A ghost station is a disused train station through which revenue-service passenger trains (especially rapid transit trains) pass but at which they do not stop. The term is also sometimes used for any unused underground station or any unused station, whether or not trains pass through them. In Germany, a station that has been built in the course of constructing something else as a so-called "Bauvorleistung" (roughly: construction pre-effort) is referred to as a "ghost station", despite the different purpose and origin of the terms. Some English-language publications also refer to "pre-built" stations or parts thereof that have yet to see service as "ghost stations". Etymology The term "ghost station" is a calque of the German word (plural ). The German term was coined to describe certain stations on Berlin's and metro networks that were closed during the period of Berlin's division during the Cold War because they were an integral part of a transit line mostly located on the other side of the Berlin Wall. Ghost stations in Berlin Background In August 1961 the East German government built the Berlin Wall, ending freedom of movement between East and West Berlin. As a result, the Berlin public transit network, which had formerly spanned both halves of the city, was also divided into two. Some and lines fell entirely into one half of the city or the other; other lines were divided between the two jurisdictions, with trains running only to the border and then turning back. However, there were three lines—the lines now designated U6 and U8, and the Tunnel on the —that ran for the most part through West Berlin but passed for a short distance through the borough of Mitte (the historic city centre), which was East Berlin territory. These lines continued to be open to West Berliners; however, trains did not stop at most of the stations located within East Berlin, though for technical reasons they did have to slow down significantly while passing through. (Trains did stop at , on which more below.) The name was soon aptly applied to these dimly lit, heavily guarded stations by travellers from West Berlin, who watched them pass by through the carriage windows. However, the term was never official; West Berlin maps of the period simply labelled these stations "" ("stations at which the trains do not stop"). East Berlin maps neither depicted the West Berlin lines nor the