News In Brief

E. Germany agrees to let W. Berlin help run trains

East Germany Thursday agreed to hand over to West Berlin operation of the western part of the city's elevated urban railway system, which it has controlled since the 1950s.

The railway, known as the S-Bahn, was the most extensive transit system in Europe before World War II, carrying millions of passengers around the city. The East German Imperial Railway was made responsible for running trains in all sectors of Berlin when the city was divided after the war. Subsequent growth of an extensive transit system in West Berlin inflicted heavy losses on the S-Bahn.