S-Bahn Systems by CountryS-Bahn Systems by CountryS-Bahn networks in Austria The oldest and largest S-Bahn system in Austria is the Vienna S-Bahn, which predominantly uses non exclusive rails tracks outside of Vienna. It was established in 1962, although it was usually referred to as Schnellbahn until 2005. The white "S" on a blue circle used as the logo is said to reflect the layout of the central railway line in Vienna. However, it has now been changed for a more stylized version that is used all through Austria, except Salzburg. The rolling stock was blue for a long time, reflecting the logo colour, but red is used uniformly for nearly all local traffic today. In 2004, the Salzburg S-Bahn went into service as the first Euroregion S-Bahn, crossing the border to the neighbouring towns of Freilassing and Berchtesgaden in Bavaria. The network is served by three corporations: the Berchtesgadener Land Bahn (BLB)(S4), the Austrian Federal Railways (German: Österreichischen Bundesbahn / ÖBB)(S2 and S3) and the Salzburger Lokalbahn (SLB)(S1 and S11) and . The Salzburg S-Bahn logo is only different one, it is a white S on a light blue circle. In 2006 the regional train line in the Rhine Valley in the state of Vorarlberg has been renamed to S-Bahn Vorarlberg. It is a three lines network, operated by the Montafonerbahn and the ÖBB. The S-Bahn Steiermark has been inaugurated in December 2007 in Styria, built to connect its capital city Graz with the rest of the metropolitan area, currently the following lines are active: S1, S11, S3, S31, S5, S51, S6, S61, S7, S8 and S9. The network is operated by three railway companies: the Graz-Köflacher Bahn (GKB) (lines: S6, S61 and S7), the ÖBB (lines: S1, S3, S5, S51, S8 and S9) and the Steiermärkische Landesbahnen (StB) (lines: S11 and S31). In December 2007 as well the Tyrol S-Bahn opened, running from Hall in Tirol in the east to Innsbruck Central Station and Telfs in the west and from Innsbruck to Steinach am Brenner. Class 4024 EMUs are used as rolling stock on this network. In 2010 the S-Bahn Kärnten was opened in the state of Carinthia and currently consists of 4 lines operated by ÖBB. The youngest network is the S-Bahn Oberösterreich in the Greater Linz area of the state of Upper Austria, which was inaugurated in December 2016. It is a 5 line system operated by Stern und Hafferl and the ÖBB. S-Bahn networks in Belgium Since 2015, the trains of the Brussels Regional Express Network (French: Réseau Express Régional Bruxellois, RER, Dutch: Gewestelijk Expresnet, GEN) of the NMBS/SNCB belong to train category S and are referred to as S train (Dutch: 'S-trein', French: train S),. In 2018, local trains of NMBS/SNCB in and around Antwerp, Ghent, Liège and Charleroi changed to the train category S train as well. S-Bahn networks in Czech Republic In the Czech Republic, integrated commuter rail systems exist in Prague and Moravian-Silesian Region. Both systems are called Esko, which is how S letter is usually called in Czech. Esko Prague has been operating since 9 December 2007 as a part of the Prague Integrated Transport system. Esko Moravian-Silesian Region began operating on 14 December 2008 as a part of the ODIS Integrated Transport system serving the Moravian-Silesian Region. Both systems are primarily operated by České dráhy. Several shorter lines are operated by other companies. S-Bahn networks in Denmark Copenhagen S-train connects the city centre, other inner and outer boroughs and suburbs with each other. The average distance between stations is 2.0 km, shorter in the city core and inner boroughs, longer at the end of lines that serve suburbs. Of the 86 stations, 32 are located within the central parts of the city. Some stations are located around 40 km from Copenhagen city centre. For this reason the fares vary depending on distances. The one-day passes which the tourists buy are valid only in the most central parts of the S-train system. On weekdays each line has a departure every 10 minutes with the exception of the F-line, on which a train departs every five minutes. Where several lines converge on a common piece of track there could be as many as 30 trains per hour in each direction. On Sundays the seven lines are reduced to four lines, but all stations are served at least every 10 minutes. The three railway stations at Amager have a local service that is the equivalent of the S-trains. The Copenhagen Metro opened in 2002 as a complement to the already existing S-train system. Copenhagen's S-train system is the only one in the country. Outside Denmark, in cities where both exist, is it far from unusual that a metro system later has been complemented with S-trains. The branch towards Køge (the southernmost S-train station in Copenhagen's S-network) has a rather unique history, as it was built in the 1970s where no previous railway ever had existed. Type of S-Bahn networks in France Although not called a "Train S" in French, the Paris RER has the characteristic structure of an S-Bahn system, with branches going to distant suburbs and sharing a common corridor in the city center. It is also called "S-Bahn" in some German-language signs. S-Bahn networks in Germany The trains of the Berlin and Hamburg S-Bahn systems ran on separate tracks from the beginning. When other cities started implementing their systems in the 1960s, they mostly had to use the existing intercity rail tracks, and they still more or less use such tracks. The central intercity stations of Frankfurt, Leipzig, Munich and Stuttgart are terminal stations, so all four cities have monocentric S-Bahn networks. The S-Bahn trains use as their core segment a tunnel under the central station and the city centre (e.g. Munich S-Bahn Stammstrecke and the upcoming Zweite Stammstrecke). The high number of large cities in the Ruhr area promotes a polycentric network connecting all cities and suburbs. The S-Bahn Rhein-Ruhr, as it is called, features few tunnels, and its routes are longer than those of other networks. The Ruhr S-Bahn is the only S-Bahn network to be run by more than one corporation in Germany, and the Salzburg S-Bahn holds a similar distinction in Austria. Most Swiss S-Bahn systems are multi-corporation networks, however. Most German S-Bahn networks have a unique ticket system, separated from the Deutsche Bahn rates, instead connected to the city ticket system used for U-bahns and local buses. The S-Bahn of Hanover, however, operates under five different rates due to its large expanse. One S-Bahn system is no longer in operation: the Erfurt S-Bahn which operated from 1976 until 1995 and was an 8.6 km (5.3 mi) single-line diesel-powered system which consisted of four stations from Erfurt Central Station to Erfurt Berliner Straße station in the then newly built northern suburbs of Erfurt. There are several S-Bahn or S-Bahn-like systems in planning, such as the Augsburg S-Bahn (network plan) and the Lübeck S-Bahn (network plan). The Stadtbahn Karlsruhe (a tram-train network) uses the green "S" logo for stations in the outskirts and has its lines indicated by an "S" in front of the line number, but does not refer to itself as S-Bahn. The logo also can't be found on the trains, contrary to most other systems where it's placed somewhere on the sides or at the front of the trains. A new city-centre tunnel opened at the end of 2021, however the blue U-Bahn logo is not used either for it. To mark those tunnel stations, a yellow U is used, which is unique and can only be found there. Despite their names, the Ortenau S-Bahn (Offenburg) and the Danube-Iller Regional S-Bahn (Ulm/Neu-Ulm, opened 2020) are Regionalbahn services. The following networks are currently in operation:
B^ originally established as two unconnected systems in 1969, connected in 2004 and substantially enlarged in 2013. S-Bahn networks in Poland Established in 2002, the Warsaw Szybka Kolej Miejska (SKM), translating to 'Rapid Urban Rail,' functions as a combined rapid transit and commuter rail system within the Warsaw metropolitan area. Operated by the city-owned company Szybka Kolej Miejska Sp. z o.o. and managed by the Public Transport Authority in Warsaw, SKM utilizes shared general railway lines supervised by PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe. The system serves 55 stations and features 4 key lines - S1, S2, S3, and S4, connecting Warsaw Chopin Airport with the city center, additionally reaching to areas not covered by the metro network. Fast Urban Rail Tricity is an analogous SKM system serving Gdańsk, Gdynia, and Sopot, providing urban rail transit in the Poland's Tricity. S-Bahn Networks in Switzerland and Liechtenstein S-Bahn is also used in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. Swiss French networks use the term RER with line numbers prefixed with an R, e.g. as R2, except for the Léman Express in Greater Geneva that uses the prefix RL followed by the line number ("L" for "line"), e.g. RL2. S-Bahn-style services in the Italian and Romansh speaking parts of Switzerland also use the "S" prefix, although in Italian such networks are called rete celere (lit. fast network) instead of S-Bahn. The oldest network in Switzerland is the Bern S-Bahn, which was established in stages from 1974 onward and has adopted the term S-Bahn since 1995. It is also the only one in Switzerland to use a coloured "S" logo. In 1990, the Zürich S-Bahn, went into service. As of 2022, this network comprises 32 services, covering a large area in Switzerland (and parts of southern Germany). Further S-Bahn services were set up in the course of the Bahn 2000 initiative in Central Switzerland (a collaborative network of S-Bahn Luzern and Stadtbahn Zug), and Eastern Switzerland (S-Bahn St. Gallen). The Basel trinational S-Bahn services the Basel metropolitan area, thus providing cross-border transportation into both France and Germany. A tunnel connecting Basel's two large intercity stations (Basel Badischer Bahnhof and Basel SBB) is planned as Herzstück Regio-S-Bahn Basel (lit. heart-piece Regio-S-Bahn Basel). An international S-Bahn network also existsts across the Swiss-Italian border, in the Swiss Canton of Ticino and the Italian state of Lombardy. Services are operated by Treni Regionali Ticino Lombardia (TILO), a joint venture between Italian railway company Trenord and Swiss Federal Railways (SBB CFF FFS). The RER Vaud of Lausanne and the Léman Express of Geneva serve the area around Lake Geneva (fr. Lac Léman). The Léman express network expands across the Swiss-French border. It is the largest cross-country S-Bahn network of Europe. Léman express was launched in December 2019 and is operated by Swiss Federal Railways (SBB CFF FFS) and SNCF. Another transborder network for the Lake Constance (Bodensee) area, connecting up to four nations, is under discussion. This network would extend across the German states Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria, the Austrian state Vorarlberg, the Principality of Liechtenstein (S-Bahn FL.A.CH), and the Swiss cantons of Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Appenzell Innerrhoden, Schaffhausen, St. Gallen and Thurgau. Possible names are Bodensee-S-Bahn and Alpenrhein-Bahn. Presently, an hourly service, S3 of Vorarlberg S-Bahn (ÖBB), connects Bregenz (A) with St. Margrethen (CH), and a less frequent service (S2) operates between Feldkirch (A), Schaan (FL) and Buchs SG (CH). The S14 and S44 services of S-Bahn St. Gallen both connect Konstanz (D) with Kreuzlingen and Weinfelden (both CH), and since 2022, some S7 services continue from Rorschach (CH) to Bregenz and Lindau-Reutin (D). Additional transborder services are planned. The future of S-Bahn Liechtenstein is uncertain since a voter referendum in 2020. The Chur S-Bahn provides services around Chur, the capital of the alpine Canton of Graubünden (Grisons) in south-eastern Switzerland. The Aargau S-Bahn is a small network that services stations in the cantons of Aargau, Lucerne and Bern. The RER Fribourg is an S-Bahn-style service centered at Fribourg/Freiburg and Bulle in the Canton of Fribourg, and extending into the cantons of Neuchâtel and Vaud. Two unnumbered S-Bahn services (designated only with an "S"), one between Schaffhausen and Erzingen (D), running on railway tracks owned by Deutsche Bahn (DB), and one between Schaffhausen and Jestetten (D), opened in 2013. They are operated by SBB GmbH and THURBO, respectively. Since December 2022, the Schaffhausen–Singen am Hohentwiel line is also serviced by SBB GmbH (Schaffhausen S-Bahn). Additionally, there are services designated "S" that are not part of any formal S-Bahn network. These include the S20, S21, and S22 operated by Swiss Federal Railways in Solothurn or the S27 operated by Südostbahn (SOB) between Siebnen-Wangen and Ziegelbrücke. Swiss S-Bahn services are operated mostly by the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB CFF FFS) but also by private railway companies, such as Appenzeller Bahnen (AB), BLS AG, Forchbahn (FB), Regionalverkehr Bern-Solothurn (RBS), Rhätische Bahn (RhB), Sihltal Zürich Uetliberg Bahn (SZU), Südostbahn (SOB) or Zentralbahn (ZB). Rail transport in Switzerland, including S-Bahn systems, is noteworthy for its coordination between services due to the clock-face schedule. Due to the proximity of the various S-Bahn systems in Switzerland, services of one network often offer connections to services of neighboring networks. S-Bahn services are used by commuters and tourists (some services call nearby tourist attraction, such as the Rhine Falls or the Swiss Museum of Transport). | |||||
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