S-Bahn
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- This article has been partially translated from the German wikipedia article.
The S-Bahn is a suburban metro railway network in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The name is an abbreviation for "Stadtschnellbahn" (fast city train) and was introduced in December 1930 in Berlin, after "SS-Bahn" (Stadtschnell...) 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 (in some cities these standards are not met though). 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, cornered '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. From the term S-Bahn come 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 (Liverpool) and the SPT Rail Network (Glasgow) are roughly equivalent to S-Bahns (see below for more details on surburban rail networks in the UK).
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[edit] Development
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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 subterran U-Bahn, the term S-Bahn replaced Stadt-, Ring- und Vortortbahn 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 1.200 V DC electric ones. In 1934, the Hamburg-Altonaer Stadt- und Vorortbahn was renamed as S-Bahn.
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] List of German S-Bahn systems
- Berlin S-Bahn
- Dresden S-Bahn
- Hamburg S-Bahn
- Hanover S-Bahn
- Leipzig-Halle S-Bahn
- Magdeburg S-Bahn
- Munich S-Bahn
- Nuremberg S-Bahn
- Rhein-Main S-Bahn (Frankfurt/Mainz/Wiesbaden)
- RheinNeckar S-Bahn (Ludwigshafen / Mannheim / Heidelberg / Karlsruhe)
- Rhein-Ruhr S-Bahn (Ruhr Area / Cologne)
- Rostock S-Bahn
- Stuttgart S-Bahn
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 (Freiburg) and the Ortenau-S-Bahn (Offenburg) both are RegionalBahn services.
[edit] 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 (shown above) used as logo reflects the layout of the central rail lines. However, since it is also similar to the SS runes, a curved S 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 Salzburg's suburbs in Germany. The network is serviced by two corporations: the ÖBB and the Salzbuger Lokalbahn. The Salzburg S-Bahn lgo is a white S on a light blue circle.
The regional train line in the Vorarlberg Rhine Valley is a nominal S-Bahn.
S-Bahn networks for Graz, Innsbruck and Linz are under discussion.
[edit] 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 Bern 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.
[edit] Similar systems in other countries
Suburbian railroads are known all over the world. However, most of them differ from the German S-Bahn in structure and name.
[edit] Denmark
The S-tog of Copenhagen was partly established in 1934. The S is for stiv køreplan (fixed timetable).
[edit] 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 streching 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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] Sweden
The Stockholm pendeltåg went into service in the 1960s. The pendeltåg and the tunnelbana form a network comparable to an S-Bahn.
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).
The Pågatågen network of Skåne County is also known as "Malmö's pendeltåg"
[edit] United Kingdom
Many of the larger cities in the UK have surburban rail networks, which resemble S-Bahns to varying degrees.
- 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.
- Cardiff has its own network of suburban services radiating from the city, known as the Valley Lines.
- 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.
- 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).
- London's closest equivalent to an S-Bahn is the Silverlink Metro network, and the resemblance will grow from next year, when the network becomes London Overground and begins to expand. 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, one, Southeastern, Southern, South West Trains and all operate a number of suburban services. The last three companies listed, all in South London, have their suburban services partially branded as the Overground Network, to emphasise the large number of lines south of the Thames.
- West Yorkshire has a network of sponsored local services, mainly radiating from Leeds, and branded as MetroTrain.
[edit] United States
The Chicago Metra, New York's New Jersey Transit, Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North, SEPTA Regional Rail and Caltrain are all S-Bahn-like commuter networks in the US.
Escondido, California has begun building the "Sprinter," a commuter rail service that uses Siemens Desiro Diesel Multiple Units, similar to the electric units used on German S-Bahns.
[edit] Other countries
Systems comparable to the S-Bahn include Dublin Area Rapid Transit, Tallinn's Elektriraudtee, the Russian Elektrichka, HÉV in Budapest, the Hong Kong KCR, the Slovakian Rýchlodráha, Szybka Kolej Miejska in the Polish Tricity area, GO Train in the Greater Toronto Area and the AMT's trains de banlieue in Montréal.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Crossing the Berlin border on the S-Bahn (late '80s A tourist crosses from East Berlin to West Berlin via the S-Bahn.
