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S-Bahn
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- This article has been partially translated from the German Wikipedia article.
S-Bahn refers to suburban metro railways in Austria, Germany and Switzerland. The name is an abbreviation for the German "Stadtschnellbahn" (fast city train) and was introduced in December 1930 in Berlin, after "SS-Bahn" (Stadtschnellbahn) had been unofficially in use already. The S-Bahn is a railway that serves metropolitan traffic as well as direct regional traffic, and is characterised by high efficiency and a synchronised timetable that allows for denser train traffic on the rail lines. This is achieved by the use of separate tracks, electric locomotives and train doors at platform level (though these standards are not met in some cities). The symbol for the S-Bahn in Germany is a white "S" on a green circle.
In Austria S-Bahn lines and stations are displayed by a blue circle with a white 'S' in it. There are proper S-Bahn systems in Vienna and Salzburg. The Viennese system is very large, old and well-known. In Switzerland, S-Linien (S-lines) is displayed in black letters on a white background. The term S-Bahn has spawned many similar notations, like the name R-Bahn for regional trains, which do not meet S-Bahn criteria.
The term "RER" (Réseau express régional), used in France and western Switzerland, and the "S-tog" in Copenhagen are very similar to the S-Bahn. In the United Kingdom, Merseyrail and the SPT Rail Network are roughly equivalent to S-Bahns (see below for more details on suburban rail networks in the UK).
By contrast, U-Bahn trains are underground and serve urban city centers.
Development
Early steam services
In 1882, the growing number of steam-powered trains around Berlin prompted the Prussian State Railroad to construct separate railtracks for suburban traffic. The Berliner Stadtbahn connected Berlin's eight intercity rail stations which were spread throughout the city. A lower rate for the newly founded Berliner Stadt-, Ring- und Vorortbahn (Berlin City, Circular and Suburban Rail) was introduced on 1 October 1891. This rate and the growing succession of trains made the short-distance service stand out from other railroads.
The second suburban railroad was the Hamburg-Altonaer Stadt- und Vorortbahn connecting Hamburg with Altona and Blankenese. The Altona office of the Prussian State Railroad established the steam powered railroad in 1906.
Electricity
The beginning of the 20th century saw the first electric trains, which operated at 15.000 V on overhead lines.
As the steam powered trains came to be nuisances to more and more people, the Berliner Stadt-, Ring- und Vorortbahn switched to direct current wagons running on 750 V from a third rail. In 1924, the first electrified route went into service. The third rail was chosen because it made both the modifications of the railtracks (especially in tunnels and under bridges) and the side-by-side use of electric and steam trains easier.
To set it apart from its competitor, the subterranean U-Bahn, the term S-Bahn replaced Stadt-, Ring- und Vorortbahn in 1930.
The Hamburg service had established an experimental alternating current line in 1907. The whole network still used steam power until 1940, when the old locomotives were replaced by 1200 V DC electric ones.
In 1934, the Hamburg-Altonaer Stadt- und Vorortbahn was renamed as S-Bahn.
Classification S-Bahn lines are different from U-Bahn lines in that they have developed from conventional railways. To this day the German and Austrian S-Bahn lines are operated by subsidiaries of Deutsche Bahn and ÖBB respectively — the national railway organisations.
S-Bahn networks are typified by many or all of the following characteristics:
- Specifically numbered, dedicated routes (S1, S2, etc), each coloured separately on the network map. Equivalents in other countries sometimes use names instead of numbers.
- High frequency fixed interval services on each line (usually every 20 minutes), with joint sections providing a higher frequency.
- Dedicated tracks when running alongside main lines.
- An underground section under the city centre, usually the core section where most lines converge.
- Dedicated stock, often consistent throughout the network.
- Integration with other local transport, in terms of ticketing and connectivity.
S-Bahn networks in Germany
The Berlin and Hamburg S-Bahn systems traveled on separate tracks from the beginning. When other cities started implementing their systems in the 1960s, they mostly had to use the existing intercity railtracks.
The central intercity stations of Frankfurt, Munich and Stuttgart are terminal stations, so all three cities have monocentric S-Bahn networks. The S-Bahn trains use a tunnel under the central station and the city center.
The high number of large cities in the Ruhr Area promotes a polycentric network connecting all cities and suburbs. The S-Bahn Rhein-Ruhr, as it is called, features few tunnels, and its routes are longer than those of other networks. The Ruhr S-Bahn and the S-Bahn Salzburg are the only S-Bahn networks to be run by more than one corporation in Germany and Austria, respectively. Most Swiss S-Bahns are multi-corporation networks, however.
Most German S-Bahn networks have a unique price system, separated from the Deutsche Bahn rates. The S-Bahn of Hanover, however, operates under five different rates due to its large expanse.
List of German S-Bahn systems
The Augsburg S-Bahn and Bremen S-Bahn are planned to go into service in 2011 and 2010, respectively.
The Stadtbahn Karlsruhe uses the green "S" logo, but does not refer to itself as S-Bahn. The blue U-Bahn logo is not used due to lack of subterran lines.
Despite their names, the Breisgau-S-Bahn and the Ortenau-S-Bahn both are RegionalBahn services.
S-Bahn networks in Austria
The oldest S-Bahn system in Austria is the Vienna S-Bahn, which uses intercity rails predominantly. It was established in the 1960s, although it was usually referred to as Schnellbahn until 2005. The angular white "S" on a blue circle used as logo reflects the layout of the central rail lines. However, since it is also similar to the SS runes, a curved S (shown above) is becoming more common. The rolling stock was blue for a long time, reflecting the logo color, but red is used uniformly for nearly all local traffic today.
In 2004, the Salzburg S-Bahn went into service as the first Austrian Euroregion S-Bahn, crossing the border to neighbouring cities in Bavaria. The network is serviced by two corporations: the ÖBB and the Salzburger Lokalbahn. The Salzburg S-Bahn logo is a white S on a light blue circle.
The S-Bahn networks in Graz is in its first phase. Currently the following lines are active: S1, S11, S5, S51, S6, S7 while S3 , S31 and S32 are still under construction (Extension works shall be finished by 2012)
The rolling stock are Desiro and Talent trains. The rolling stock shall be finally upgraded till 2012.
Innsbruck will get its own S-Bahn system by the end of 2007 - Inntal S-Bahn.
The regional train line in the Vorarlberg Rhine Valley is a nominal S-Bahn. The S-Bahn networks in Linz are under discussion.
S-Bahn networks in Switzerland S-Bahn is also used in German-speaking Switzerland. While French publications of those networks translate it as RER, the line numbers are still prefixed with an S (e.g. S2).
The oldest network in Switzerland is the Berne S-Bahn, established in 1987 It also is the only one in Switzerland to use a colored "S" logo. In 1990, the Zürich S-Bahn, which covers the largest area, went into service. S-Bahn services were set up in the course of the initiative Bahn 2000 in Central Switzerland (a collaborative network of S-Bahn Luzern and Stadtbahn Zug), St. Gallen (S-Bahn St. Gallen) and Ticino (S-Bahn Tessin).
The Regio S-Bahn Basel services the whole Euroregion "Regio TriRhena", thus providing cross-border transportation into both France and Germany. A tunnel connecting two of the large intercity railway stations of Basel (Badischer Bahnhof and Basel SBB) is planned as Herzstück Regio-S-Bahn Basel (lit. heart-piece Regio-S-Bahn Basel).
The Réseau Express Vaudois of Lausanne will be incorporated in the planned S-Bahn Léman (called RER Léman in French-speaking areas) around Lake Geneva (fr. Lac Léman). Geneva will be the second center of this network. Transborder networks for the Lake Constance-adjacent German Länder Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria, the Austrian Land Vorarlberg and the Swiss cantons St. Gallen and Thurgau are under disussion. Possible names are Bodensee-S-Bahn and Alpenrhein-Bahn.
Similar systems in other countries Suburban railroads are known all over the world. However, most of them differ from the German S-Bahn in structure and name.
Australia Similarly to a European S-Bahn, Sydney's CityRail combines an extensive suburban rail system with frequent-service underground sections in the central urban core.
Czech Republic The Esko - Spojení pro mesto (literally "S - Connection for City) system in Prague region was established in December 2007.
Denmark The S-tog system in Copenhagen was partly established in 1934.
Finland Helsinki region has a regional commuter rail system run by national railway company VR (Finnish / Swedish name: Lähijuna / Närtåg). Compared to systems in German cities, the Helsinki system is a combination of S-Bahn and "Regionalverkehr" systems. Physically the network bifurcates into four directions from Helsinki central station, and 15 services run on these four lines. These differ by their stopping behavior and are indicated by letters. The shorter-distance services services run on their exclusive tracks with short, fixed intervals and are comparable to S-bahn. R, H, Z and Y- trains are regional services in the similar manner as German Regional Bahn or Regional Express. They use intercity tracks, stop only at major stations and reach as Far as Lahti (Z-train, distance 104 km).
France The French Réseau Express Régional (lit. Regional Express Network) originally meant the Paris system, but is now used for other French and Swiss networks as well. However, only the Paris RER has S-Bahn-like tunnel stations.
Because it is serviced with SNCF trains, the C line of the Métro de Toulouse is sometimes called RER toulousain.
The planned Lyon network will most likely be a tram-train system.
Hungary HÉV is the system of four suburban railway lines in and around Budapest. The HÉV lines were originally constructed as branch lines of the Hungarian State Railways. Today, the four HÉV lines are operated by the public transport company of Budapest, yet are not part of the Budapest Metro.
Italy The suburban lines of the Milan Transportation System were renamed Linee S in 2005. They are operated by Trenitalia, LeNord (the regional railroad of Lombardy) and TILO (regional railroad Ticino-Lombardy). A single combined network for Lombardy and Ticino stretching form Milan to Biasca in Eastern Ticino is planned.
A system like in Milan is being planned for Bologna.
Rome's Ferrovia Metropolitana (city rail) is more like a Regionalbahn, apart from the FR1 route from Orte to Fiumicino and the FR3 route from Roma Ostiense to Viterbo.
The suburban railroad lines of Naples are all integrated into the subterran metro network.
Genoa's two S-Bahn like lines mainly run underground, so there are plans to incorporate them into the sub-surface.
Spain see Cercanías
There are systems other than the Cercanías in Asturias, the Basque country and Cantabria. Their operating companies are EuskoTren and FEVE.
Two subsystems of the Barcelona commuter rail network are run by FGC.
Sweden The Stockholm pendeltåg went into service in the 1960s. The pendeltåg and the tunnelbana form a network comparable to the combined S-Bahn and U-Bahn systems of Berlin or Hamburg. Pendeltåg is not the Stockholm system's name, but the Swedish equivalent of S-Bahn.
The Gothenburg pendeltåg consists of only two regional train routes (Alingsåspendeln and Kungsbackapendeln). A third route is now being built. This new route will be called Alependeln. There's also four local train routes.
The Pågatågen network of Skåne County is also known as "Malmö's pendeltåg".
United Kingdom Many of the larger cities in the UK have suburban rail networks, which resemble S-Bahns to varying degrees.
- Birmingham has a network of four suburban routes, which are branded as Network West Midlands (formerly Centro), and are integrated with bus and tram services.
- Cardiff has its own network of suburban services radiating from the city, known as the Valley Lines.
- Glasgow's SPT Rail network fits the model of an S-Bahn, with a large network of differentiated lines, with frequent services, and purpose-built lines under the city centre.
- Liverpool has a suburban network, called Merseyrail. The main part of Merseyrail (the Northern and Wirral lines), is a textbook S-Bahn, with regular, fixed interval services, lines under the city centre, and dedicated lines and stock. There is a third part, serving areas to the east of the area, nominally called the City Line, but is actually a virtual line, made up of sections of various longer distance lines out of Liverpool Lime Street. This, while part sponsored by Merseytravel, is operated by different (and differing) operating companies than the core of the Merseyrail network, and does not have the same consistency of branding or services.
- London's closest equivalent to an S-Bahn is the London Overground network, currently operating mainly in North and West London, though due to expand considerably with the extension to the East London Line. This only covers a small part of London, however, as due to the history of railways in the UK, the lines radiate from several different termini, and are operated by many different operating companies. First Great Western, First Capital Connect, National Express East Anglia, Southeastern, Southern, and South West Trains all operate a number of suburban services - British Rail previously operated these services under the name Network SouthEast.
- Manchester has a number of suburban lines, but these are not specifically branded as such, and are generally seen as part of the wider Northern Rail network, similar to the Merseyrail City Line (see above) though overseen by the conurbation's transport body GMPTE.
- West Yorkshire has a network of sponsored local services, mainly radiating from Leeds, and branded as MetroTrain.
- Other metro systems in Britain, such as the London Underground, DLR and the Tyne and Wear Metro, are more comparable to a U-Bahn and/or a Stadtbahn.
United States Comparable lines in the US include:
- Chicago - Metra Electric Line extending southward from the city, and NICTD's South Shore Line into northern Indiana, share several features with S-Bahn lines such as dedicated trackage, grade separation, high level platforms, and electrification. The rest of Metra's system is highly dissimilar to an S-Bahn.
- Philadelphia - SEPTA Regional Rail features a tunnel through the city center and through-routed trains. However, several of the lines extend well out from the city through less densely populated areas. On the whole, the system is more like a RegionalBahn.
- San Francisco Bay Area - BART is similar to an S-Bahn in that both are hybrids between a rapid transit system and a commuter rail system. BART has tunnels under the San Francisco and Oakland city centers and surface trackage in more outlying locations.
Other rapid transit lines such as the New York City Subway or Chicago L are more akin to U-Bahn lines. Commuter rail systems such as Virginia Railway Express or Los Angeles County Metro Rail are more akin to RegionalBahn systems. Partially underground light rail lines such as Boston's Green Line and Philadelphia's Subway-Surface Lines are analogous to Stadtbahn lines.
Other countries Systems comparable to the S-Bahn also include Dublin Area Rapid Transit, Tallinn's Elektriraudtee, the Russian Elektrichka, the Hong Kong MTR's suburban network, the Slovakian Rýchlodráha, Szybka Kolej Miejska in the Polish Tricity area and Korail in the Greater Seoul area.
See also
External links - A tourist crosses from East Berlin to West Berlin via the S-Bahn.
See also (pages on German Wikipedia)
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