Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn

S-Bahn Rhein-Ruhr
S-Bahn Rhein-Sieg / S-Bahn Köln

X-Wagen coaches of S-Bahn Rhein-Ruhr at Cologne central station
Overview
Locale	Rhine-Ruhr, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Transit type	Commuter rail
Number of lines	13
Number of stations	124
Annual ridership	130 million Düsseldorf/Rhine-Ruhr: 98 million Cologne: 32 million
Headquarters	Düsseldorf, Germany
Website	www.s-bahn-rhein-ruhr.de www.s-bahn-koeln.de
Operation
Began operation	1967
Operator(s)	DB Regio NRW, Regiobahn (S28)
Headway	20 min.
Technical
System length	676 km (420.05 mi)
System map File:S-Bahn Rhein-Ruhr 2016.svg Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn network map

The Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn (German: S-Bahn Rhein-Ruhr) is a polycentric S-Bahn network covering the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Region in the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. This includes most of the Ruhr (and cities such as Dortmund, Duisburg and Essen), the Berg cities of Wuppertal and Solingen and parts of the Rhineland (with cities such as Cologne and Düsseldorf). The easternmost city within the S-Bahn Rhine-Ruhr network is Unna, the westernmost city served is Mönchengladbach.

The Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn network operates in the areas of the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr (VRR) and Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Sieg (VRS) tariff associations, touching areas of Aachener Verkehrsverbund at Düren and Verkehrsgemeinschaft Ruhr-Lippe at Unna. The network was established in 1967 with a line connecting Ratingen Ost to Düsseldorf-Garath. Currently, the system consists of 13 lines (11 lines operated by DB Regio NRW, S28 operated by Regiobahn and S7 operated by Abellio Rail NRW).

History

File:29.07.85 Köln Hbf 111.158 (6041740895).jpg

A Class 111 locomotive leads an orange-and-white S-Bahn service across the Hohenzollernbrücke into Köln Hauptbahnhof in 1985

The predecessor of the S-Bahn was the so-called Bezirksschnellverkehr between the cities of Düsseldorf and Essen, which consisted of steam-powered push-pull trains, mainly hauled by Class 78 and Class 65 engines.

The first S-Bahn lines were operated using Silberling cars and Class 141 locomotives, however these were not suited for operations on an urban network and were soon replaced by Class 420 electric multiple units. In the mid-1970s, the Class 420 was decided to be unsuitable for the network as well, mainly due to being uncomfortable and lacking a lavatory, since one could travel rather long distances on the Rhine-Ruhr network, which wasn't the case on the Munich S-Bahn for which the class 420 were originally designed. At first an improved version of the 420, the Class 422, was discussed, but in 1978 the Deutsche Bundesbahn commissioned a batch of coaches from Duewag and MBB, called the x-Wagen (the x-car) after its classification code Bx. In late 1978, the first prototypes (the 2nd class cars of type Bx 794.0 and the cab car Bxf 796.0) were handed over to the DB, the 1st/2nd class cars ABx 791.0 following in early 1979. The prototypes were successful, and so from 1981 to 1994 several series were commissioned, first to be hauled by the Class 111 engines, but after the German reunification the surplus Reichsbahn engines of Class 143 replaced the 111s on the S-Bahn network.

Rolling stock today

File:S-Bahn Rhein-Ruhr Series-422.JPG

S-Bahn Rhein-Ruhr Series-422

On much of the network, Class 143 locomotives are used along with the specially developed Bx (second class) and ABx (second and first class) cars and cab cars (Bxf). The Class 420 electric multiple units previously belonging to the Munich, Stuttgart and Frankfurt networks which had operated the S7 and S9 services were finally retired at the beginning of 2009, and have been replaced with the new DBAG Class 422, while Class 423 EMUs can be found on the S11, S12 and S13 lines. The S28 is not operated by DB Regio NRW, but by the Regiobahn GmbH, which uses Bombardier TALENT DMUs on the line. The S7 uses Alston Coradia LINT DMUs while operated by Abellio Rail NRW. New rolling stock for the S5 and S8 lines will be introduced by the end of 2014 with testing on the S68 since October 2014.

Lines

The region's lines were mainly built by three railway companies (the Cologne-Minden Railway Company, the Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company and the Rhenish Railway Company), giving the Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn a variety of lines to use for its routes. This means that the S-Bahn lines use up to five different railways to run over.

Line	Route	Railways used	Length	Opening date of first section	First section
S 1	Dortmund – Bochum – Essen – Mülheim (Ruhr) – Duisburg – Düsseldorf Airport – Düsseldorf – Hilden – Solingen	Dortmund–Duisburg, Duisburg–Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf–Solingen	97 km	26.05.1974	Bochum – DU-Großenbaum
S 2	Dortmund – Dortmund-Dorstfeld – Dortmund-Mengede – Herne – (Gelsenkirchen – (Oberhausen – Duisburg) or Essen) or Recklinghausen	Dortmund–Dortmund-Dorstfeld, Dortmund-Dorstfeld–Dortmund-Mengede, Dortmund-Mengede–Herne/Gelsenkirchen/Duisburg, and part of Gelsenkirchen–Essen or Herne–Recklinghausen	58 / 42 / 33 km	02.06.1991	Dortmund – Duisburg
S 3	Oberhausen – Mülheim (Ruhr) – Essen – Essen-Steele – Hattingen (Ruhr) Mitte	Oberhausen–Essen-Steele Ost, Essen-Steele Ost–Bochum-Dahlhausen, Bochum-Dahlhausen–Hattingen (Ruhr) Mitte	33 km	26.05.1974	Oberhausen – Hattingen (Ruhr)
S 4	Dortmund-Lütgendortmund – Dortmund–Dorstfeld – Unna-Königsborn – Unna	Dortmund-Lütgendortmund–Dortmund Süd, Dortmund Süd–Unna-Königsborn, Unna-Königsborn–Unna	30 km	03.06.1984	DO-Germania – Unna
S 5	Dortmund – Witten – Wetter (Ruhr) – Hagen (– Mönchengladbach Hbf; as S8, see below)	Dortmund–Hagen	31 km	29.05.1994	Whole length
S 6	Essen – Ratingen Ost – Düsseldorf – Langenfeld (Rheinl) – Cologne – Cologne-Nippes	Essen–Essen-Werden, Essen-Werden–Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf–Cologne, Cologne–Köln-Nippes	78 km	28.09.1967	Ratingen Ost – D-Garath
S 7	Wuppertal – Remscheid – Solingen	Wuppertal–Wuppertal-Oberbarmen, Wuppertal-Oberbarmen–Solingen	41 km	15.12.2013	Whole length
S 8	(As S5, see above; Dortmund Hbf –) Hagen – Wuppertal – Wuppertal-Vohwinkel – Düsseldorf – Neuss – Mönchengladbach	Hagen-Schwelm, Schwelm–Wuppertal, Wuppertal–Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf–Mönchengladbach	82 km	29.05.1988	Whole length
S 9	Haltern am See – Gladbeck West – Bottrop – Essen – Essen-Steele – Velbert-Langenberg – Wuppertal-Vohwinkel – Wuppertal	Haltern–Essen-Dellwig Ost, Essen-Dellwig Ost–Essen West, Essen West–Essen-Steele, Essen-Steele–Wuppertal-Vohwinkel, Wuppertal-Vohwinkel–Wuppertal	90 km	24.05.1998	Haltern – Essen-Steele
S 11	Düsseldorf Airport Terminal – Düsseldorf – Neuss – Cologne-Nippes – Cologne – Bergisch Gladbach	Düsseldorf Airport Terminal–Düsseldorf-Unterrath railway, Düsseldorf-Unterrath–Düsseldorf, Neuss–Cologne, Cologne–Köln-Mülheim, Cologne-Mülheim–Bergisch Gladbach	74 km	01.06.1975	K-Chorweiler – Berg. Gladbach
S 12	S-Bahn-Rhein-Sieg Düren – Horrem – Cologne – Troisdorf – Siegburg/Bonn – Au (Sieg)	Düren–Cologne, Cologne–Au Sieg	105 km	02.06.1991	Köln-Nippes – Au (Sieg)
S 13	S-Bahn-Rhein-Sieg (One train a day to/ from Aachen – Düren –) Horrem – Cologne – Cologne/Bonn Airport – Troisdorf	Aachen–Cologne, Cologne–Troisdorf incl. Cologne Airport loop	45 km	15.12.2002	Düren – Cologne-Deutz
S 19	S-Bahn-Rhein-Sieg Horrem – Köln Hansaring – Köln – Cologne/Bonn Airport – Troisdorf– Siegburg/Bonn – Hennef (Sieg) 6 pairs of services of the S 13 in the morning peak 11 pairs of services of the S 13 in the afternoon peak	Horrem–Köln, Cologne–Hennef incl. Cologne Airport loop		14.12.2014	Whole route
S 23	S-Bahn-Rhein-Sieg Euskirchen – Rheinbach – Meckenheim – Bonn Some trains continue from Euskirchen as RB 23 to Bad Münstereifel; all RB 23 services depart from Euskirchen as S 23 to Bonn Hbf	Euskirchen–Bonn	47 km	14.12.2014	Whole route
S 28	Mettmann Stadtwald – Düsseldorf – Neuss – Kaarster See	Mettmann Stadtwald–Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf–Neuss, Neuss–Kaarster See	34 km	26.09.1999	Whole route
S 68	Wuppertal-Vohwinkel – Düsseldorf – Langenfeld (Rheinl)	Wuppertal–Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf–Langenfeld	39 km	13.12.2009	Whole length

Kursbuchstrecken 450.x (x is equivalent to the number of the line), as of 13 December 2009.

See also

• List of rapid transit systems

External links

• Rheinbahn (Transportation Company of Düsseldorf)

• Official Website of Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn (only German)

• www.marco-wegener.de - Information and History of Rhine-Ruhr-Sieg S-Bahn (German)