If you want to go explore some Trams: We travelled the whole day with the Berlin-Brandenburg ticket for 33€. Valid Mon-Fri from 9, Sat-Sun all day on all regional trains, U-Bahn and nearly all trams/busses/ferries for up to 5 persons.

[to be continued]

#TramBinging

Anyway, back along a long closed shopping mall (sadly a common sight in East Germany) to the city centre, where we drive around in circles until we've covered every part of the lines there, before ending the day in a Restaurant with tram view in the old town.
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While we're waiting, a 2nd tram arrives and queues behind the first one on the same track (!) in the loop (not pictured). Uneconomic turnaround times, just like at Anton-Saefkow-Allee.

Seriously, this timetable freaks me out! Maybe I'm missing something, can somebody enlighten me?
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While we sketch a new timetable in our heads - déformation professionelle - the line 6 tram to Hohenstücken Nord arrives (did I hear someone say "stückeln"?). We drive through Plattenbau areas just end up with more questions at the terminus.
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It gets even better: On the quite long common section, the two lines run at the same time - one after the other! Especially on weekends, when trams run every 30 mins only - offset them by 15 mins would be a free (!) doubling for half of the line length.
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Both lines run in a weird 21-10-16-13 mins pattern from the main station and in a 18-10-15-17 pattern to the main station. We first thought that they tried to match tram times with the unsystematic RE1 departures/arrivals - but it doesn't really match.
This leaves me with only one question: WHY?!
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Enough time lost with photography, off for the second branch. We ride line 1 back to the first common stop with line 6. There, we have to wait 20 Minutes, even if there are 4 trams/hour on each line!
Wait, what? 🤔 This can only mean: We need to talk timetables!
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Tatra in the forest. And even the only one out in the proper VBBr livery today!
A few dozen metres of track have been replaced recently here.
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We'd love to explore the area, but it's raining cats and dogs and we want to see the other branch before it gets dark. So back on the tram and back through the forest to the Waldcafe Görden stop.

What sounds idyllic is not welcoming at all. A run down tram stop in the forest near a graffiti covered building of a closed restaurant, the Waldcafe. This must have been a popular place in DDR times - now it looks rather depressing. What a fascinating location!
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A turning loop in the woods swallows our Tatra and spits out another, which was hidden behind the trees. I'm so fascinated by the mood, I totally forget to take pictures of the surroundings - which is rather rare for me. Sorry, you need to go see it yourself. 😬
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The line resurfaces in a very strange neighborhood with an old clinic which looks like straight out of a horror movie, some residential buildings and the high concrete wall of a jail. Anton-Saefkow-Alle, terminus.
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At the end of a residential area, the line enters a forest and becomes single track. On tracks in bad shape, our Tatra bumps more than it rolls through the woodland.
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It's raining and already getting dark, so we don't lose any time and immediately hop on a line 1 service – jackpot in the Tatra lottery!
The two lines share tracks until north of Silo canal, where line 1 branches off in a oversized spiral ramp!
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The network consists of two lines, 1️⃣ and 6️⃣, and is 16km long. 10 Tatra KTNF6 and 6 Duewag MGT6D are the standard stock here, which means that not every tram is a Tatra.😬
In the city centre, the lines are arranged in confusing circles. 😵‍💫
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Short stop at the hotel to drop the luggage and then, we're chasing trams again: Tatra time!

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Last "big" train for today is an ODEG Desiro HC on RE1. The train is packed, so we stand the short 25 minutes down to Brandenburg an der Havel, which is - surprise! - another tram city.

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To my great joy, there are mild symptoms of #PlatformNumberMadness here. In Germany! 😲

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After the track is freed, our RB33 arrives from a siding. An ODEG BR 646 "GTW" works our only diesel train today. It's a quiet and scenic line through wide landscapes, forersts and along lakes before the train terminates at the busy Potsdam main station.

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Note: If you need to write and publish a manual for the customers on how to read your new departure indicator boards, you probably might want to rethink your design choices.

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At Jüterbog, our train reverses and immediately departs again back to Falkenberg. The station is situated at the main line between Berlin and Leipzig. ICE rushing past the platform with at least 160 km/h, if not 200! 😳

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