How important is this new European hub for Deutsche Bahn and for Germany?
HARTMUT MEHDORN: Berlin has never had a central station, just like London or Paris. All three cities have always had only terminal stations. As from this year, Berlin will now have a central station, an architectural masterpiece that is highly functional and flooded with daylight, even though large parts of it are 131 feet below ground level. The new Hauptbahnhof will satisfy high demands for many decades to come. We are proud of this station. It will be a landmark, also for the city of Berlin. I believe that the inauguration of this station will be a new point of departure for the railway: Berlin as the traffic hub between east and west and north and south. Germany, in the center of Europe, is where the most important long-distance transport corridors cross; most of the roads, however, are already heavily congested. Nevertheless, both passenger and freight transport is sure to increase, especially from east to west. Will Deutsche Bahn profit from that trend, or will people tend to tra
