S2 (Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn)

Route of S2
0.0 Dortmund Hbf S 1S 5 2.6 Dortmund-Dorstfeld S 1S 4 4.2 Dortmund-Wischlingen 6.0 Dortmund-Huckarde 8.2 Dortmund-Westerfilde 9.7 Dortmund-Nette/Östrich 11.5 Dortmund-Mengede 16.5 Castrop-Rauxel Hbf 23.4 Herne 27.9 Recklinghausen Süd 33.9 Recklinghausen Hbf 27.3 Wanne-Eickel Hbf 32.7 Gelsenkirchen Hbf 34.5 Gelsenkirchen-Rotthausen 37.2 Essen-Kray Nord 42.8 Essen Hbf S 1S 3S 6S 9
Source: German railway atlas[1]

Line S2 is a S-Bahn line in the Rhein-Ruhr network. It starts in Dortmund Hauptbahnhof and runs westerly. During weekdays one service per hour runs each to Essen Hauptbahnhof and Recklinghausen Hauptbahnhof using class 422 electric multiple units.[2][3]

Line S2 runs over lines built by various railway companies:

• from Dortmund Hauptbahnhof to Dortmund-Mengede over a line opened by Deutsche Bundesbahn on 2 June 1991,[4] largely using part of the track bed of the Welver–Sterkrade railway, built by the Royal Westphalian Railway Company on 1 September 1878.[5]
• from Gelsenkirchen to Essen over the Essen–Gelsenkirchen railway, opened from Gelsenkirchen to Essen-Kray Nord by the Rhenish Railway Company in 1872 and from Essen-Kray Nord to Essen by the Prussian state railways in 1905,[6]
• from Herne to Recklinghausen over tracks competed in October 1901 by Deutsche Reichsbahn[7] and the Wanne-Eickel–Hamburg railway opened by the Cologne-Minden Railway Company in 1870.[8]

S-Bahn services commenced between Dortmund and Duisburg on 2 June 1991. Services commenced between Dortmund and Essen on 29 September 1991. Services commenced between Dortmund and Recklinghausen on 24 May 1998.[3] Services between Gelsenkirchen and Duisburg ended on 15 December 2019 and were replaced by the RB 32 (Rhein-Emscher-Bahn).