M-Bahn

Berlin M-Bahn
M-Bahn train 06 at the Nuremberg Transport Museum
Overview
Type	Maglev
System	AEG Rail Systems
Status	dismantled
Locale	Berlin, West Germany
Termini	Gleisdreieck Kemperplatz
Stations	3
Operation
Opened	1989-08-28 (testing) 1991-07-18 (service)
Closed	1991-07-31 (closed) 1991-09-17 (dismantled)
Owner	Magnetbahn GmbH
Character	Elevated metro
Rolling stock	1× M70/2 6× M80/2 1× maintenance vehicle
Technical
Line length	1.6 km (1.0 mi)
Number of tracks	Single/Double track
Operating speed	80 km/h (50 mph)
Route map M-Bahn Kemperplatz Bernburger Str old Line U2 Gleisdreieck At time of operation This diagram:

At time of operation

The M-Bahn or Magnetbahn was an elevated Maglev train line operating in Berlin, Germany from 1989 to 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.

The first section of the Berlin U-Bahn 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 directly under the border to East Berlin. After the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961, the trains from both sides terminated at the last station before Potsdamer Platz (from the East: Mohrenstraße). Around 1972 also the two stations before Potsdamer Platz, on the western side, closed, because the area served by these stations was also served by another U-Bahn line.

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.