page_title: Ostkreuz
section_title: Construction process
hierarchical_section_title: Ostkreuz / History / Rebuilding the station 2008–18 / Construction process
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Baustelle Berlin Ostkreuz, Panorama, letzter Betriebstag Bahnsteig D
context_page_description: Berlin Ostkreuz is a station on the Berlin S-Bahn suburban railway and the busiest interchange station in Berlin. It is in the former East Berlin district of Friedrichshain, now part of the borough of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg. A smaller part of the station is in Rummelsburg, part of the borough of Lichtenberg. The station is a Turmbahnhof with the Berlin–Frankfurt railway and the Prussian Eastern Railway on the lower level and the Berlin Ringbahn on the upper level. It is used by a total of around 235,000 passengers every day on eight lines, entering or leaving.
  The station was completely reconstructed from 2006 to December 2018 while train operations at the station continued. In the past it was exclusively used as a Berlin S-Bahn station, but it is now also a stopping point for regional services.
context_section_description: Pre-construction work began in the spring and summer of 2006 with the demolition of old buildings and the removal of vegetation. The ground-breaking ceremony was scheduled for 16 January 2007 but it had to be postponed. Construction started with the building of a bridge over the railway tracks for Kynaststraße, to the east of the station. In February 2008, a temporary pedestrian bridge was installed connecting the entrances of the station with platforms D and E. It replaced the old heritage-listed bridge, which had to be demolished for the construction, but it was intended to faithfully recreate it after the completion of the station.
  The old platform F on the Ringbahn was partly taken out of service on 31 August 2009 and it was fully closed on September 11. The tracks of the Ringbahn were pivoted towards the future regional platform. The concourse for the S-Bahn tracks of the Ringbahn was completed in late 2011 and the station shell was commissioned on 16 April 2012.
  All regional trains on the Stadtbahn now stop at the new lower regional platform on the Silesian Railway. The regional platform on the upper level was originally scheduled to go into operation in 2014. After delays in construction, it was put into operation on 13 December 2015.
  The newly constructed platform Rn1 was put into operation in May 2013. It was used by S-Bahn services during the early years of the construction. It now serves as a regional platform for services on the Eastern Railway. Platform D was taken out of service at the same time and rebuilt.
  The regional train platform Ru on the Stadtbahn level went into operation on 30 June 2014 and was initially used during construction work on S-Bahn platform E of S-Bahn line S3.
  The commissioning of the new platform D followed on 7 October 2014. S-Bahn trains running towards Lichtenberg initially stopped here on the northern edge of the platform. A reconstructed landmark supervisory building on the new platform as well as two historic roof pillars on the western platform are reminders of the old Ostkreuz. In this period, platform E went out of service and was subsequently rebuilt.
  The reconstruction of the historic pedestrian bridge, which spans the western end of the lower platforms, began In the summer of 2016. In addition, the north curve embankment, including the bridge over the approach from Sonntagstraße, was demolished.
  Driver only operation supported by driver's cab monitor (called Zugabfertigung durch den Triebfahrzeugführer mittels Führerraum-Monitor; ZAT-FM) went into operation in August 2016 on the platform formerly used for services towards Lichtenberg (platform D).
  Major parts of the reconstruction project were completed by the end of 2017. Thus, with the commissioning of the rebuilt platform E on 21 August 2017, S-Bahn line S3—with trains now running in the same direction on the opposite sides of each platform, unlike in the previous lay out—again ran through to the city centre, where at first there were considerable operational problems. Since August 2017, a new computer-based interlocking has controlled the S-Bahn tracks of the Stadtbahn level between Ostbahnhof and Rummelsburg or Nöldnerplatz, using the new Zugbeeinflussungssystem S-Bahn Berlin (Berlin S-Bahn Train Control System, ZBS) as standard.
  The assembly of the steel bridge for the south curve to the Ringbahn, which consists of 22 individual parts, using the incremental launch method began in early 2015, with a total of €21.4 million invested in the construction of the new south curve. Since 10 December 2017 the line S9 has run again on the newly built curve, but without stopping at Ostkreuz station. At the same time platform Ru became operational for regional services on lines RE1, RE2, RE7 and RB14. Regional services also stopped serving Berlin-Karlshorst station.
  The four-track infrastructure of the S-Bahn between Ostbahnhof and Ostkreuz went into operation on 6 December 2017. It and four S-Bahn platform edges have been used in scheduled operations, using directional operation, since 9 December.
  The inauguration of the pedest
caption: Platform D on the last day of operation, 8 May 2013
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