Interregio-Express
Encyclopedia
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...
which is only available in the German states of Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest in both area and population of Germany's sixteen states, with an area of and 10.7 million inhabitants...
, Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
, Saxony
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
, Saxony-Anhalt
Saxony-Anhalt
Saxony-Anhalt is a landlocked state of Germany. Its capital is Magdeburg and it is surrounded by the German states of Lower Saxony, Brandenburg, Saxony, and Thuringia.Saxony-Anhalt covers an area of...
and 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...
as well as in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
(Basel Badischer station, Schaffhausen
Schaffhausen
Schaffhausen is a city in northern Switzerland and the capital of the canton of the same name; it has an estimated population of 34,587 ....
, Kreuzlingen
Kreuzlingen
Kreuzlingen is a municipality in the district of Kreuzlingen in the canton of Thurgau in north-eastern Switzerland. It is the seat of the district and is the second largest city of the canton, after Frauenfeld, with a population of over 18,000...
). The IRE service was first introduced in the 2001 summer timetable, due to the increasing abolition of Interregio
InterRegio
The InterRegio is a train service seen in some European countries. Mostly they are trains that run "from region to region", as best described by Swiss Federal Railways.-Switzerland:...
routes by DB's long-distance division (DB Fernverkehr
DB Fernverkehr
DB Fernverkehr AG 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 German Federal Railways under the name of DB Reise&Touristik and renamed in 2003.DB Fernverkehr operates all...
). As a result, several German states ordered InterRegioExpress trains on the routes affected. In addition IRE trains were also introduced on routes that had not previously had an Interregio service (e. g. on the Stuttgart–Tübingen–Aulendorf and Ulm–Aalen routes).
Unlike the former Interregio trains , IRE trains were classified as local passenger trains and can therefore be used by passengers with local tickets (DB Fares product group C and network tickets). This led however to passengers being irritated, especially to begin with, because they frequently did not realise that they could use these trains with local tickets. Furthermore, the new train type was often wrongly referred to in the early days as an InterRegionalExpress or ironically as an InterRegioErsatz (InterRegio substitute). However, since then the name Interregio-Express has established itself.
Interregio-Express routes
Baden-WürttembergBaden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest in both area and population of Germany's sixteen states, with an area of and 10.7 million inhabitants...
(also cross-border trains to Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
and Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
):
- IRE (StuttgartStuttgart Hauptbahnhofis the Hauptbahnhof of the city of Stuttgart, the capital of the Land of Baden-Württemberg, in southwestern Germany. It is the largest regional and long-distance railway station in Stuttgart, the main node of the Stuttgart S-Bahn network, and, together with the halt at Charlottenplatz, the main...
–PlochingenPlochingen stationPlochingen station is the only station in the town of Plochingen in the German state of Baden-Württemberg and the most important railway junction of the Esslingen district...
–GöppingenGöppingen stationGöppingen station is a station in the town of Göppingen in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is a transit station and is situated km 42.1) from Stuttgart on the Fils Valley Railway, which was completed in 1850 from Stuttgart to Ulm.-Location :...
–)UlmUlm Hauptbahnhofis the Hauptbahnhof or central railway station for the city of Ulm, which lies on the Danube, on the border of the German states of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria. It is on ICE line from Stuttgart to Munich and the Paris –Budapest Magistrale for Europe line that is supported by the European Union...
–BiberachBiberachBiberach is the name of several locations in Germany.* Biberach an der Riss, a town in Upper Swabia* Biberach , which has Biberach an der Riss as its capital* Biberach, Baden, a municipality in the Ortenaukreis...
–AulendorfAulendorfAulendorf is a town in the district of Ravensburg, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated 20 km southwest of Biberach an der Riß, and 19 km north of Ravensburg....
–FriedrichshafenFriedrichshafenThis article is about a German town. For the Danish town, see Frederikshavn, and for the Finnish town, see Fredrikshamn .Friedrichshafen is a university city on the northern side of Lake Constance in Southern Germany, near the borders with Switzerland and Austria.It is the district capital of the...
–Lindau (Southern RailwaySouthern Railway (Württemberg)The Southern Railway is a non-electrified main line in the state of Baden-Württemberg, southern Germany. It was built from 1846 to 1850 and doubled from 1905 to 1913. During that time many of the station buildings were rebuilt...
and Fils Valley Railway) - IRE Stuttgart–ReutlingenReutlingenReutlingen is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is the capital of the eponymous district of Reutlingen. As of April 2008, it has a population of 109,828....
–TübingenTübingen Hauptbahnhofis a transport node in the German state of Baden-Württemberg and the largest station in the university town of Tübingen and the district of Tübingen.-Location :...
-BalingenBalingenBalingen is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, capital of the district of Zollernalbkreis. It is located nearby the Swabian Alb, approx. 35 km to the south of Tübingen, 35 km northeast of Villingen-Schwenningen, and 60 km southwest of Stuttgart.It is home to the Bizerba and Ideal...
–SigmaringenSigmaringenSigmaringen is a town in southern Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg. Situated on the upper Danube, it is the capital of the Sigmaringen district....
–Bad SaulgauBad SaulgauBad Saulgau is a town in the district of Sigmaringen, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated 23 km east of Sigmaringen, and 27 km north of Ravensburg between the Danube and Lake Constance....
–Aulendorf(–Ulm) (Neckar–Alb railway, Zollernalb Railway and Southern RailwaySouthern Railway (Württemberg)The Southern Railway is a non-electrified main line in the state of Baden-Württemberg, southern Germany. It was built from 1846 to 1850 and doubled from 1905 to 1913. During that time many of the station buildings were rebuilt...
) - IRE KarlsruheKarlsruhe Hauptbahnhofis the central railway station in the German city of Karlsruhe. The station is classified as one of the major Category 1 stations in Germany, due to its function as a hub connecting several railway lines with each other.- History :...
–PforzheimPforzheim Hauptbahnhofis the main station in the city of Pforzheim in the German state of Baden-Württemberg.-Rail services :Pforzheim Hauptbahnhof is served by several lines operated at regular intervals, including an Interregio-Express/ Regional-Express line, a Regionalbahn line and two Karlsruhe Stadtbahn lines...
-Stuttgart (Karlsruhe–Mühlacker railway, Western Railway, Mannheim–Stuttgart HSL) - IRE Karlsruhe–OffenburgOffenburg stationOffenburg station is in Baden-Wurttemberg and has seven tracks on four platforms. Offenburg used to be railway town and the station was of major economic importance to it. In recent years the maintenance facilities and much of the rail freight yards have been closed...
–VillingenVillingen-SchwenningenVillingen-Schwenningen is a city in the Schwarzwald-Baar district in southern Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It has 80,941 inhabitants .-History:...
–Singen–KonstanzKonstanzKonstanz is a university city with approximately 80,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the south-west corner of Germany, bordering Switzerland. The city houses the University of Konstanz.-Location:...
-Kreuzlingen (Rhine Valley Railway, Black Forest Railway (Baden)) - IRE Ulm–Biberach–RavensburgRavensburgRavensburg is a town in Upper Swabia in Southern Germany, capital of the district of Ravensburg, Baden-Württemberg.Ravensburg was first mentioned in 1088. In the Middle Ages, it was an Imperial Free City and an important trading centre...
–Friedrichshafen–SingenSingenSingen is an industrial city in the very south of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany and just north of the German-Swiss border.-Location:...
–SchaffhausenSchaffhausenSchaffhausen is a city in northern Switzerland and the capital of the canton of the same name; it has an estimated population of 34,587 ....
–Waldshut–Tiengen–BaselBaselBasel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
(Southern RailwaySouthern Railway (Württemberg)The Southern Railway is a non-electrified main line in the state of Baden-Württemberg, southern Germany. It was built from 1846 to 1850 and doubled from 1905 to 1913. During that time many of the station buildings were rebuilt...
, Upper Rhine RailwayUpper Rhine RailwayThe Upper Rhine Railway is the name given by the Deutsche Bahn to the 143 kilometre long railway line from Basel to Singen with timetable no. 730...
) - IRE Ulm - Ehingen (Donau) - SigmaringenSigmaringenSigmaringen is a town in southern Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg. Situated on the upper Danube, it is the capital of the Sigmaringen district....
- Tuttlingen - DonaueschingenDonaueschingenDonaueschingen is a German town in the Black Forest in the southwest of the federal state of Baden-Württemberg in the Schwarzwald-Baar Kreis. It stands near the confluence of the two sources of the river Danube ....
- Neustadt (Schwarzwald) (Danube Valley RailwayDanube Valley Railway (Baden-Württemberg)The Danube Valley Railway in Baden-Württemberg in south-western Germany is a 164-kilometer-long railway running from the city of Ulm to Donaueschingen, which is largely single-tracked and for the most part not electrified...
) - IRE Ulm–Heidenheim–Aalen (Brenz RailwayBrenz RailwayThe Brenz Railway , also called the Brenz Valley Railway , is a single-tracked, non-electrified main line from Aalen to Ulm in southern Germany...
) - IRE Stuttgart–SchorndorfSchorndorfSchorndorf is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located c. 26 km east of Stuttgart. Its station is a the terminus of line S2 of the Stuttgart S-Bahn....
–Schwäbisch GmündSchwäbisch GmündSchwäbisch Gmünd is a town in the eastern part of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. With a population of around 62,000, the town is the second largest in the Ostalbkreis and the whole region of East Württemberg after Aalen...
–AalenAalen stationAalen station is a junction on the Rems Railway from Stuttgart, the Brenz Railway from Ulm, the Upper Jagst Railway to Crailsheim and Ries Railway to Donauwörth...
(Rems RailwayRems RailwayThe Rems Railway , also known as the Rems Valley Railway was historically the main line route from Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt via Aalen to Nördlingen. Today the designation Rems Railway only refers to the section from Stuttgart to Aalen, the Aalen–Nördlingen line becoming part of the Ries Railway...
, only one pair of trains at peak traffic hours) - IRE Stuttgart–OsterburkenOsterburkenOsterburken is a town in the Neckar-Odenwald district, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated 28 km southwest of Tauberbischofsheim, 50 km northeast of Heilbronn, 90 km east of Heidelberg, 60 km southwest of Würzburg and 30 km east of Mosbach...
(only one pair of trains at peak traffic hours) - IRE Stuttgart–CrailsheimCrailsheimCrailsheim is a town in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, 32 km east of Schwäbisch Hall, 40 km southwest of Ansbach in the Schwäbisch Hall district, incorporated in 1338....
(only one pair of trains at peak traffic hours)
Saxony
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
and Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
:
- IRE Franconia-Saxony Express (Franken-Sachsen-Express) Nuremberg–MarktredwitzMarktredwitzMarktredwitz is a municipality in the district of Wunsiedel, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated 22 km west of Cheb, 50 km east of Bayreuth and 50 km south of Hof/Saale.The town celebrated the Horticultural Show 2006 in cooperation with Cheb....
/BayreuthBayreuth Hauptbahnhofis the central railway station in the German city of Bayreuth.Railway lines run north to Neuenmarkt-Wirsberg, and from there to Bamberg and over the Schiefe Ebene to Hof, east to Weidenberg, southeast to Weiden and south to Schnabelwaid with connexions to Nuremberg on the Pegnitz Valley Railway...
–HofHof HauptbahnhofHof Hauptbahnhof is the main railway station in Hof in southern Germany and is situated at the intersection of the Saxon-Franconian trunk line and the Munich–Regensburg–Leipzig–Berlin line...
–PlauenPlauen (Vogtland) Oberer stationPlauen Oberer station is the main station of Plauen in the German state of Saxony on the Leipzig–Hof line. It is the main hub of rail traffic in Vogtland. This station is maintained and operated by Deutsche Bahn.-History :...
–ReichenbachReichenbach (Vogtland) Oberer stationReichenbach Oberer station is the main station of Reichenbach im Vogtland in the German state of Saxony. It is the only remaining station in Reichenbach, which once had three stations, and is located on the Saxon-Franconian trunk line between Nuremberg and Dresden...
–ZwickauZwickau Hauptbahnhofis the main railway station of Zwickau in the German state of Saxony.-History :On 18 September 1845 Zwickau was connected by a branch line to the Leipzig–Reichenbach railway line...
–GlauchauGlauchau (Sachs) stationGlauchau station is the main station of Glauchau in southwest of the German state of Saxony on the Dresden–Werdau line. Glauchau also has another station at Glauchau-Schönbörnchen.-History :...
–ChemnitzChemnitz Hauptbahnhofis the Hauptbahnhof of Chemnitz in Germany.-Station building :The station has a combination of terminating and through platforms. Platform tracks 1 to 9 terminate and tracks 10 to14 continue to the west of Chemnitz towards Zwickau, Nuremberg and Göttingen. Tracks 11 to 14 are reached by a passenger...
–FlöhaFlöhaFlöha is a town in the district of Mittelsachsen, in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. Flöha is situated on the confluence of the rivers Zschopau and Flöha, east of Chemnitz.-History:...
–Freiberg–DresdenDresden Hauptbahnhofis one of two main inter-city transit hubs in the German city of Dresden. Designed by Ernst Giese and Paul Weidner, it was built between 1892 and 1897 at the southern border of the inner city and was important in the growth and development of the city....
(Saxony-Franconia trunk line)
- At the timetable change in December 2006, trains of the Mittelsachsen-Vogtland-Express from Hof to Dresden became a Regional-Express service. The designation IRE has since been used for the Franconia-Saxony Express from Nuremberg to Dresden, which replaced the previous IntercityIntercity (Deutsche Bahn)Intercity is the second-highest train classification in Germany, after the ICE. Intercity services are loco-hauled express services, usually over long-distances. There are Intercity routes throughout Germany, and routes generally operate with a two-hour frequency, with multiple routes giving a more...
s. In contrast to all the other IRE routes, the Franconia-Saxony Express is not subsidised by the SPNV (local public transport) organisations, but by an internal arm of DB Fernverkehr.- IRE WertheimWertheimWertheim may refer to:* Wertheim vacuum cleaner, a brand of vacuum cleaner* Wertheim am Main, Baden-Württemberg, Germany* Wertheim , a chain of German department stores...
–MiltenbergMiltenbergMiltenberg is the seat of the like-named district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany.- Location :...
–AschaffenburgAschaffenburgAschaffenburg is a city in northwest Bavaria, Germany. The town of Aschaffenburg is not considered part of the district of Aschaffenburg, but is the administrative seat.Aschaffenburg is known as the Tor zum Spessart or "gate to the Spessart"...
–HanauHanauHanau is a town in the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located 25 km east of Frankfurt am Main. Its station is a major railway junction.- Geography :...
(Main Valley RailwayMain Valley RailwayThe Main Valley Railway is a single-tracked, main line running alongside the Main River in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. In Miltenberg it connects to the Miltenberg–Walldürn railway. It also has a junction with the Tauber Valley Railway at the Baden town of Wertheim,...
)
- IRE Wertheim
Saxony-Anhalt
Saxony-Anhalt
Saxony-Anhalt is a landlocked state of Germany. Its capital is Magdeburg and it is surrounded by the German states of Lower Saxony, Brandenburg, Saxony, and Thuringia.Saxony-Anhalt covers an area of...
and 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...
:
- IRE 25 Magdeburg-Berlin-Express: MagdeburgMagdeburg Hauptbahnhofis the main railway station in the city of Magdeburg in the northern part of the German state of Saxony-Anhalt.-Importance :The station is the main station of Magdeburg and along with Halle Hauptbahnhof the centre of long-distance rail transport in Saxony-Anhalt...
– Berlin SüdkreuzBerlin SüdkreuzBerlin Südkreuz is a railway station in the German capital Berlin. The station was originally opened in 1898 and is an interchange station...
– Berlin Potsdamer Platz – Berlin HauptbahnhofBerlin Hauptbahnhof' , is the main railway station in Berlin, Germany. It began full operation two days after a ceremonial opening on 26 May 2006. It is located on the site of the historic Lehrter Bahnhof, and until it opened as a main line station, it was a stop on the Berlin S-Bahn suburban railway temporarily...
(– Berlin Gesundbrunnen station) (two train-pairs Monday-Friday)
Temporary routes
In the meantime IRE trains with former IR coaches ran on the SaarbrückenSaarbrücken
Saarbrücken is the capital of the state of Saarland in Germany. The city is situated at the heart of a metropolitan area that borders on the west on Dillingen and to the north-east on Neunkirchen, where most of the people of the Saarland live....
–Kaiserslautern
Kaiserslautern
Kaiserslautern is a city in southwest Germany, located in the Bundesland of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate forest . The historic centre dates to the 9th century. It is from Paris, from Frankfurt am Main, and from Luxembourg.Kaiserslautern is home to 99,469 people...
–Ludwigshafen–Mannheim
Mannheim
Mannheim 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....
route for a year, a route now worked by the more usual Regional-Express services. In Hesse
Hesse
Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...
in 2001 differences arose between the DB AG
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...
, which designated inter alia the Frankfurt–Gießen–Kassel and Frankfurt–Gießen–Siegen as InterRegioExpress routes, and the RMV
Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund
The Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund is an organised transport network in the German state of Hesse, centred around the city of Frankfurt am Main. Its head office is located in Hofheim im Taunus...
, which steadfastly refused to adopt this new train category and even today uses the defunct StadtExpress term. In addition, in several federal states, on the introduction of the InterRegioExpress, former RE routes were changed to IRE routes. Whilst the difference between IRE and RE is hardly discernible, RE and RB trains can clearly be told apart just by the frequency of stops. The renaming of RE to IRE has been reversed in all cases.
Usual running and rolling stock
IRE services in Baden-Württemberg use a great variety of stock, including diesel-driven tilting trains of classes 611 and 612DBAG Class 612
The DBAG Class 612 is a two car, diesel multiple unit operated by the Deutsche Bahn for fast regional rail services on unelectrified lines.-General Information:...
, double-decker coaches of various generations and locomotive-hauled trains with n coaches. In earlier years y coaches could also be seen (on the Stuttgart–Tübingen line) as IRE trains as well as DBAG Class 650 multiples (Regio-Shuttle, in this case without 1st class service). Moreover until spring 2006 old Class 112-hauled Interregio coaches in classic blue livery were also used on the Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe
The 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...
–Pforzheim
Pforzheim
Pforzheim is a town of nearly 119,000 inhabitants in the state of Baden-Württemberg, southwest Germany at the gate to the Black Forest. It is world-famous for its jewelry and watch-making industry. Until 1565 it was the home to the Margraves of Baden. Because of that it gained the nickname...
-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 ....
line as IRE trains. The delivery of newer double-decker coaches and Class 146 locomotives however means that that type of train formation belongs to history.
Class 612
DBAG Class 612
The DBAG Class 612 is a two car, diesel multiple unit operated by the Deutsche Bahn for fast regional rail services on unelectrified lines.-General Information:...
diesel-powered tilting trains are used on the Franconia-Saxony Express.
External links
- There is a relevant English-language forum at Railways of Germany