Grapevine

Tuck in a rut: Can Nairobi's public transport rise to Berlin's efficiency?

Public transport buses in Berlin. [Peter Theuri, Standard]

On August 3, I was scheduled to go watch the Bundesliga 2 opener between Hertha Berlin and Paderborn at The Olympic Stadium.

The Stadium - famously known as OlympiaStadion- is about 20 kilometres from where I am staying, in Ostkreuz, East of Berlin. That I would be going through a city, and knowing how congested Kenya’s capital Nairobi is, especially if thousands of people are heading the same way for a league opener, means it should have taken me some hours to get there.

But Berlin is quite the dream city when it comes to public transport.

A jog to the train station 170 metres away, a three-minute wait for the Ringbahn (train) to Westkreuz. Then a walk to the platform within Westkreuz and another short ride to OlympiaStadion. For the whole journey, it took less than 50 minutes.