page_title: Rapid transit in Germany
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Rapid transit in Germany / History
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Ein Personenzug der Baureihe 481, Linie 1 von der S-Bahn Berlin, im Bahnhof Griebnitzsee English: EMU 481 of the Berlin S-Bahn in Griebnitzsee station
context_page_description: Rapid transit in Germany consists of four U-Bahn systems and fourteen S-Bahn systems. The U-Bahn or Untergrundbahn are conventional rapid transit systems that run mostly underground, while the S-Bahn or Stadtschnellbahn are commuter rail services, that may run underground in the city center as well but are classified as mainline railways. There are also over a dozen premetro or Stadtbahn systems that are rapid transit in the city center and light rail outside.
  There are four U-Bahn systems, namely in Berlin, Hamburg, Munich and Nuremberg; these are all run by the transit authorities in the city. Some cities call their Stadtbahn "U-Bahn" or abbreviate their Stadtbahn with an U.
  The fourteen S-Bahn systems are in Berlin,
  Bremen,
  Dresden, Hamburg, Hanover, Magdeburg, Mitteldeutschland, Munich, Nuremberg, Rhein-Main, Rhein-Neckar, Rhein-Ruhr, Rostock and Stuttgart. Most S-Bahn systems are franchised to the national train operating company, Deutsche Bahn, and have developed from the mainline railways. Normal headway is 20 minutes and, on busy routes, use dedicated tracks running alongside mainline routes.
caption: Electric multiple unit of Berlin S-Bahn
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA", "Image Make": "OLYMPUS OPTICAL CO.,LTD", "Image Model": "C100,D370", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "v971u-78", "Image DateTime": "2004:05:28 17:14:38", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "284", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "2036", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5061", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/2000", "EXIF FNumber": "4", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0210", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2004:05:28 17:14:38", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2004:05:28 17:14:38", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "4", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire", "EXIF FocalLength": "9/2", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1280", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "960", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "886", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed"}