Thanks, Evan. As a Berliner, I _of course_ *wholeheartedly disagree* with you as complaining about the BVG is in our DNA, and it's physically impossible for us to accept what we get for our money is actually well worth it.
I am a Berliner and most people in Berlin appreciate the BVG. I'm not even mad that they are on strike today. I wonder if you are a real Berliner or if you live in a bubble where everyone complaints all the time. You must be miserable.
Geoff, Evan, great video! I'm glad you didn't have to swim home Evan! I've never ridden on the U-Bahn before, but could TFL's cleaning and maintenance teams that descend underground during the night be just one of the reasons why TFL Tube stations are clean and do not smell like a gent's urinal? 😉 These teams and all the other TFL teams needed to keep London moving and customers happy will (probably) mean higher operating costs vs that of BVG too. 🤔 FYI, Channel 5's The Tube: Keep London Moving! was great docuseries to learn what goes on behind the scenes with TFL. It would be interesting to know if it is as extensive with BVG!
15:45 the Deutschland Ticket indeed allows one to take all types of regional trains even the fast ones going between cities. You can thus cross the entirety of Germany with the D-Ticket just at the pace of a snail
Don’t forget, the BahnCard100 is 4500€ a year, if you want to splurge on the premium product for all Germany including IC/ICE and passenger rights; still cheaper than commuting from Zone 9
This is a program that needs to be adopted worldwide. The fact that we are putting more barriers on using public transport is insane. While cars, trucks and mopeds are given a free pass to not only take up space but pollute our lungs with PM 2.5 something other than for the odd metal shavings doesn't happen on electric-powered public steel wheel on rail transport... That alone is why all ICE drivers should morally, legally and financially be required to pay for their non-polluting public alternatives via gas/carbon/pollution taxes...
@@stickynorth agreed, but bonus taxes / punishment alone doesn’t fix anything, just makes people angry at the project. Soo, get minimum service standards as a right and get people to use it, then raise taxes to pay for it would be my attempt
I've lived in both cities. It's definitely Berlin. For price; for comfortable journeys (it was rare that I wouldn't get a seat on a train or tram in Berlin); and interchangeability between trams, trains and buses.
I am a train nerd with an interest bordering on obsession with London's various trains, and I think even I'd admit that Berlin nowadays is a better system overall. As well as the trams, the S-Bahn is an absolute game changer, it's far more extensive than the London Overground.
A lot of this is helped that it was built a lot later than most of the network in London, so they learned how to actually make an integrated system. That and much of Berlin was levelled during the war and needed to be rebuilt anyway. A lot of main land Europe has this aspect in terms of building infrastructure.
@@TalesOfWar U-Bahn and S-Bahn are two separate systems built by two competing operators, who haven't been integrated for most of their history. They share a common fare and line numbering system today, but those are "recent" achievements (recent as compared to the length of their entire history), which is from the 1980s on from a West Berlin perspective. After WW2 the flattened rail structures were really just reinstated into their pre-war status. The post war rebuild wasn't much of an upgrade.
@@xaverlustig3581 yet they combine perfectly. And as a Berliner it's perfect to have them both. If one is on strike, more often the S-Bahn but tomorrow the BVG, then you simply use the other.
I would say that the great victory of Berlin's public transport system over London is in the accessibility of stations for the general public. In London, the experience of getting to the station platform, especially in the city center, felt like walking through an endless maze. At times, it felt like just getting to the platform and getting off at your destination took up 50% of the total time of the journey. In Berlin, however, at most stations, you only have 20 steps to get to the platform and can rush to the train that has just arrived at the station. For that alone, I would give Berlin 3 more points.
Can you confirm that the newer the station, the easier the access ? i.e. many of the issues are with old stations, some of which are accessible, but some are difficult to expensive to make accessible?
One thing that's easily forgotten is that because Berlin doesn't have ticket gates it makes it easier to package the metro stations within whatever constraints exist.
Berlin mainly has cut and cover built stations mostly along streets which makes it easy to access (also because of high groundwater) or above ground...London did start that way for trains coming into London but city centre is just not accessible in that way also the Thames is a big problem. If you want to know more watch "the secret of the London underground"
@@ormusafi5205 the outer above ground stations and cut and cover lines are generally still pretty good for this. Sort of obvious but the larger interchange stations are the worst to navigate.
I can't help but love the irony about how you touched on how infrequently BVG workers go on strike compared to London, yet you uploaded this video the day before the second BVG strike of this year.
The other thing about accessibility between Berlin and London is that in London there are many ridiculous gaps to mind (literally jumping can be involved) and you you have to go to special places for level boarding. In a lot of the stations in Berlin the train comes in, the doors open and it’s completely level with a tiny gap between the train and the platform for every single door.
One of the benefits of being a much newer network and built as an actual network. London was working things out as they went as nobody had ever done it before, and they were all built by competing companies.
In Berlin a lot of the trains have a floor height of just above the platform, making for an annoying step onto the train where oftentimes a ramp has to be put down for wheelchairs to go up. This is the case on both the U-Bahn and the S-Bahn, tho most S-Bahn trains now have a floor height of 1m (platforms are 960mm and have been for a long time). One exception is the Siemensbahn, which was built semi independently by Siemens and is abandoned, no trains run there since it has shut down in 1980 or so. There, the platforms were built to match the 1100mm floor height of trains at the time
@@chrism2279 That's definitely the worst offender, though basically any of the, quite numerous, curved platforms on the Underground has a significant gap.
Living in Berlin, I am always happy to be in London - the fact that you can "tap and go" and not worry about what ticket to get is just unbeatable. Yes, I have a Deutschlandticket here, but you can't really get that for a shorter vacation here and you need to consider "manually" when to get which ticket.
Imo the lack of fare-gates should be another point as it makes your journey significantly easier and quicker as well as enabling the stations to be a thoroughfare for pedestrians instead of an obstacle. Also, the BahnCard100, the ticket that covers D-Ticket and IC/ICE (and passenger rights, [ab-]usable for free hotel stays) is 4500€ yearly, still cheaper than commuting from Zone 9
The one piece of paper you didn't check beforehand was a London Tide Table. It comes in fast and strong. If you had been stuck the RNLI would have rescued you, dial 999 and ask for the Coastguard, they cover the river up to Teddington and the 4 Lifeboat Stations on the river are manned 24/7 and are amongst the busiest they have, averaging over 250 shouts per year each.
The Deutschland-Ticket actually also covers all regional travel, with the RE and RB Trains, that often span far distances. You can travel across the whole of germany just by using this one ticket, you just would have to change trains often and the trains stop often and therefore are very slow in comparison to the long distance IC and ICE Trains
Hey, Evan. Just wanted to let you know that I not only enjoy the videos, but your sound mixing makes it absolutely perfect for just having running in the periphery while I do other things without missing words or beats. Keep up the good work!
Considering Berlin is a lot smaller smaller than London, I don't think the size of network should necessarily be considered. If you have a bigger space to cover, you're going to have more stops. Still a great video tho!
@hughtube5154 yes, but none of that is in consideration during the video, just scale. That's my point. Wear and tear happens to anything that is used too, so even a tiny towns train station needs maintenance if that's the lane you want to argue. The ranking system is still skewed a bit unfairly when considering my original points.
And they are included in the Deutschland Ticket! I heard that there are a few exceptions where RBs/REs aren’t included when they aren’t operated by DB but I don’t know of any.
@@ninamarie177 There are some REs which are actually ICs in disguise, and are therefore operated by DB Fernverkehr GmbH, and are not part of the ticket, but to make things even more confusing, there are some ICs which are actually part of the Deutschlandticket. And yes, you can't use trains that aren't operated by DB, such as Flixtrain. In the DB Navigator app, you can click on the tree dots to see who the operator of a train is - if it says DB Fernverker GmbH, you cannot use it with a DTicket, but those are the absolute exception.
@@ninamarie177 As a general rule, long-distance trains (IC, ICE, EC, Flix...) do not allow to travel with a D-ticket, but there are a handful of IC trains operated by DB Fernverkehr that are also (partially) subsidised by the German States responsible for regional trains, and are thus both an IC and an RE. And DB Fernverkehr wants to be compensated correctly for the use of their trains. Some States have negotiated an agreement of acceptance, others haven't bothered. For instance, ICs serving Emden and Norddeich Mole allow for D-ticket users, but only from Bremen. The IC to Westerland auf Sylt are generally not allowed, except IC 2075 between Niebüll and Westerland on workdays, not weekends (probably because the hole in the timetable would be too large if you weren't).
An excellent video, as far as it goes. It is a tad challenging to draw direct comparisons between these cities. London covers an area almost twice that of Berlin, and has a population three times as large. London also has to cater for four times the number of international tourists that Berlin does. The furthest one may travel by U-Bahn from central Berlin is 16 km. For London that figure is 41 km. So like for like comparisons are difficult.
I was very impressed by Berlin’s public transit system when I visited, I think the fact it’s this neck and neck even though Berlin has less than half the population of London is a testament to how impressive it is.
There is one single thing that for me makes Berlin the clear winner. Its the incredibly easy accessibility of Berlin stations: In London sometimes it can literally take up to 5 minutes (if not more if u r slow) to get from street level down multiple escalators and corridors deep down to the platform. Meanwhile in Berlin it's one flight of stairs and you re just under the ground at Station level. For me personally it's such a convenience booster, it feels less like a whole journey you have to take but sometimes you are walking on the street and then you hear the sound of a train coming so you re like "hell yeah i ll just quickly hop on" and it just accelerates your walk by spontaneously transporting you that one station. I love that
This is terrific and mostly very fair. What it doesn't completely take into consideration is that London is a much, much bigger city. Also, Berlin can't be blamed for not having boats like the ones on the mighty Thames. Berlin is on the Spree - a very small river. A Berlin feature that isn't mentioned is that all the U-Bahn lines are only just beneath the surface. A single flight of steps and you're on the platform and good to go. No struggles with long escalators.
I think the other point is that the ferries in Berlin are actual public transport - you can use them with a normal single trip ticket or subscription. Where the Thames river cruises are closer to the "Stern und Kreis"-type sightseeing tours which charge a premium.
This was an absolutely fantastic video and as a transport nerd, I loved watching every minute of it Evan! Well done, this was so worth the wait and can't wait to see the Paris episode later in the year!
I always enjoy your comparison videos and appreciate the humor. I know you must put an unbelievable amount of effort into them and want you to know it is appreciated.
24:04 Just to set the record straight: That number excludes all rail services except for IC and ICE (and their jointly operated foreign counterparts) so it’s explicitly not representative of all Deutsche Bahn trains across all of Germany. They just list that number separately due to how these services are financed and due to them being run by a different subsidiary. The actual punctuality rate of Deutsche Bahn including all of their trains is 90%. Don’t get me wrong here: 90% is still piss poor, however, on paper that’s actually a bit better than British trains.
Sorry the €58 per month for national travel makes the Berlin system an instant win. You can spend that in a week commuting within London and easily go over that if you commute from outside the city in just one return trip at peak.
As a Berliner who has visited London a couple of times , I agree with every point you make. Great video ! Last year I went to Dublin and was shocked how outdated the system there was. I have visited dozens of cities in Europe and never have I encountered a public transport where you cannot buy tickets online or use cashless options ( in recent years). Even in cash loving Germany you have phone apps and machines where you can buy tickets without cash. On the bus in Dublin we could only pay cash and they didn’t even give out change. We had to get on a bus and only had a 20€ bill. It was a real nuisance to always have the right amount of coins ready for the bus. When everywhere else you didn’t need cash at all.
amazing video! the amount of research and stunning shots is absolutely unbelievable!!! this was such an interesting and compelling watch! your growth as a content creator developing your skills and making increasingly complex content over the last 8+ years i’ve watched you has been really inspiring!!
Evans editing/cinematography skills are amazing, this video is on a par with something the BBC would produce. Just doesn't make sense why his subs aren't far higher. Well done Evan for not drowning you silly sausage.
Thank you for including the ending.The irony brought a big smile to my face. The combination of your knowledge, wit and videography skills is greatly appreciated.
A little pedantic correction that I only noticed because I happened to have just watched CPG Grey's video on The City of London.. but the flag you have used is for the The City of London but not for London (the place with the tubes). The City of London is a city within Greater London, surrounded by a wall and governed by a separate government and Mayor to that of London. London does not have a flag but The City of London does not have a tube network so I don't know how to finish this comment
The City, capital C, does have tube stations within it though. London city is a generic term for Greater London, 650 sq. miles, as well as the two cities within, The City of London and the City of Westminster. Both have a Coat of Arms rather than a flag.
Having lived in Berlin and visited London fairly often (I live up North), I can say you're spot on, they're very comparable. For me, it's probably the S-Bahn that puts Berlin over London, just slightly. What's crazy is that driving in Berlin should be great because the traffic is really not that bad, however their streets are ridiculously unoptimised, to the point that a simple trip from the city centre to Lichtenberg would take me 30 mins even at 2am with zero traffic.
Berlin's car traffic has deteriorated over time - partly on purpose in order to deter people from using cars. Berlin now has the most annual hours of traffic jam per driver in Germany - 20 years ago, Berlin did much better, both in absolute terms and on comparison with other German cities. I have taken to using Google Maps for every trip by car I'm making however well I know the route - it just may navigate you around some spontaneous roadworks plus terrible traffic jam.
Amazing video! Never been to Berlin but I do agree that London's public transport network is of an extremely high standard, even if it can be extremely frustrating at peak hours and when tourists are faffing around. The river boat is very relaxing, and when I took the DLR through Canary Wharf this week I had a lot of fun imagining I was in Fritz Lang's Metropolis.
One thing about the noise in London: one of the noisy sections that really gets me is the southbound northern line around Bank. It’s really noisy, and it’s also the section of track that opened the most recently-just three years ago! It feels like noise wasn’t in the design parameters, which is wild for a project in the 2020s
The S-Bahn is not actually part of the BVG in Berlin. It's part of Deutsche Bahn. It has the advantage that if the BVG decides to go on a strike the S-Bahn is still driving, only busses and U-Bahn are not running. And vice versa. If Deutsche Bahn goes on a strike and the S-Bahn doesn't come people can still use busses and U-Bahn. So you can still get around Berlin although it's a bit more of a hassle.
Adding to the confusion, both S-Bahn and BVG are part of the VBB, meaning the same ticket is valid for both. This is why many people don’t realize they are separate operators.
Good video as always. As an American who was born in and has lived in places with horrible or non-existent transit his whole life I can't help but be impressed by London's system. Yeah, it has quirks and can be a bit confusing (I'm talking to you Circle Line) but considering its origin story it is nothing short of amazing. Consider that the whole thing basically happened without any sort of real plan: like Topsy, it "just grow'd". I guess as a sometimes visitor I should learn more about the cheaper options to get around but so far I've always just tapped in and tapped out with my phone and ignored the price. Hey, it's a holiday - screw the cost! Maybe next time I'll remember to check out the weekly. Then again, given my age I'll probably forget by the time I get there...
It's more complicated in London: The price for a journey between the same places may not be the same depending on which mode of transport (train, underground, bus,...) you use.
I have hyperacusis from noise damage thank you for talking about the decibel levels! pretty please protect your ears y’all get some ear plugs like loops to take with you if you can 🙏🏼👑
I wonder what the impact of this has had on people more commonly wearing earbuds that have active noise cancelling these days? I sometimes just put mine in when commuting without listening to music just so I don't hear the noisy bus engine or whatever lol.
TOP notch editing on this Evan! Great job. I'm only on the first section between you and Geoff but it's seamless. FYI I live in Uxbridge and we have had no PIccadilly Line running since November due to leaves on the line/tracks.. Thats several months of being cut off.. but get this... its the exact same line the Metropolitan tubes run on and they've been just fine.!! Go figure!
I have to say Evan, I have never seen such a professional looking video on RUclips (although the Map Men come close 😊). This video can easily be a TV production. Well scripted, well shot and great editing, even the sound was spot on. Top job, fella, top job. 👍
Evan! Thank you for all the hard work and energy you’ve put in your videos lately. They keep getting better and better. I really appreciate all the editing and clever scripting you’ve put into this video. 😊
I feel like there were some key missing categories: * wayfinding (okay, so you've arrived at your final stop, now what? is your next action clear?) * pathing (which is the term I'm using for ease of getting to and from the platform level, think accessibility but without the suggestion of being an issue only for people with mobility problems) * friction (by which I mean how much faffing around do you have to do to actually use the service... you sort of touched on it with the paper tickets in Berlin, there's just so much friction added with that) * dwell times (how long do services stop at each stop) * centre bias (like, having more service to more parts of the city is always better but if all those routes are basically spokes radiating from a central hub, that's not so good)
Referring to minute 5:15, May I draw some attention to the fact that the population of Greater London is 8.9 million inhabitants, while the city and federal state of Berlin has only 3,7 millions. So, way I suggest the comparison be multiplied with a correction factor of 2.6, so that Berlin's 147 km x 2.6 = 382 still remains less than London's 402 km, but the difference is much smaller now.
This was great! You should make a video about Basels trinational tram system. Generally they deserve more videos (totally not just because I love the city)
It's great we finally got the Evan and Geoff cross over. Given we've had Jay already we need Jago hazard and the Tim traveler to complete the bingo card. Great video Evan as always.
A rockband from Berlin called Von Wegen Lisbeth has a song about the filthyness of a certain Berlin S-Bahn station. The song is called "Westkreuz" The chorus says , The fact that i miss you is as sure as the fact that the lift at Westkreuz station smells like piss (loosely translated)
size comparisons between two entities where one side is twice as big (and has twice as many citizens) as the other is a bit ridiculous, don't you think?
I'm British and I don't even think the 4 points you gave to London for network size was that fair. London is a much bigger city than Berlin, so you should compare network size RELATIVE to population, not absolute size. Berlin would have scored even higher then. The one that surprised me most though was signage. I thought London would for sure win that one.
As a Berliner who once lived in London, I thought the same. The signage in Berlin is even better when it comes to connecting public transport, i.e., busses, trams, trains, etc. Displays do not only tell you what the next stop will be but also when is the next connecting transport. That's very handy. But cleanliness on and around public transport is an issue here. Often, it is just revolting.
My biggest gripe with London public transport is how UN-connected transfers are from one system is to the next, even between tube lines. It is so tiring going through a maze for transit inside the same station and often causes people to miss their transfers with so many lines on different ground levels. Bus stops are also never conveniently grouped outside the station. We frequently have to cross roads between bus stop and train station causing us to miss them. God forbid you have to go from train to coach at Victoria! Visiting NL has made me realise how efficient it is to have one system next to the other. Trams, buses, all immediately outside a station, grouped together for convenience and speed. Made me think how tiring it is commuting in London and for a higher fare. It's all well and good if you live somewhere that only needs 1 line to commute but not when you need 2 or more.
in terms of sound pressure: 110 DB is concert level 90 is loud, but can be endured for up to about 10 hours a week without permanent damage 80 is when you can't think anymore. 3 Db is double the physical sound pressure, 10 db is double the perceived volume. Just gonna call back the Tom Scott "Get some god damn" for all of us who do enjoy gigs. (I work as a lampy aswell as a noisemaker in events, we make the biggest sounds)
The capacity of a Berliner S-Bahn is relative to how busy the Hertha game has been. I ended up in Berlin during a BVG strike in March 2024 which meant only the S-Bahn was running. Got on the first running u-bahn after the strike ended and was surreal to watch people unsure what was going on
Public rail transport in my area of South London has improved fourfold over the course of my life. We had trains into Charing Cross when I was a kid and that was it. Or you could cross the river (Woolwich ferry or underground foottunnel and get another overground train from North Woolwich, only getting to the Underground interchange at London Bridge or Liverpool Street to broaden options. But then we got the Docklands Light Railway via Greenwich and Lewisham, and the subsequently extended to Woolwich, The 2012 Olympics came around and someone thought South East London should get the Underground, and it did... in North Greenwich only. And most recently we've gotten the Elizabeth Line, ten years late but we've got it. Maybe one day they'll finally extend the Jubilee line south eastwards and make it worthwhile.
The reality is that both systems are great, among the best in Europe (and the world for that matter) and provide good experience of getting around the city. Something I could not say about Rome, for example, or some other European cities, not to mention the Americas. In the world of public transport nerds both London and Berlin usually score very high marks, even if somewhat a bit below Paris. The reason why Berlin (or any major German city) wins for me is fares and pricing. London transport is just too bloody expensive, and it doesn't need to be.
I'm absolutely biased. I grew up in Hong Kong, and so as you can expect, think the world of Hong Kong's public transit. While still appreciative of London's, on which I periodically rely on, Hong Kong's MTR out-rates the Tube, and likely the various Berlin Bahns. I do have a pet peeve about the MTR, though: it is NOT bicycle-friendly. You have to remove the front wheel, or get a folding bike.
I've never been to either city but found myself constantly comparing to Prague, and while I don't carry the hard numbers in my memory, I think Prague comes out pretty good from the comparison (except maybe on bikes and accessibility - no idea what the numbers are there).
The extension part of the Jubilee line is loud partly because the tunnels are much larger because when it was built the safety rules had been updated to require a continuous walking route beside the train at track level. That means there is a lot more space in the tunnel for sound to reverberate.
I dont really remember Londons public transit from the one time I was there. But I sure know that Berlin does not have a better one Also, if you call the S-Bahn Schnellbahn or Stadtbahn again, there is no historical evidence of any of these names, before it was called S-Bahn it was called Stadt-Schnellbahn for its quick acceleration compared to steam locomotive hauled trains of the time
Can't really compare as I haven't been in Berlin for ages but I'm always impressed how easy it is to use the London tube. Like how they place signs so people don't stand in awkward spots holding up the flow of passengers who know where they're going. I even use the tube map to find my way around on the street level
As a wheelchair user who recently spent 2 weeks travelling around Germany on the trains, I found that the u-bahns and s-bahns largely great. The German information about where the problems on these are is much better (TfLs definition of 'step free to train' leaves a huge amount to be desired). Apart from a single broken lift at an extremely inopportune time (rushing on the U-Bahn after our tram didn't show) every lift worked, although sometimes it was very difficult to find where the lifts even were. Deutsche-Bahn however... Between the absolute nightmare that was our attempt to get the 'fully' accessible regional trains, wheelchair lifts in place of ramps which were unable to handle their specified weight and the *need* to book at least 24 hours in advance and be at the meeting point 30 minutes before the train, and train swaps meaning the wheelchair space wasn't where we expected it to be...I enjoyed it, and I'd do it again, but my word I've never missed turn up and go more, even if it's far from 100%. I did also find ticketing more difficult to manage as at least in London I can use contactless and as long as I'm not penny pinching, not worry about what ticket I actually need.
My goodness...this video must have been a heavy lift to put together. The research, collecting the shots, all the different angles, scripting and putting it together in an organised way and then the editing... Well done.
I miss Berlin’s public transport. One great thing you didn’t mention is that you don’t need to buy tickets and validate them. They have an app which is pretty decent. So you can buy it on your phone and just ride. No turnstiles is so nice.
If you have a week or month pass you don't have to do anything. It's great. (except for the panic trying to remember where you stuck the little paper thing in your wallet if the checkers get you.)
8:45 - fun piece of trivia about the ferries in berlin: in summer you can use the line f24 which is actually just a regular rowboat - no motor! - with a guy in BVG uniform paddling you across the Müggelspree. The vessel is called the "Paule III".
Very interesting video Evan! I feel like one aspect of London you didn't mention is that the end destination of tube trains often change. I.e. you wait for the district line train to Wimbledon, so it to change its mind halfway through and go to Ealing Broadway!
I love my Berlin Trams. More please...Also Berlin transport has been working on installing "Flüstergleise" (whispering tracks) that have made it all quieter.
@@Mochi.Rin_Official I'd love it too! I was already comparing both of these to the public transit system in Helsinki, but I don't have all the data to score it properly, and I'm too lazy to do the digging 🤣 I can say that signage there is very good, but at the same time you can't really talk about an underground network, when it's just a two-headed fork 😂 But hey, at least you can't ever get lost!
The reason why London underground trains are so loud now, is because they used to produce a lot of vibrations in certain areas through the ground and into basement of neighbouring buildings, so too reduce that they put special noise reduction plates under the rails, so when you go round a sharp bend, allowing all the vibrations are focused on the train giving off a loud high pitched noise.
A big difference is also that London underground just shuts down in the night. Learned that the hard way after a show in Wembley where thousands of people where stranded when the tube just stopped after midnight. In Berlin you'll always get around.
For ticketing: yes, Berlin's is much cheaper and easier to understand, but I'd argue that the contactless payment makes London at least as easy, if not easier, to use. I still have 2 Oyster Cards, but the few times I pass by these days, I just use my credit card without any fuss, it will automatically cap what I pay to what a day ticket would be for the zones I was in. If not a point, it should deserve an honorable mention IMO. The D-ticket is also very dependent on the political will to stay available, there's a federal election coming up, and everything points to a loss of the coalition who enacted the D-ticket. A lot will depend on the future government coalition...
23:42 I have to correct some things: 1. In artical mentioned the punctuality was 58.4% for long distance trains (IC, ICE and EC). The overall punctual statistics for DB is 89.5%. The punctuality for regional trains (RE and RB) is 90.3% 2. The Berlin S-Bahn has compeletly seperated network and has an overall punctuality of 93.7% (a S-Bahn train counts as delayed when it is 4+ min behind its schedule)
Thanks, Evan. As a Berliner, I _of course_ *wholeheartedly disagree* with you as complaining about the BVG is in our DNA, and it's physically impossible for us to accept what we get for our money is actually well worth it.
Exactly! How can you expect it to get any better if you don't constantly complain about it!
I am a Berliner and most people in Berlin appreciate the BVG. I'm not even mad that they are on strike today. I wonder if you are a real Berliner or if you live in a bubble where everyone complaints all the time. You must be miserable.
@@ag4444 hell of a train of thought to have about a random stranger, so its probably projection. Hope you get better!
Superb Evan! 👏 and thanks for having me for a small part of this! Paris … next time? 😊
You need to rank Taipei vs Bangkok vs KL metro system
Geoff, Evan, great video! I'm glad you didn't have to swim home Evan!
I've never ridden on the U-Bahn before, but could TFL's cleaning and maintenance teams that descend underground during the night be just one of the reasons why TFL Tube stations are clean and do not smell like a gent's urinal? 😉
These teams and all the other TFL teams needed to keep London moving and customers happy will (probably) mean higher operating costs vs that of BVG too. 🤔
FYI, Channel 5's The Tube: Keep London Moving! was great docuseries to learn what goes on behind the scenes with TFL. It would be interesting to know if it is as extensive with BVG!
Sometimes I think I mask my autism so well then you drop a video about public transport and well I'm sat and throughly engaged for 30 minutes
15:45 the Deutschland Ticket indeed allows one to take all types of regional trains even the fast ones going between cities. You can thus cross the entirety of Germany with the D-Ticket just at the pace of a snail
*almost all
* and also sometimes one station in a neighbouring country.
Don’t forget, the BahnCard100 is 4500€ a year, if you want to splurge on the premium product for all Germany including IC/ICE and passenger rights; still cheaper than commuting from Zone 9
At least in Berlin it includes several IC and ICEs including Potsdam to Cottbus (IC) and Berlin to Prenzlau (ICE)
This is a program that needs to be adopted worldwide. The fact that we are putting more barriers on using public transport is insane. While cars, trucks and mopeds are given a free pass to not only take up space but pollute our lungs with PM 2.5 something other than for the odd metal shavings doesn't happen on electric-powered public steel wheel on rail transport... That alone is why all ICE drivers should morally, legally and financially be required to pay for their non-polluting public alternatives via gas/carbon/pollution taxes...
@@stickynorth agreed, but bonus taxes / punishment alone doesn’t fix anything, just makes people angry at the project. Soo, get minimum service standards as a right and get people to use it, then raise taxes to pay for it would be my attempt
I've lived in both cities. It's definitely Berlin. For price; for comfortable journeys (it was rare that I wouldn't get a seat on a train or tram in Berlin); and interchangeability between trams, trains and buses.
I am a train nerd with an interest bordering on obsession with London's various trains, and I think even I'd admit that Berlin nowadays is a better system overall. As well as the trams, the S-Bahn is an absolute game changer, it's far more extensive than the London Overground.
A lot of this is helped that it was built a lot later than most of the network in London, so they learned how to actually make an integrated system. That and much of Berlin was levelled during the war and needed to be rebuilt anyway. A lot of main land Europe has this aspect in terms of building infrastructure.
Never got a seat at Alex myself but then it’s a tourist hotspot - great system though, I love the trams
@@TalesOfWar U-Bahn and S-Bahn are two separate systems built by two competing operators, who haven't been integrated for most of their history. They share a common fare and line numbering system today, but those are "recent" achievements (recent as compared to the length of their entire history), which is from the 1980s on from a West Berlin perspective. After WW2 the flattened rail structures were really just reinstated into their pre-war status. The post war rebuild wasn't much of an upgrade.
@@xaverlustig3581 yet they combine perfectly. And as a Berliner it's perfect to have them both. If one is on strike, more often the S-Bahn but tomorrow the BVG, then you simply use the other.
I would say that the great victory of Berlin's public transport system over London is in the accessibility of stations for the general public. In London, the experience of getting to the station platform, especially in the city center, felt like walking through an endless maze. At times, it felt like just getting to the platform and getting off at your destination took up 50% of the total time of the journey. In Berlin, however, at most stations, you only have 20 steps to get to the platform and can rush to the train that has just arrived at the station. For that alone, I would give Berlin 3 more points.
Can you confirm that the newer the station, the easier the access ?
i.e. many of the issues are with old stations, some of which are accessible, but some are difficult to expensive to make accessible?
That seems to be because the lines are not very deep in Berlin. Maybe because Berlin is so flat?
One thing that's easily forgotten is that because Berlin doesn't have ticket gates it makes it easier to package the metro stations within whatever constraints exist.
Berlin mainly has cut and cover built stations mostly along streets which makes it easy to access (also because of high groundwater) or above ground...London did start that way for trains coming into London but city centre is just not accessible in that way also the Thames is a big problem. If you want to know more watch "the secret of the London underground"
@@ormusafi5205 the outer above ground stations and cut and cover lines are generally still pretty good for this. Sort of obvious but the larger interchange stations are the worst to navigate.
I can't help but love the irony about how you touched on how infrequently BVG workers go on strike compared to London, yet you uploaded this video the day before the second BVG strike of this year.
The other thing about accessibility between Berlin and London is that in London there are many ridiculous gaps to mind (literally jumping can be involved) and you you have to go to special places for level boarding. In a lot of the stations in Berlin the train comes in, the doors open and it’s completely level with a tiny gap between the train and the platform for every single door.
One of the benefits of being a much newer network and built as an actual network. London was working things out as they went as nobody had ever done it before, and they were all built by competing companies.
@@Batters56 On the underground? The only really large gap I can think of is at Waterloo on the Bakerloo line.
@@izzieb Bank - Central line.
In Berlin a lot of the trains have a floor height of just above the platform, making for an annoying step onto the train where oftentimes a ramp has to be put down for wheelchairs to go up. This is the case on both the U-Bahn and the S-Bahn, tho most S-Bahn trains now have a floor height of 1m (platforms are 960mm and have been for a long time). One exception is the Siemensbahn, which was built semi independently by Siemens and is abandoned, no trains run there since it has shut down in 1980 or so. There, the platforms were built to match the 1100mm floor height of trains at the time
@@chrism2279 That's definitely the worst offender, though basically any of the, quite numerous, curved platforms on the Underground has a significant gap.
Living in Berlin, I am always happy to be in London - the fact that you can "tap and go" and not worry about what ticket to get is just unbeatable. Yes, I have a Deutschlandticket here, but you can't really get that for a shorter vacation here and you need to consider "manually" when to get which ticket.
Imo the lack of fare-gates should be another point as it makes your journey significantly easier and quicker as well as enabling the stations to be a thoroughfare for pedestrians instead of an obstacle.
Also, the BahnCard100, the ticket that covers D-Ticket and IC/ICE (and passenger rights, [ab-]usable for free hotel stays) is 4500€ yearly, still cheaper than commuting from Zone 9
The one piece of paper you didn't check beforehand was a London Tide Table. It comes in fast and strong. If you had been stuck the RNLI would have rescued you, dial 999 and ask for the Coastguard, they cover the river up to Teddington and the 4 Lifeboat Stations on the river are manned 24/7 and are amongst the busiest they have, averaging over 250 shouts per year each.
The fire rescue boats passed by with lights on right after I got out. They were prepared haha
@@evan London Underground is clean?
You are a world laughing stock
@@matpk London underground in not clean - we all know that. However it is actually cleaner than in Berlin. Trust me on that.
The Deutschland-Ticket actually also covers all regional travel, with the RE and RB Trains, that often span far distances. You can travel across the whole of germany just by using this one ticket, you just would have to change trains often and the trains stop often and therefore are very slow in comparison to the long distance IC and ICE Trains
Hey, Evan. Just wanted to let you know that I not only enjoy the videos, but your sound mixing makes it absolutely perfect for just having running in the periphery while I do other things without missing words or beats.
Keep up the good work!
Thank you! I had a few weird microphone issues in this one from the scarf as well as randomly sounding distorted but I tried my best to normalise it
@@evan If you want to further practice your German:
Bear-lean
Considering Berlin is a lot smaller smaller than London, I don't think the size of network should necessarily be considered. If you have a bigger space to cover, you're going to have more stops. Still a great video tho!
But the bigger the city, the higher chance of delays, the more maintenance it needs which means higher prices, more queues, more wear and tear...
@hughtube5154 yes, but none of that is in consideration during the video, just scale. That's my point. Wear and tear happens to anything that is used too, so even a tiny towns train station needs maintenance if that's the lane you want to argue. The ranking system is still skewed a bit unfairly when considering my original points.
15:45 the RE lines are pretty fast and also go between big cities!
And they are included in the Deutschland Ticket! I heard that there are a few exceptions where RBs/REs aren’t included when they aren’t operated by DB but I don’t know of any.
@@ninamarie177 There are some REs which are actually ICs in disguise, and are therefore operated by DB Fernverkehr GmbH, and are not part of the ticket, but to make things even more confusing, there are some ICs which are actually part of the Deutschlandticket. And yes, you can't use trains that aren't operated by DB, such as Flixtrain. In the DB Navigator app, you can click on the tree dots to see who the operator of a train is - if it says DB Fernverker GmbH, you cannot use it with a DTicket, but those are the absolute exception.
@@ninamarie177 As a general rule, long-distance trains (IC, ICE, EC, Flix...) do not allow to travel with a D-ticket, but there are a handful of IC trains operated by DB Fernverkehr that are also (partially) subsidised by the German States responsible for regional trains, and are thus both an IC and an RE. And DB Fernverkehr wants to be compensated correctly for the use of their trains. Some States have negotiated an agreement of acceptance, others haven't bothered. For instance, ICs serving Emden and Norddeich Mole allow for D-ticket users, but only from Bremen. The IC to Westerland auf Sylt are generally not allowed, except IC 2075 between Niebüll and Westerland on workdays, not weekends (probably because the hole in the timetable would be too large if you weren't).
The re lines from the airport are really not great and the capacity is terrible.
...and from Berlin to the Ostsee (Baltic Sea)
An excellent video, as far as it goes. It is a tad challenging to draw direct comparisons between these cities. London covers an area almost twice that of Berlin, and has a population three times as large. London also has to cater for four times the number of international tourists that Berlin does. The furthest one may travel by U-Bahn from central Berlin is 16 km. For London that figure is 41 km. So like for like comparisons are difficult.
The farthest you can get from Berlin using the S-Bahn is probably to Strausberg Nord, which is about 50km away from the city center
But there are just swamps behind, it makes no sence to build it so far outside.
Oh, thank god somebody pointed out the size difference and the numbers using the system
I was very impressed by Berlin’s public transit system when I visited, I think the fact it’s this neck and neck even though Berlin has less than half the population of London is a testament to how impressive it is.
Love seeing this video while being stuck at home because of the BVG strike today👏
There is one single thing that for me makes Berlin the clear winner. Its the incredibly easy accessibility of Berlin stations: In London sometimes it can literally take up to 5 minutes (if not more if u r slow) to get from street level down multiple escalators and corridors deep down to the platform. Meanwhile in Berlin it's one flight of stairs and you re just under the ground at Station level.
For me personally it's such a convenience booster, it feels less like a whole journey you have to take but sometimes you are walking on the street and then you hear the sound of a train coming so you re like "hell yeah i ll just quickly hop on" and it just accelerates your walk by spontaneously transporting you that one station. I love that
Yes plus trams remove pretty much ALL the faff and time of escalators and stations!
This is terrific and mostly very fair. What it doesn't completely take into consideration is that London is a much, much bigger city. Also, Berlin can't be blamed for not having boats like the ones on the mighty Thames. Berlin is on the Spree - a very small river. A Berlin feature that isn't mentioned is that all the U-Bahn lines are only just beneath the surface. A single flight of steps and you're on the platform and good to go. No struggles with long escalators.
The mighty Thames earns a free point 😎
I think the other point is that the ferries in Berlin are actual public transport - you can use them with a normal single trip ticket or subscription. Where the Thames river cruises are closer to the "Stern und Kreis"-type sightseeing tours which charge a premium.
Make it "one or two flights of stairs" as many stations (e.g. lines 7 and 9) have a mezzanine between street and rail level.
Much, much bigger? I'd say maybe 2-3 times bigger, hardly deserving of the 'much, much' tag?
@@evan London Underground is clean?
Is this video a comedy?
EVAN AND GEOFF COLLAB YOOO
This was an absolutely fantastic video and as a transport nerd, I loved watching every minute of it Evan! Well done, this was so worth the wait and can't wait to see the Paris episode later in the year!
I always enjoy your comparison videos and appreciate the humor. I know you must put an unbelievable amount of effort into them and want you to know it is appreciated.
24:04 Just to set the record straight: That number excludes all rail services except for IC and ICE (and their jointly operated foreign counterparts) so it’s explicitly not representative of all Deutsche Bahn trains across all of Germany. They just list that number separately due to how these services are financed and due to them being run by a different subsidiary. The actual punctuality rate of Deutsche Bahn including all of their trains is 90%. Don’t get me wrong here: 90% is still piss poor, however, on paper that’s actually a bit better than British trains.
The production value on this is so great! You can totally see the effort here
Yay, thank you!
Sorry the €58 per month for national travel makes the Berlin system an instant win. You can spend that in a week commuting within London and easily go over that if you commute from outside the city in just one return trip at peak.
As a Berliner who has visited London a couple of times , I agree with every point you make. Great video !
Last year I went to Dublin and was shocked how outdated the system there was. I have visited dozens of cities in Europe and never have I encountered a public transport where you cannot buy tickets online or use cashless options ( in recent years). Even in cash loving Germany you have phone apps and machines where you can buy tickets without cash. On the bus in Dublin we could only pay cash and they didn’t even give out change. We had to get on a bus and only had a 20€ bill. It was a real nuisance to always have the right amount of coins ready for the bus. When everywhere else you didn’t need cash at all.
amazing video! the amount of research and stunning shots is absolutely unbelievable!!! this was such an interesting and compelling watch! your growth as a content creator developing your skills and making increasingly complex content over the last 8+ years i’ve watched you has been really inspiring!!
Evans editing/cinematography skills are amazing, this video is on a par with something the BBC would produce. Just doesn't make sense why his subs aren't far higher.
Well done Evan for not drowning you silly sausage.
They number of cuts and locations used is quite staggering.
But with more humor than the BBC! 😁
Yes, Evan and Geoff collab at last!
Jago Hazzard > Geoff Marshall.
@@danieleyre8913 Both are great.
Thank you for including the ending.The irony brought a big smile to my face. The combination of your knowledge, wit and videography skills is greatly appreciated.
A little pedantic correction that I only noticed because I happened to have just watched CPG Grey's video on The City of London.. but the flag you have used is for the The City of London but not for London (the place with the tubes). The City of London is a city within Greater London, surrounded by a wall and governed by a separate government and Mayor to that of London. London does not have a flag but The City of London does not have a tube network so I don't know how to finish this comment
I’ve seen that vid! Yeah I put it in anyway as it felt like the best visual thing and didn’t wanna use the British flag as I really liked Berlin’s
The City, capital C, does have tube stations within it though. London city is a generic term for Greater London, 650 sq. miles, as well as the two cities within, The City of London and the City of Westminster. Both have a Coat of Arms rather than a flag.
@@tonys1636 go to Wikipedia and search world top 50 largest metro
Having lived in Berlin and visited London fairly often (I live up North), I can say you're spot on, they're very comparable. For me, it's probably the S-Bahn that puts Berlin over London, just slightly. What's crazy is that driving in Berlin should be great because the traffic is really not that bad, however their streets are ridiculously unoptimised, to the point that a simple trip from the city centre to Lichtenberg would take me 30 mins even at 2am with zero traffic.
Berlin's car traffic has deteriorated over time - partly on purpose in order to deter people from using cars.
Berlin now has the most annual hours of traffic jam per driver in Germany - 20 years ago, Berlin did much better, both in absolute terms and on comparison with other German cities.
I have taken to using Google Maps for every trip by car I'm making however well I know the route - it just may navigate you around some spontaneous roadworks plus terrible traffic jam.
I love how an Evan Edinger video can be just anything
Amazing video! Never been to Berlin but I do agree that London's public transport network is of an extremely high standard, even if it can be extremely frustrating at peak hours and when tourists are faffing around. The river boat is very relaxing, and when I took the DLR through Canary Wharf this week I had a lot of fun imagining I was in Fritz Lang's Metropolis.
One thing about the noise in London: one of the noisy sections that really gets me is the southbound northern line around Bank. It’s really noisy, and it’s also the section of track that opened the most recently-just three years ago! It feels like noise wasn’t in the design parameters, which is wild for a project in the 2020s
The S-Bahn is not actually part of the BVG in Berlin. It's part of Deutsche Bahn. It has the advantage that if the BVG decides to go on a strike the S-Bahn is still driving, only busses and U-Bahn are not running. And vice versa. If Deutsche Bahn goes on a strike and the S-Bahn doesn't come people can still use busses and U-Bahn. So you can still get around Berlin although it's a bit more of a hassle.
Adding to the confusion, both S-Bahn and BVG are part of the VBB, meaning the same ticket is valid for both. This is why many people don’t realize they are separate operators.
Good video as always. As an American who was born in and has lived in places with horrible or non-existent transit his whole life I can't help but be impressed by London's system. Yeah, it has quirks and can be a bit confusing (I'm talking to you Circle Line) but considering its origin story it is nothing short of amazing. Consider that the whole thing basically happened without any sort of real plan: like Topsy, it "just grow'd". I guess as a sometimes visitor I should learn more about the cheaper options to get around but so far I've always just tapped in and tapped out with my phone and ignored the price. Hey, it's a holiday - screw the cost! Maybe next time I'll remember to check out the weekly. Then again, given my age I'll probably forget by the time I get there...
your editing is just top notch! awesome job my dude :)
It's more complicated in London: The price for a journey between the same places may not be the same depending on which mode of transport (train, underground, bus,...) you use.
I have hyperacusis from noise damage thank you for talking about the decibel levels! pretty please protect your ears y’all get some ear plugs like loops to take with you if you can 🙏🏼👑
I wonder what the impact of this has had on people more commonly wearing earbuds that have active noise cancelling these days? I sometimes just put mine in when commuting without listening to music just so I don't hear the noisy bus engine or whatever lol.
Thanks Evan. I always find your videos interesting, informative and the variety of topics fascinating. Keep them coming.
TOP notch editing on this Evan! Great job. I'm only on the first section between you and Geoff but it's seamless. FYI I live in Uxbridge and we have had no PIccadilly Line running since November due to leaves on the line/tracks.. Thats several months of being cut off.. but get this... its the exact same line the Metropolitan tubes run on and they've been just fine.!! Go figure!
Fun fact, cancelled trains, and trains that are less than 5 minutes delayed, dont actually count as "delayed" trains.
I CANNOT TELL YOU HOW HAPPY THIS COLLAB MAKES ME OMG
@@kiramabel2216 👋😅 hello!
I have to say Evan, I have never seen such a professional looking video on RUclips (although the Map Men come close 😊). This video can easily be a TV production.
Well scripted, well shot and great editing, even the sound was spot on. Top job, fella, top job. 👍
What a great video. Looks wonderful, super graphics, and very informative.
Gracias!
Evan! Thank you for all the hard work and energy you’ve put in your videos lately. They keep getting better and better. I really appreciate all the editing and clever scripting you’ve put into this video. 😊
I feel like there were some key missing categories:
* wayfinding (okay, so you've arrived at your final stop, now what? is your next action clear?)
* pathing (which is the term I'm using for ease of getting to and from the platform level, think accessibility but without the suggestion of being an issue only for people with mobility problems)
* friction (by which I mean how much faffing around do you have to do to actually use the service... you sort of touched on it with the paper tickets in Berlin, there's just so much friction added with that)
* dwell times (how long do services stop at each stop)
* centre bias (like, having more service to more parts of the city is always better but if all those routes are basically spokes radiating from a central hub, that's not so good)
Referring to minute 5:15, May I draw some attention to the fact that the population of Greater London is 8.9 million inhabitants,
while the city and federal state of Berlin has only 3,7 millions. So, way I suggest the comparison be multiplied with a correction factor of 2.6,
so that Berlin's 147 km x 2.6 = 382 still remains less than London's 402 km, but the difference is much smaller now.
Excellent ending! Glad you shared it. I used the Evan Nord link when I took it out a few months back!
Having Geoff Marshall is a huge plus for this video! Thank you for your review, well done to Berlin❤
The end scene stuck in the Thames 🤣🤣🤣
Nice to see Dodie back on the channel.
More to come!
As you promised, it’s evident that was quite an editing job. Well done, Evan, and thanks.
Evan did not consult a tide table before filming on the Thames. Glad you did not call out the RNLI and just got Wet Feet in the end. 🤣😂
I think someone had called them for me as they passed by with lights on after I escaped
Amazing video! Well-written, informative, great editing, and charisma on command! You rock Evan!
That was the best segue into a VPN ad I have ever seen!
Geoff !!! what a great Collab ;-)
Glad you enjoyed it 😊
Thumbs up for the seamless segway into the sponsor segment. From frigate to a VPN - not easy to do.
This was great! You should make a video about Basels trinational tram system.
Generally they deserve more videos (totally not just because I love the city)
It's great we finally got the Evan and Geoff cross over. Given we've had Jay already we need Jago hazard and the Tim traveler to complete the bingo card. Great video Evan as always.
A rockband from Berlin called Von Wegen Lisbeth has a song about the filthyness of a certain Berlin S-Bahn station. The song is called "Westkreuz"
The chorus says , The fact that i miss you is as sure as the fact that the lift at Westkreuz station smells like piss (loosely translated)
size comparisons between two entities where one side is twice as big (and has twice as many citizens) as the other is a bit ridiculous, don't you think?
I'm British and I don't even think the 4 points you gave to London for network size was that fair. London is a much bigger city than Berlin, so you should compare network size RELATIVE to population, not absolute size. Berlin would have scored even higher then. The one that surprised me most though was signage. I thought London would for sure win that one.
As a Berliner who once lived in London, I thought the same. The signage in Berlin is even better when it comes to connecting public transport, i.e., busses, trams, trains, etc. Displays do not only tell you what the next stop will be but also when is the next connecting transport. That's very handy. But cleanliness on and around public transport is an issue here. Often, it is just revolting.
My biggest gripe with London public transport is how UN-connected transfers are from one system is to the next, even between tube lines. It is so tiring going through a maze for transit inside the same station and often causes people to miss their transfers with so many lines on different ground levels. Bus stops are also never conveniently grouped outside the station. We frequently have to cross roads between bus stop and train station causing us to miss them. God forbid you have to go from train to coach at Victoria!
Visiting NL has made me realise how efficient it is to have one system next to the other. Trams, buses, all immediately outside a station, grouped together for convenience and speed. Made me think how tiring it is commuting in London and for a higher fare. It's all well and good if you live somewhere that only needs 1 line to commute but not when you need 2 or more.
The Elizabeth Line is not a tube line. It's like the RER in Paris. It's its own mode of transport
It's more like the S-Bahn in Berlin.
in terms of sound pressure:
110 DB is concert level
90 is loud, but can be endured for up to about 10 hours a week without permanent damage
80 is when you can't think anymore.
3 Db is double the physical sound pressure, 10 db is double the perceived volume.
Just gonna call back the Tom Scott "Get some god damn" for all of us who do enjoy gigs.
(I work as a lampy aswell as a noisemaker in events, we make the biggest sounds)
Interestingly, the North South tunnel in summer, especially before its renovation, probably went above 100 DB
misread the title as “Is Britain Overberlined?” and was briefly very confused
Love the collaboration with Geoff, feel like my worlds are colliding!
I’m so glad you made it back up on the upper level without having to swim! Yay! Evan😊
The capacity of a Berliner S-Bahn is relative to how busy the Hertha game has been.
I ended up in Berlin during a BVG strike in March 2024 which meant only the S-Bahn was running. Got on the first running u-bahn after the strike ended and was surreal to watch people unsure what was going on
Public rail transport in my area of South London has improved fourfold over the course of my life. We had trains into Charing Cross when I was a kid and that was it. Or you could cross the river (Woolwich ferry or underground foottunnel and get another overground train from North Woolwich, only getting to the Underground interchange at London Bridge or Liverpool Street to broaden options.
But then we got the Docklands Light Railway via Greenwich and Lewisham, and the subsequently extended to Woolwich, The 2012 Olympics came around and someone thought South East London should get the Underground, and it did... in North Greenwich only. And most recently we've gotten the Elizabeth Line, ten years late but we've got it. Maybe one day they'll finally extend the Jubilee line south eastwards and make it worthwhile.
Let's give this video the traction it deserves! 🚂
The reality is that both systems are great, among the best in Europe (and the world for that matter) and provide good experience of getting around the city. Something I could not say about Rome, for example, or some other European cities, not to mention the Americas. In the world of public transport nerds both London and Berlin usually score very high marks, even if somewhat a bit below Paris. The reason why Berlin (or any major German city) wins for me is fares and pricing. London transport is just too bloody expensive, and it doesn't need to be.
Here here
I'm absolutely biased. I grew up in Hong Kong, and so as you can expect, think the world of Hong Kong's public transit. While still appreciative of London's, on which I periodically rely on, Hong Kong's MTR out-rates the Tube, and likely the various Berlin Bahns.
I do have a pet peeve about the MTR, though: it is NOT bicycle-friendly. You have to remove the front wheel, or get a folding bike.
I've never been to either city but found myself constantly comparing to Prague, and while I don't carry the hard numbers in my memory, I think Prague comes out pretty good from the comparison (except maybe on bikes and accessibility - no idea what the numbers are there).
@@evan Here - in London and Here - in Berlin?
or Hear (him) Hear (him) - as in, people should listen to this person, he makes a good point?
What a collab! Love a bit of transport.
London also ripped out their trams in the whole city, not just one half like Berlin.
given Berlin's relative size compared to London, I'd say their S-Bahn is better than the Overground.
very gud again, i dare not ask how you maintain such a schedule
The extension part of the Jubilee line is loud partly because the tunnels are much larger because when it was built the safety rules had been updated to require a continuous walking route beside the train at track level. That means there is a lot more space in the tunnel for sound to reverberate.
Brilliant video as usual😊
Thank you so much
I dont really remember Londons public transit from the one time I was there. But I sure know that Berlin does not have a better one
Also, if you call the S-Bahn Schnellbahn or Stadtbahn again, there is no historical evidence of any of these names, before it was called S-Bahn it was called Stadt-Schnellbahn for its quick acceleration compared to steam locomotive hauled trains of the time
Can't really compare as I haven't been in Berlin for ages but I'm always impressed how easy it is to use the London tube. Like how they place signs so people don't stand in awkward spots holding up the flow of passengers who know where they're going.
I even use the tube map to find my way around on the street level
As a wheelchair user who recently spent 2 weeks travelling around Germany on the trains, I found that the u-bahns and s-bahns largely great. The German information about where the problems on these are is much better (TfLs definition of 'step free to train' leaves a huge amount to be desired). Apart from a single broken lift at an extremely inopportune time (rushing on the U-Bahn after our tram didn't show) every lift worked, although sometimes it was very difficult to find where the lifts even were.
Deutsche-Bahn however... Between the absolute nightmare that was our attempt to get the 'fully' accessible regional trains, wheelchair lifts in place of ramps which were unable to handle their specified weight and the *need* to book at least 24 hours in advance and be at the meeting point 30 minutes before the train, and train swaps meaning the wheelchair space wasn't where we expected it to be...I enjoyed it, and I'd do it again, but my word I've never missed turn up and go more, even if it's far from 100%. I did also find ticketing more difficult to manage as at least in London I can use contactless and as long as I'm not penny pinching, not worry about what ticket I actually need.
My goodness...this video must have been a heavy lift to put together. The research, collecting the shots, all the different angles, scripting and putting it together in an organised way and then the editing...
Well done.
Wow, thank you! Yes it was an unwieldy beast.
I miss Berlin’s public transport. One great thing you didn’t mention is that you don’t need to buy tickets and validate them. They have an app which is pretty decent. So you can buy it on your phone and just ride. No turnstiles is so nice.
If you have a week or month pass you don't have to do anything. It's great. (except for the panic trying to remember where you stuck the little paper thing in your wallet if the checkers get you.)
@ you don’t need the paper thing either. You can have it in the app.
8:45 - fun piece of trivia about the ferries in berlin:
in summer you can use the line f24 which is actually just a regular rowboat - no motor! - with a guy in BVG uniform paddling you across the Müggelspree.
The vessel is called the "Paule III".
You got the French marine to float into your shot just to get a transition to the sponsor??
Respect!
Very interesting video Evan! I feel like one aspect of London you didn't mention is that the end destination of tube trains often change. I.e. you wait for the district line train to Wimbledon, so it to change its mind halfway through and go to Ealing Broadway!
I love my Berlin Trams. More please...Also Berlin transport has been working on installing "Flüstergleise" (whispering tracks) that have made it all quieter.
would love to see this expand into a series where you create a ranking of various european cities across various countries based on these criteria
@@Mochi.Rin_Official I'd love it too! I was already comparing both of these to the public transit system in Helsinki, but I don't have all the data to score it properly, and I'm too lazy to do the digging 🤣 I can say that signage there is very good, but at the same time you can't really talk about an underground network, when it's just a two-headed fork 😂 But hey, at least you can't ever get lost!
Less strikes he says... and releases the video a day before a BVG Strike. 🥴
😂😂Thanks for a great video...please consider doing a video about Vienna's network, which is even better than the rest...😊😊
The reason why London underground trains are so loud now, is because they used to produce a lot of vibrations in certain areas through the ground and into basement of neighbouring buildings, so too reduce that they put special noise reduction plates under the rails, so when you go round a sharp bend, allowing all the vibrations are focused on the train giving off a loud high pitched noise.
Great video! (Next sponsor should probably be one of those waterproof shoes you see a lot)
Woah, the ending! Glad you're still alive!
I am so here for this recent shift into solid informative transit content
A big difference is also that London underground just shuts down in the night. Learned that the hard way after a show in Wembley where thousands of people where stranded when the tube just stopped after midnight. In Berlin you'll always get around.
For ticketing: yes, Berlin's is much cheaper and easier to understand, but I'd argue that the contactless payment makes London at least as easy, if not easier, to use. I still have 2 Oyster Cards, but the few times I pass by these days, I just use my credit card without any fuss, it will automatically cap what I pay to what a day ticket would be for the zones I was in. If not a point, it should deserve an honorable mention IMO.
The D-ticket is also very dependent on the political will to stay available, there's a federal election coming up, and everything points to a loss of the coalition who enacted the D-ticket. A lot will depend on the future government coalition...
Yeah the Oyster Card seems a good thing!
23:42 I have to correct some things:
1. In artical mentioned the punctuality was 58.4% for long distance trains (IC, ICE and EC). The overall punctual statistics for DB is 89.5%. The punctuality for regional trains (RE and RB) is 90.3%
2. The Berlin S-Bahn has compeletly seperated network and has an overall punctuality of 93.7% (a S-Bahn train counts as delayed when it is 4+ min behind its schedule)