Rotes Rathaus underground station: large-scale fire department

Sedan. Moment of shock on the new metro line 5 in Mitte on Monday morning. A train stopped at Weberwiese station due to a technical defect and then caught fire.

The guests had to leave the subway at Weberwiese due to the defect. The train was then pushed into a parking lot at the Rotes Rathaus subway station. There is another floor below the metro station with four lanes to park or turn vehicles. While the train was still in motion, it began to smoke under the train. Later it burned down.

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Fire at Rotes Rathaus metro station: two BVG employees injured

First, two employees of the Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG) tried to put out the fire on their own, but were unsuccessful. Both employees had suffered mild smoke poisoning during the attempt. One was treated on the spot, another was taken to a hospital as a precaution, it was later said.

The Berlin fire brigade initially moved in with 145 personnel. The images show how around the Red City Hall, the official headquarters of the mayor of government Michael Müller (SPD), the fire brigades are standing with the blue lights on. From the city hall, people sent photos on social media.

Meanwhile, the fire department was able to quickly control the fire. Many vehicles sped away. The cause of the fire was apparently a technical defect in one of the train’s ventilation systems.

U5 in Berlin: traffic between Alexanderplatz and Unter den Linden is interrupted

Traffic on the U5 line between Alexanderplatz and Unter den Linden stations stopped at around 11:40 am It resumed shortly before 1pm, but passengers had to expect delays.

Most recently, on Saturday, a fire at the Schloßstraße metro station in Steglitz sparked a large-scale fire service. The fire had broken out in a technical room on the mezzanine of the station and was quickly extinguished. A harness had caught fire there. The station was evacuated before the fire department arrived.

Because signal cables were damaged in the fire, the subway is not expected to pass until January 10. Because there are alternatives to the M48, M85, 186 and S-Bahn bus lines 1, the BVG did not install a replacement service.

The fire on the U5 line comes at an inopportune moment for the BVG

The incident on line U5 comes at an inopportune time for the company. After all, it is a matter of prestige. The gap on the U5 was only put into operation in early December 2020 after about ten years of construction. Coming from Hönow, trains on the line have not stopped at Alexanderplatz subway station since then. Instead, the journey continues through the newly opened Rotes Rathaus and Unter den Linden stations to the main train station. In the summer of 2021, operations will also begin at the Museumsinsel metro station, which currently only passes trains.

The project was already decided in the capital city contract after reunification. However, 25 years should pass from the start of the first construction phase in 1995 until its completion. Archaeological finds and the building freeze in view of Berlin’s narrow coffers at the turn of the millennium caused delays. More recently, however, the time and cost plan was kept within the established framework and should be around 530 million euros. One reason for the high expenses was that the length of the route impresses with its individually designed and architecturally outstanding station buildings.

Fire protection plays an important role at BVG

The topic of fire protection has played an important role in BVG’s construction activities for years. During renovations, the state-owned company regularly replaces materials that no longer comply with the current state of the regulations. In addition, the transport company has been running a large-scale project for several years to equip underground stations with additional exits.

A major fire a few weeks ago demonstrated how important fire protection is. On November 15, the fire department extinguished a fire at the Onkel Toms Hütte metro station in Zehlendorf for several hours. At that moment three people arrived at the hospital. No train stopped at the station for three days. The fire had broken out in a restaurant. 160 firefighters were on duty at the time. Images after the fire showed the extent of the destruction.

Due to the dense development of smoke, two residential buildings on Riemeisterstraße had to be evacuated shortly after the fire broke out at 9 p.m. Even three days after the accident, cleaning work on the platform in front of the shops on the north shopping street it was still ongoing. The BVG had to stop operating the U3 for several days.