The Berlin Local Transport Company (BVG) - A Part of Berlin

摘要

Berlin is a fast city. This characteristic is attributed to the capital of Germany not only on account of the breakneck pace of its development but also because of its dense and well-functioning public local transport network. Public transport has been in existence in Berlin for more than 150 years. And for almost 70 years, buses, trams, and underground trains have been combined in a single company, whose initials BVQ are part of Berlin, just as the Brandenburger Tor is. And like the Brandenburger Tor, the Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe, or BVG for short, has also had a chequered past. Founded in the 1920s, the BVG turned in a remarkable performance in its early years. With more than 5000 vehicles and 25,000 employees it operated 89 tramlines along a length of 1600 km, 35 buses along 338 kilometres of bus routes and 8 underground connections. The Second World War left behind a heap of ruins. 76.5 percent of trams, 98 percent of buses and 45 percent of underground carriages were destroyed. Laboriously, work was commenced on reconstruction. The division of Berlin into West Berlin and East Berlin not only cut the traffic network into two, but also separated the BVG Company into two separate operations in West Berlin and East Berlin. Following the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989, both operations quickly became a single entity once more. Lines, which had been truncated or closed down between both sectors of the city, are joined up and new links are created. Amongst these rank such spectacular connections as the reopening of the Ul over the Oberbaumbruecke, the link between "Zoo and Alex" on the U2 and the extension of tramline 23 via Bornholmer Strasse in the western sector of the city. There has been a combined BVG company in existence again since 1992.