4 ms·

Sorry but what's the big deal about this? They renovate 3 old trains to serve some tiny tourist line. It will be mostly tourist attraction - train from 50-ties

Sorry but what's the big deal about this? They renovate 3 old trains to serve some tiny tourist line. It will be mostly tourist attraction - train from 50-ties with all the old signs. It is cheaper to renovate than buy new. Is it really that unusual?

spraak 10y ago
It also seems to say at the end that they will only run for a few years..
Shivetya 10y ago
well deeper into the article it mentions the line they are on seems to only serve connecting parliament with the main subway lines. to be honest its pretty typical arrangement for such work. promise a big route to serve needed areas but make damn sure it starts where those who wanted it. but if it saves the authority money then it still is a good move, removes some of the gimmick feeling
- DasIch 10y ago
  The German parliament essentially has its own taxi service for the members to use within Berlin. The only reason to use something else for transport, like a bicycle, is for political reasons. Besides the parliament has no power over where subway lines in Berlin are built.
  - lostlogin 10y ago
    Using a bike for political reasons is a new one! Surely some of the more common reasons are valid - health, time saving, environmental concern?
    - DasIch 10y ago
      Those are all good reasons to use a bike but if you use one as a politician (consider that Germany has a Green party that actually matters) it's also a way of showing "street cred", if you will. It will certainly come across better to your voters than taking the limo to the train station (Berlin central station is 5 min by foot away from the parliament), which is supposedly a fairly common occurrence.
    - Symbiote 10y ago
      Hardly. Before the Brexit mess, several senior members of the British government (and other senior politicians) would cycle to Parliament, and make sure people knew about it. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/bike-blog/2015/dec/29/on-yer-bike-a-brief-history-of-cycling-politicians https://www.theguardian.com/environment/bike-blog/2015/dec/2... It's also a stereotype of particular type of man: living in SW London or around London, 40+, very high income. They used to buy sports cars, but anyone can afford that, much better to spend £4000 on a bike: http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/society/mid-life-crisis-reduced-to-the-purchase-of-cycling-equipment-201009303131 http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/society/mid-life-crisis-r...
- iSnow 10y ago
  Unfortunately, that's a bit of spin in the article. I have clipped the relevant part of the route network (http://imgur.com/a/OR4Ee http://imgur.com/a/OR4Ee) and the U55 (brown) connects Main Station (Hauptbahnhof) to Brandenburg Gate where it meets the main north - south light railway (dark green, pink). For reasons, this line doesn't have the best connectivity to Main Station, switching lines at Friedrichstraße is a chore, and U55 will be welcome for passengers of the north - south line. In a couple of years, U55 will also connect to U2 and make it easier from passengers from some eastern districts to reach Main Station. It also will be the tourist line, connecting a lot of tourist sights in central Berlin. There's a bit of background about the future gap closure here: http://www.projekt-u5.de/en/ http://www.projekt-u5.de/en/
  - neokya 10y ago
    On the side note: We built and maintain that posted website. I hope HN traffic doesn't kill it ;)
    - iSnow 10y ago
      Oh cool, nice site :)
walshemj 10y ago
Ironically they may be more reliable a while back my father did some consulting for the underground in London and apparently some of the pre-war equipment was more reliable than the newer stuff put in in the 1970's
- Gravityloss 10y ago
  Serious high quality engineering, manufacturing, maintenance and operations is some of the few genuine things left for engineers to feel proud and passionate about. Good work can stand the test of time and surpass cynical quick profit hacks.
  - Symbiote 10y ago
    The 1970s was a period where Britain was pretty poor. I'm not surprised if that equipment isn't very good. 2000s equipment, for example, should be just fine, and should last many decades.
pimeys 10y ago
The U55 line is an amazing construction. Like the article says, you can easily walk the whole line in 10-15 minutes. The stations, two of them + the Hauptbahnhof are huge and look very expensive. Then when the train finally comes, it's one car only and plays this silly music. Actually they are building the extension, but I'm not holding my breath they'll finish it in 2020, even though they've been building it for a couple of years already.

spraak 10y ago

It also seems to say at the end that they will only run for a few years..

Shivetya 10y ago

well deeper into the article it mentions the line they are on seems to only serve connecting parliament with the main subway lines. to be honest its pretty typical arrangement for such work. promise a big route to serve needed areas but make damn sure it starts where those who wanted it. but if it saves the authority money then it still is a good move, removes some of the gimmick feeling

DasIch 10y ago
The German parliament essentially has its own taxi service for the members to use within Berlin. The only reason to use something else for transport, like a bicycle, is for political reasons. Besides the parliament has no power over where subway lines in Berlin are built.
- lostlogin 10y ago
  Using a bike for political reasons is a new one! Surely some of the more common reasons are valid - health, time saving, environmental concern?
  - DasIch 10y ago
    Those are all good reasons to use a bike but if you use one as a politician (consider that Germany has a Green party that actually matters) it's also a way of showing "street cred", if you will. It will certainly come across better to your voters than taking the limo to the train station (Berlin central station is 5 min by foot away from the parliament), which is supposedly a fairly common occurrence.
  - Symbiote 10y ago
    Hardly. Before the Brexit mess, several senior members of the British government (and other senior politicians) would cycle to Parliament, and make sure people knew about it. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/bike-blog/2015/dec/29/on-yer-bike-a-brief-history-of-cycling-politicians https://www.theguardian.com/environment/bike-blog/2015/dec/2... It's also a stereotype of particular type of man: living in SW London or around London, 40+, very high income. They used to buy sports cars, but anyone can afford that, much better to spend £4000 on a bike: http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/society/mid-life-crisis-reduced-to-the-purchase-of-cycling-equipment-201009303131 http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/society/mid-life-crisis-r...
iSnow 10y ago
Unfortunately, that's a bit of spin in the article. I have clipped the relevant part of the route network (http://imgur.com/a/OR4Ee http://imgur.com/a/OR4Ee) and the U55 (brown) connects Main Station (Hauptbahnhof) to Brandenburg Gate where it meets the main north - south light railway (dark green, pink). For reasons, this line doesn't have the best connectivity to Main Station, switching lines at Friedrichstraße is a chore, and U55 will be welcome for passengers of the north - south line. In a couple of years, U55 will also connect to U2 and make it easier from passengers from some eastern districts to reach Main Station. It also will be the tourist line, connecting a lot of tourist sights in central Berlin. There's a bit of background about the future gap closure here: http://www.projekt-u5.de/en/ http://www.projekt-u5.de/en/
- neokya 10y ago
  On the side note: We built and maintain that posted website. I hope HN traffic doesn't kill it ;)
  - iSnow 10y ago
    Oh cool, nice site :)

walshemj 10y ago

Ironically they may be more reliable a while back my father did some consulting for the underground in London and apparently some of the pre-war equipment was more reliable than the newer stuff put in in the 1970's

Gravityloss 10y ago
Serious high quality engineering, manufacturing, maintenance and operations is some of the few genuine things left for engineers to feel proud and passionate about. Good work can stand the test of time and surpass cynical quick profit hacks.
- Symbiote 10y ago
  The 1970s was a period where Britain was pretty poor. I'm not surprised if that equipment isn't very good. 2000s equipment, for example, should be just fine, and should last many decades.

pimeys 10y ago

The U55 line is an amazing construction. Like the article says, you can easily walk the whole line in 10-15 minutes. The stations, two of them + the Hauptbahnhof are huge and look very expensive. Then when the train finally comes, it's one car only and plays this silly music. Actually they are building the extension, but I'm not holding my breath they'll finish it in 2020, even though they've been building it for a couple of years already.