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Berlin has developed a highly complex transportation infrastructure providing very diverse modes of urban mobility. 979 bridges cross 197 kilometers of innercity waterways, 5,334 kilometers (3,314 mi) of roads run through Berlin, of which 73 kilometers (45 mi) are motorways. In 2006, 1.416 million motor vehicles, were registered in the city. With 416 vehicles per 1000 inhabitants (587/1000 in Germany), Berlin as a German state and as a major European city has one of the lowest numbers of cars per capita.
Long-distance rail lines connect Berlin with all of the major cities of Germany and with many cities in neighboring European countries. Regional rail lines provide access to the surrounding regions of Brandenburg and to the Baltic Sea. The Berlin Hauptbahnhof is the largest crossing station in Europe. Deutsche Bahn runs trains to regional destinations like Nuremberg, Hamburg, Freiburg and more. It also runs the Airport express, as well as trains to international destinations like Moscow, Vienna, and Salzburg.
Berlin is known for its highly developed bike lane system. Around 400,000 daily riders accounting for 12% of total traffic in 2007. The Senate of Berlin aims to increase the number to 15% of city traffic by the year 2010. Riders have access to 620 km of bike paths including approximately 150 km mandatory bicycle paths, 190 km off-road bicycle routes, 60 km of bike lanes on the roads, 70 km of shared bus lanes which are also open to bicyclists, 100 km of combined pedestrian/bike paths and 50 km of marked bike lanes on the sidewalks. The Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe and the Deutsche Bahn manage several dense urban public transport systems.
Berlin has two commercial airports, with 66 airlines operating flights to Berlin. Tegel International Airport (TXL), the busier, and Schönefeld International Airport (SXF) handled more than 21 million passengers in 2008. Together they serve 155 destinations in 48 countries. Tegel lies within the city limits, whereas Schönefeld handles mainly low-cost-aviation and is situated just outside Berlin's south-eastern border in the state of Brandenburg. |
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