(
Berlin Central Station), is the main
railway station in
Berlin, Germany and the largest
crossing station in Europe. It began full operation two days after a ceremonial opening on 26 May 2006. It is now Europe's largest two-level railway station. It is located on the site of the historic
Lehrter Bahnhof, and until it opened as a
main line station, it was a stop on the
Berlin S-Bahn suburban railway temporarily named
Berlin Hauptbahnhof–Lehrter Bahnhof. The station is operated by
DB Station&Service, a subsidiary of
Deutsche Bahn AG, and is classified as a
Category 1 station, one of twenty in Germany and three in Berlin, the others being
Berlin Südkreuz and
Berlin Ostbahnhof.
Lehrter Bahnhof (Lehrte Station) opened in 1871 as the terminus of the
railway linking Berlin with
Lehrte, near
Hanover, which later became Germany's most important east-west main line. In 1882, with the completion of the
Stadtbahn (City Railway, Berlin's four-track central elevated railway line, which carries both local and main line services), just north of the station, a smaller interchange station called
Lehrter Stadtbahnhof was opened to provide connections with the new line. This station later became part of the Berlin S-Bahn. In 1884, after the closure of nearby
Hamburger Bahnhof (Hamburg Station), Lehrter Bahnhof became the terminus for trains to and from
Hamburg.
Following heavy damage during
World War II, limited services to the main station were resumed, but then suspended in...
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