Am 01.01.2012 20:45, schrieb Wolfgang Schwanke:
Upsides of the communist era:

you forgot the quotes around "communist".

The system worked well given the circumstances, and
it was apparent that the employees were eager to do
their best. There was no talk of shutting down lines for
non-profitability

true for the lines on GDR territory, since the importance was to get
people from A go B

(but for cold war reasons ),

only in the sense that lines across the borders between the GDR and
the peculiar political entity Westberlin were cut in August 1961.

The rest of the lines within Westberlin were actually closed down for
profitability reasons, if you want to employ that word. The GDR did not
want to subsidise public transit in another country, a country which was
very hostile to the govenment which subsidised the S-Bahn in Westberlin.


Cheers,
L.W.