Rail transport in Germany

As of 2006, there were around 23,500 powered rail vehicles in Germany, operated by the main operator Deutsche Bahn as well as around 150 smaller private railway companies:[7]

In 2006, railways in Germany carried around 119,968,000 passengers on long-distance trains (at an average distance of 324 kilometres (201 mi)), and 2,091,828,000 passengers on short-distance trains (36 kilometres (22 mi) on average). In the same year they carried 346,118,000 tonnes of goods at an average distance of 400 kilometres (250 mi).[8]

Volume-Percentage of private railway companies in Germany

Deutsche Bahn (state-owned private company) is the main provider of railway service. In recent years a number of competitors have started business. They mostly offer state-subsidized regional services, but some companies offer long-distance services as well.

• Deutsche Bahn – long distance trains
  • Intercity-Express – high speed train, largely national but some routes to the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, France and Denmark
  • EuroCity – international long-distance trains
  • Intercity – national long-distance trains
  • EuroNight – international night trains

InterRegio services, introduced in 1988 to replace the former Schnellzug and Intercity, were abolished in 2003. UrlaubsExpress, national night trains to the Alps and the Baltic Sea during vacation times, were abolished in 2007.

Deutsche Bahn is gradually increasing the percentage of InterCityExpress services, and downgrading the remaining InterCity services to the role formerly played by InterRegio.

• Thalys – high-speed services to Belgium and France, using modified French TGV trains
• Veolia Verkehr (Now merged into Transdev) – offered services on certain former Interregio routes (long-distance services by Veolia Verkehr were ceased in 2014)
  • Harz-Berlin-Express
  • Ostseeland Express
• Cisalpino – to Italy, service discontinued mid-December 2006
• Regional rail and local rail traffic is organised and subsidised (as the fares usually do not cover the running costs) by the federal states. Usual procedure under EU legislation is to award the contract to the lowest bid by means of a tender procedure. The respective states are free to announce short- or long-term contracts as well as to stipulate further conditions e.g. on rolling stock. In recent years, many bids were won by private rail companies like NordWestBahn or Arriva, although some states have awarded long-term contracts to local DB Regio subsidiaries. The train types for regional and local traffic are:
  • Regional-Express and Interregio-Express – medium-distance semi-fast trains for regional services
  • Regionalbahn – basic local service, usually calling at all stations
  • S-Bahn – suburban rail services mostly provided by Deutsche Bahn
  • U-Bahn – underground train services provided by the various cities' transport bodies (not Deutsche Bahn)
  • Tram/light rail services; in a few major cities these run underground in the city centre (often called "Stadtbahn", especially if they have been upgraded to railway standards)

A German mine cart with a guide pin (in Fig. F), in a 1556 drawing by Georgius Agricola (De re metallica Libri XII), the forerunner of all modern railway wagons

The earliest form of railways, wagonways were developed in Germany in the 16th century. A wagonway operation was illustrated in Germany in 1556 by Georgius Agricola (image right) in his work De re metallica.[9] This line used "Hund" carts with unflanged wheels running on wooden planks and a vertical pin on the truck fitting into the gap between the planks to keep it going the right way. The miners called the wagons Hunde ("dogs") from the noise they made on the tracks.[10] Such wagonways soon became very popular in Europe.

Modern German rail history officially began with the opening of the steam-hauled Bavarian Ludwig Railway between Nuremberg and Fürth on 7 December 1835. The first long distance railway was the Leipzig-Dresden railway, completed on 7 April 1839. The following years saw a rapid growth: By the year 1845, there were already more than 2,600 kilometres (1,600 mi)of railroads in Germany, ten years later that number was above 8,000.

German unification in 1871 stimulated consolidation, nationalization into state-owned companies, and further rapid growth.[11] Unlike the situation in France, the goal was support of industrialization, and so heavy lines crisscrossed the Ruhr and other industrial districts, and provided good connections to the major ports of Hamburg and Bremen. By 1880, Germany had 9,400 locomotives pulling 43,000 passengers and 30,000 tons of freight, and forged ahead of France.[12]

During the Second World War, austere versions of the standard locomotives were produced to speed up construction times and minimise the use of imported materials. These were the so-called war locomotives (Kriegslokomotiven and Übergangskriegslokomotiven). Absent a good highway network and trucks, the Germans relied heavily on the railways, supplemented by slower river and canal transport for bulk goods.[13]

In 1989, the Berlin Wall fell. Train frequency rapidly increased on the existing East/West corridors; closed links which had formerly crossed the border were re-opened. On 3 October 1990, Germany was reunified; however, this was not immediately the case with the railways. Administrative and organisational problems led to the decision to completely re-organise and reconnect Germany's railways. The so-called Bahnreform (Railway Reform) came into effect on 1 January 1994, when the State railways Deutsche Bundesbahn and Deutsche Reichsbahn were formally reunited to form the current German Railway Corporation (Deutsche Bahn).[14]

The German railways were long protected from competition from intercity buses on journeys over 50 km. However, in 2013, this protection was removed,[15] leading to a significant shift from rail to bus for long journeys.[16] In addition, Deutsche Bahn officially lost its railway monopoly status in 1996;[17] since then its share in regional railway market has dropped to 67% (for year 2016), and in the inland freight market it dropped to 68.6%. As of October 2016, there were 452 railway operators registered in Germany, among them 20 being long-distance operators.[18]

Application of the EU standard platform heights for new constructions; Green = 550 mm, Blue = 760 mm, Turquoise = both, dark grey = New builds in other heights than the EU standards

The European Union Commission issued a TSI (Technical Specifications for Interoperability) on 30 May 2002, (2002/735/EC) that sets out standard platform heights for passenger steps on high-speed rail. These standard heights are 550 mm and 760 mm.[20][note 1]

In Germany new builds are 550 mm and 760 mm. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern has new builds with 550 mm.[22] Hesse, NRW, Berlin had new builds with 760 mm.[22]

All these links are to countries of the same gauge, although electrification and other systems (such as signalling) may differ.

• Denmark — voltage change to 25 kV AC
• Poland — voltage change to 3 kV DC
• Czech Republic — voltage change to 3 kV DC
• Austria — same voltage (15 kV AC, 16.7 Hz)
• Switzerland — same voltage, but different pantographs
• France — voltage change to 25 kV AC (no direct connection to France's 1500 V DC network)
• Luxembourg— voltage change to 25 kV AC
• The Netherlands — voltage change to 1500 V DC
  • at Emmerich/Zevenaar, voltage change to 25 kV AC (for trains to Arnhem, a further change to 1500 V DC follows)
• Belgium — voltage change to 3 kV DC

Public sector subsidies accounted for 23.7% of the cost of short-distance passenger transport including all rail and bus services.[23] Subsidies are generally not paid in the long-distance market.[24]

• Rail transport by country
• Rail transport in Europe
• Transport in Germany
• History of rail transport in Germany
• German locomotive classification

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rail transport in Germany.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Rail travel in Germany.

• German rail transport gallery