Rapid transit in Germany
Encyclopedia
Rapid transit in Germany consists of five U-Bahn systems and thirteen S-Bahn systems. The U-Bahn
or Untergrundbahn (underground railway) are conventional rapid transit systems that run mostly underground, while the S-Bahn
or Stadtschnellbahn (city rapid railway) are hybrids of rapid transit and commuter rail that run underground in the city centers and above ground in the suburbs. There are also eighteen premetro
or Stadtbahn
systems that are rapid transit in the city center and light rail
outside.
The five U-Bahn consists of five systems: in Berlin
, Frankfurt
(only line U4), Hamburg
, Munich
and Nuremberg
; these are all run by the transit authorities in the city.
The thirteen S-Bahn systems are in Berlin
, Dresden
, Hamburg
, Hanover
, Leipzig-Halle, Magdeburg, Munich
, Nuremberg, Rhein-Main
, Rhein-Neckar, Rhein-Ruhr
(parts thereof also trademarked as Rhein-Sieg and/or Cologne), Rostock
and Stuttgart
. The S-Bahn systems are all operated by the national railway Deutsche Bahn
, and have developed from the mainline railways. Normal headway
is 20 minutes and use dedicated tracks running alongside mainline routes. Ticketing and connectivity is integrated into the city public transport system.
trains around Berlin
prompted the Prussian State Railways
to construct separate rail tracks for suburban traffic. The Berliner Stadtbahn connected Berlin's eight intercity rail stations which were spread throughout the city. A lower rate for the newly founded Berliner Stadt-, Ring- und Vorortbahn (Berlin City, Circular and Suburban Rail) was introduced on 1 October 1891. This rate and the growing succession of trains made the short-distance service stand out from other railroads. The second suburban railroad was the Hamburg-Altonaer Stadt- und Vorortbahn connecting Hamburg
with Altona
and Blankenese
. The Altona office of the Prussian State Railroad established the steam powered railroad in 1906.
The beginning of the 20th century saw the first electric trains, which operated at 15,000 V
on overhead lines
. As the steam powered trains came to be nuisances to more and more people, the Berliner Stadt-, Ring- und Vorortbahn switched to direct current
wagons running on 750 V from a third rail
. In 1924, the first electrified route went into service. The third rail was chosen because it made both the modifications of the rail tracks (especially in tunnels and under bridges) and the side-by-side use of electric and steam trains easier. To set it apart from its competitor, the subterranean U-Bahn, the term S-Bahn replaced Stadt-, Ring- und Vorortbahn in 1930.
The Hamburg service had established an experimental alternating current
line in 1907. The whole network still used steam power until 1940, when the old locomotives were replaced by 1200 V DC electric ones. In 1934, the Hamburg-Altonaer Stadt- und Vorortbahn was renamed as S-Bahn.
As the post-World War II
rebuilding led to wealth and prosperity in West Germany
, a modal shift towards travel by car motivated many larger city councils to plan the replacement of the traffic-obstructing tramways with U-Bahn systems and bus
routes. Nuremberg
and Munich
decided on a full U-Bahn (like those in Berlin
and Hamburg
) independent from their existing tramways. Stuttgart
, Frankfurt
, Cologne
, Bonn
, Düsseldorf
, Duisburg
, Bochum
, Essen, Dortmund
, Gelsenkirchen
, Herne
, Mülheim an der Ruhr, Hanover
and Bielefeld
started to build tunnel
s for their existing trams, rebuilding tram lines underground. Those systems of tram in tunnel
s in city centre areas do not meet the criteria of a metro; they are instead light rail
systems. Nonetheless, they are usually referred to as U-Bahn. Officially, they are called Stadtbahn ("city railways") or U-Stadtbahn.
During the 1990s, when, according to original planning, the tramways of Nuremberg and Munich were scheduled to disappear, a reorientation process set in. Shortage of money, increased passenger numbers and the insight that larger streets only attract even more cars slowed the building of rapid transit lines and led to a renaissance of the tramways in those cities that had forgotten them. In Nuremberg and Munich
, after 30 years new rolling stock was purchased, existing lines were modernised, and new ones were built, leading to new integrated traffic concepts. Today, Berlin, Munich and Nuremberg not only have buses, but also trams, S-Bahn, and U-Bahn systems, each with non-shared tracks and different vehicles.
U-Bahn
U-Bahn or Untergrundbahn is German for underground rapid transit or metro. Five systems take its name, with only four of them being metro systems:*Berlin U-Bahn*Hamburg U-Bahn*Munich U-Bahn*Nuremberg U-Bahn...
or Untergrundbahn (underground railway) are conventional rapid transit systems that run mostly underground, while the S-Bahn
S-Bahn
S-Bahn refers to an often combined city center and suburban railway system metro in Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Denmark...
or Stadtschnellbahn (city rapid railway) are hybrids of rapid transit and commuter rail that run underground in the city centers and above ground in the suburbs. There are also eighteen premetro
Premetro
A premetro is a tramway or light railway which includes segments built to rapid transit standards, usually as part of a process of conversion to a metro railway, mainly by the construction of tunnels in the central city area...
or Stadtbahn
Stadtbahn
A ' is a tramway or light railway that includes segments built to rapid transit standards, usually as part of a process of conversion to a metro railway, mainly by the building of tunnels in the central city area....
systems that are rapid transit in the city center and light rail
Light rail
Light rail or light rail transit is a form of urban rail public transportation that generally has a lower capacity and lower speed than heavy rail and metro systems, but higher capacity and higher speed than traditional street-running tram systems...
outside.
The five U-Bahn consists of five systems: in Berlin
Berlin U-Bahn
The Berlin is a rapid transit railway in Berlin, the capital city of Germany, and is a major part of the public transport system of that city. Opened in 1902, the serves 173 stations spread across ten lines, with a total track length of , about 80% of which is underground...
, Frankfurt
Frankfurt U-Bahn
The Frankfurt U-Bahn, together with the Frankfurt S-Bahn and the Frankfurt Straßenbahn, is the backbone of the public transport system of Frankfurt, Germany. Its name derives from the German term for underground, Untergrundbahn. The U-Bahn opened in 1968 and now consists of 87 stations on nine...
(only line U4), Hamburg
Hamburg U-Bahn
The Hamburg U-Bahn is a rapid transit system serving the cities of Hamburg, Norderstedt and Ahrensburg in Germany. Although technically an underground, most of the system's track length is above ground. The network is interconnected with the city's S-Bahn system, which also has underground...
, Munich
Munich U-Bahn
The Munich U-Bahn system is an electric rail rapid transit network in Munich, Germany. "U-Bahn" is the German contraction for Untergrundbahn or "subway." It is operated by the municipally owned Münchner Verkehrsgesellschaft...
and Nuremberg
Nuremberg U-Bahn
The Nuremberg U-Bahn is a metro run by VAG Nürnberg , which itself is a member of the VGN . The Nuremberg U-Bahn is Germany's newest metro...
; these are all run by the transit authorities in the city.
The thirteen S-Bahn systems are in Berlin
Berlin S-Bahn
The Berlin S-Bahn is a rapid transit system in and around Berlin, the capital city of Germany. It consists of 15 lines and is integrated with the mostly underground U-Bahn to form the backbone of Berlin's rapid transport system...
, Dresden
Dresden S-Bahn
The Dresden S-Bahn provides commuter train services in Dresden and the surrounding area. It was established in 1973 and comprises three lines...
, Hamburg
Hamburg S-Bahn
The Hamburg S-Bahn is a railway network for public rapid mass transit in the Hamburg Metropolitan Region. Together the S-Bahn, the Hamburg U-Bahn, the AKN railway and the regional railway form the backbone of railway public transport in the city and the surrounding area...
, Hanover
Hanover S-Bahn
The Hanover S-Bahn is an S-Bahn network operated by DB Regio in the area of Hanover in the German state capital of Lower Saxony...
, Leipzig-Halle, Magdeburg, Munich
Munich S-Bahn
The Munich S-Bahn is an electric rail transit system in Munich, Germany. "S-Bahn" is the German abbreviation for stadtschnellbahn , and the Munich S-Bahn exhibits characteristics of both rapid transit and commuter rail systems.The Munich S-Bahn network is operated by S-Bahn München, a subsidiary...
, Nuremberg, Rhein-Main
Rhine-Main S-Bahn
The Rhine-Main S-Bahn system is an integrated rapid transit and commuter transport system for the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main region, which includes the cities Frankfurt am Main, Wiesbaden, Mainz, Offenbach am Main, Hanau and Darmstadt...
, Rhein-Neckar, Rhein-Ruhr
Rhein-Ruhr S-Bahn
The Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn is a polycentric S-Bahn network covering the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Region in the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. This includes most of the Ruhr , the Berg cities of Wuppertal and Solingen and parts of the Rhineland...
(parts thereof also trademarked as Rhein-Sieg and/or Cologne), Rostock
Rostock S-Bahn
The Rostock S-Bahn is an S-Bahn in Rostock, Germany. Opened in 1970, it links Rostock Hauptbahnhof with the coastal suburb of Warnemünde....
and Stuttgart
Stuttgart S-Bahn
The Stuttgart S-Bahn is a suburban railway system serving the Stuttgart Region, an agglomeration of around 2.6 million people, consisting of the city of Stuttgart and the adjacent districts of Esslingen, Böblingen, Ludwigsburg and Rems-Murr. It consists of seven lines numbered S1 through S6 and...
. The S-Bahn systems are all operated by the national railway Deutsche Bahn
Deutsche Bahn
Deutsche Bahn AG is the German national railway company, a private joint stock company . Headquartered in Berlin, it came into existence in 1994 as the successor to the former state railways of Germany, the Deutsche Bundesbahn of West Germany and the Deutsche Reichsbahn of East Germany...
, and have developed from the mainline railways. Normal headway
Headway
Headway is a measurement of the distance/time between vehicles in a transit system. The precise definition varies depending on the application, but it is most commonly measured as the distance from the tip of one vehicle to the tip of the next one behind it, expressed as the time it will take for...
is 20 minutes and use dedicated tracks running alongside mainline routes. Ticketing and connectivity is integrated into the city public transport system.
History
S-Bahn
In 1882, the growing number of steam-poweredSteam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
trains around Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
prompted the Prussian State Railways
Prussian state railways
The term Prussian state railways encompasses those railway organisations that were owned or managed by the State of Prussia...
to construct separate rail tracks for suburban traffic. The Berliner Stadtbahn connected Berlin's eight intercity rail stations which were spread throughout the city. A lower rate for the newly founded Berliner Stadt-, Ring- und Vorortbahn (Berlin City, Circular and Suburban Rail) was introduced on 1 October 1891. This rate and the growing succession of trains made the short-distance service stand out from other railroads. The second suburban railroad was the Hamburg-Altonaer Stadt- und Vorortbahn connecting Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
with Altona
Altona, Hamburg
Altona is the westernmost urban borough of the German city state of Hamburg, on the right bank of the Elbe river. From 1640 to 1864 Altona was under the administration of the Danish monarchy. Altona was an independent city until 1937...
and Blankenese
Blankenese
Blankenese is a former independent town, now a suburban quarter in the borough Altona in the western part of Hamburg . It is located on right bank of the Elbe river...
. The Altona office of the Prussian State Railroad established the steam powered railroad in 1906.
The beginning of the 20th century saw the first electric trains, which operated at 15,000 V
Volt
The volt is the SI derived unit for electric potential, electric potential difference, and electromotive force. The volt is named in honor of the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta , who invented the voltaic pile, possibly the first chemical battery.- Definition :A single volt is defined as the...
on overhead lines
Overhead lines
Overhead lines or overhead wires are used to transmit electrical energy to trams, trolleybuses or trains at a distance from the energy supply point...
. As the steam powered trains came to be nuisances to more and more people, the Berliner Stadt-, Ring- und Vorortbahn switched to direct current
Direct current
Direct current is the unidirectional flow of electric charge. Direct current is produced by such sources as batteries, thermocouples, solar cells, and commutator-type electric machines of the dynamo type. Direct current may flow in a conductor such as a wire, but can also flow through...
wagons running on 750 V from a third rail
Third rail
A third rail is a method of providing electric power to a railway train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a railway track. It is used typically in a mass transit or rapid transit system, which has alignments in its own corridors, fully or almost...
. In 1924, the first electrified route went into service. The third rail was chosen because it made both the modifications of the rail tracks (especially in tunnels and under bridges) and the side-by-side use of electric and steam trains easier. To set it apart from its competitor, the subterranean U-Bahn, the term S-Bahn replaced Stadt-, Ring- und Vorortbahn in 1930.
The Hamburg service had established an experimental alternating current
Alternating current
In alternating current the movement of electric charge periodically reverses direction. In direct current , the flow of electric charge is only in one direction....
line in 1907. The whole network still used steam power until 1940, when the old locomotives were replaced by 1200 V DC electric ones. In 1934, the Hamburg-Altonaer Stadt- und Vorortbahn was renamed as S-Bahn.
U-Bahn
The term U-Bahn was created at the beginning of the 20th century in Berlin, where the Hochbahngesellschaft (elevated railway company), operating elevated and suburban lines, decided they required an equally short and memorable name for their system as the S-Bahn, and chose to called it U-Bahn. The name was soon adopted for Hamburg's city-owned independent mass transit tram lines.As the post-World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
rebuilding led to wealth and prosperity in West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
, a modal shift towards travel by car motivated many larger city councils to plan the replacement of the traffic-obstructing tramways with U-Bahn systems and bus
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
routes. Nuremberg
Nuremberg
Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...
and Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
decided on a full U-Bahn (like those in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
and Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
) independent from their existing tramways. Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
, Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
, Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
, Bonn
Bonn
Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
, Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
, Duisburg
Duisburg
- History :A legend recorded by Johannes Aventinus holds that Duisburg, was built by the eponymous Tuisto, mythical progenitor of Germans, ca. 2395 BC...
, Bochum
Bochum
Bochum is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, western Germany. It is located in the Ruhr area and is surrounded by the cities of Essen, Gelsenkirchen, Herne, Castrop-Rauxel, Dortmund, Witten and Hattingen.-History:...
, Essen, Dortmund
Dortmund
Dortmund is a city in Germany. It is located in the Bundesland of North Rhine-Westphalia, in the Ruhr area. Its population of 585,045 makes it the 7th largest city in Germany and the 34th largest in the European Union....
, Gelsenkirchen
Gelsenkirchen
Gelsenkirchen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northern part of the Ruhr area. Its population in 2006 was c. 267,000....
, Herne
Herne, Germany
Herne is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the Ruhr area directly between the cities of Bochum and Gelsenkirchen.- History :Like most other cities in the region Herne was a tiny village until the 19th century...
, Mülheim an der Ruhr, Hanover
Hanover
Hanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...
and Bielefeld
Bielefeld
Bielefeld is an independent city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 323,000, it is also the most populous city in the Regierungsbezirk Detmold...
started to build tunnel
Tunnel
A tunnel is an underground passageway, completely enclosed except for openings for egress, commonly at each end.A tunnel may be for foot or vehicular road traffic, for rail traffic, or for a canal. Some tunnels are aqueducts to supply water for consumption or for hydroelectric stations or are sewers...
s for their existing trams, rebuilding tram lines underground. Those systems of tram in tunnel
Tunnel
A tunnel is an underground passageway, completely enclosed except for openings for egress, commonly at each end.A tunnel may be for foot or vehicular road traffic, for rail traffic, or for a canal. Some tunnels are aqueducts to supply water for consumption or for hydroelectric stations or are sewers...
s in city centre areas do not meet the criteria of a metro; they are instead light rail
Light rail
Light rail or light rail transit is a form of urban rail public transportation that generally has a lower capacity and lower speed than heavy rail and metro systems, but higher capacity and higher speed than traditional street-running tram systems...
systems. Nonetheless, they are usually referred to as U-Bahn. Officially, they are called Stadtbahn ("city railways") or U-Stadtbahn.
During the 1990s, when, according to original planning, the tramways of Nuremberg and Munich were scheduled to disappear, a reorientation process set in. Shortage of money, increased passenger numbers and the insight that larger streets only attract even more cars slowed the building of rapid transit lines and led to a renaissance of the tramways in those cities that had forgotten them. In Nuremberg and Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, after 30 years new rolling stock was purchased, existing lines were modernised, and new ones were built, leading to new integrated traffic concepts. Today, Berlin, Munich and Nuremberg not only have buses, but also trams, S-Bahn, and U-Bahn systems, each with non-shared tracks and different vehicles.
Systems
U-Bahn systems
- BerlinBerlinBerlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
(Berlin U-BahnBerlin U-BahnThe Berlin is a rapid transit railway in Berlin, the capital city of Germany, and is a major part of the public transport system of that city. Opened in 1902, the serves 173 stations spread across ten lines, with a total track length of , about 80% of which is underground...
, see also: Berlin S-BahnBerlin S-BahnThe Berlin S-Bahn is a rapid transit system in and around Berlin, the capital city of Germany. It consists of 15 lines and is integrated with the mostly underground U-Bahn to form the backbone of Berlin's rapid transport system...
) - FrankfurtFrankfurtFrankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
(Frankfurt U-BahnFrankfurt U-BahnThe Frankfurt U-Bahn, together with the Frankfurt S-Bahn and the Frankfurt Straßenbahn, is the backbone of the public transport system of Frankfurt, Germany. Its name derives from the German term for underground, Untergrundbahn. The U-Bahn opened in 1968 and now consists of 87 stations on nine...
, see also: Rhine-Main S-BahnRhine-Main S-BahnThe Rhine-Main S-Bahn system is an integrated rapid transit and commuter transport system for the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main region, which includes the cities Frankfurt am Main, Wiesbaden, Mainz, Offenbach am Main, Hanau and Darmstadt...
) (but meets only light rail criteria except line U4) - HamburgHamburg-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
(Hamburg U-BahnHamburg U-BahnThe Hamburg U-Bahn is a rapid transit system serving the cities of Hamburg, Norderstedt and Ahrensburg in Germany. Although technically an underground, most of the system's track length is above ground. The network is interconnected with the city's S-Bahn system, which also has underground...
, see also: Hamburg S-BahnHamburg S-BahnThe Hamburg S-Bahn is a railway network for public rapid mass transit in the Hamburg Metropolitan Region. Together the S-Bahn, the Hamburg U-Bahn, the AKN railway and the regional railway form the backbone of railway public transport in the city and the surrounding area...
) - MunichMunichMunich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
(Munich U-BahnMunich U-BahnThe Munich U-Bahn system is an electric rail rapid transit network in Munich, Germany. "U-Bahn" is the German contraction for Untergrundbahn or "subway." It is operated by the municipally owned Münchner Verkehrsgesellschaft...
, see also: Munich S-BahnMunich S-BahnThe Munich S-Bahn is an electric rail transit system in Munich, Germany. "S-Bahn" is the German abbreviation for stadtschnellbahn , and the Munich S-Bahn exhibits characteristics of both rapid transit and commuter rail systems.The Munich S-Bahn network is operated by S-Bahn München, a subsidiary...
) - NurembergNurembergNuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...
(Nuremberg U-BahnNuremberg U-BahnThe Nuremberg U-Bahn is a metro run by VAG Nürnberg , which itself is a member of the VGN . The Nuremberg U-Bahn is Germany's newest metro...
, see also: Nuremberg S-Bahn)
S-Bahn systems
- Berlin S-BahnBerlin S-BahnThe Berlin S-Bahn is a rapid transit system in and around Berlin, the capital city of Germany. It consists of 15 lines and is integrated with the mostly underground U-Bahn to form the backbone of Berlin's rapid transport system...
- Dresden S-BahnDresden S-BahnThe Dresden S-Bahn provides commuter train services in Dresden and the surrounding area. It was established in 1973 and comprises three lines...
- Hamburg S-BahnHamburg S-BahnThe Hamburg S-Bahn is a railway network for public rapid mass transit in the Hamburg Metropolitan Region. Together the S-Bahn, the Hamburg U-Bahn, the AKN railway and the regional railway form the backbone of railway public transport in the city and the surrounding area...
- Hanover S-BahnHanover S-BahnThe Hanover S-Bahn is an S-Bahn network operated by DB Regio in the area of Hanover in the German state capital of Lower Saxony...
- Leipzig-Halle S-Bahn
- Magdeburg S-Bahn
- Munich S-BahnMunich S-BahnThe Munich S-Bahn is an electric rail transit system in Munich, Germany. "S-Bahn" is the German abbreviation for stadtschnellbahn , and the Munich S-Bahn exhibits characteristics of both rapid transit and commuter rail systems.The Munich S-Bahn network is operated by S-Bahn München, a subsidiary...
- Nuremberg S-BahnNürnberg S-BahnThe Nuremberg S-Bahn is an S-Bahn network covering the region of Nuremberg, Fürth and Erlangen which was founded in 1987 and is now integrated in the Transport Association Region Nuremberg . The full length of the four current lines is about 229 kilometres...
- Rhine-Main S-BahnRhine-Main S-BahnThe Rhine-Main S-Bahn system is an integrated rapid transit and commuter transport system for the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main region, which includes the cities Frankfurt am Main, Wiesbaden, Mainz, Offenbach am Main, Hanau and Darmstadt...
(FrankfurtFrankfurtFrankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
/ MainzMainzMainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
/ WiesbadenWiesbadenWiesbaden is a city in southwest Germany and the capital of the federal state of Hesse. It has about 275,400 inhabitants, plus approximately 10,000 United States citizens...
) - Rhine-Neckar S-Bahn (LudwigshafenLudwigshafen am RheinLudwigshafen am Rhein is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Ludwigshafen is located on the Rhine opposite Mannheim. Together with Mannheim, Heidelberg and the surrounding region, it forms the Rhine Neckar Area....
/ MannheimMannheimMannheim is a city in southwestern Germany. With about 315,000 inhabitants, Mannheim is the second-largest city in the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, following the capital city of Stuttgart....
/ HeidelbergHeidelberg-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
/ KarlsruheKarlsruheThe City of Karlsruhe is a city in the southwest of Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, located near the French-German border.Karlsruhe was founded in 1715 as Karlsruhe Palace, when Germany was a series of principalities and city states...
) - Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn (Ruhr AreaRuhr AreaThe Ruhr, by German-speaking geographers and historians more accurately called Ruhr district or Ruhr region , is an urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With 4435 km² and a population of some 5.2 million , it is the largest urban agglomeration in Germany...
/ DüsseldorfDüsseldorfDüsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
/ CologneCologneCologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
(Köln) / BonnBonnBonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
) - Rostock S-BahnRostock S-BahnThe Rostock S-Bahn is an S-Bahn in Rostock, Germany. Opened in 1970, it links Rostock Hauptbahnhof with the coastal suburb of Warnemünde....
- Stuttgart S-BahnStuttgart S-BahnThe Stuttgart S-Bahn is a suburban railway system serving the Stuttgart Region, an agglomeration of around 2.6 million people, consisting of the city of Stuttgart and the adjacent districts of Esslingen, Böblingen, Ludwigsburg and Rems-Murr. It consists of seven lines numbered S1 through S6 and...
External links
- Berlin: Berliner Verkehrsgesellschaft
- Frankfurt: Verkehrsgesellschaft Frankfurt
- Hamburg: Hamburger Hochbahn AG
- Munich: Münchner Verkehrsgesellschaft
- Nuremberg: Verkehrs-Aktiengesellschaft Nürnberg