Submitted by Robert, who says:
6 Month ago the german railway (DB), section Berlin, ask me to make a map. They saw my works on Wikipedia and gave me the job to create a transit map which help visitors to find the right way form Schönefeld airport to Berlin city. Schönefeld (SXF) is the old East-Berlin airport, which should be closed when the new airport (BER) opens. But since we have a couple of little “problems” to finish this airport, they have to operate the old airport and station longer than expected. Therefore the “Schönfeld Flughafen” station looks dark, dirty and lost in orientation. So this map should help to find a fast way to the right trains and includes red and green markings on the floor leading to the ticket machines and platforms.
Unfortunately they decided to cancel this project, because of the costs. This means I made a lot of work for nothing. So I decided to use it for Wikipedia. But before I do this, I though I can ask a expert for his opinion 😉
Transit Maps says:
It always sucks when cool jobs fall through, Robert – I definitely sympathise with you there! And I think you’ve done a pretty good job as well: this map would definitely be a big help for people unfamiliar with Berlin’s transport network in getting to and from Schönefeld. I remember having to work out how to get to Schönefeld by myself back in 2004, and it wasn’t fun. I think I ended up taking the S9, if my memory serves me correctly.
The map is nicely simplified and does a good job at clearly showing and explaining the options. I like that the traditional octagonal shape of the ring lines around Berlin have been retained from the official S-Bahn/U-Bahn map: this provides a great sense of familiarity. The reminder to validate your ticket before use is especially helpful (a surprising number of tourists are unfamiliar with this system), as is the notation of estimated time needed to reach major stations.
It’s unfortunate that the traditional colours for the S-Bahn and regional (DB) rail are green and red, as this makes the map much harder to use for some colour-blind users. Robert has mitigated this somewhat by including route numbers along each line, but perhaps some thought could be put into darkening one of the two colours to differentiate them a little better for such users.
I do like the icons for points of interest within Berlin, although I think the silhouette of the Gedächtniskirche is a little indistinct compared to the Brandenburg Gate and the Fernsehturm, both of which are instantly recognisable. Given the simplicity of the rest of the map, I’m also not entirely enamoured of the little shadows behind the icons: it works fairly well for the Fernsehturm, but confuses the shapes of the other two icons.
Similarly, the interchange design underneath the Information “i” symbol seems a bit out of tune with the simplicity of the rest of the map: it’s a bit strident and overwrought for my liking.
Finally, I’m not sure why Tegel (TXL) airport has been indicated on the map if the map doesn’t show any way to get there. There aren’t any rail connections to TXL, so its inclusion seems a little pointless to me other than to say “hey, there’s another airport over here!”
Our rating: A solid introduction to connections to and from the Schönefeld airport that clearly lays out the rail transit options available. A little more work and this could be really excellent. Three stars.