U2

U2 is a line of the Berlin U-Bahn. The U2 line starts at Pankow S-Bahn station, runs through the eastern city centre (Alexanderplatz) to Potsdamer Platz, the western city centre (Wittenbergplatz, Zoologischer Garten, Theodor-Heuss Platz) and finally to the Ruhleben terminal station. The U2 has 29 stations and a length of . Together with the U1, U3, and U4 lines, it was part of the early Berlin U-Bahn network built before 1914. The line between Potsdamer Platz and Zoologischer Garten was the western section of the "stem line" (Stammstrecke), Berlin's first U-Bahn line opened in 1902. Overview The line starts to the west of central Berlin at Ruhleben and runs on an embankment between Rominter Allee and the railway to Spandau (also called the "Olympic" or "Grunewald" railway). On the bend approaching Olympischen Straße, the line descends into tunnel to run beneath that road from Neu-Westend to Wittenbergplatz. Subsequently, the U2 swings onto Reichsstrasse to Theodor-Heuss-Platz, where it runs in a curve to Kaiserdamm. Under Kaiserdamm, which becomes Bismarckstraße at Sophie Charlotte-Platz, the tunnel runs straight to Ernst-Reuter-Platz. Here again, it swings to the southeast, following the course of Hardenberger Straße towards Zoologischer Garten station. In the tunnel, it passes the foundations of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church on a tight arc and then follows Tauentzienstraße to Wittenbergplatz where the line emerges to an elevated section via a ramp east of the Kleiststraße/Courbierestraße intersection.