The station was greatly in need of renovation for decades and was not capable of handling peak hour traffic partly due to its narrow stairs. For a long time there were proposals to restructure it in order to make the stairs and passages more usable. In the mid-1950s, the Berliner Zeitung surveyed its readers for ideas to improve the situation. As a result, Deutsche Reichsbahn announced in early 1956 that the stairs from the Ringbahn platform to the low-level platform D would be widened by one metre. However, a complete renovation of the station would be necessary after this "small solution" was carried out. Planning for more extensive remodelling continued. In 1957, the construction of a second Ringbahn platform west of the existing platform to relieve congestion was considered. In 1959, it was announced that the reconstruction of the railway station would begin in 1962 or 1963. This would involve the construction of a six-metre-wide tunnel below the lower platforms to connect with both the station's entrance hall and the broad steps down from the lower platforms. Provision was made for the construction of escalators. It was expected to cost 7.5 million marks. In 1986, Erich Honecker announced the beginning of the "complex reconstruction" of the Ostkreuz S-Bahn junction for the period up to 1990.