TRAVELLING by subway can be a stressful experience for commuters, especially in a big city like Berlin. To bring them some serenity, the German city's public transport company (BVG) has decided to play classical music in some of its stations.
It is often said that music has the power to soothe and calm. This is especially true for the classical repertoire. Numerous scientific studies have shown that compositions by Bach, Beethoven, Mozart and Schubert can improve concentration, reduce blood pressure and relieve stress.
Now, BVG hopes that its users will benefit from these many advantages when classical music is played in the subway stations Südstern (line U7), Moritzplatz (U8), as well as Unter den Linden and Strausberger Platz (U5).
This original initiative is the result of a partnership with Klassik radio, which broadcasts in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. For the next six months, Berliners will be able to enjoy the sound of classical music during their subway journeys.
Music selections have been specially designed for each of the four subway stations selected by BVG for the project. Commuters at Unter den Linden station will be able to relax with a "Piano Classics" playlist, while those passing through Südstern station will be lulled by a "Lounge Beats" selection.
According to BVG, this initiative is intended to see how music can be integrated into each of these subway stations, all of which have different acoustics and traffic patterns. If this experiment proves successful, it may be extended to the rest of Berlin.
The German capital is not the only European city to play classical music in the subway. The English city of Newcastle did so in the late 1990s. Unlike Berlin, it was not so much to improve the mental well-being of passengers, but rather to help reduce crime.
For several weeks, the city's station security officers played classical music to deter vandals from damaging the ticket machines – an original initiative that paid off.
"It's been pretty successful. Although it's early days to judge, there are fewer people there and certainly, vandalism on those particular ticket machines has gone down," Mike Palmer, director general of Nexus, which runs the Gateshead metro, told the BBC at the time. – ETX Daily Up, March 31, 2022
