Rail transport in Germany is provided predominantly by ''

Deutsche Bahn (, ; abbreviated as DB or DB AG ) is the national railway company of Germany, and a state-owned enterprise under the control of the German government. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). DB was fou ...

'' (DB, ). , the

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

network in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

(DB only) had a length of , of which were electrified and were

double track A double-track railway usually involves running one track in each direction, compared to a single-track railway where trains in both directions share the same track. Overview In the earliest days of railways in the United Kingdom, most li ...

. About are

high-speed railway High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail transport network utilising trains that run significantly faster than those of traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated railway track, tracks. While there is ...

lines. Germany has the 6th longest railway network in the world, and the largest in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

after

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. Germany was ranked 4th among national European rail systems in the 2017 European Railway Performance Index assessing intensity of use,

quality of service Quality of service (QoS) is the description or measurement of the overall performance of a service, such as a telephony or computer network, or a cloud computing service, particularly the performance seen by the users of the network. To quantitat ...

and

safety Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ...

. It had a very good rating for intensity of use, by both passengers and

freight In transportation, cargo refers to goods transported by land, water or air, while freight refers to its conveyance. In economics, freight refers to goods transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. The term cargo is also used in ...

, 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 Rail freight transport is the use of railways and trains to transport cargo as opposed to human passengers. A freight train, cargo train, or goods train is a group of freight cars (US) or goods wagons (International Union of Railways) hauled ...

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 The International Union of Railways (, UIC) is an international rail transport industry body based in Paris. History The railways of Europe had originated during the nineteenth century as many separate concerns across numerous nations; this le ...

(UIC). The UIC Country Code for Germany is 80. Urban rail in Germany includes

rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT) or heavy rail, commonly referred to as metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport that is generally built in urban areas. A grade separation, grade separated rapid transit line below ground su ...

(known as ''

U-Bahn Rapid transit in Germany consists of four systems and 14 systems. The , commonly understood to stand for ('underground railway'), are conventional rapid transit systems that run mostly underground, while the or ('city rapid railway') are c ...

''), commuter rail (known as ''

S-Bahn The S-Bahn ( , ), , is a hybrid urban rail, urban–suburban rail system serving a metropolitan region predominantly in German language, German-speaking countries. Some of the larger S-Bahn systems provide service similar to rapid transit syst ...

''), '' Stadtbahn'' (

light rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...

tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

s and

funicular A funicular ( ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep grade (slope), slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to ...

s (e.g. in

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

). Suspension railways () are present in two cities,

and

Wuppertal Wuppertal (; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany, with a population of 355,000. Wuppertal is the seventh-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and List of cities in Germany by population, 17th-largest in Germany. It ...

, 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 Sylt (; ; Söl'ring North Frisian: ) is an island in northern Germany, part of Nordfriesland district, Schleswig-Holstein, with a distinctively shaped shoreline. It belongs to the North Frisian Islands and is the largest island in North Fris ...

and

Wangerooge Wangerooge (; ; Wangerooge Frisian: ) is one of the 32 Frisian Islands in the North Sea off the northwestern coast of Germany. It is a municipality in the district of Friesland (district), Friesland in Lower Saxony in Germany. The island is also l ...

Overview

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

Operators

(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 Fernverkehr AG (, "DB Long-Distance Traffic") is a semi-independent division of Deutsche Bahn that operates long-distance passenger trains in Germany. It was founded in 1999 in the second stage of the privatisation of Deutsche Bahn, under the ...

'' (), '' 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 Transdev Germany is the largest private operator of passenger buses and trains in Germany. It is a subsidiary of Transdev. History In 1997, Aktiengesellschaft für Industrie und Verkehrswesen was purchased by a Veolia Transport, CGEA Group (60% ...

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 The (), often shorted to the D-Ticket, is a subscription public transport ticket for all local public transport, valid in the whole of Germany. The Scholz cabinet introduced it in May 2023 as a permanent successor to the 9-Euro-Ticket which ha ...

'' 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 The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

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 Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; ), also known by its Anglicisation, anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a Federated state, state in the north-east of Germany. Of the country's States of Germany, sixteen states, Mecklenburg-Vorpom ...

has new builds with 550 mm.

Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

, NRW, Berlin had new builds with 760 mm.

Routes

Track gauges

Signals

Rolling stock

In 2014 (local passenger) and 2015 (other), the

rolling stock The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, Railroad car#Freight cars, freight and Passenger railroad car, passenger cars (or coaches) ...

used in Germany included the following numbers of vehicle types. File:Baureihe 406 ICE3M (9330753358) (2).jpg,

ICE 3 ICE 3 (standing for ''Intercity Express, Intercity-Express'') is a family of high-speed electric multiple unit trains operated by Deutsche Bahn. It currently includes classes 403, 407 and 408 which are additionally specified as ICE 3, New ICE 3 ...

high-speed train of DB File:146 273 Köln Hauptbahnhof 2015-12-26-01.JPG, DB Class 146

hauling Haulage is the business of transporting goods by road or rail between suppliers and large consumer outlets, factories, warehouses, or depots. This includes everything humans might wish to move in bulk – from vegetables and other foodstuffs, to c ...

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 Stadler FLIRT (, ) is a passenger multiple unit trainset made by Stadler Rail of Switzerland. The baseline design of FLIRT is an electric multiple unit Articulated car, articulated trainset that can come in units of two to twelve cars with two t ...

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 ''

'' () division: *

InterCity-Express Intercity Express (commonly known as ICE () and running under this Train categories in Europe, category) is a high-speed rail in Germany, high-speed rail system in Germany. It also serves destinations in Austria, France, Belgium, Switzerland an ...

(ICE) –

high speed train High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail transport network utilising trains that run significantly faster than those of traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated railway track, tracks. While there is ...

, largely national but some routes to the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, and

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

EuroCity EuroCity (EC) is an international Train categories in Europe, train category and brand for European inter-city rail, inter-city trains that cross international borders and meet criteria covering comfort, speed, food service, and cleanliness. E ...

(EC) – international long-distance trains to larger cities in Europe. *

InterCity InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the train categories in Europe, classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to InterRegio, regional train, r ...

(IC) – national long-distance trains *

EuroNight EuroNight, abbreviated EN, is a European train category that denotes many mainline national and international night train services within the Western and Central European inter-city rail network. Overview The classification and name were brough ...

(EN) – international

night trains Night, or nighttime, is the period of darkness when the Sun is below the horizon. Sunlight illuminates one side of the Earth, leaving the other in darkness. The opposite of nighttime is daytime. Earth's rotation causes the appearance of su ...

InterRegio The InterRegio, often shortened to IR, is a train categories in Europe, train category for mainly domestic train services in use in some European countries, with Swiss Federal Railways operating the most dense network. InterRegio trains are semi ...

services, introduced in 1988 to replace the former '' Schnellzug'' () and

, were discontinued in Germany in 2003. The '' UrlaubsExpress'' (), national night trains to the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

and the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

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 Thalys (French: ) was a brand name used for high-speed rail, high-speed train services between Paris Gare du Nord and both Amsterdam Centraal and German cities in the Rhein-Ruhr, including Aachen, Köln Hauptbahnhof, Cologne, Düsseldorf Hauptba ...

) – high-speed services to Belgium and France, using modified French

TGV The TGV (; , , 'high-speed train') is France's intercity high-speed rail service. With commercial operating speeds of up to on the newer lines, the TGV was conceived at the same period as other technological projects such as the Ariane 1 rocke ...

trains. *

Eurocity EuroCity (EC) is an international Train categories in Europe, train category and brand for European inter-city rail, inter-city trains that cross international borders and meet criteria covering comfort, speed, food service, and cleanliness. E ...

– trains operated by non-German companies that cross the border * EuroCity-Express (ECE) – on two routes ( Frankfurt (Main) –

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

–

Milano Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nearly 1.4 million, while i ...

and

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

–

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

) since 2020, operated by

Swiss Federal Railways Swiss Federal Railways (, SBB; , CFF; , FFS) is the national railway company of Switzerland. The company was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Bern. It used to be a State-owned enterprise, government institution, but since 1999 it has be ...

(runs as

/EC in Switzerland and Italy) * Flixtrain – operates a handful of long distance trains; Flixtrain is a subsidiary of

Flixbus FlixBus (; styled FLiXBUS) is a German brand that offers low-cost Intercity bus service, intercity coach services in Europe, North America, South America and Asia. It is owned by , which also operates FlixTrain, FlixCar, , and Greyhound Lines. F ...

, 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 Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. Veolia Verkehr (Now merged into

Transdev Transdev, formerly Veolia Transdev, is a France-based international private-sector company which operates public transport. It has operations in 17 countries and territories as of November 2020. Transdev was formed on 3 April 2011 via the merg ...

) offered services on certain former InterRegio routes ( Harz-Berlin-Express, Ostseeland Express) until 2014.

Regional and local

Regional In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

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 In Germany, Luxembourg and Austria, the Regional-Express (; RE, or in Austria: REX) is a type of regional train. It is similar to a semi-fast train, with a top speed of and an average speed of about as it calls at fewer stations than ''R ...

'' (RE) and '' InterRegio-Express'' (IRE) – medium-distance semi-fast trains for regional services *''

Regionalbahn The ''Regionalbahn'' (; lit. Regional train; abbreviated ''RB'') is a train categories in Europe, type of Regional rail, local passenger train (stopping train) in Germany. It is similar to the Regionalzug (R) and Regio (Swiss railway train), R ...

'' (RB) – basic local service, usually calling at all stations * Metropolexpress (MEX) – local train in the state of

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

*''

'' (S) – suburban rail services mostly provided by Deutsche Bahn *''

'' (U) – underground train services provided by the various cities' transport bodies (not Deutsche Bahn) *

Tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

() /

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 Gauge ( ) may refer to: Measurement * Gauge (instrument), any of a variety of measuring instruments * Gauge (firearms) * Wire gauge, a measure of the size of a wire ** American wire gauge, a common measure of nonferrous wire diameter, especia ...

(), although

electrification Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. In the context of history of technology and economic development, electrification refe ...

( 15 kV AC 16.7 Hz) and other systems such as

signalling A signal is both the process and the result of transmission of data over some media accomplished by embedding some variation. Signals are important in multiple subject fields including signal processing, information theory and biology. In ...

may differ. *

— voltage change to 25 kV AC 50 Hz *

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

— voltage change to 3 kV DC *

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

— voltage change to 3 kV DC *

— same voltage *

— same voltage, but different

pantograph A pantograph (, from their original use for copying writing) is a Linkage (mechanical), mechanical linkage connected in a manner based on parallelograms so that the movement of one pen, in tracing an image, produces identical movements in a se ...

s *

— voltage change to 25 kV AC 50 Hz (no direct connection to France's 1500 V DC network) *

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

— voltage change to 25 kV AC 50 Hz *

— voltage change to 3 kV DC *

The Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

— 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 A train ferry is a ship (ferry) designed to carry railway vehicles, as well as their cargoes and passengers. Typically, one level of the ship is fitted with railway tracks, and the vessel has a door at the front and/or rear to give access to t ...

(carrying only

goods wagon Goods wagons or freight wagons (North America: freight cars), also known as goods carriages, goods trucks, freight carriages or freight trucks, are unpowered railway vehicles that are used for the transportation of cargo. A variety of wagon types ...

s) between

Rostock Rostock (; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Roztoc''), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (), is the largest city in the German States of Germany, state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the sta ...

and

Trelleborg Trelleborg () is a town in Skåne County, Sweden, with 43,359 inhabitants as of 31 December 2015. It is the southernmost town in Sweden located some west from the Smygehuk, southernmost point of Sweden and the Scandinavian Peninsula. It is one ...

(

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

) across the

. Until December 2019, there were also train ferries carrying

and

ICE Ice is water that is frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 ° C, 32 ° F, or 273.15 K. It occurs naturally on Earth, on other planets, in Oort cloud objects, and as interstellar ice. As a naturally oc ...

services between Puttgarden ( Fehmarn island) and

Rødby Rødby is a town located on the island of Lolland in south Denmark. It has a population of 1,957 (1 January 2024).Vogelfluglinie''). The Lake Constance train ferries linked Germany with Switzerland (1869−1976) and Austria (1884−1917) across

Lake Constance Lake Constance (, ) refers to three bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (''Obersee''), Lower Lake Constance (''Untersee''), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Seerhein (). These ...

().

International passenger trains

The table includes operational cross-border services, most of which run either as

(EC), EuroCity-Express (ECE),

(IC),

Intercity-Express Intercity Express (commonly known as ICE () and running under this Train categories in Europe, category) is a high-speed rail in Germany, high-speed rail system in Germany. It also serves destinations in Austria, France, Belgium, Switzerland an ...

(ICE) or '' Regionalexpress'' (RE). Local border services are not listed.

High-speed rail

Urban rail

Rapid transit

Munich - U-Bahn - Marienplatz - 2012 - IMG 7565

There are four

(''U-Bahn'') systems in Germany: *

Berlin U-Bahn The Berlin U-Bahn (; short for , "underground railway") is a rapid transit system in Berlin, the capital and largest city of Germany, and a major part of the city's public transport system. Together with the Berlin S-Bahn, S-Bahn, a network of ...

* Hamburg U-Bahn *

Munich U-Bahn The Munich U-Bahn () is an Railway electrification system, electric rail Rapid transit, rapid transit network in Munich, Germany. The system began operation in 1971, and is operated by the municipally owned Münchner Verkehrsgesellschaft (MVG; Mun ...

Nuremberg U-Bahn The Nuremberg U-Bahn is a rapid transit system in Nuremberg and Fürth, Bavaria. It is operated by ''Verkehrs-Aktiengesellschaft Nürnberg'' (VAG; Nuremberg Transport Corporation), which itself is a member of the ''Verkehrsverbund Großraum Nür ...

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 The Berlin S-Bahn () is a rapid transit railway system that services the reigon in and around Berlin, the capital city of Germany. It has been in operation under the name since December 1930, having been previously called the special tariff are ...

* Breisgau S-Bahn *

Bremen S-Bahn The Bremen S-Bahn () is an S-Bahn network in Germany, covering the Bremen/Oldenburg Metropolitan Region, from Bremerhaven in the north to Twistringen in the south and Bad Zwischenahn and Oldenburg (city), Oldenburg in the west. It has been in o ...

Dresden S-Bahn The Dresden S-Bahn is a network of S-Bahn-type commuter train services in Dresden and the surrounding area. It is commissioned by Verkehrsverbund Oberelbe (VVO) from DB Regio ''Verkehrsbetrieb Südostsachsen'' and currently consists of three serv ...

* Erfurt S-Bahn (1976–1995) *

Hamburg S-Bahn The Hamburg S-Bahn is a rapid transit railway system in the Hamburg Metropolitan Region. Together, the S-Bahn, the Hamburg U-Bahn, the AKN Eisenbahn, AKN railway and the regional railway form the backbone of railway public transport in the city ...

* Hanover S-Bahn * Kiel S-Bahn * Mitteldeutschland S-Bahn * Mittelelbe S-Bahn *

Munich S-Bahn The Munich S-Bahn () is an Railway electrification system, electric rail transit system in Munich, Germany. "S-Bahn" is the German abbreviation for ''Stadtschnellbahn'' (literally, "urban rapid rail"), and the Munich S-Bahn exhibits characteris ...

* Nuremberg S-Bahn * Ortenau-S-Bahn* *

Rhine-Main S-Bahn The Rhine-Main S-Bahn system is an integrated rapid transit and commuter rail, commuter train system for the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main region, which includes the cities Frankfurt am Main, Wiesbaden, Mainz, Offenbach am Main, Hanau and Darmstadt. The ...

* 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 A tram-train or dual-system tram is a type of light rail vehicle that both meets the standards of a light rail system, and also national mainline standards. Tramcars are adapted to be capable of running on streets like an urban tramway but a ...

/ premetro () systems in Germany (systems included in the Rhine-Ruhr Stadtbahn are marked with an *): * Bochum Stadtbahn* *

Bonn Stadtbahn The Bonn Stadtbahn () is a ''Stadtbahn'' system in Bonn, Germany, Bonn and the surrounding Rhein-Sieg area, that also includes the Trams in Bonn, Bonn Straßenbahn. Although with six actual Stadtbahn lines (as well as three tram lines) the network ...

* Cologne Stadtbahn * Dortmund Stadtbahn* * Duisburg Stadtbahn* * Düsseldorf Stadtbahn* * Erfurt Stadtbahn * Essen Stadtbahn* * Karlsruhe Stadtbahn * Kassel RegioTram * Frankfurt (Main) Stadtbahn * Saarbahn *

Stuttgart Stadtbahn The Stuttgart Stadtbahn is a semi-metro system in Stuttgart, Germany. The Stadtbahn began service on 28 September 1985. It is operated by the Stuttgarter Straßenbahnen AG (SSB), which also operates the Stuttgarter Straßenbahnen AG#Bus system ...

* Trams in Chemnitz * Trams in Görlitz * Trams in Leipzig

Funiculars

Mountain and rack railways

Heritage railways

History

The earliest form of railways,

wagonway A wagonway (or waggonway; also known as a horse-drawn railway, or horse-drawn railroad) was a method of rail transport, railway transportation that preceded the steam locomotive and used horses to haul wagons. The terms plateway and tramway (indu ...

s, were developed in Germany in the 16th century. A wagonway operation was illustrated in Germany in 1556 by

Georgius Agricola Georgius Agricola (; born Georg Bauer; 24 March 1494 – 21 November 1555) was a German Humanist scholar, mineralogist and metallurgist. Born in the small town of Glauchau, in the Electorate of Saxony of the Holy Roman Empire, he was b ...

(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 The Bavarian Ludwig Railway (''Bayerische Ludwigseisenbahn'' or ''Ludwigsbahn'') was the first steam-hauled railway opened in Germany. The ''Königlich privilegierte Ludwigs-Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft'' ("Royal Privileged Ludwig Railway Company ...

between

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

and

Fürth Fürth (; East Franconian German, East Franconian: ; ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in northern Bavaria, Germany, in the administrative division (''Regierungsbezirk'') of Middle Franconia. It is the Franconia#Towns and cities, s ...

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 The Ruhr ( ; , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr Area, sometimes Ruhr District, Ruhr Region, or Ruhr Valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 1,160/km2 and a populati ...

and other industrial districts and provided good connections to the major ports of

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

and

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

. 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 Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...

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

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, 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 (''

Kriegslokomotive ''Kriegslokomotiven'' (, singular: ''Kriegslokomotive'') or ''Kriegsloks'' were locomotives produced in large numbers during the Second World War under Nazi Germany. Their construction was tailored to the economic circumstances of wartime Germa ...

n'' and '' Übergangskriegslokomotiven''). 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 West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

and the ''

Deutsche Reichsbahn The ''Deutsche Reichsbahn'' (), also known as the German National Railway, the German State Railway, German Reich Railway, and the German Imperial Railway, was the Weimar Republic, German national Rail transport, railway system created after th ...

'' of

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

. In 1989, the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (, ) was a guarded concrete Separation barrier, barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (GDR; East Germany). Construction of the B ...

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 (''

''). At the time the ''Bahnreform'' was seen as a "first step" towards future railway privatization and Deutsche Bahn operates as a

joint stock company A joint-stock company (JSC) is a business entity in which shares of the company's capital stock, stock can be bought and sold by shareholders. Each shareholder owns company stock in proportion, evidenced by their share (finance), shares (certifi ...

( AG) even though the federal government owns all stocks. However, plans for privatization were delayed by the

Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of market decline in economies around the world that occurred from late 2007 to mid-2009.

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 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, by the locomotive engineers union *

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

, by ''Deutsche Bahn'' workers

Accidents

Notes

References

External links

German rail transport galleryGerman Railway Timetable
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rail Transport In Germany

Overview

Operators

Special schemes

Stations

Platform height

Routes

Track gauges

Signals

Rolling stock

Services

Long-distance services of Deutsche Bahn

Long-distance services of other operators

Regional and local

By state

Rail links to adjacent countries

International passenger trains

High-speed rail

Urban rail

Rapid transit

Commuter rail

Tramways and ''Stadtbahn''

Funiculars

Mountain and rack railways

Heritage railways

History

National strikes

Accidents

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links