Age of steam 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, since 1951 also
Class 65 engines.
Early electric years The first S-Bahn lines were operated using
Silberling cars and
Class 141 locomotives. However these were not suited for operations on a rapid transit network and were soon replaced by
Class 420 electric multiple units. Originally designed for the
Munich S-Bahn, the Class 420 was judged in the mid-1970s to be unsuitable for the network, mainly due to being uncomfortable and lacking
on-board toilets.
The x-Wagen era at
Essen Süd in July 2014 Constructing an improved version of the 420 with the tentative designation Class 422 was discussed, but in 1978 the
Deutsche Bundesbahn commissioned a batch of coaches from
Duewag and
MBB. These lightweight and modern coaches were designated as
x-Wagen ("x-car") after their classification code
Bx. Among the design elements inherited from the recent
LHB prototype carriages were the
bogies with
disc brakes and rubber airbag
shock absorbers that also included automated level control, ensuring level boarding from S-Bahn
platforms with a
standard height of 96 cm regardless of varying passenger loading. In late 1978, the first prototypes of 2nd class type Bx 794.0 cars and Bxf 796.0
control cars were handed over to DB, followed by split
first/second class cars type ABx 791.0 in early 1979. The prototypes were successful, so from 1981 to 1994 several series were commissioned, with some going to the
Nuremberg S-Bahn system. locomotive leads an orange-and-white S-Bahn service across the
Hohenzollernbrücke into Köln Hauptbahnhof in 1985 The x-Wagen were mechanically coupled to form fixed sets of typically one ABx car, one or two Bx cars and one Bxf control car. This way a train offered seating for a total of 222 to 302 passengers and standing room for another 429 to 539 passengers. A few five-car sets ran on peak time services. All cars were of a walk-through design with mechanical doors at each end. Initially the ABx car ran on the loco end to keep passengers looking for a seat from disturbing first-class passengers. The orientation of trains was not predictable in practice however, so the ABx car was instead put in the middle of the train. In later years, when insufficient numbers of Bx cars were ready for service, some trains ran with two ABx cars. Traction was provided by the
Class 111 locomotives produced locally by
Krupp in
Essen. They had been designed for long-haul Intercity and limited-stop commuter train services with a maximum speed of and were not an ideal fit for rapid transit duty. After the
German reunification, even before the old
Deutsche Bundesbahn was merged with the
Deutsche Reichsbahn of East Germany to form the new
Deutsche Bahn, the
Class 143 Reichsbahn engines replaced the Class 111 on the S-Bahn network, limiting the top speed on the network to but with better acceleration and noticeably less jolting.
Rolling stock today |alt= |alt= |alt=Video of a train driving away from a train platform on the right side. The Cologne S-Bahn section went into full operation in 2002 in conjunction with the opening of the
Cologne-Frankfurt high speed line. It runs with
Class 423 EMUs on lines S11, S12 and S13/S19. Due to recent service improvements, there are insufficient numbers of Class 423 EMUs available, so Class 420 electric multiple units can be found on line S12. Starting in 2008, 84 units of
Class 422 were introduced in the Ruhr area section and around Düsseldorf, replacing the x-Wagen loco-hauled trains. These newer classes of EMUs once again increased the maximum speed on the network to where permitted, which together with the better acceleration of the EMUs did reduce delays that had become entrenched in the latter years of x-Wagen operations. The S28 is not operated by
DB Regio NRW, but by
Regiobahn, which uses
Integral S5D95 DMUs. The S7 uses
Alstom Coradia LINT DMUs and is operated by
RheinRuhrBahn. New electric rolling stock for the S5 and S8 lines was introduced in December 2014 after having been tested on S68 since October 2014. These
Alstom Coradia trains are operated by DB Regio NRW and offer on-board toilet facilities. All trains of Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn ran with the red DB livery except for the S7 and S28 trainsets which are painted in the colours of their respective operators.
Rolling stock after 2019 Starting in December 2019, there will be major changes in the Ruhr area section of the network: The standard service pattern will be altered from a 20-minute to a 30-minute or 15-minute headway. Services around Düsseldorf and Cologne will not be affected and remain on their 20-minute schedule. Several services will no longer be operated by DB Regio NRW, but by Abellio Rail NRW. Simultaneously, the livery of all trains will change to green and white to uphold a uniform appearance regardless of operator. Lines S2, S3 and S9 as well as several Regionalbahn lines that will complement or supplant S-Bahn services will use
Stadler FLIRT 3 XL units. Upon eventual electrification, those are also going to run on line S28, sporting Regiobahn's red and white livery.
Rolling Stock 2025 S-Bahn Rhein Ruhr 2014: 28x ET(1)440 class lines: S5, S8 DB / Deutsche Bahn livery, 2018: 48x ET422 class lines: S1, S4 DB / S-Bahn Rhein-Ruhr livery, 2019: 21x ET(3)427/(3)429 class lines: S2, S3, S9 DB / S-Bahn Rhein-Ruhr livery. DIESEL 1998: 10x VT609 class line: S28 Regiobahn / Regiobahn livery, 2013: 9x VT(1)648 class line: S7 Rhein-Ruhr-Bahn / Abellio livery. S-Bahn Rheinland 2000: 63x ET423 class lines: S11, S12, S19, S68 DB / Deutsche Bahn livery, 2007: 36x ET422 class lines: S6, S11, S68 DB / Deutsche Bahn livery, 2024: 24x ET424 class lines: S12, S19 DB / S-Bahn Rheinland livery. DIESEL 2014: 11x VT620/622 class line: S23 DB / Deutsche Bahn livery. In total there are 250 trains in service for two S-Bahn systems in the Rhine-Ruhr area. After Abellio became insolvent in 2022, other companys got new contracts to keep the lines S2, S3, S7 and S9 in service. In 2024 class ET424 got new in service to give up the old trains class ET 420. These trains have been originally in service for S-Bahn Hannover since 2000 and got a redesign for the S-Bahn Rheinland. In 2025 the name S-Bahn Köln has been changed to S-Bahn Rheinland. The classes ET 423 (2000) and ET 422 (2007) also got a new redesign, with new seats and the S-Bahn Rheinland logo on the side. Furthermore the lines S6 and S68 are now part of the S-Bahn Rheinland.
Future S-Bahn Rhein-Ruhr In 2027 line S28 will be operated by 10 trains class ET (3)427. Six trains of these will have the S-Bahn Rhein-Ruhr livery, while the other four trains show the Regiobahn livery. Vias Rail will operate line S5 and S8 starting 2030 with 33 new trains class ET (3)427 in the S-Bahn Rhein-Ruhr livery. S-Bahn Rheinland Furthermore line S23 will be operated by trains class ET 442 (Bombardier Talent 2) starting 2028. These trains are already in service by Deutsche Bahn on other lines and will switch to the S-Bahn Rheinland 2028. For 2029 there are up to 90 new trains ordered from Alstom for the lines S6, S11, S12, S19, S68 and some new lines. These trains will have 7 or 11 cars and will made it unnecessary to build coupled trains on the lines. == Lines ==