Status barrier-free: The Lübecker Straße subway stop.

Accessibility for Hamburg’s underground stations! This means providing barrier-free access to the stations and the underground everywhere. That is the aim of our accessibility programme, which we have been accelerating since 2012.

When the Hamburg Senate decided to speed up the refurbishment back then, just 36 underground stations were accessible to people with reduced mobility. Since then, our builders have really been working flat out:

Now, 89 out of a total of 93 stations have already been refurbished. That’s almost 96 per cent! They all have (partially) raised platforms and a tactile guidance system for blind and visually impaired people.

Since October 2025, the conversion of HOCHBAHN’s third underground line in Hamburg – the U1 – has already been completed. The U1 station at Kiekut in Schleswig-Holstein will not be refurbished due to very low passenger numbers and the existing accessible bus connection. Similarly, the U2 and U4 lines have already been fully upgraded. A large part of the U3 line has also already been refurbished and upgraded. The U3 station at Saarlandstraße is currently being made accessible. The first lift at the station came into operation in December 2025 – full accessibility will be achieved there in autumn 2026. With the planned refurbishment of Sierichstraße, 91 stations will be accessible in future. The last to follow will be the Sternschanze station, where accessibility improvements are to be carried out as part of a new-build project.

Once work on the 92 stations is complete, the refurbishment work will be finished. Our new U5 underground line is being built to be fully accessible from the outset.

What measures does the barrier-free facelift of stations include? 

Our “lifting” scheme involves all stops being fitted with the following:  

• One elevator per platform
• (Partially) raised platforms for level boarding and alighting
• A tactile orientation system for the blind and visually impaired 

Barrier-free travel: live information about elevators 

Are all the elevators in the hvv network currently in operation, or are there any out of order? Find real-time information here.