S-Bahn
The S-Bahn (
Similar systems in Austria and German-speaking Switzerland are known as S-Bahn as well. In Belgium, it is known as S-Trein (Flemish) or Train S (French). In Denmark, they are known as S-tog [ˈesˌtsʰɔˀw], and in the Czech Republic as Esko or S-lines. In Milan, they are known as Linee S.
Characteristics
There is no complete definition of an S-Bahn system. S-Bahn are, where they exist, the most local type of passenger train service that stops at all existing stations on mainline networks inside and around a city (while other mainline trains only call at major stations).
They are slower than regional mainline trains, but usually serve as fast crosstown services within the city. The
Most S-Bahn systems are entirely built on older local railways, or in some cases parallel to an existing dual track railway. Most use existing local mainline railway trackage, but a few branches and lines can be purpose-built S-Bahn lines.[1][2] S-Bahn trains typically use overhead lines or a third rail for traction power. In Hamburg both methods are used, depending on which line is powered.[3]
In smaller S-Bahn systems and suburban sections of larger ones, trains typically share tracks with other rail traffic, with the
Further out from the central parts of a city the individual services branch off into lines where the distances between stations can exceed 5 km, similar to commuter rail. This allows the S-Bahn to serve a dual transport purpose: local transport within a city centre and suburban transport between central boroughs of larger cities, and to suburbs. Frequencies vary wildly between systems with short headways in the core sections of large networks to headways of over 20 minutes in remote sections of the network, late at night and/or on Sundays and in smaller systems.
The rolling stock typically used for S-Bahn systems reflects its hybrid purpose. The interior is designed for short journeys with provision for standing passengers, but may have more space allocated to larger and more numerous seats.
Integration with other local transport for ticketing, connectivity and easy interchange between lines or other systems like metros is typical for the S-Bahn. Where both S-Bahn and metro exist, the number of interchange stations between the two systems is substantial, with metro tickets being valid on S-Bahn services and vice versa. The S-Bahn Mitteldeutschland constitutes the main local railway system for Leipzig but also connects to Halle, where a few stations are located. The Rostock S-Bahn is an example of a smaller S-Bahn system.
Etymology
Germany, Austria and Switzerland
The name S-Bahn is an abbreviation of the German Stadtschnellbahn ("city rapid railway") and was introduced in December 1930 in Berlin. The name was introduced at the time of the reconstruction of the suburban commuter train tracks— the first section to be electrified was a section of the Berlin–Stettin railway from Berlin Nordbahnhof to Bernau bei Berlin station in 1924, leading to the formation of the Berlin S-Bahn.[5]
The main line Berliner Stadtbahn ("Berlin city railway") was electrified with a 750 volt third rail in 1928 (some steam trains ran until 1929) and the circle line Berliner Ringbahn was electrified in 1929. The electrification continued on the radial suburban railway tracks along with the timetable moving to a rapid transit model with no more than a 20-minute headway per line where a number of lines overlapped on the main line. The system peaked during the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin with trains scheduled at least every 2 minutes.[5]
The idea of heavy rail rapid transit was not unique to Berlin. Hamburg had an electric railway between the
As for
The term S-Bahn was a registered
Denmark
The "S" stood for "station". Just before the opening of the first line in the
History
Germany
Early steam services
In 1882, the growing number of steam-powered trains around Berlin prompted the Prussian State Railway to construct separate rail tracks for suburban traffic.[citation needed] The Berliner Stadtbahn connected Berlin's eight intercity rail stations which were spread throughout the city (all but the Stettiner Bahnhof which today is a pure S-Bahn station known as Berlin Nordbahnhof; as the city Stettin today is Polish city Szczecin). A lower rate[clarification needed] 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 railways.[citation needed]
The second suburban railway was the Hamburg-Altonaer Stadt- und Vorortbahn connecting Hamburg with Altona and Blankenese. The Altona office of the Prussian State Railway established the electric powered railway in 1906.[9]
Electricity
The beginning of the 20th century saw the first electric trains, which in Germany operated at 15,000
To set it apart from the subterranean U-Bahn, the term S-Bahn replaced Stadt-, Ring- und Vorortbahn in 1930.[citation needed]
The Hamburg service had established an
Systems by country
Austria
The oldest and largest S-Bahn system in Austria is the Vienna S-Bahn, which predominantly uses non exclusive rails tracks outside of Vienna. It was established in 1962, although it was usually referred to as Schnellbahn until 2005. The white "S" on a blue circle used as the logo is said to reflect the layout of the central railway line in Vienna. However, it has now been changed for a more stylized version that is used all through Austria, except Salzburg. The rolling stock was blue for a long time, reflecting the logo colour, but red is used uniformly for nearly all local traffic today.
In 2004, the
In 2006 the
The with the rest of the metropolitan area, currently the following lines are active: S1, S11, S3, S31, S5, S51, S6, S61, S7, S8 and S9. The network is operated by three railway companies: the Graz-Köflacher Bahn (GKB) (lines: S6, S61 and S7), the ÖBB (lines: S1, S3, S5, S51, S8 and S9) and the Steiermärkische Landesbahnen (StB) (lines: S11 and S31).
In December 2007 as well the Tyrol S-Bahn opened, running from Hall in Tirol in the east to Innsbruck Central Station and Telfs in the west and from Innsbruck to Steinach am Brenner. Class 4024 EMUs are used as rolling stock on this network.
In 2010 the
The youngest network is the
Belgium
Since 2015, the trains of the
Czech Republic
In the Czech Republic, integrated commuter rail systems exist in Prague[12] and Moravian-Silesian Region. Both systems are called Esko, which is how S letter is usually called in Czech. Esko Prague has been operating since 9 December 2007 as a part of the Prague Integrated Transport system. Esko Moravian-Silesian Region began operating on 14 December 2008 as a part of the ODIS Integrated Transport system serving the Moravian-Silesian Region. Both systems are primarily operated by České dráhy. Several shorter lines are operated by other companies.
Denmark
The Copenhagen Metro opened in 2002 as a complement to the already existing S-train system. Copenhagen's S-train system is the only one in the country. Outside Denmark, in cities where both exist, is it far from unusual that a metro system later has been complemented with S-trains. The branch towards Køge (the southernmost S-train station in Copenhagen's S-network) has a rather unique history, as it was built in the 1970s where no previous railway ever had existed.
France
Although not called a "Train S" in French, the
Germany
The trains of the Berlin and Hamburg S-Bahn systems ran on separate tracks from the beginning. When other cities started implementing their systems in the 1960s, they mostly had to use the existing intercity rail tracks, and they still more or less use such tracks.
The
The high number of large cities in the
Most German S-Bahn networks have a unique ticket system, separated from the Deutsche Bahn rates, instead connected to the city ticket system used for U-bahns and local buses. The S-Bahn of Hanover, however, operates under five different rates due to its large expanse.
One S-Bahn system is no longer in operation: the
There are several S-Bahn or S-Bahn-like systems in planning, such as the Augsburg S-Bahn (network plan) and the Lübeck S-Bahn (network plan).
The
Despite their names, the
The following networks are currently in operation:
S-Bahn | Area of Responsibility | Authority | Opened | Lines | Kilometrage | Rolling Stock | Company | Expiry of contract |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Berlin S-Bahn | Berlin, Potsdam | VBB | 1924 | 16 | 331 km | 484, 485
|
S-Bahn Berlin GmbH | 2017 |
Breisgau S-Bahn | Freiburg im Breisgau | RVF | 1997[A] | 7 | 50 km | Alstom Coradia Continental, Stadler Regio-Shuttle RS1
|
SWEG (diesel)
|
|
Bremen S-Bahn | Oldenburg
|
VBN | 2010 | 4 | 270 km | Alstom Coradia Continental
|
NordWestBahn | 2021 |
Dresden S-Bahn | Dresden | VVO | 1992 | 3 | 128 km | Doppelstockwagen
|
DB Regio Südost
|
2027 |
Hamburg S-Bahn | Hamburg | HVV | 1934 | 6 | 144 km | 472, 474, 490 | DB Regio AG
|
2033 |
Hannover S-Bahn
|
GVH, nph | 2000 | 9 (+ 1) | 385 km | 424, 425 | DB Regio Nord | 2020 | |
Mitteldeutschland S-Bahn
|
Leipzig, Halle (Saale), Zwickau, Bitterfeld, Wurzen, Borna | MDV, VBB, VMS, VVO | 2013[B] | 10 | 802 km | Doppelstockwagen
|
DB Regio Südost
|
2025/2030 |
Mittelelbe S-Bahn
|
Magdeburg | marego | 1974 | 1 | 130 km | 425 | DB Regio Südost
|
2028 |
Munich S-Bahn | Munich | MVV | 1972 | 8 | 434 km | 423, 420 | DB Regio AG
|
2017 |
Nürnberg S-Bahn
|
VGN | 1987 | 6 | 320 km | Coradia Continental, Talent 2
|
DB Regio Bayern
|
2030 | |
Ortenau-S-Bahn | Straßburg
|
TGO | 1998 | 4 | 170 km | Stadler Regio-Shuttle RS1 | SWEG
|
|
Rhine-Main S-Bahn | RMV | 1978 | 9 | 303 km | 423, 430 | DB Regio AG
|
2029, 2036 | |
RheinNeckar S-Bahn
|
Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Heidelberg, Kaiserslautern
|
VRN, KVV, HNV, saarVV | 2003 | 7 | 370 km | 425 | DB Regio Südwest
|
2017, 2033 |
) | VRR VRS |
1967 (1932) 1975 |
14 | 717 km | Alstom Coradia Continental, Integral
|
Abellio Rail NRW
|
||
Rostock S-Bahn | Rostock | VVW | 1974 | 3 | 91 km | Bombardier Talent 2 | DB Regio Nordost | 2024 |
Stuttgart S-Bahn | Stuttgart, Waiblingen, Esslingen, Ludwigsburg, Böblingen | VVS | 1978 | 7 | 215 km | 423, 430 | DB Regio AG
|
2028 |
Poland
Switzerland and Liechtenstein
S-Bahn is also used in the
The oldest network in Switzerland is the Bern S-Bahn, which was established in stages from 1974 onward and has adopted the term S-Bahn since 1995. It is also the only one in Switzerland to use a coloured "S" logo. In 1990, the Zürich S-Bahn, went into service. As of 2022, this network comprises 32 services, covering a large area in Switzerland (and parts of southern Germany). Further S-Bahn services were set up in the course of the Bahn 2000 initiative in Central Switzerland (a collaborative network of S-Bahn Luzern and Stadtbahn Zug), and Eastern Switzerland (S-Bahn St. Gallen).
The
An international S-Bahn network also existsts across the
The .
Another transborder network for the
The
The
The .
Two unnumbered S-Bahn services (designated only with an "S"), one between
Additionally, there are services designated "S" that are not part of any formal S-Bahn network. These include the S20, S21, and S22 operated by Swiss Federal Railways in Solothurn or the S27 operated by Südostbahn (SOB) between Siebnen-Wangen and Ziegelbrücke.
Swiss S-Bahn services are operated mostly by the
(ZB).See also
- Commuter rail
- U-Bahn
- Urban rail transit
- Train categories in Europe
- List of suburban and commuter rail systems
References
- ^ An example of this is the Køgebugt or Køge-Bay railway at Copenhagen, built 1971 to 1983 "Banedanmark - Dansk jernbanehistorie". Archived from the original on 3 February 2005. Retrieved 16 May 2005.
- ^ "S-train tunnel at Hamburg between Central Station and Altona 1967-1979". S-bahn-galerie.de. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
- ^ "Geschichte der S-Bahn Hamburg - S-Bahn-Galerie.de". Archived from the original on 28 March 2019. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
- ^ "Geschichte und Geschichten rund um die Berliner S-Bahn". Stadtschnellbahn-berlin.de.
- ^ a b "Geschichte und Geschichten rund um die Berliner S-Bahn". Stadtschnellbahn-berlin.de. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
- ^ Beschluss Bundespatentgericht vom 14. März 2012. Juris.bundespatentgericht.de, Retrieved 14 April 2013.
- ^ John Poulsen: S-bane 1934-2009 side 47
- ^ "Siden blev desværre ikke fundet" (PDF). Dsb.dk. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 February 2017. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
- ^ a b See picture of Berliner Stadtbahn by Hackescher Markt S-Bahn station, the third rail is clearly seen between the two S-Bahn tracks. Original name of that station was "Börse", or "the Stock Market" (which now is located in Frankfurt am Main)
- ^ Alan Hope (15 September 2015). "NMBS releases details of S-train express network". Flanders Today.
- ^ "S-trein: Reis eenvoudig door de stad | NMBS". Belgiantrain.be. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
- ^ "Prague Train Map - Prague, Czech Republic". 14 July 2014. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
- ^ https://www.stevencanplan.com/2022/01/s-bahn-rer-and-overground/
- ^ htr.ch: https://www.htr.ch/story/tourismus/einweihungsfeiern-fuer-groesste-grenzueberschreitende-s-bahn-europas-25128.html
- ^ "S-Bahn Vorarlberg". oebb.at. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
- ^ "THURBO FahrplanNetzkarte 2023" (PDF). THURBO. 11 December 2022. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
- ^ ORF.at: https://vorarlberg.orf.at/stories/3064562/
- ^ SBB GmbH website: https://www.sbb-deutschland.de/strecken-und-tarife/s-bahn-schaffhausen/
External links
- Media related to S-Bahn at Wikimedia Commons