View source for M-Bahn

{{short description|Former Berlin magnetic levitation train}}
{{Infobox rail line
|name        = Berlin M-Bahn
|color       = e44f1a
|logo        = M-Bahn symbol.png
|logo_width  = 75px
|image       = M-Bahn Museum Nürnberg.JPG
|image_width = 
|caption     = M-Bahn train 06 at the [[Nuremberg Transport Museum]]
|type        = [[Maglev (transport)|Maglev]]
|system      = AEG Rail Systems
|status      = dismantled
|locale      = Berlin, West Germany
|start       = [[Gleisdreieck (Berlin U-Bahn)|Gleisdreieck]]
|end         = Kemperplatz
|stations    = 3
|routes      = 
|daily_ridership   = 
|open        = {{start date and age|1989|08|28}} (testing)<br />{{start date and age|1991|07|18}} (service)
|close       = {{start date and age|1991|07|31}} (closed)<br />{{start date and age|1991|09|17}} (dismantled)
|owner       = Magnetbahn GmbH
|operator    =
|character   = Elevated metro
|stock       = 1× M70/2<br />6× M80/2<br />1× maintenance vehicle 
|linelength  = {{convert|1.6|km|1|abbr=on}}
|tracklength =
|tracks     = Single/[[Double track]]
|gauge       = 
|electrification          = 
|speed       = {{convert|80|km/h|abbr=on}}
|elevation   = 
|map         = {{M-Bahn}}
|map_state   = collapsed
}}

The '''M-Bahn''' or '''Magnetbahn''' was an elevated [[magnetic levitation train|Maglev train]] line operating in [[Berlin]], [[Germany]], experimentally from 1984 and in passenger operation from 1989 to 1991. The line was {{convert|1.6|km|mi|sigfig=1}} in length, and featured three stations, two of which were newly constructed. Presumed to be the future of rail transit in Berlin, the line was built to fill a gap in the [[West Berlin]] public transport network created by the construction of the [[Berlin Wall]]. It was rendered redundant by the [[German reunification|reunification of Berlin]] and was closed to enable reconstruction of the [[U2 (Berlin U-Bahn)|U2]] line. It was Europe's only operational maglev line.

The M-Bahn was the second Maglev line to open to public traffic, after the [[Maglev#Birmingham, United Kingdom, 1984–1995|Birmingham Maglev]] but before the [[Shanghai maglev train]]. Construction and running were undertaken by Magnetbahn GmbH.
[[File:1990 04 Berlin M Bahn 1.jpg|thumb|1990 04 Berlin M Bahn 1]]

==History==
The first section of the [[Berlin U-Bahn]] to be built included an elevated section between [[Gleisdreieck (Berlin U-Bahn)|Gleisdreieck]] and [[Berlin Potsdamer Platz station|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 (Berlin U-Bahn)|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.<ref name=ctuhhb>{{cite book | first = Brian | last = Hardy | title = The Berlin U-Bahn | publisher = Capital Transport Publishing | year = 1996 | isbn = 1-85414-184-8 | pages = 40–41}}</ref>

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.<ref name=ctuhhb/> 

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|Brunswick]], 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.<ref name=ctuhhb/> 

Eventually four more cars, of the same design as the original two, were built. Several planned opening dates were not met, and in December 1988, a test train failed to stop at Kemperplatz and one of the cars crashed to the ground and was destroyed. A public service eventually started in August 1989, although service was intermittent and not guaranteed, and fares were not charged. Official regular passenger service, as part of Berlin's integrated public transport system, started in July 1991.<ref name=ctuhhb/> 

By this time the [[Fall of the Berlin Wall|Berlin Wall had fallen]], something that could not have been predicted when construction started. It became desirable to re-establish the U-Bahn line that had previously been severed, requiring the removal of the M-Bahn from its right of way. The principal need for the M-Bahn had also been removed, as the area served by it was again easily accessible from the Potsdamer Platz station. Dismantling of the M-Bahn started only two months after its official opening, and was completed during February 1992. The U-Bahn connection between Gleisdreieck and Potsdamer Platz Stations was reinstated, becoming part of [[U2 (Berlin U-Bahn)|line U2]].<ref name=ctuhhb/>

==Route==
[[File:Berlin - Karte der M-Bahn.svg|thumb|right|upright|M-Bahn line]]
The line ran approximately north-south from a station at Kemperplatz on the edge of the [[Tiergarten (park)|Tiergarten]] park, with three stations in total, the most southernly being on the lower level of the present-day [[Gleisdreieck (Berlin U-Bahn)|Gleisdreieck]] U-Bahn interchange.

*''Kemperplatz'' <small>{{Coord|52.510980556|13.37176111|type:landmark_region:DE-BE|format=dms|display=inline|name=Kemperplatz}}</small> (now the location of the [[Sony Center]] at [[Potsdamer Platz]], close to the present [[Berlin Potsdamer Platz railway station]])
*''Bernburger Str.'' <small>{{Coord|52.5056|13.37588611|type:landmark_region:DE-BE|format=dms|display=inline|name=Bernburger Str.}}</small> (close to the present site of [[Mendelssohn-Bartholdy-Park (Berlin U-Bahn)|Mendelssohn-Bartholdy-Park]] U-Bahn station)
*''Gleisdreieck'' <small>{{Coord|52.499775|13.37418333|type:landmark_region:DE-BE|format=dms|display=inline|name=Gleisdreieck}}</small> (now reclaimed for its original U-Bahn use)

The new section from Kemperplatz and through Bernburger Str. was double track with two parallel guideways, narrowing to single track between Bernburger and Gleisdreieck as it transferred onto the existing U-Bahn viaducts.  The M-Bahn guideway used the western side of the viaducts approaching and into the single platform at Gleisdreieck, with standard gauge railway track remaining on the eastern side.

Both ''Kemperplatz'' and ''Bernburger Str.'' stations have since been demolished, along with structure carrying the M-Bahn between them.

==Rolling stock==
The M-Bahn operated a total of eight cars, although not all were used in public service.<ref name=ctuhhb/><ref name=mbbcl>{{cite web | title = M-Bahn Berlin - Fahrzeuge |trans-title=M-Bahn Berlin - Rolling Stock | url = http://www.berliner-verkehrsseiten.de/m-bahn/Fahrzeuge/fahrzeuge.html | publisher = Berliner Verkehrsseiten | language = German | accessdate = 2010-06-26}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
!Car
!Type
!Builder
!In Service
!Notes
|- 
|01
|M80/2
|[[Waggon Union]]
|March 1987
|Destroyed in fire April 1987
|- 
|02
|M80/2
|Waggon Union
|March 1987
|Damaged in fire April 1987 and subsequently withdrawn
|- 
|03
|M80/2
|Waggon Union
|May 1987
|Destroyed in accident December 1988
|- 
|04
|M80/2
|Waggon Union
|May 1987
|Withdrawn September 1991
|- 
|05
|
|[[Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm|MBB]]
|April 1984
|Diesel propelled works car, no magnetic drive, removed 1986
|- 
|06
|M80/2
|Waggon Union
|August 1989
|Withdrawn September 1991, preserved at the [[Nuremberg Transport Museum]]
|- 
|07
|M80/2
|Waggon Union
|August 1989
|Withdrawn September 1991
|- 
|704
|M70/2
|MBB
|June 1984
|Built in 1978 for the Brunswick test track, used for initial testing in Berlin until October 1986
|}

==Technology==
For propulsion, the M-Bahn used a [[long stator]] [[linear motor]].  However, unlike the [[Transrapid]] and other [[magnetic levitation train]]s, only 85% of the M-Bahn vehicle weight was supported by [[magnetic levitation]], with the balance being supported by traditional wheels.

During operation, the Berlin M-Bahn line ran as an automated driverless operation, although the system had been designed to be driven by a human driver if required.

A cross-over existed just south of Kemperplatz, to allow use of double-track running.  The M-Bahn train was supported across the points by a length of traditional rail below the guideway to support it across the gap.

== In media ==
The disused elevated track features at some length as a backdrop in Wim Wenders's 1987 film ''[[Wings of Desire]]''.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{GeoGroupTemplate}}
* {{in lang|de}} [http://www.berliner-verkehrsseiten.de/m-bahn/Strecke/strecke.html Plan map show M-Bahn and streets]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcaZcSGSReM youtube.com: A video showing the partially demolished Berlin wall]
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=qP9fvo9OLIwC&pg=PA97&dq=m-bahn#PPA97,M1 ''Popular Science'' Dec 1988]

{{Public transport in Berlin}}
{{Maglev}}
{{Automated trains and fixed-guideway transit}}
[[Category:Rail transport in Berlin|M-Bahn]]
[[Category:Rapid transit in Germany]]
[[Category:Driverless Maglev]]
[[Category:People movers]]