Berlin Tram:
Why It Still Runs Mostly in the East
Why are there trams mostly in East Berlin?
Today, trams run mainly in former East Berlin because West Berlin gradually shut down its tram network from the 1950s onwards. The last tram ran there in 1967. East Berlin, by contrast, kept large parts of its network and later expanded it to serve new residential areas such as Marzahn, Hohenschönhausen and Hellersdorf.
After German reunification, some routes were extended westwards again. Even so, Berlin’s former division can still be seen in the tram network today.
THE BERLIN LOCALS RECOMMEND.
When did trams first start running in Berlin?
The history of Berlin’s tram system began on June 22, 1865, when Germany’s first horse-drawn tram entered service. The route ran from Brandenburg Gate to Charlottenburg – and the tram was still pulled by horses.
In 1881, the world’s first electric tram began operating in Groß-Lichterfelde. It was developed by Werner Siemens.
In 1895, the first regularly operated electric tram line followed within Berlin’s city limits at the time. The new technology quickly caught on: by 1902, horse-drawn trams had largely disappeared and Berlin was riding the “electric tram.”
Berlin Tram at a Glance
- 1865: Germany’s first horse-drawn tram runs from Brandenburg Gate to Charlottenburg.
- 1881: The world’s first electric tram begins operating in Groß-Lichterfelde after being presented by Werner Siemens.
- 1895: The first regularly operated electric tram line starts running within Berlin’s city limits at the time.
- 1929: BVG operates 89 tram lines across around 634 kilometres of track.
- 1949: The transport company is divided into BVG-West and BVG-Ost.
- 1953: Through tram services between East and West Berlin come to an end.
- 1967: The last tram runs in West Berlin.
- 1992: BVG-Ost and BVG-West are reunited.
- Today: The tram network still lies predominantly in former East Berlin.
A Very Berlin Driving Hazard on Rails
Alright, friends,
why did plenty of Berliners used to think twice about which part of the city they should take their driving lessons in? Exactly: because in the West, you could avoid one very typical Berlin driving hazard – the tram.
Later on, I always found it pretty wild when I met people who had moved to Berlin after getting their driving licence somewhere in a village of 5,000 people, only to suddenly find themselves driving through Berlin. But even among Berliners, one question kept coming up: Did you get your driving licence in the East or the West?
Tram tracks, stops and especially trams turning across your path are a whole different kind of driving hazard.
For me, all of this was completely normal. I grew up in former East Berlin, between Frankfurter Tor and the East Side Gallery, and I was constantly taking the M10 even as a kid.
I don’t think I’d ever really thought about the fact that trams run almost exclusively in the East until I was 18.
But how did it end up this way?
At First, the Tram Actually Ran West
Berlin’s first horse-drawn tram connected Brandenburg Gate with Charlottenburg from 1865. Back then, there was no indication at all that the tram would one day become associated mainly with East Berlin. Over the following decades, the network expanded in every direction.
With electrification, the horse-drawn tram became a means of transport for the rapidly growing city. Around 1900, new routes and connections kept appearing. After Greater Berlin was formed, the various operators were eventually brought together.
BVG was founded in 1929 – and the scale was enormous: the network had 89 tram lines, around 634 kilometres of track and roughly 4,000 vehicles. That same year, around 929 million passenger journeys were made by tram.
I actually had to double-check that number because it seemed a little too high to me, but it’s true:
That works out at around 2.55 million tram journeys per day. Berlin had a population of around 4.3 million at the time. On average, that’s roughly 0.6 tram journeys per resident per day.
The tram wasn’t just another form of public transport in Berlin back then. It was one of the backbones of the city.
War, Destroyed Tracks – and a Surprisingly Quick Restart
The Second World War also hit Berlin’s tram system hard. Destroyed streets, damaged overhead lines and impassable routes brought increasingly large parts of the network to a standstill. On April 23, 1945, tram services stopped completely.
What’s remarkable is how quickly the trams started running again. The first lines resumed service as early as May 20, 1945. By the end of the year, around 328 kilometres of track were already back in operation.
But while tracks and vehicles were being repaired, another problem emerged that couldn’t be fixed so easily: Berlin was politically divided.
In 1949, BVG was split into BVG-West and BVG-Ost. At first, some trams still continued across the sector borders. That changed just a few years later – and led to a situation that sounds pretty absurd today.
How Was Berlin’s Tram System Split by the Division of the City?
In 1953, through tram services between East and West Berlin were discontinued. Tram lines now ended at the sector border. Anyone who wanted to continue their journey had to get off, cross the border on foot and board another tram with the same line number on the other side.
After the Berlin Wall was built in 1961, even that came to an end.
But another development was crucial for the future of Berlin’s tram system: by then, East and West had developed completely different ideas about what modern urban transport should look like.
And those decisions explain exactly why today you constantly have a tram in front of you in Friedrichshain – while across large parts of Charlottenburg, you won’t see a single one.
Why Were Trams Abolished in West Berlin?
In the 1950s, West Berlin increasingly turned away from trams. From 1954 onwards, new buses and the expansion of the U-Bahn were intended to gradually replace them. At the same time, transport planning increasingly shifted towards a car-oriented city.
Trams were seen as outdated and as an obstacle to growing car traffic. As a result, routes gradually disappeared from the western part of the city.
On October 2, 1967, it was finally over. Line 55 made its last journey between Zoo and Hakenfelde. With that, West Berlin had completely abandoned its tram network.
And that also answers my earlier question: trams don’t run mainly in the East today because Berlin originally built them there. They run there because the West got rid of its tram lines.
Why Were Trams Kept in East Berlin?
The story wasn’t quite as simple as “West against trams, East in favour of them.”
East Berlin also removed trams from major streets from the 1950s onwards. Transport planning was partly based on the Soviet model:
Major thoroughfares were supposed to remain as free of tram tracks as possible. In 1967, for example, trams disappeared from Alexanderplatz.
Unlike in the West, however, the network was never completely abandoned. When new large housing estates were built from the late 1970s onwards, East Berlin needed high-capacity transport connections for tens of thousands of residents. New tram routes were therefore built to Marzahn, followed later by Hohenschönhausen and Hellersdorf.
While trams had already become history in the West, the network was being expanded again in the East.
When I stand at Frankfurter Tor today or take the tram through Friedrichshain towards Volkspark Friedrichshain, I obviously don’t consciously think about any of this. But those different decisions are exactly what shaped the everyday Berlin I grew up with.
After Reunification, the Tram Heads West Again
With the fall of the Berlin Wall, the border disappeared – but the transport networks that had developed differently over decades couldn’t simply be put back together.
In 1992, BVG-Ost and BVG-West were reunited as one company. In 1995, a tram route was extended across the former border to Osloer Straße for the first time. In 1998, trams also returned to Alexanderplatz. Later extensions included connections to Berlin Central Station and, in 2023, the extension of the M10 to Turmstraße.
Despite these extensions, most of the tram network still lies in former East Berlin.
Almost 60 years after the last tram ran in West Berlin, all it takes is a look at today’s network map to see one of the lasting effects of the city’s division. Not because of an old border on the map – but because one side of the city still has significantly more tram tracks than the other.
The Berlin Tram Today
There’s obviously not much left of the horse-drawn tram today. Berlin’s tram network covers around 200 kilometres of track, making it the third-largest tram network in the world according to BVG.
Across a total of 22 lines, the trams cover a combined route length of around 320 kilometres. The fleet consists of around 381 tram vehicles, carrying approximately 200 million passenger journeys each year.
And the vehicles continue to evolve as well. Since July 2026, the Urbanliner has been the latest generation of Berlin trams in regular passenger service. The 50-metre-long trams can carry more than 300 people and are initially operating on the particularly busy M4. Under current plans, a total of 65 Urbanliners are expected to be delivered by 2030.
Today, the Berlin tram system therefore connects two very different worlds: a network whose structure is still shaped by the city’s division – and at the same time, one of the largest tram systems in the world.
The M4 Is Part of My Everyday Life in Berlin
For me, the tram never disappeared. It used to be mainly the M10 and M6, but today I take the M4 almost every day between Prenzlauer Berg and the city centre. Since August 2026, I’ve also been seeing the new Urbanliners more and more often on my regular route.
And this route shows pretty well why I still like the tram so much.
Right by the World Clock and the Berlin TV Tower, it runs straight through Alexanderplatz. From there, it continues towards Museum Island or Hackescher Markt and the Hackesche Höfe.
For visitors, these are some of Berlin’s best-known places. For me, they’re mainly places I pass all the time in everyday life.
Maybe that’s exactly what I like about the tram:
You don’t disappear underground. Berlin simply passes by your window as you ride through the city.
Why the Tram Is My Favourite Way to Get Around Berlin
When people ask me which form of transport in Berlin I like using most, I don’t have to think for long: the tram.
Admittedly, there used to be another reason for that. It always felt like ticket inspections on trams were incredibly rare, and we were constantly riding through Friedrichshain to pre-drink before heading towards Warschauer.
Today, something else matters more to me: for me, it’s the most relaxed and least hectic way to get around the city. No long walks down to the platform, no constantly disappearing into tunnels – just get on and go.
Of course, that’s not always true. If you’re standing in a completely packed M4 during rush hour, you probably won’t immediately share my enthusiasm.
Still, for me, the tram is as much a part of Berlin as the U-Bahn and S-Bahn. Maybe even a little more. I grew up with the M10, take the M4 almost every day now – and only realised pretty late that this sense of the tram being completely normal has a lot to do with where in Berlin I grew up.
Three Berlin Tram Stories Hardly Anyone Knows
Beyond division and reunification, Berlin’s tram system has been through a few other stories that show just how closely it was tied to everyday life in the city.
In 1902, for example, a five-pfennig fare was available for short journeys on certain outer routes. You received a white ticket for these trips, while the regular ten-pfennig ticket was red.
During the First World War, more and more women took over the jobs of men who had been called up for military service. By 1916, the Große Berliner Straßenbahn already employed more than 5,000 women – initially mainly as conductors, and later in some cases as drivers as well.
And during the hyperinflation of 1923, fares rose from amounts measured in marks to millions within just a few months. On September 8, tram services were even suspended completely. But only for one day: the first lines were running again the very next morning.
Berlin Insider Tip: Take Tram 87 Out to Woltersdorf
If you find trams interesting for more than just getting around, there’s a pretty unusual route to discover on the far eastern edge of Berlin. Line 87 of the Woltersdorf Tramway starts at Rahnsdorf S-Bahn station and runs just 5.6 kilometres to Woltersdorf Lock in Brandenburg. The connection has existed since 1913.
The route itself already feels completely different from taking the M4 or M10 through central Berlin. From the edge of the city, it heads out towards Woltersdorf, partly through forest and quiet residential areas, all the way to the lock. For decades, Gotha trams more than 60 years old were still in regular service here – and it was precisely these nostalgic trams that made the line famous far beyond Woltersdorf.
Since 2025, modern low-floor trams have been used in regular service. Some historic vehicles have been preserved, however, and are still used for special services. So if you’re coming specifically for the old trams, it’s worth checking beforehand whether historic vehicles are running that day.
For me, it’s a pretty good Berlin insider tip: take the S-Bahn to Rahnsdorf, hop on the 87 and see just how quickly Berlin suddenly stops feeling like Berlin.
What Still Remains of Berlin’s Division Today
Berlin has been one city again for decades. Even so, there are still things that reveal where the old border once ran without you having to stand in front of a piece of the Berlin Wall.
For me, the tram was never something typically East Berlin. It was simply Berlin.
It was only later that I realised someone who grew up in Charlottenburg or Spandau may have experienced a completely different everyday Berlin when it came to trams than I did between Frankfurter Tor, Oberbaum Bridge, the M10 and Alexanderplatz.
Today, individual routes are gradually extending westwards again. The old border disappeared long ago. But if you travel far enough through Berlin from the East and eventually notice that there are suddenly no tram tracks running alongside you anymore, at least you’ll know:
That’s no coincidence. That’s Berlin history.
Our Take on the Berlin Tram
When I get on an M4 today, I obviously don’t think about horse-drawn trams from 1865 or the last West Berlin tram from 1967 every single time.
But stories like these are exactly what change the way I see Berlin.
The tram is a pretty good example of how urban history doesn’t just happen in museums. Decisions made decades ago still partly shape the way we move around Berlin today.
And if someone simply asks me which form of transport in Berlin I like best, my answer is still the same: the tram.
In the past, maybe partly because it always felt like there were never any ticket inspections.
Today, mainly because there’s hardly a more relaxed way for me to get around Berlin.
Berlin isn’t a tourist attraction. Berlin is a city.
See you in the real Berlin – or right here in the next blog.
Take care 🖤
Sources: Book "U-Bahn, S-Bahn & Tram in Berlin" by Schwandl, Robert | Book "Berliner Straßenbahn-Chronik: Die "elektrische" bei der BVG von 1929 bis 2015" by Sigurd Hilkenbach | Website "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geschichte_der_Straßenbahn_in_Berlin" | Website "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straßenbahn_Berlin" | MANY OF THE IMAGES IN THIS POST ARE EXAMPLE IMAGES AND WERE NOT TAKEN AT THE LOCATION VISITED.
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