The day of the 2006 Berlin Marathon was sunny and mild. The marathon was over around noon, so billcody, a railroad buff and very knowledgeable about railroad trivia, suggested that we go see the recently completed Berliner Haupbahnhof. While we were standing on the upper platforms and watched the frequent, quiet arrivals and departures of various types of trains, I was getting the statistical background on anything related to the station, the types of trains that use it, and other facts. For instance, 1600 trains use the upper platforms every single day. While I was digesting this information I thought about my hometown of about 1.5 mill, with about another 1 mill inhabitants if the suburbs are included. We don't have one rail station, not one train stops there, period. But for the last two years there has been talk about a 'light rail', an euphemism for a street car. This picture was taken in September 2006.