Hamburg

:This article is about the city in Germany. For other articles named Hamburg, see Hamburg (disambiguation).

Transportation

Hamburg is connected by four Autobahns (motorways) and is the most important railway junction on the route to Northern Europe. Hamburg's international airport is Hamburg Airport, which is the oldest airport in Germany still in operation.

Related Topics:
Autobahn - Hamburg Airport

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Though large cities in Germany normally only have a one letter prefix (e.g. B for Berlin), Hamburg's vehicle licence plate prefix is "HH" (Hansestadt Hamburg, English: Hanseatic City Hamburg), which underlines Hamburg's historic roots.

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Like in most larger German cities, the local public transport is organised by a Verkehrsverbund, basically a joint venture of all public transport companies servicing the area. In and around Hamburg, it's the HVV (Hamburger Verkehrsverbund). Tickets sold by one HVV company are accepted by all other HVV companies.

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Seven, during rush hours nine local railway lines carry the major part of public transport in and around Hamburg. Three lines belong to the so-called U-Bahn system, the rest to the S-Bahn. Even though U-Bahn is short for Untergrundbahn (underground, subway) and S-Bahn for Schnellbahn (fast railways), the difference in naming is mostly historical; today, both systems run electric trains on tracks partly over- as well as underground. Elderly citizens actually still call the underground Hochbahn ("elevated railway"), since parts of the U-Bahn system run elevated on iron viaducts over the streets.

Related Topics:
U-Bahn - S-Bahn

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In addition to the U- and S-Bahn a third company operates three lines in the outskirts of Hamburg. Finally, regional trains of Germany's major railway company Deutsche Bahn AG may be used with a HVV public transport ticket, too. The regional trains only stop at three main stations in Hamburg's centre and at stations on the far ends of the HVV area, outside Hamburg. Recently a fast train service connected Hamburg to the capital city of Germany, Berlin.

Related Topics:
Capital city - Germany - Berlin

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Additionally there is a day and night bus network that operates as frequently as 2 minutes at important places to 30 minutes in suburban areas. Another rather unique means of transportation are 5 ferry lines along the river Elbe. While mainly needed by Hamburg citizens and dock workers they can also be used for sightseeing tours at the (relatively) low fees of a HVV public transport ticket.

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