Thursday 30, November
Berlin’s Christmas train is back after 15 years
After 15 years, Berlin’s popular Weihnachtszüge are hitting the tracks once again. From December 15, passengers will be able to travel through Berlin on historic S-Bahn trains over the four Advent weekends.
When taking a ride on one of the vintage trains passengers can sip on mulled wine and get stuck into plenty of Stollen. Be careful with those liquids though: there is no toilet on board.
Several tours are planned, with all trains arriving at and departing from Grünau. There will be two trips each on Saturday and Sunday, one departing at 1:10pm the other at 3:50pm. From Grünau, the trains go via Neukölln and Südkreuz to Charlottenburg, and back again on the same route – though passengers cannot embark or disembark along the route.
Berlin’s Christmas Trains have always been a very popular tradition, but were discontinued in 2009 when S-Bahn (who financed the project) ran into a financial crisis.
According to the Historical S-Bahn Berlin Association, tickets for the first three Advent weekends sold out in record time − even causing the online reservation system to crash. Advanced sales for the next round of excursions are already open. Berlin’s Christmas Trains first took to the tracks in the 1950s, and are now being revived through the work of volunteers and donations (20 – 30,000 euros annually) made to the Historical S-Bahn Berlin Association.
