The S 9 now runs to BER, bus lines are also extended. 70 percent of passengers will come by public transport, airport boss hopes.
The train was faster than the plane. On Sunday, the head of the railroads and the head of the airport opened the railroad lines to the new airport with a special trip – from Monday, everyone can take the S9 to the airport BER, which will open on 31. October should open.
Bahn and BVG have designed a dense network of lines so that the new airport can be easily reached from Berlin and the surrounding area. 60 to 70 percent of passengers will come by public transport, hopes airport boss Engelbert Lutke Daldrup, "that puts us in the Champions League of Europe’s climate-friendly airports".
Only Oslo achieves this high value, Tegel comes to about 40 percent, said VBB boss Susanne Henckel. S-Bahn, regional trains, the airport express and an IC line stop beneath the main terminal. Berlin’s main train station is 30 minutes away. And when the Dresdner Bahn line is completed in 2025, "the train will be there from the city center in 20 minutes," said Alexander Kaczmarek, head of Deutsche Bahn.
For the first time, a German airport has a train station directly under the terminal, praised Engelbert Lutke Daldrup. Elevators run from each of the three platforms directly to the check-in level, "it doesn’t get any more comfortable than this."However, almost everywhere in the airport there are escalators only going upwards. The only way down is by stairs or elevator.
Berliners will have to get used to new station names from now on. The new underground station is called "Airport BER – Terminal 1-2". Schonefeld Airport" has been renamed "BER Airport – Terminal 5".
BVG sends several new bus lines to BER, including Berlin’s first night express. In future, an ABC ticket will be required for the journey to the plane – an AB ticket as for Tegel will no longer suffice. Cab fares will become significantly more expensive: a trip from the city center will cost around 55 to 60 euros. All details about the BER connection at a glance:
BY TRAIN
The regional trains (RE7, RB14 and RB22) and the IC line 17, which previously stopped at Schonefeld, will run from 31. October only the underground station "Terminal 1-2" to. The lines RE7, RB14 (both hourly) and the new additional airport express "FEX" offer four connections per hour between the main station, Ostkreuz and BER.
The FEX runs every half hour between 4 a.m. and midnight and stops in Gesundbrunnen and at Ostkreuz. In the end, this "express" is (still) a sham, since the trip with two intermediate stops takes just as long as with the other trains, which have to stop significantly more often.
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The reason: The FEX makes a big detour over the Ring, because the other routes are busy. The FEX will only be faster in 2025 after the opening of the Dresdner Bahn – then Sudkreuz will also be directly connected. The two-hourly IC Rostock-Dresden is somewhat faster, namely 28 minutes. From the main station, the normal VBB ticket ABC is valid for 3.60 euros. Theoretically, ICE trains will also fit into the airport station – but there are no plans to route a line through BER.
BY S-BAHN
On 26. October starts early at 4.38 at the Zoo, the first regular S-Bahn of line 9 via the Stadtbahn to the BER, arriving at 5.37 o’clock. In the first three days, trains will only run in the morning and afternoon. From 29. October the S45 will also be extended from Sudring to BER. Both lines together then form a 10-minute frequency.
On weekends, there is a continuous night service every 30 minutes. Air travelers who change once later between terminals 1-2 and 5 must change to the S-Bahn, the trip takes 8 minutes and costs 1.60 euros. There are no moving walkways between the terminals, as at other airports, because of the long distance between them.
The BVG buses also serve both terminals, but take a little longer. In the days before the official BER opening, the curious can only leave the underground Terminal 1-2 station via the "U1" distribution level to the forecourt. Access to the terminal is not possible. A second S-Bahn station will be opened on Monday, namely Wabmannsdorf between the two terminals.
BY BUS
BVG extends its X7 line, which previously terminated in Schonefeld, to the new terminal; the stop is directly in front of the building. The express bus X71 is brand new, but it will only run from 8. November deployed. The reason: Up to 7. November buses still run to Tegel Airport, BVG lacks vehicles for a double service.
The X71 leaves every 20 minutes from the Alt-Mariendorf subway station (U6) and reaches BER via the Johannisthaler Chaussee and Rudow U7 stations. Together with the X7, there is a 5-minute interval from Rudow between 6 and 21 o’clock, this is important for air passengers who come with the U7.
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An extension of the subway to the capital airport was not planned, only in recent months the discussion about it has gained momentum. Night buses N7 from Spandau and N60 from Alex will also be extended to BER. At night the N7 runs every 30 minutes, on weekend nights there is a 15-minute interval with a connection to the U7 in Rudow. Brand new is the line N64 from S- and U-Bahnhof Wuhletal to Adlershof as a feeder to the N7.
Since the N7 is not enough at night, BVG has invented a new "product", the night express N7X. This runs from Zoo to the airport every 15 minutes from Monday to Friday in 48 minutes, but only in the direction of BER and only from 2.31 o’clock until 3.46 o’clock. There are also changes on the night lines N61, N65, N69 and N90.
WITH THE EXPRESS BUS
There will be two private express bus lines to the airport. The shuttle "BER1" from Berlin-Steglitz is operated by the DB subsidiary BEX and the "BER2" from Potsdam-Hauptbahnhof by the company Anger. BER1 runs hourly without stopover, travel time is to be 50 minutes. BER2 runs every 60 to 90 minutes and also stops in Stahnsdorf and Teltow.
The lines cost a surcharge of 8 euros on top of the normal VBB fare, respectively. 6 euros. So an adult pays 11,30 Euro from Rathaus Steglitz and 9,30 Euro from Potsdam. The timetables are integrated in the information of the VBB. BVG has had bad experiences with such a surcharge.
More on the topic
The new capital city airport SXF is now called "BER Terminal 5"
Initially, the TXL to Tegel cost 9.90 DM extra. To get the buses fuller, the surcharge was reduced to 6 DM and later to 2 DM. The TXL only became a success without a surcharge. BEX had discontinued its "SXF" express bus from Sudkreuz to Schonefeld in 2011 – due to lack of demand.