Faster travel to the central station: S15 to start on June 15

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  In future, Berlin Central Station will be one of the stops on the new S15 line, which runs to Gesundbrunnen station.

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  The service is set to start in mid-June: from then on, trains on the new S15 line will run between the main station and Gesundbrunnen.

Berlin is getting a new S-Bahn line that will provide a shuttle service between Gesundbrunnen station in the north of the city and the main station.

Trains on the new S15 line are set to run every 10 minutes in future, with the line due to open on 15 June. "We have connected the central station to the S-Bahn's north-south network," said Alexander Kaczmarek, Deutsche Bahn's representative for Berlin.

Around 40,000 daily passengers are expected on the new route

The route is expected to carry 40,000 passengers a day. "I’m a bit worried that it might actually be even busier than that, because it’s simply such a good connection to the main station," said Kaczmarek. The S15 also stops at Wedding S-Bahn station. The journey time from the S-Bahn’s northern terminus at Gesundbrunnen to the main station is set to be reduced by around ten minutes. Plans for the new route have been in the pipeline for years, but there have been repeated delays. "It was a rollercoaster of emotions," said Kaczmarek. Sometimes construction was progressing, but then the required approvals were missing again. "So it was a bit of a thriller."

First construction phase of the S21 project

All inspections and technical tests have now been completed, so the S15 can go ahead. However, covering just a few kilometres, it is only a small part of the larger S21 project. The S15 marks the completion of the first construction phase. “This isn’t just about a commuter S-Bahn line between Gesundbrunnen and the main station, but also the first step towards a genuine new main line for the Berlin S-Bahn,” said Kaczmarek. In the medium term, it is intended to run through the city from north to south.

Rail link between Potsdamer Platz and central station planned

In the second and third construction phases, the S21 is initially set to run to Potsdamer Platz and eventually to a future S-Bahn station at Gleisdreieck in Kreuzberg – where passengers will be able to change to the U1, U2 and U3 lines. However, this is still a long way off. The planning approval for the second construction phase is expected in the autumn, said Holger Ludewig, head of the S21 project. The S21 is set to provide the first direct S-Bahn connection from Potsdamer Platz to the main station. As things stand, completion by the mid-to-late 2030s is considered realistic. According to Ludewig, the timeline for the third construction phase, including a new 1.2-kilometre tunnel, extends to the mid-2040s.