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The Berlin U-Bahn, together with the S-Bahn , is the backbone of the Public Transport system of Berlin , Germany . The U-Bahn runs mostly underground (as U-Bahn stands for ''Untergrundbahn'', or Underground railway), while the S-Bahn is mostly above ground. The U-Bahn opened in 1902 and now consists of 170 stations on nine subway lines, which have a total length of 144.2 Kilometre s. Trains run every two to five minutes during peak hours, and every seven to 12 minutes for the rest of the day. The entire system is maintained and operated by the Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe , commonly known as the BVG.

The system was designed to alleviate traffic to and from central Berlin. It rapidly expanded until the end of World War II , when the capital city was divided into East and West Berlin . The system remained open to residents of both sides until the construction of the Berlin Wall and the subsequent travel restrictions imposed by the East German Government . East Germans were prevented from riding on the U-Bahn into West Berlin, and West Germans could take certain lines that ran through East German territory, but were not allowed to disembark. The system was reopened completely with the fall of the Berlin Wall and German Reunification .

The U-Bahn has been modernised after being neglected for so many years to serve as the main transportation method of the capital of Germany. Many former East Berlin stations were updated as many had not had any construction work done in them since 1961 .


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