Gegenstand der Prüfungen sind ebenso Funktion und Wechselwirkung der Stromabnehmer mit der Stromschiene Berliner Bauart sowie die fehlerfreie Erkennung von Stromschienenlücken und die Aufrechterhaltung des elektrischen Fahrzeug-Bordnetzes innerhalb von Trennstellen in der Berliner Infrastruktur.
Tests are conducted on the functioning and interaction of the current collectors with the Berlin S-Bahn power rail, the accurate detection of power rail gaps, and the capability to maintain electrical system operation while crossing section interfaces in the Berlin infrastructure.
Berlin’s new S-Bahn trains are a hundred days old, yet already proving highly reliable. The new 483/484 series has passed its baptism of fire and also proved itself during the spell of cold winter weather in February: The trains successfully defied snow, ice, and wind.
The first train punctually entered service at 0.01 a.m. on New Year’s. Since then, the ten pre- series trains have been running on Line S47 (Spindlersfeld – Hermannstraße) and have replaced the old 485 series trains.
With the new trains, S-Bahn Berlin not only offers its passengers greater comfort, but also provides more capacity for our customers. When all the 21 two-car units and 85 four-car units ordered from Siemens Mobility and Stadler have been delivered by the end of 2023, a total of 106 new quarter trains will be in operation.
Beginning this summer, the first series trains will be delivered and join the 483/484 fleet once they have been accepted.
SWISS will operate all its Berlin services to and from the city’s new Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) from 8 November 2020. The SWISS reservation system has already been reconfigured.
From 31 October 2020 onwards, flight operations in Berlin will relocate from the present Tegel Airport to the city’s new Brandenburg Airport (BER). The migration should be completed within the following week. Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) will commence its new operations to and from Berlin Brandenburg on 8 November. The first SWISS arrival at the new airport will be flight LX974 at 08:45, and the first SWISS Berlin Brandenburg departure will be flight LX975 to Zurich at 09:30.
SWISS Magazine, Berlin
The SWISS reservation system has already been reconfigured to reflect the planned move. Customers who book a flight to Berlin for travel on or after 8 November will be shown not Tegel (TXL) as their destination but the new Berlin Brandenburg (BER). Customers who have already booked such flights will be notified and rebooked. According to current plans, the arrival and departure times of the SWISS flights concerned will remain unchanged, as will the number of frequencies on the route.
Access to new lounge for SWISS travellers, too
Business Class travellers on Lufthansa Group airlines, Frequent Travellers, Senators, Star Alliance Gold Status Members and HON Circle Members can look forward to a particular highlight at the new Berlin Brandenburg Airport: the Lufthansa Lounge. The 1,600-square-metre facility, which is located in the Main Pier North of Terminal 1, offers separate senator and business sections in which visitors can relax, freshen up or work in calm surrounds. The new lounge also features a panoramic windowfront giving exclusive views out over the apron area and of the Berlin skyline beyond.
BERLIN (Reuters) – A German court on Sunday ordered Tesla Inc to stop clearing forest land near the capital Berlin to build its first European car and battery factory, a victory for local environmental activists.
The U.S. electric carmaker announced plans last November to build a Gigafactory in Gruenheide in the eastern state of Brandenburg.
The court ruling, by the higher administrative court of the states of Berlin and Brandenburg, comes after the state environmental office gave a green light to clear 92 hectares of forest for the plant.
Planning permission has not yet been granted to build the Gigafactory, however, meaning U.S. entrepreneur Elon Musk’s company is preparing the ground at its own risk.
In a statement, the court said it had issued the order to stop the tree-felling because it would have only taken three more days to complete the work.
Otherwise the clearance would have been completed before judges made a final decision on the complaint brought by a local environmentalist group called the Gruene Liga Brandenburg (Green League of Brandenburg).
“It should not be assumed that the motion seeking legal protection brought by the Green League lacks any chance of succeeding,” the court statement added.
Lawmakers from the pro-business Christian Democrat and Free Democrat parties have warned that the legal battle waged against the Gigafactory would inflict serious and long-lasting damage on Germany’s image as a place to do business.
Local and national lawmakers have been caught out by the strength of opposition to the Gigafactory, with hundreds of demonstrators protesting over what they say is the threat it poses to local wildlife and water supplies.
Tesla currently has two Gigafactories in the United States and one in Shanghai, China.
Tesla shares have surged 340% since early June as more investors bet on Musk’s vision.
(Reporting by Douglas Busvine; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
BERLIN (Reuters) – Around 250 Germans on Saturday protested in the outskirts of Berlin where electric car startup Tesla is planning to build a gigafactory, saying its construction will endanger water supply and wildlife in the area.
The U.S. carmaker announced plans last November to build its first European car factory in Gruenheide, in the eastern state of Brandenburg.
Politicians, unions and industry groups have welcomed the move, saying it will bring jobs to the region, but environmental concerns drove hundreds of locals to the streets on Saturday.
“We are here, we are loud, because Tesla is stealing our water,” protesters called.
Saturday’s protest came after a Brandenburg water association on Thursday warned against “extensive and serious problems with the drinking water supply and wastewater disposal” for the proposed factory.
Anne Bach, a 27-year-old environmental activist, said Tesla’s plans published earlier this month showed it would need more than 300 cubic meters of water per hour which would drain the area’s declining reserves.
“I am not against Tesla … But it’s about the site; in a forest area that is a protected wildlife zone. Is this necessary?” Bach said.
“In such an ecological system like the one here and with the background that climate is changing, I cannot understand why another location was not selected from the beginning,” said Frank Gersdorf, a member of “Citizens’ Initiative Gruenheide against Gigafactory”, a local group that organised Saturday’s protest.
Environmentalist protests in Germany have previously halted and delayed major companies’ plans such RWE’s lignite mining at the Hambach forest, near Cologne, which has become a symbol of the anti-coal protests.
Saturday’s protest, which Gersdorf and Bach said developed spontaneously from a 50-people forest walk demonstration, highlighted the deforestation of around 300 hectares to build the factory and its impact on wildlife, including birds, insects and bats.
People were also protesting against an expected “enormous” increase in traffic on a nearby highway and through the villages.
Next to the protest, on the other side of the street, around 20 people carried banners welcoming Tesla in their village, with children chanting, “We are here, we are loud, because Tesla is building our future.”
Bernd Kutz, a Gruenheide local, said Tesla would bring improvement to the area, create jobs and give chances to young people.
“I am here because I don’t understand those demonstrators who shout and show us the finger,” Kutz said. “Why has it always to be negative?”
(Reporting by Riham Alkousaa; editing by Christina Fincher)
‘You’re stealing our water’: Germans protest against Tesla gigafactory Demonstrators hold anti-Tesla posters during a protest against plans by U.S. electric vehicle pioneer Tesla to build its first European factory and design center near Berlin
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Tesla’s announcement earlier this month that it will build its first European factory near Berlin will draw further companies from the electric mobility and energy storage sectors into Germany, a state premier told newspaper Die Welt.
“They are already on their way. I’m hearing there are further inquiries with the communities and the regional business development programme. Tesla will cause other companies to follow,” said Dietmar Woidke, premier of the eastern German state of Brandenburg that surrounds Berlin.
He said Brandenburg was already in talks with other companies, declining to identify them due to confidentiality agreements. “I expect that we can announce it before Christmas,” Woidke said.
Tesla’s move is a big boost for Germany as a centre for manufacturing after BMW and Daimler in recent years chose to build new factories in Hungary, and after its auto industry was hit hard by Volkswagen’s admission in 2015 that it cheated U.S. diesel emissions tests.
(Reporting by Christoph Steitz; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
Brandenburg’s PM Woidke speaks speaks to the media on Tesla European factory in Potsdam
