Berlin HBF & Lehrter Bahanhof, Germany.

 

Berlin HBF is the main railway station in Berlin, Germany. It began full operation two days after a ceremonial opening on 26 May 2006. 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 railwaytemporarily named Berlin Hauptbahnhof–Lehrter Bahnhof. 

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 Hamburg Bahnhof, Lehrter Bahnhof became the terminus for trains to and from Hamburg.

Following heavy damage during WW 2, limited services to the main station were resumed, but then suspended in 1951. In 1957, with the railways to West Berlin under the control of East Germany, Lehrter Bahnhof was demolished, but Lehrter Stadtbahnhof continued as a stop on the S-Bahn. In 1987, it was extensively renovated to commemorate Berlin's 750th anniversary. After  German reunification  it was decided to improve Berlin's railway network by constructing a new  north - south main line, to supplement the east-west Stadtbahn.  Lehrter Stadtbahnhof was considered to be the logical location for a new central station.