page_title: Hamburg S-Bahn
section_title: 1907/08: First electric operation
hierarchical_section_title: Hamburg S-Bahn / History / 1907/08: First electric operation
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Hamburg, Hauptbahnhof, Detail innen.
context_page_description: The Hamburg S-Bahn is a suburban commuter railway network in the Hamburg Metropolitan Region. Together, the S-Bahn, the Hamburg U-Bahn, the AKN railway and the regional railway form the backbone of railway public transport in the city and the surrounding area. The network has operated since 1907 as a commuter rail system, under the direction of the state railway, and is a member of the Hamburger Verkehrsverbund. There are six lines, serving 68 stations, on 147 kilometres of route. On an average working day the S-Bahn transports about 590,000 passengers; in 2010 about 221 million people used the S-Bahn.
  The S-Bahn is the only railway in Germany that uses both direct current supplied by a third rail and alternating current supplied by overhead lines. Most of the tracks are separated from other rail services. The S-Bahn is operated by S-Bahn Hamburg GmbH, a subsidiary of DB Regio.
  Similarly to Berlin but unlike Hanover, the S-Bahn is an important part of public transport within the city due to its dense schedule and good coverage of the metropolitan region.
context_section_description: The line was electrified with overhead lines supplying alternating current at 6.6 kV, 25 Hz. The electricity came from a coal-fired power station in Leverkusenstraße in Bahrenfeld, which also provided power to the Altona harbour railway.
  The first electric trains ran on 1 October 1907, and from 29 January 1908 the line from Blankenese to Ohlsdorf was served exclusively by electric trains. These dates are considered the birthdates of the S-Bahn.
  The basic unit of an AC train consisted of two articulated compartment carriages on six axles with motorised two-axle bogies under each cab end and a Jacobs bogie in the middle.  The carriages, with doors on each side of the compartments, took their design and functionality from Prussian compartment carriages.
caption: Detail of part of a wall in Hamburg Hauptbahnhof: bolts used to attach a mast for the overhead power lines.
exif: {}