Bahnhof Berlin-Schönefeld Flughafen

No matter if you’ve made it through Berlin’s/Europe’s worst airport (Schoenefeld) or if you’re just about to make it there, you will most likely try to catch a train at the nearby train station called «Bahnhof Schoenefeld», among tons of other unlucky bastards. If you think you’ve seen the worst, you will be pleasantly surprised — Berlin’s transport system is about to define a new «low» for you:
PRO’s:
— the sheer existence of a train station with trains that serve the airport
CON’s:
— 10 tracks, but only four of them are used for trains. Which ones? Figure out on your own.
— 4 ticket machines in the main hallway. Always a long line, with no one knowing what ticket to get. Tip: Get the ABC zone. If you only do AB they will ticket you.
— Regional trains take 30mins but only run twice an hour. Which track or direction? Good luck figuring out.
— City trains (S-​Bahn) takes about 45mins. You might end up in the wrong city center (East/​West) so good luck with that too.
— No signage or direction. No one to ask other than other disoriented travelers. And the Germans that are zombie-​ing around the station don’t speak English.
— Dare to ask the unfriendly staff that are lingering around on the platform? Don’t bother. They’re underpaid and –educated and won’t understand you.
— That being said, welcome to Berlin.

Hm. Was soll man eigentlich über einen Bahnhof schreiben?! Na ja. Ich versuche es mal im ‘Listen-​Modus’.
Pro:
— gute Entfernung zum Flughafen
— großzügige Bahnsteige
Contra:
— zu wenige Fahrscheinautomaten, wenn mal wieder viele Flüge gleichzeitig ankommen
— baufälliges Dach, durch das es bei Regen mehr als nur tropft (Aufgang zum Regio-​Bahnsteig)
— sehr eingeschränktes gastronomisches Angebot
— keine Toiletten (dafür aber im Zug und im Flughafen)
Anmerkung zu der Bewertung: Eigentlich sollte ja schon seit geraumer Zeit der BER eröffnet sein. Daher wurde am Bahnhof offensichtlich schon auf Sparflamme geplant und gearbeitet. Daher sind die Mängel ein wenig nachzuvollziehen.

OK, don’t get excited over a train station too much. It is just a train station and does what it is supposed to.
In this case it serves Berlin Schönefeld Airport, which, as stated in other reviews, is a 5 – 6 mins walk from the station through a conveniently covered walkway.
What I found kind of annoying, though, is that you have to pass all other platforms until you finally reach the one where the train to/​from Berlin stops at. The most distant one! Wondering if anybody else thought it’ll be more convenient for passengers (with suitcases) if the said train was stopping at the closest to the terminal platform.
At least there were covered areas with heating between platforms, which is very useful in mid-​December. :)
I see others commented about ticketing. We had issues trying to buy a group ticket. Turned out not all ticket machines offered this option so we had to try here and there, but were set eventually.

This is the main station serving Schonefeld Airport. It’s a 5 minute walk from the terminal buildings along a covered walkway.
It is served by the main train lines to get into the city centre as well as the tram service for local services.
However, you do need to do your homework before you travel as there is no ticket station or any staff to ask about tickets etc. You get tickets from self service machines but it’s not clear at all what tickets you need etc
Schonefeld is in zone C. If you’re travelling into the city centre, you will need a ticket covering zones ABC or BC depending on where your hotel is exactly. You can either get a single journey or a day ticket which can be used on any of the modes of transport in that zone for the whole of that day
To be fair, Berlin is extremely well catered for in terms of public transport — the city is criss cossed by the Unter-​bahn (subway), the S-​bahn (trams) and buses. Stops are all clearly signposted to help you find a station
I think Germans are obviously more honest than residents in the UK as there are no barriers at stations. I didn’t see any ticket inspectors on the trains as well. I can well imagine the German nation being that honest — after all, this is a society that will wait patiently at pedestrian crossings until the man turns green even though there’s no traffic
One last tip — the express trains run from the platform furthest away from the airport. Nice large double decker trains service this line but there are no specific luggage racks for suitcases. The journey into the city centre takes about 20 – 30 minutes depeneding on which stop you need

It’s is excellent to have a train station right next to the airport, which is definitely convenient for people who have just arrived in Berlin. And although there aren’t tons of trains coming through often, there is just enough time between them (20 minutes or so for the S9?) that there is not much of a long wait. But placing the station in Zone C? Berlin, that’s just mean.