homonymous urban park, before German reunification, it was a part of West Berlin...
park, with three stations in total, the most southernly being on the lower level of the present-day Gleisdreieck
Gleisdreieck (Berlin U-Bahn)
Gleisdreieck is a Berlin U-Bahn station located on a viaduct on the and the lines in the Kreuzberg district. The station has platforms elevated above ground level for both lines...
U-Bahn interchange.
- Kemperplatz 52.510980556°N 13.37176111°W (now the location of the Sony CenterSony CenterThe Sony Center is a Sony-sponsored building complex located at the Potsdamer Platz in Berlin, Germany. It opened in 2000.-History:The site was originally a bustling city centre in the early 20th century. Most of the buildings were destroyed or damaged during World War II...
at Potsdamer PlatzPotsdamer PlatzPotsdamer Platz is an important public square and traffic intersection in the centre of Berlin, Germany, lying about one kilometre south of the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag , and close to the southeast corner of the Tiergarten park...
, close to the present Berlin Potsdamer Platz railway stationBerlin Potsdamer Platz railway stationBerlin Potsdamer Platz is a railway station in Berlin. It is completely underground and situated underneath the Potsdamer Platz in central Berlin. Regional and S-Bahn services call at the station.- History :...
) - Bernburger Str. 52.5056°N 13.37588611°W (close to the present site of Mendelssohn-Bartholdy-ParkMendelssohn-Bartholdy-Park (Berlin U-Bahn)Mendelssohn-Bartholdy-Park is a Berlin U-Bahn station opened in 1998 on the line in the Tiergarten district, at the border with Kreuzberg. The station received its name after a small park east of the building, itself named in honor of the composer Felix Mendelssohn.Though it is one of the youngest...
U-Bahn station) - Gleisdreieck 52.499775°N 13.37418333°W (now reclaimed for its original U-Bahn use)
The new section from Kemperplatz and through Bernburger Str. was double track with two parallel guideways, narrowing to single track between Bernburger and Gleisdreieck as it transferred onto the existing U-Bahn viaducts. The M-Bahn guideway used the western side of the viaducts approaching and into the single platform at Gleisdreieck, with standard gauge railway track remaining on the eastern side.
Both Kemperplatz and Bernburger Str. stations have since been demolished, along with structure carrying the M-Bahn between them.
Rolling stock
The M-Bahn operated a total of eight cars, although not all were used in public service.| Car | Type | Builder | In Service | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | M80/2 | Waggon Union Waggon Union Waggon Union was a German manufacturer of rail vehicles and bus bodies, that was also known as Deutsche Waggon und Maschinenfabrik or DWM.... |
March 1987 | Destroyed in fire April 1987 |
| 02 | M80/2 | Waggon Union | March 1987 | Damaged in fire April 1987 and subsequently withdrawn |
| 03 | M80/2 | Waggon Union | May 1987 | Destroyed in accident December 1988 |
| 04 | M80/2 | Waggon Union | May 1987 | Withdrawn September 1991 |
| 05 | MBB Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm was a German aerospace company formed as the result of several mergers in the late 1960s. Among its best-known products was the MBB Bo 105 light twin helicopter... |
April 1984 | Diesel propelled works car, no magnetic drive, removed 1986 | |
| 06 | M80/2 | Waggon Union | August 1989 | Withdrawn September 1991, preserved at the Nuremberg Transport Museum Nuremberg Transport Museum The Nuremberg Transport Museum is based in Nuremberg, Germany, and consists of the Deutsche Bahn's own DB Museum and the Museum of Communications . It also has two satellite museums at Koblenz-Lützel and Halle... |
| 07 | M80/2 | Waggon Union | August 1989 | Withdrawn September 1991 |
| 706 | M70/2 | MBB | June 1984 | Built in 1978 for the Braunschweig test track, used for initial testing in Berlin until October 1986 |
Technology
For propulsion, the M-Bahn used a long stator linear motorLinear motor
A linear motor is an electric motor that has had its stator and rotor "unrolled" so that instead of producing a torque it produces a linear force along its length...
. However, unlike the Transrapid
Transrapid
Transrapid is a German high-speed monorail train using magnetic levitation. Based on a patent from 1934, planning of the Transrapid system started in 1969. The test facility for the system in Emsland, Germany was completed in 1987...
and other magnetic levitation trains, only 85% of the M-Bahn vehicle weight was supported by magnetic levitation
Magnetic levitation
Magnetic levitation, maglev, or magnetic suspension is a method by which an object is suspended with no support other than magnetic fields...
, with the balance being supported by traditional wheels.
During operation, the Berlin M-Bahn line ran as an automated driverless operation, although the system had been designed to be driven by a human driver if required.
A cross-over existed just south of Kemperplatz, to allow use of double-track running. The M-Bahn train was supported across the points by a length of traditional rail below the guideway to support it across the gap.