In Berlin, I’m yet to hear ‘dropping dey o!’

It is one week since I arrived here in Berlin, the capital city of Germany. I am here following my nomination by my organisation to attend a training program on multimedia and online journalism, organized by the International Institute of Journalism (IIJ) in collaboration with Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. I was […]

It is one week since I arrived here in Berlin, the capital city of Germany. I am here following my nomination by my organisation to attend a training program on multimedia and online journalism, organized by the International Institute of Journalism (IIJ) in collaboration with Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.

I was first shocked by the weather and now understand why Europeans are obsessed about the climate; it is supposed to be summer here in Berlin, but the temperature goes as low as ten degrees. My first night here was also fascinating; the sun did not set until after 11 pm. It was 10 pm but it seemed like 5pm in Nigeria. This filled me with a sense of wonder, as I made frantic phone calls telling my friends back home about my experience.

Being my first visit to Europe, the culture shock for me was also enthralling. Praising German efficiency here will just be another cliché. Apart from the infrastructure, the myriad of housing complexes, the plazas, shopping malls, lakes, historical sites (like the famous Berlin wall), check point Charley, museums and palaces of former monarchs of Prussia, dotted the city. And for one coming from Nigeria, another aspect of the city that caught my attention is the public transportation network in the city of Berlin.

Berlin has a population of about 3.5 million people. It is also said that it is about 35 kilometres east to west and 45 kilometres north to south. I haven’t gone the distance yet – I will try to do so in my spare time to fill my curiosity of how they are able to make this complex system of underground trains, trams, speed tubes, and buses working with almost perfect synergy, within such a densely populated urban centre.

The efforts made by authorities in Nigeria to upgrade the transport system in the country are commendable. For instance, the public transport system in Lagos State has improved, thereby reducing the stress of many commuters in the densely populated urban centre, with a speculated 10 million inhabitants. However, I could not help but imagine how easy life and business will become in most Nigerian cities of Lagos, Kano, Port Harcourt, Onitsha, Kaduna, Maiduguri, Aba, Ibadan and Abuja if they were to get an efficient transportation network like the one herein Berlin.

As I negotiate the somewhat complex public transport system, I kept reflecting on how exhausting it is travelling in many Nigerian cities; people are grappling with their daily endeavours, punctuated by annoying traffic jams, which sap the creative and productive energy of Nigerians. This is probably indicative of the lack of development in the country, especially in this sector.

According to accounts, it took 100 years to build the infrastructure of Berlin, in spite of the bombing and destruction of the city during the Second World War. It was also likely easy to rebuild on the existing infrastructure because, as I learnt, the metro public transport system was already in place even before the bombings.

However, as a result of the war which caused the death of almost half the male population in Germany at the time, women played key roles in the rebuilding process of the city and most of Germany. This spawned the German phrase “trummer fruanen”, loosely translated in English as “women of the debris” in acknowledgement of the women who, with their bare hands, started rebuilding the city.

According to sources, the city transport system covers a total of 979 bridges across 197 kilometres of inner-city waterways; 5,334 kilometres of roads run through Berlin, of which 73 kilometres are motorways “Autobahn”.

The city administration provides a vending ticket service for payment of transport fares, equipped with a single ticket that typically covers a month. Daily tickets are also available for commuters who travel within the city and its environs changing from buses to trains at designated stops.

The S-Bahn is mainly an over ground rail system with some suburban stops while the U-Bahn is the underground rail system and offers 24-hour service. It operates in the eastern areas of the city. The public metro bus system also operates on designated stops and runs 24 hours daily. All modes of transport can be accessed with the same ticket.

For me, commuting 45 minutes both ways from the apartments where course participants reside and to the International Institute of Journalism is quite a cultural experience. Every morning I walk approximately 100 meters from my apartment on Bucker Damm Street to reach the bus stop Zimmererweg, and hop on the metro bus (M 44) in the direction of S-bahn and U-bahn station Hermannstr. Next I go underground and take the metropolitan Ringbahn (S 41) to the station Sudkruez, where I change to the metropolitan train (S25) in the direction of Hennigsdorf, getting off at Potsdamer Platz, exit at Strammanstrasse, emerging from the underground station merged with a gigantic shopping complex potsdamer plaz and walking 50 meters to Konner street offices of the (IIJ).

Now the journey back to the apartment requires a different route of trains and buses, making it even more confusing for a first timer in Berlin. Interestingly, this gives an outsider the opportunity to observe the culture and peculiar habits of Berliners, who generally like keeping to themselves on trains and buses. There are no arguments on politics or football, usually everybody is left to his thoughts. Many among the youths wear ear phones, while the elderly read newspapers. There are no hawkers trying to peddle petty wares on the buses or trains, and I did not encounter a single traffic jam on any of the roads.

The road network, which the metropolitan buses ply alongside other motorists, epitomizes the orderliness of German society. No one is left out when it comes to using the road. There are designated lanes for every kind of vehicle on the streets, and by ways of the city. There are even special lanes for bicycles on every street in the city as the Germans are fond of cycling. Pedestrian walkways are also wide and expansive.

On the buses and trains are installed loudspeakers announcing every stop on the vehicle route, and passengers have to only press a stop button on the bus or train when they get to their destination. I have not once heard anyone shouting; “dropping dey here O!” Things are orderly here, all giving me an idea that my two months stay is going to be a memorable one.