Hey there!
Berlin is one of the amazing places that I visited. But when I first saw the trams, I also felt lost. Let me share with you about the tram map Berlin.
Together with the subway, urban, suburban, and commuter trains, buses, and ferries, the Berlin tramway—also known as the Straßenbahn Berlin in German—is the primary tram system in Berlin, Germany. Having started in 1865, it is among the world’s oldest tram networks and is run by Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG), a company established in 1929. Apart from Melbourne and St. Petersburg, it is remarkable for being the third largest tram system globally. The tram system in Berlin consists of 22 lines that travel over a standard gauge network, with around 800 stations. The routes cover a distance of approximately 190 kilometres (120 mi) and 430 kilometres (270 mi).
There are thirteen (13) regular city tram lines (12 to 68), indicated by a line number alone, and nine (9) MetroTram lines (M1 to M17), which run around the clock and include the letter “M” before their number. They run for at least ten minutes during the day. They run in 30-minute intervals at night (beginning at 0.30 AM).
After Berlin was divided, buses took the place of tram lines in West Berlin, leaving most of the existing network inside the boundaries of the former East Berlin. Still, the first expansion onto the M13 of today opened in West Berlin in 1994. Three (3) private tram lines that are not a part of the main system are also located in the eastern part of the city; the Potsdam tram system, which has its network of lines, is located immediately to the southwest of Berlin.
Berlin Tram History
Due to the horse-drawn lines being radically inferior to the city centre, Berlin’s tram system started with them without any specific designation. The importance of line differentiation became evident as the network grew. Berlin used coloured target signs or signal boards, with the main colours being red, yellow, green, white, and blue.
At the start of the new century, the Great Berlin Horse Railways / Great Berlin Tram (GBPfE / GBS) added more lines and in 1901 introduced line numbers. The numbering system was easy to understand: two digits were used for the remaining lines and single numbers for ring lines. Insertors were first indicated separately in March 1903, and the first line of three-digit numbers was added in 1912. More lines with 100 numbers were added over time, or new lines were set up, usually as line pairs to the ones that already existed.
Over time, the tram network in Berlin has changed as different firms have used different markers for their lines. Letters were used by the Spandauer Straßenbahn for line identification in 1908, and numbers were added in 1917. Except for the Berlin Ostbahnen, which started using Roman numbers in 1913, other firms didn’t use line markers. The GBS numbering scheme was expanded to include the remaining part of the network with the merger of companies running the Berlin tram.
Tram lines were extended when Berlin’s public transportation companies had to reduce bus traffic during World War I to conserve gasoline. In the 1970s, the Berlin Verkehrsbetriebe intended to systematize their network, assigning line numbers 1 through 30 to the city centre lines and keeping the 80s numbers for Köpenick. Tramlines originally only offered 120 numbers; night lines, on the other hand, received uniformly 100 numbers.
The network was divided into five (5) number ranges under a uniform numbering scheme that was implemented after reunification. With single lines creating the radial main network, ten (10) lines serving as their auxiliary network, and twenty (20) lines designated for the ring and Tangentiallinien, the primary focus was on the historical centre.
There have been twenty-two (22) lines since the BVG implemented a new line arrangement in 2004. The symbol is also used by MetroTram, and significant changes have been made to the numbering scheme. Single-digit metro lines traverse the radial main network, while auxiliary lines—unless they are combined into the metro line’s amplifier—carry ten (10) numbers.
Tram Map Berlin
Here are the 22 lines of tram map Berlin:
MetroTram
M1: Niederschönhausen, Schillerstraße / Rosenthal Nord ↔ Mitte, Am Kupfergraben
M2: Am Steinberg (-Heinersdorf) ↔ S+U-Bhf. Alexanderplatz/Dircksenstraße
M4: Hohenschönhausen, Zingster Straße / Falkenberg ↔ S-Bhf. Hackescher Markt
M5: Hohenschönhausen, Zingster Straße ↔ S-Bhf. Hackescher Markt
M6: Hellersdorf, Riesaer Straße ↔ Landsberger Allee / Petersburger Straße (S-Bhf. Hackescher Markt-)
M8: Ahrensfelde ↔ (S-Bhf. Nordbahnhof -) Landsberger Allee/Petersburger Straße
M10: S+U-Bhf. Warschauer Straße ↔ S-Bhf. Nordbahnhof
M13: S+U-Bhf. Warschauer Straße ↔ Wedding, Virchow-Klinikum
M17: S-Bhf. Schöneweide ↔ (Falkenberg -) Gehrenseestraße
Straßenbahn
12: Weißensee, Pasedagplatz ↔ Mitte, Am Kupfergraben
16: Ahrensfelde ↔ S+U-Bhf. Frankfurter Allee
18: Hellersdorf, Riesaer Straße ↔ S-Bhf. Springpfuhl
21: S-Bhf. Schöneweide ↔ S+U-Bhf. Lichtenberg/Gudrunstraße
27: Weißensee, Pasedagplatz ↔ Krankenhaus Köpenick
37: S-Bhf. Schöneweide ↔ S+U-Bhf. Lichtenberg/Gudrunstraße
50: Französisch Buchholz, Guyotstraße ↔ (Wedding, Virchow-Klinikum -) Prenzlauer Berg, Björnsonstraße
60: Friedrichshagen, Altes Wasserwerk ↔ Karl-Ziegler-Straße
61: Rahnsdorf, Waldschänke ↔ Karl-Ziegler-Straße
62: S-Bhf. Mahlsdorf ↔ Wendenschloß
63: Johannisthal, Haeckelstraße ↔ S-Bhf. Köpenick
67: S-Bhf. Schöneweide ↔ Krankenhaus Köpenick
68: Schmöckwitz ↔ S-Bhf. Köpenick
The National Geographic Society rated Tram Line 68 as one of the top ten (10) streetcar routes in the world. Is it amazing?!
To download the specific tramlines, check this link https://www.bvg.de/en/connections/network-maps-and-routes/tram
There are now 22 tram routes in Berlin. However, the West Berlin area will have additional line networks in the future.
With the tram map Berlin guide above, you won’t feel lost wandering in Berlin. Enjoy your trip!
