German Railway

Rail transport in Germany is provided predominantly by ''Deutsche Bahn'' (DB, ). , the railway network in Germany (DB only) had a length of , of which were electrified and were double track. About are high-speed railway lines. Germany has the 6th longest railway network in the world, and the largest in Europe after Russia.

Germany was ranked 4th among national European rail systems in the 2017 European Railway Performance Index assessing intensity of use, quality of service and safety. It had a very good rating for intensity of use, by both passengers and freight, and good ratings for quality of service and safety. It also captured relatively high value in return for public investment with cost to performance ratios that outperform the average ratio for all European countries.

Germany's rail freight of 117 billion tons/kilometer meant it carried 17.6% of all inland German cargo in 2015.

Germany is a member of the International Union of Railways (UIC). The UIC Country Code for Germany is 80.

Urban rail in Germany includes rapid transit (known as ''U-Bahn''), commuter rail (known as ''S-Bahn''), ''Stadtbahn'' (light rail), trams and funiculars (e.g. in Dresden). Suspension railways () are present in two cities, Dresden and Wuppertal, in addition to the ''H-Bahn'' at Düsseldorf Airport and Dortmund University. Stuttgart has an urban rack railway.

Island railways are present on Fehmarn, Sylt and Wangerooge.

Overview

In 2018, railways in Germany transported the following numbers of passengers and freight.

Operators

Deutsche Bahn (DB), a state-owned private company, is the main provider of railway service. In recent years a number of competitors have started business, such as SWEG, ODEG or FlixTrain. DB runs several semi-independent divisions, such as ''DB Fernverkehr'' (), ''DB Regio'' (with several subsidiaries) and DB Cargo. DB mostly offers state-funded regional services, but some companies offer long-distance services as well. In 2016, DB had a share of 67% in the regional railway market and 68.6% in the inland freight market.

As of October 2016, there were 452 railway operators registered in Germany, among them 124 regional passenger operators, 20 long-distance operators, and 163 freight operators. Transdev Germany is the largest private operator of buses and passenger trains in Germany. Also Netinera (previously ) operates several railway lines in Germany.

In 2018, public sector funding accounted for 25.6% of the cost of short-distance passenger transport including all rail and bus services. The long-distance market generally does not require government funding.

Special schemes

In June, July and August 2022, there was a special ticket called the 9-Euro-Ticket, which was a ticket with which passengers could travel for €9 per month on local and regional transport throughout Germany. The initiative aimed to reduce energy consumption during the global energy crisis in 2021–2022 and alleviate the costs of living for people. Some criticized the enterprise, saying it led to overcrowding of trains at some points

The ''Deutschlandticket'' replaces the 9-Euro-Ticket. This subscription public transport ticket costs €49 and is valid for all local public transport in Germany. The price for the ''Deutschlandticket'' will be raised to €58 per month in January 2025.

Stations

Platform height

The European Union Commission issued a TSI (Technical Specifications for Interoperability) on 30 May 2002, ( 2002/735/EC) that sets out standard platform heights for passenger steps on high-speed rail. These standard heights are and .2002/735/EC , sections 7.3.4 and 4.2.5

In Germany new builds are 550 mm and 760 mm. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern has new builds with 550 mm. Hesse, NRW, Berlin had new builds with 760 mm.

Routes

Track gauges

Signals

Rolling stock

In 2014 (local passenger) and 2015 (other), the rolling stock used in Germany included the following numbers of vehicle types.

File:Baureihe 406 ICE3M (9330753358) (2).jpg, ICE 3 high-speed train of DB
File:146 273 Köln Hauptbahnhof 2015-12-26-01.JPG, DB Class 146 hauling double-decker coaches
File:620 516 Köln-Deutz 2016-03-26.JPG, Class 620 DMU of DB
File:VIAS Stadler FLIRT double traction near Hattenheim 20141011 1.jpg, Stadler FLIRT EMU of Vias
File:Bwegt DB 462 510 verlässt Bahnhof Offenburg (2023).jpg, DB Class 462 EMU of BWegt
File:Arverio BY-Mireo.jpg, Siemens Mireo of Arverio

Services

Long-distance services of Deutsche Bahn

Long-distance services of ''Deutsche Bahn'' (DB) are operated by its ''DB Fernverkehr'' () division:
* InterCity-Express (ICE) – high speed train, largely national but some routes to the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, France, and Denmark
* EuroCity (EC) – international long-distance trains to larger cities in Europe.
* InterCity (IC) – national long-distance trains
* EuroNight (EN) – international night trains

InterRegio services, introduced in 1988 to replace the former ''Schnellzug'' () and InterCity, were discontinued in Germany in 2003.

The '' UrlaubsExpress'' (), national night trains to the Alps and the Baltic Sea during vacation times, were abolished in 2007.

Deutsche Bahn is gradually increasing the percentage of InterCity-Express services and downgrading the remaining InterCity services to the role formerly played by the InterRegio.

Long-distance services of other operators

* EuroStar Red (previously Thalys) – high-speed services to Belgium and France, using modified French TGV trains.
* Eurocity / InterCity – trains operated by non-German companies that cross the border
* EuroCity-Express (ECE) – on two routes ( Frankfurt (Main) – Basel – Milano and Munich – Zurich) since 2020, operated by Swiss Federal Railways (runs as EuroCity/EC in Switzerland and Italy)
* Flixtrain – operates a handful of long distance trains; Flixtrain is a subsidiary of Flixbus, mostly an operator of long distance buses
* RailJet (RJ) – operated by Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB), runs services to Austria
* NightJet (NJ) – a sleeper train operated by ÖBB to destinations in mainland Europe
* WESTbahn – provides services to Austria

Cisalpino (discontinued in December 2006) provided services to Switzerland and Italy.

Veolia Verkehr (Now merged into Transdev) offered services on certain former InterRegio routes ( Harz-Berlin-Express, Ostseeland Express) until 2014.

Regional and local

Regional and local rail traffic is organised and funded (as the fares usually do not cover the running costs) by the federal states. The usual procedure under EU legislation is to award the contract to the lowest bid by means of a tender procedure. The respective states are free to announce short- or long-term contracts as well as to stipulate further conditions such as on rolling stock. In recent years, many bids have been won by private rail companies like NordWestBahn or Netinera, although some states have awarded long-term contracts to local DB Regio subsidiaries. The train types for regional and local traffic are as follows (see also: List of suburban and commuter rail systems).
*''Regional-Express'' (RE) and '' InterRegio-Express'' (IRE) – medium-distance semi-fast trains for regional services
*''Regionalbahn'' (RB) – basic local service, usually calling at all stations
* Metropolexpress (MEX) – local train in the state of Baden-Württemberg
*''S-Bahn'' (S) – suburban rail services mostly provided by Deutsche Bahn
*''U-Bahn'' (U) – underground train services provided by the various cities' transport bodies (not Deutsche Bahn)
*Tram () / light rail services – tramways are in place in several cities, in a few major cities these run underground in the city centre (often called ''Stadtbahn'', especially if they have been upgraded to railway standards)

Previously, there were also other regional train types, the '' Stadt-Express'' (SE), formerly named '' City-Bahn'' (CB).

By state

Rail links to adjacent countries

Germany has rail links to all of its nine neighbouring nations. These countries use the same mainline gauge (), although electrification ( 15 kV AC 16.7 Hz) and other systems such as signalling may differ.
* Denmark — voltage change to 25 kV AC 50 Hz
* Poland — voltage change to 3 kV DC
* Czech Republic — voltage change to 3 kV DC
* Austria — same voltage
* Switzerland — same voltage, but different pantographs
* France — voltage change to 25 kV AC 50 Hz (no direct connection to France's 1500 V DC network)
* Luxembourg— voltage change to 25 kV AC 50 Hz
* Belgium — voltage change to 3 kV DC
* The Netherlands — voltage change to 1500 V DC or 25 kV AC 50 Hz (at / ; for trains to , a further change to 1500 V DC follows)

There are also train ferries (carrying only goods wagons) between Rostock and Trelleborg (Sweden) across the Baltic Sea. Until December 2019, there were also train ferries carrying EuroCity and ICE services between Puttgarden (Fehmarn island) and Rødby''). The Lake Constance train ferries linked Germany with Switzerland (1869−1976) and Austria (1884−1917) across Lake Constance ().

International passenger trains

The table includes operational cross-border services, most of which run either as EuroCity (EC), EuroCity-Express (ECE), InterCity (IC), Intercity-Express (ICE) or '' Regionalexpress'' (RE). Local border services are not listed.

High-speed rail

Urban rail

Rapid transit

There are four rapid transit (''U-Bahn'') systems in Germany:

*Berlin U-Bahn
*Hamburg U-Bahn
*Munich U-Bahn
*Nuremberg U-Bahn

Commuter rail

The following is a list of ''S-Bahn'' systems that serve, or served, stations in Germany (cross-border systems are marked with an *):

* Aargau S-Bahn*
* Basel S-Bahn*
* Bodensee S-Bahn*
* Berlin S-Bahn
* Breisgau S-Bahn
* Bremen S-Bahn
* Dresden S-Bahn
* Erfurt S-Bahn (1976–1995)
* Hamburg S-Bahn
* Hanover S-Bahn
* Kiel S-Bahn
* Mitteldeutschland S-Bahn
* Mittelelbe S-Bahn
* Munich S-Bahn
* Nuremberg S-Bahn
* Ortenau-S-Bahn*
* Rhine-Main S-Bahn
* Rhine-Neckar S-Bahn
* Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn
* '' Ringzug''
* Rostock S-Bahn
* Salzburg S-Bahn*
* Schaffhausen S-Bahn*
* St. Gallen S-Bahn*
* Stuttgart S-Bahn
* Tyrol S-Bahn*
* Ulm S-Bahn
* Vorarlberg S-Bahn*
* Zurich S-Bahn*

Tramways and ''Stadtbahn''

The list below summarizes tram-train / light rail / premetro () systems in Germany (systems included in the Rhine-Ruhr Stadtbahn are marked with an *):

* Bochum Stadtbahn*
* Bonn Stadtbahn
* Cologne Stadtbahn
* Dortmund Stadtbahn*
* Duisburg Stadtbahn*
* Düsseldorf Stadtbahn*
* Erfurt Stadtbahn
* Essen Stadtbahn*
* Karlsruhe Stadtbahn
* Kassel RegioTram
* Frankfurt (Main) Stadtbahn
* Saarbahn
* Stuttgart Stadtbahn
* Trams in Chemnitz
* Trams in Görlitz
* Trams in Leipzig

Funiculars

Mountain and rack railways

Heritage railways

History

The earliest form of railways, wagonways, were developed in Germany in the 16th century. A wagonway operation was illustrated in Germany in 1556 by Georgius Agricola (image right) in his work De re metallica. This line used "Hund" carts with unflanged wheels running on wooden planks and a vertical pin on the cart fitting into the gap between the planks to keep it going the right way. The miners called the wagons ''Hunde'' ("dogs") from the noise they made on the tracks. Such wagonways soon became very popular in Europe.

Modern German rail history officially began with the opening of the steam-hauled Bavarian Ludwig Railway between Nuremberg and Fürth on 7 December 1835. The first long distance railway was the Leipzig-Dresden railway, completed on 7 April 1839. The Dresden Leipzig railway station was the first railway station in Dresden and was the terminus of the first German long-distance railway Leipzig–Dresden. The following years saw a rapid growth: By the year 1845, there were already more than of railroads in Germany, and ten years later that number was above 8,000.

German unification in 1871 stimulated consolidation, nationalization into state-owned companies, and further rapid growth. Unlike the situation in France, the goal was support of industrialization, and so heavy lines crisscrossed the Ruhr and other industrial districts and provided good connections to the major ports of Hamburg and Bremen. By 1880, Germany had 9,400 locomotives pulling 43,000 passengers and 30,000 tons of freight, and forged ahead of France. 1915 Leipzig Hauptbahnhof had become one of the largest stations worldwide.

Under the Weimar Republic, the '' Deutsche Reichseisenbahnen'' (later ''Deutsche Reichsbahn'') was created on 1 April 1920.

During the Second World War, austere versions of the standard locomotives were produced to speed up construction times and minimise the use of imported materials. These were the so-called war locomotives (''Kriegslokomotiven'' and '' Ãœbergangskriegslokomotiven''). Absent a good highway network and trucks, the Germans relied heavily on the railways, supplemented by slower river and canal transport for bulk goods.

After the war, the German railway system was split into the ''Deutsche Bundesbahn'' of West Germany and the ''Deutsche Reichsbahn'' of East Germany.

In 1989, the Berlin Wall fell. Train frequency rapidly increased on the existing East/West corridors; closed links which had formerly crossed the border were re-opened. On 3 October 1990, Germany was reunified; however, this was not immediately the case with the railways. Administrative and organisational problems led to the decision to completely re-organise and reconnect Germany's railways. The so-called ''Bahnreform'' (Railway Reform) came into effect on 1 January 1994, when the two state railways were formally reunited to form the current German Railway Corporation (''Deutsche Bahn''). At the time the ''Bahnreform'' was seen as a "first step" towards future railway privatization and Deutsche Bahn operates as a joint stock company ( AG) even though the federal government owns all stocks. However, plans for privatization were delayed by the Great Recession and ultimately cancelled altogether. The railway sector was however liberalized insofar as Deutsche Bahn lost its railway monopoly status in 1996; regional services are now subject to open bidding ("''Regionalisierung''" or "regionalization", as the responsibility for local rail services was transferred from the federal government to the 16 state governments) whereas long distance services are subject to open access operation. However, while the share of DB in the market of regional rail has declined since 1994 - in the context of an overall expanding market of regional rail service - the vast majority of long distance trains are still operated by or in cooperation with Deutsche Bahn AG.

The German railways were long protected from competition from intercity buses on journeys over . However, in 2013, this protection was removed, leading to a significant shift from rail to bus for long journeys.

National strikes

* 2007, by the locomotive engineers union
* 2021, by ''Deutsche Bahn'' workers

Accidents

See also

* Federal Railway Authority
* German Railway Union
* Transport in Germany
* Rail transport by country
* Rail transport in Europe
* Railway divisions in Germany

Notes

References

Further reading

*

External links

German rail transport galleryGerman Railway Timetable

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rail Transport In Germany