(Berlin) public transport

 

* Tickets

• https://www.bvg.de/en/subscriptions-and-tickets/all-tickets
• Single : 3,20 €
• 120 minutes / One journey in one direction / Changes permitted
• ABC (from/to airport or Potsdam) : 4 €
• Short trip : 2,20 €
• 3 stations with S-Bahn or underground, changes permitted, without stop or 6 stations on trams, changes not permitted
• 24-hour : 9,50 €
• 24 hours from time of validation
• 🛈 cheaper than 4 Singles or 6 short-trips
• 4-trip : 10,00 €
• Single x4
• 4-short-trip :  6,60 €
• Short trip x4

* Where to buy

• mobile ticket : BVG Tickets app
• highly recommended, especially when you cannot buy paper tickets
• paper ticket
• At S-Bahn and BVG service poitnts 
• There are a few S-Bahn and BVG service points.
• In the tram
• There are ticket machines in every tram. It's a big yellow box near the middle of the tram. 
• The old machines only accepts coins. The new machines only accepts cards. 
• In the bus You can buy tickets at the front of the bus, next to the driver. 
• You must pay with a credit card, an EC Card, Android Pay or Apple Pay. You can't pay with cash. 

* Validation

• paper ticket: punch before boarding at the platform.
• mobile ticket: validate in the app.
• randomly checked and can be fined if you didn't properly validate even though you have the ticket.

* Tips

• 24-hour ticket is recommended if you are taking 4 Single travels, otherwise 4-trip ticket is the most flexible choice. 
• Consider to use the same Single ticket, if you are staying in a place less than 2 hours.
• Short trip ticket is not recommended unless you're familiar with the route.

* From Airport

• train : 4 €
• every 30 minutes
• 20:58 FEX / 21:13 RB / 21:28 FEX / 21:44 RE / 21:58 FEX ~
• 공항 내 경로 : https://m.blog.naver.com/vigor8285/222663379439?referrerCode=1
• 발권기 사용법 : https://blog.naver.com/thomas_in_berlin/222302241675
• 팁 : https://travfotos.tistory.com/2726
• taxi : 50 €

* at Night

• Monday to Friday
• S-Bahn ~ 1 to 1:30 AM
• U-Bahn ~ 1 AM
• tram : 24 hours. every 30 minutes
• Night buses : N1~N9 roughly follow the corresponding subway routes
• Wekkends
• S-Bahn : 24 hours. every 30 mintues

2023-05-15 MON

There is a kiosk for tickets near the baggage claim, but you don't have to wait in the line because there are more in the train station.

Single ticket for zone ABC is 4 EUR. In Berlin mostly you use zone AB, but you have to choose zone ABC when you travel from/to the airport or Potsdam.

Airport train station. The sign at each platform shows which train is about to come. However, I couldn't find any information upstairs, I had to run up and down the stairs to find the correct platform. Probably I missed the information board while being in a hurry.

The ticket validation kiosk is on the platform, not in the train. Make sure to validate / punch before boarding.

You can find which direction you should take in the metro station, which is same as in Seoul.

Current location is easy to recognize from the screen in the metro.

2023-05-16 TUE

I thought that we could buy paper tickets anywhere, but when we had to take a tram there was nothing around. 

I googled and found out that I can buy tickets in the tram. A lady in the tram stop helped me to confirm. She was not so sure, because Berliners mostly use the mobiles apps though.

This is it. I doubted but this big machine existed in the tram. No big rush because there are not many guests who actually use this machine. I've seen only one person using this besides us. Just push the button for the ticket type you want and put coins. 

It was only a few stops away so I bought the short trip tickets, but it turned out that we were on a wrong route, probably because of temporary change. Lesson learned: Do not try to save small money. You may lose more precious time and probably bigger money. 

So I had to buy these 4-trip tickets again, because you cannot transfer with a short trip ticket. 4-trip tickets has 2 separated sections for back and forth, so that you can validate 4 times with one paper ticket. 

Waiting for tram. 

When you validate the ticket, the date and time of boarding is printed so that you can see until when this ticket is valid. 

2023-05-17 WED

I was planning to dance tonight, checked the operation hour of public transport. The last train is around 1 AM, which seemed to be enough to come back to the hotel. However, a friend living in Berlin who I've met that night, told me that it'll run 24 hours because tomorrow is a national holiday! We need this in Seoul!

I figured that I'd take metro or bus more than 4 times, so I've bought 24-hour ticket via the mobile app. 

A jazz band was playing in the station, but didn't have time to go and check out.

Food or drink not allowed in the train. But so many Berliners were enjoying their beer.

Exit signs are well explained.

Because there are no gates to check the ticket, the whole metro station was structurly simple. You can see that there is nothing to go through from the platform to the exit where I was standing. So the system seemed very efficient. Probably there are many illegal passenger without tickets, but the fine is so high that it may guarantee in some level. Can we adopt this also in Seoul?

back to Berlin (2023)