Ostkreuz

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 100,000 passengers every day on nine lines, entering or leaving.The station has been undergoing complete reconstruction since 2006 while train operations at the station have continued. Work under the current plans was original projected to be completed by 2016, but it has been delayed and it is now expected to be completed in 2018. While in the past it was exclusively used as a Berlin S-Bahn station, with the completion of the current work, it will also be a stopping point for regional services.HistoryA railway crossing point in the area later called Ostkreuz was created in 1871 with the commissioning of the Ringbahn which crossed the tracks here of the Lower Silesian–Markish Railway, which was opened 1842, and the Eastern Railway, which was extended to Berlin in 1867. In 1872 this crossing was supplemented by two connecting curves from the Ringbahn to the tracks towards the city. At this time, however, there was no station and the trains ran on all lines without stopping.