Berlin S-Bahn problems

Can anyone bring me up-to-date on the causes of mechanical and technical problems on Berlin's S-Bahn? Berlin's newspapers appear to forecast a winter of troubles, but the problems happened even in warmer months, leading to service cut-backs. Because of my reliance on newspapers, the links sometimes vanish or change in a few days.
Maybe this still works:
http://www.berlinonline.de/aktuelles/be ... 521330.php
or
http://www.bz-berlin.de/aktuell/berlin/ ... 68050.html
In the past, I have made serious errors in figuring out a story from German.
Many thanks. Joe McMahon, New York

In September, the EBA discovered that the maintenance intervals on the brakes of the Type 481 were not performed as required. Apparently, several years ago already, S-Bahn Berlin started stretching out procurement intervals on spare parts. That's the reason for the current breakdown, which is pretty much also still a tide-over from the one before.

Currently, apparently only 430 EMUs are operational; regular operations (without reserve) need 480 EMUs. S-Bahn Berlin originally announced that those 480 units would be ready as of last monday. As a consequence, lines S45 and S85 are apparently still out of service, and trains on other lines run with fewer units than regular.

There's one symptomatic number for the rigid savings line S-Bahn Berlin is running on maintenance: The number of employees in their own workshops. That number has dropped by 40% between 2002 and 2008.
Also, an internal report in 2005 stated that they were "successful in reducing maintenance hours on Type 481 by 30%" - primarily by simply reducing the maintenance cycle from every 7 days to every 14-21 days. A EBA report stated that this practice directly led to an accident in 2006 in which 37 people were injured, since the train hadn't been in the workshop for 18 days before and the sanding systems of the train involved (for the emergency brake) weren't refilled.

The last breakdown was in June due to faulty roadwheels, the one before that in January can be traced to winterization problems (caused by above workshop cutbacks).

The Berlin S-Bahn adventure continues - now they have to withdraw an additional 100 Type 481 EMUs due to "construction faults" leading to engine failures due to snow and condensation. Only 275 out of 600 EMU remain in service, leading to further limited services on several routes.

S-Bahn Berlin is currently temporarily supported by DB maintenance plant Dessau, which has increased repair capacity from 15 EMU/week to 25 EMU/week. In addition several Type 423 EMUs fresh from factories intended for the S-Bahn networks Rhein-Main and Stuttgart currently run services in Berlin, servicing regional stations only.