EMU of the
Vienna S-Bahn EMU on Vienna S-Bahn line S40
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). 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
Vorarlberg S-Bahn. It is a three lines network, operated by the
Montafonerbahn and the ÖBB. It was later expanded. Presently, a frequent service, the S1, operates between to (
D) via . In addition, an hourly service, S3 (
ÖBB), connects
Bregenz with
St. Margrethen (
CH), and another service (S2) operates between
Feldkirch (
A),
Schaan (
FL) and
Buchs SG (CH). The
Montafonerbahn runs the S4. 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 7 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.
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, German: 'S-Züge'). In 2018, local trains of NMBS/SNCB in and around
Antwerp,
Ghent,
Liège and
Charleroi changed to the train category
S train as well.
China There are stopping trains starting with S (which stands for 市郊, suburb) for commuters around big cities, for example, the
Beijing Suburban Railway.
Czech Republic In the
Czech Republic, integrated
commuter rail systems exist in
Prague and
Moravian-Silesian Region. Both systems are called
Esko, which is what the letter
S 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.
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.
Germany of
Rhine-Main S-Bahn approaching the
elevated section of
Frankfurt West station 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 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), the
Lübeck S-Bahn (
network plan) and the tri-country
Bodensee S-Bahn. 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:
Italy The
Milan S Lines is a network consisting of 12 lines beginning with an S, serving the metropolitan area of
Milan.
Liechtenstein The only railway line passing through the
Principality of Liechtenstein is the
Feldkirch–Buchs railway line, which connects with the Austrian rail network in and with the Swiss network in . In June 2008, the
Swiss canton of
St. Gallen, the
Austrian state of
Vorarlberg, and the Principality of Liechtenstein signed an agreement for a project to upgrade this line (and the surrounding ones) and to increase the rail traffic. The project, named was approved by Liechtenstein and Austria in a
Letter of Intent signed in April 2020 and under that plan, it was to be fully realised by 2027 and would have cost an estimated
€187 million. That plan was however rejected by 62.3% of Liechtenstein voters in a referendum on 30 August 2020. As of the December 2023 timetable change, an S-Bahn service, the S2 of
Vorarlberg S-Bahn, operates between
Feldkirch (
A),
Schaan (
FL) and
Buchs SG (CH). There are three operational railway stations in Liechtenstein along the Feldkirch–Buchs line: (which serves the capital
Vaduz), and . A fourth station, , was closed in 2013.
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. Switzerland 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 L followed by the line number ("L" for "Léman-Express"), e.g. L2. S-Bahn-style services in the
Italian and
Romansh speaking parts of Switzerland also use, like the
Milan suburban system, the "S" prefix, although in Italian such networks are called () instead of S-Bahn. in
Rüti 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. New lines were added to the system in December 2025. A tunnel connecting
Basel's two large intercity stations (
Basel Badischer Bahnhof and
Basel SBB), known as
Herzstück Regio-S-Bahn Basel (lit. heart-piece Regio-S-Bahn Basel), is planned for the future. 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 (). 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 with six lines (L1–L6) in December 2019 and is operated by Swiss Federal Railways (SBB CFF FFS) and
SNCF. With the 2025 timetable change, a new line (L7) was added. Another transborder network for the
Lake Constance () 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, the
Bodensee S-Bahn only operates services around Lake Constance in Austria, Germany and Switzerland (without Liechtenstein). Additional transborder services are planned for the future. The
Chur S-Bahn provides services around
Chur, the capital of the alpine
Canton of
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 a network centered at
Fribourg/Freiburg and
Bulle in the
canton of Fribourg, and extending into the cantons of
Neuchâtel and
Vaud, which is called
S-Bahn in German. As of 2025, the system includes five routes beginning with "S" and two
RegioExpress (RE) services. Two S-Bahn services, 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 As of the December 2023 timetable change, the three services of
Schaffhausen S-Bahn are numbered S62, S64 and S65 (before the lines were unnumbered, designated only with an "S"). The
RER Jura, centered around
Porrentruy in the
canton of Jura, was launched with the December 2025 timetable change. It consists of four lines (R1, R2, R11, R22). 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 attractions, such as the
Rhine Falls or the
Swiss Museum of Transport).
United Kingdom There are two S-Bahn style systems operating in London, the
Elizabeth line and
Thameslink.
Thameslink Thameslink is an S-Bahn style system connecting the north and south of London. It operates at a frequency of 16 trains per hour off-peak and 20 trains per hour on-peak on the core section and services diverge to serve satellite towns and cities such as
Luton,
Bedford,
Cambridge,
Horsham and
Brighton. It was originally built in 1988 and heavily upgraded in 2018 to increase capacity and begin
ATO (Automatic Train Operation).
Elizabeth line The Elizabeth line opened in 2022, with passenger services beginning on 24 May 2022, and it connects Reading and Heathrow in the west with Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east through central London. It operates 16 trains per hour on the central core off-peak. Trains then diverge to serve destinations such as Heathrow Airport, Reading, Shenfield and Abbey Wood. == See also ==