BVG | Berlin: There are always short trains on the U5, even during rush hour

Two short trains in a row were in use on the U5 in the morning rush hour last Monday. Photo: Nicolas Šustr Only at the end of August did the BVG celebrate the commissioning of the 100th car of the new subway series J on the U5 via a press release. »Every new train means more reliability for our passengers. We are approaching our goal of 99 percent reliability step by step. This value is already being reached again and again," explained BVG boss Henrik Falk on the occasion.

But regular passengers on the U5 are surprised. Despite the many new vehicles, short trains with only four instead of six cars are still in use during rush hour. This repeatedly leads to crowding on the trains and delays on the line, which is in high demand, because the change of passengers at the train stations then takes longer than planned.

This is astonishing, because the fleet is currently more than plentiful. According to the mostly reliable information from the fan site berliner-linienchronik.de, a total of 31 full-length trains can be put together with the cars from six different series currently stationed on the U5.

At peak times, 20 trains are in use on the line. This corresponds to a workshop reserve of over a third. This is well above the workshop quota of 25 percent last mentioned by the BVG for the completely outdated existing fleet before delivery of the new J series by the manufacturer Stadler Rail.

It can't actually be due to the youngest vehicles if you believe the statements from the Berlin transport company. At the end of August they announced that these were “stable and reliable in everyday use.” They can be used to form 19 full-length trains.

“In principle, we are now sufficiently equipped with vehicles to be able to run the scheduled frequency with the full number of cars,” says the BVG in response to a request from “nd”. Nevertheless, “it can happen from time to time in everyday life that short trains are on the move.” These are currently being used “primarily in a targeted manner to ensure a stable cycle and to avoid trip cancellations.”

“Basically, we are now equipped with enough vehicles to be able to run the scheduled frequency with the full number of cars.”

Every now and then a train has to be “taken out of service at short notice,” explains the BVG. “So that this journey does not have to be canceled completely, some cars from other trains will be uncoupled and combined to form a replacement train.” In this way, several short trains could be created “temporarily”.

The BVG explains an operating procedure. Given the abundance of vehicles, it would actually make sense to send a replacement train from the Friedrichsfelde depot, which is located almost exactly in the middle of the line. Why this doesn't happen remains an open question.

Company experts suspect that the withdrawal or storage of old vehicles was started somewhat prematurely. Because despite all the stability programs, the BVG is still pursuing tough austerity measures. In case of doubt, old vehicles that need repairs are parked instead of being repaired again.

This phenomenon was and is also observed in the so-called small profile lines U1 to U4 due to the smaller dimensions of the tunnels and vehicles. Although 126 of the 140 cars ordered from the new JK series have been put into operation since September 2025, shorter trains than planned are still in use.

This is due, among other things, to the small profile trains of the IK series, which have been adapted with compensating strips on the sides and are still stationed on the U5 or are currently undergoing the main inspection. At least 68 fairly new cars from 2017 and 2020 will be added.

Apparently the BVG is also accepting a temporary shortage of carriages on U1 to U4 in order to save maintenance costs in return. Another reason could be limited repair capacity, as the company workshop at the Olympiastadion train station is being converted during ongoing operations.

If you add the 14 outstanding wagons from the JK order from Stadler Rail, a total of 82 brand new wagons up to a few years old will be added to the small profile network. That's not nearly enough to replace the three old series, which are around 30 to over 60 years old. There are currently 194 cars still in stock.

According to the BVG, the first new J trains will be used on the U9 from the end of September on a large scale. If the U5 is actually to be completely converted to the new series, there will hardly be more than three trains this year.

Due to its island location in the network until the new connecting tunnel to the U8 near Alexanderplatz is completed, a higher operating reserve is required on the U5. This means that around 150 of the 170 new vehicles to be delivered this year are likely to be tied up there.

A further 174 Type J cars are to be delivered in 2027. The new trains should appear on at least a third line over the course of the year. It remains to be seen whether line by line should continue to be converted to the new type.

After around a year of operation of the new small-profile trains, their use is no longer limited to the U2. They were not only in action at the beginning of September on the U12 between Ruhleben and Warschauer Straße, which was set up for a few days due to the construction site. They have also been seen on U1 and U4.

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