Address 10963 Berlin, Germany | ||
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Similar Park at Gleisdreieck, Möckernbrücke, Wittenbergplatz, Berlin Anhalter Bahnhof, Nollendorfplatz | ||
Gleisdreieck is a Berlin U-Bahn station located on a viaduct on the U1 and the U2 lines in the Kreuzberg district. The station has platforms elevated above ground level for both lines. The platforms of the U1 are at a higher level than, and at right angles to, those of the U2.
Overview
The station's name literally means "railway triangle" or wye in English and marks the spot of an earlier major train hub opened in 1902, where the three branches of the first Stammstrecke U-Bahn line from Zoologischer Garten, Potsdamer Platz and Warschauer Brücke met. A major accident at the triangle happened on 26 September 1908, when two trains collided. One car derailed and fell from the viaduct, killing 18 people and injuring 21. Upon another dangerous incident, the single level triangle from 1912 was rebuilt and replaced by the current two-level station. Since then there is no direct rail connection between the two lines at Gleisdreieck, only an intersection.
Though in 1939 the North-South Tunnel was opened in close vicinity, there is no interchange to the S-Bahn system.
After the building of the Berlin Wall from 13 August 1961 the lower platform became the eastern terminus of the U2, until service finally discontinued on 1 January 1972. Between 1984 and 1991 it served as the southern terminal of the short-lived M-Bahn maglev running to Kemperplatz near the Philharmonie. The U2 train service on the lower platform was resumed on 13 November 1993. It is the westernmost station in Kreuzberg for both lines.
The German Museum of Technology (Deutsches Technikmuseum) is adjacent to the station. The name Gleisdreieck also refers to a large area in the south, the former freight yards of the Anhalter and Potsdamer Bahnhof, which are currently redeveloped as an urban park.