Germany Railways
The initial railway in Germany started between Nürnberg and Fürth, in Bavaria, on 7th December, 1835. Germany at that time was a loose federation of states, each of which had their own individual railway policy. This continued even under the days of the German Empire, so growth tended to be piecemeal and unevenly spread. However, this did not in the end prevent the construction of and extensive and efficient network by the early decades of the 20th century.
The initial World War impoverished the railways and runaway inflation made matters worse. The entire railway system was nationalized, as the Deutsche Reichsbahn, in 1924.
Partition of Germany in the 1950s lead to the railways being split again. East Germany retained the Reichsbahn name, while the West German railways became the Deutsche Bundesbahn. The Bundesbahn also operated the stations in West Berlin and provided the through trains that ran heavily guarded through East German territory to reach the rest of the Federal Republic.
On reunification, the DB abbreviation and logo of the Bundesbahn were retained, but were now to represent simply “Die Bahn” - “The Railways”. Reintegration necessitated considerable investment in the run-down stock and infrastructure of the East, but posed few other main problems as the Reichsbahn had perpetuated normal German operating practices from the time of the partition.
Today, the national operator Die Bahn still owns the bulk of the infrastructure of the German railway network and operates most of the long distance trains. In recent years, several local and regional passenger and freight services have been taken over by other operators.
As with several countries, there are a quantum of minor railways and tourist operations. The distinction is sometimes blurred: for example, the extensive narrow gauge network in the Harz mountains provides a valuable local service in addition to its tourist role. As well as organizations with their own lines, there are a quantum of museum train operations over freight lines and otherwise lightly utilized passenger lines.
The trams and metro services of various cities have their own operating companies. In few localities - notably Karlsruhe and the Saar - trams venture onto the national network to provide what is essentially a regional service.
• The National Network
• Die Bahn (DB) German Railways, the national network
• DB Schenker the freight division of DB
• Veolia Verkehr passenger operator, with several regional subsidiaries (Site in German)
• Veolia Cargo the freight division of Veolia (Site in German)
• HTB subsidiary of Veolia Cargo specializing in car transport (Site in German)
• Regional Operators
• Der 3er Ringzug regional passenger operator in the Rottweil area (Site in German)
• Ahaus Alstätte Eisenbahn a small Swiss-owned freight railway close to the Dutch border of Germany. The line is also utilized by the Museum operation Euregio Eisenbahn (Site in German and Dutch)
• AKN regional passenger operator in northern Germany, particularly the area around Hamburg (Site mainly in German with few information in English)
• BTE local freight railway south of Bremen (Site in German)
• DHE local freight railway west of Bremen, with occasional tourist passenger services (Site in German)
• Eurobahn regional passenger operator in the Bielefeld area (Site in German)
• Thurbo regional passenger operator in southern Germany and northern Switzerland (Site in German)
• Erfurterbahn regional passenger and freight operator in the Erfurt area (Site in German)
• EVB regional passenger and freight operator in the Hamburg and Bremerhaven area
• Hessische Landesbahn a group of regional, local and freight operators in Hesse (Site in German)
• HGK freight train operator and harbour facilities around Köln
• Kiefersfelden Grenzbahn (KGB) a 5km, 900mm gauge industrial electric railway operating between a quarry in Austria and a cement works in Germany. Operated by Rohrdorfer Zement (Site in German, contains no information relating to railway but see also Wachtl Express tourist train, site in German)
• MKB local freight railways in the Minden area (Site in German)
• Murgtalbahn local passenger services between Karlsruhe and Freudenstadt. Steam trains operate on certain days (Site in German)
• NEG regional passenger operator in the Niebüll area of Schleswig, close to the Danish border. Also operates occasional steam services (Site in German)
• NordWestBahn regional passenger and freight operator in the Osnabrück, Bremen and Wihelmshaven area (Site in German)
• ODEG local passenger operator in south Mecklenburg, east Brandenburg and Lausitz (Site in German)
• OLA regional passenger operator in Mecklenburg (Site in German)
• PEG local passenger and freight operator in the Brandenburg and Nordrhein-Westphalia regions. comprises a cross-border service from Dortmund to Enschede in the Netherlands (Site in German and Dutch)
• RBB freight operator in the Bitterfeld area of the Sachsen-Anhalt region (Site in German)
• Die Länderbahn regional operator, comprising the Regentalbahn in eastern Bavaria, the Regental Cargo freight operation, and the Vogtlandbahn which operates passenger services in Bavaria, Thuringia and Saxony with cross-border services into Czechoslovakia (Site in German)
• Rurtalbahn passenger and freight operator in the Nordrhein-Westphalia region (Site in German)
• SWEG regional passenger and freight operator in the south west of Germany. comprises a cross-border service to Strasbourg in France (Site in German)
• VGH passenger and freight railway 38km in length between Eystrup and Syke in Niedersachsen (Site in German)
• VWE local freight railway southeast of Bremen (Site in German)
• Infrastructure Company
• VolkerRail Deustchland
• Tourist and Museum Railways
• Waldbahn Almetal excursions in historic diesel railcar on the DB freight line between Büren-Weinberg and Thülen-Rekostein (20.6 km). Possible future extension to Brillon, a further 4.7 km (Site in German)
• Alt Schweriner Rübenbahn 1km, 800mm gauge line in the Alt Schwerin Agricultural Museum. Alt Schwerin is about 80km east of Schwerin (Site in German, small information relating to railway)
• Angelner Dampfeisenbahn Süderbrarup, close to Flensburg, to Kappeln, 14.6km. Standard gauge, steam hauled (Site in German)
• Museumseisenbahn Bremerhaven - Bederkesa Langen, close to Bremerhaven, to Bad Bederkesa, 17.6km. Standard gauge, diesel hauled (Site in German)
• Britzer Museumsbahn 600mm gauge line mainly utilizing material reconstructed from former industrial equipment, in the Britzer Garten in southern Berlin (Park website in English and German, railway website in German only)
• Brohltal Schmalspureisenbahn Brohl to Engeln, 17.6 km. Metre gauge, partly rack operated, steam and diesel hauled. Also operates freight services (Site in German)
• Chiemseebahn Prien (station) to the harbour of Stock on the Chiemsee in southern Germany. 1.7km, metre gauge steam tramway
• Dessau Wörlitzer Eisenbahn Dessau to Wörlitz, about 19km, standard gauge. Regular diesel railcar service operates, with occasional steam and diesel hauled trains. Occasional excursions operate on a branch from Oranienbaum to Ferropolis (Sites in German)
• DEV Bruchhausen-Vilsen (on the VGH main line) to Asendorf, 8km. Metre gauge, steam hauled
• DKBM short circular 600m gauge line close to Gütersloh. Steam and diesel hauled (Site in German)
• Döllnitzbahn Oschatz to Glossen, about 16km, 750mm gauge. Diesel hauled during the week, steam hauled at weekends and holidays. Another steam service, Wilder Robert, uses part of the line from Oschatz to Nebitzschen, from where it takes the 2.7km branch to Kemmlitz (Sites in German)
• Drachenfelsbahn metre gauge electric rack railway from Königswinter to the summits of the Drachenfels mountian, 1.5km with a rise of 220m
• Drahtseilbahn Augustusburg metre gauge funicular from the station at Erdmannsdorf (east of Chemnitz) to Augustusburg, 1.2km with a rise of 168m
• FBE pedal operated trolleys for hire on a 5.5km standard gauge line from Volkerode to Oranienbaum, at a point close to the DWE station (Site in German)
• Feldbahn Glossen quarry museum with an operating 600m gauge line utilizing former industrial euipment, close to the Glossen station of Döllnitzbahn. Diesel hauled (Site in German)
• Harzer Schmalspurbahn extensive (130km) network of metre gauge lines in the Harz Mountains, providing freight, local passenger and tourist services. The Brocken station is just 20m below the 1142m summit (Site in German)
• Hein Schüttelborg 600mm gauge trains operating on a dual gauge section of a former standard gauge branch. Gremskamp to Malente-Markt (about 2 km), the main station being at Malente-Gremsmühlen where there are main line connecting services. Possible future extension to Lütjenburg, a total distance of about 17km (Site in German)
• Kandertalbahn Haltingem to Kandern, close to the Swiss border at Basel. 12.9km, standard gauge. Steam hauled or historic diesel railcars (Site in German)
• Kasbachtalbahn Bad Hönningen via Linz am Rhein and the steeply graded branch line to Kalenborn, 15.6km, standard gauge, utilizing heritage railbuses (Site in German)
• Kleinbahn Express Verden to Stemmen, 11.8km on the lines of VWE. Standard gauge, diesel hauled (Site in German)
• Museumseisenbahn Küstenbahn Ostfriesland Norden to Dormen in East Friesland, 16.5km. Standard gauge, diesel hauled (Site in German)
• Mecklenburgische Bäderbahn Molli Bad Doberan to Kühlungsborn in Mecklenburg, 15.4 km, 900mm gauge. Steam hauled
• MPSB 600mm gauge line 1.5km in length at Schwichtenberg in northeastern Germany. Diesel hauled (Site in German)
• Niederlausitzer Museumseisenbahn Finsterwalde to Crinitz, 15.2km, standard gauge. Steam hauled (Site in German)
• Oberweißbacher Berg- und Schwarzatalbahn has several sections:
• Schwarzatalbahn Rottenbach (DB station) to Katzhütte, 25km, standard gauge, operated by modern or historic diesel railcars. Connects at Obstfelderschmeide with:
• Funicular Obstfelderschmeide to Lichtenhain, 1.4km with a rise of 333m. 1800mm gauge. In addition to a dedicated passenger vehicle, there is a vehicle designed for carrying standard gauge freight wagons from the lower section to the upper. This is now also utilized to transport passenger vehicles
• Bergbahn Flat Section from the funicular at Lichtenhain to Cursdorf, 2.5km, standard gauge, electric railcars
• Parkbahn Cottbus originally a “Pioneer Railway” run by children, now utilized for tourist traffic in the parks of Cottbus. 600mm gauge, steam hauled (Site in German)
• Peterskopfbahn standard gauge funicular linking the Waldeck II hydroelectric power station on the Edersee with Peterskopf, about 0.9km with a rise of 290m (No website located at present)
• Preßnitztalbahn Steinbach to Jöhstadt in the Erzgebirge close to the Czech border. 8.4km, 750mm gauge, steam and diesel hauled (Site in German)
• Rügensche Bäderbahn (Rasender Roland) Putbus to Göhren on the Baltic Sea island of Rügen. 24km, 750mm gauge, usually steam hauled. A further 2km between Lauterbach Mole and Putbus, a dual gauge section served by standard gauge trains of OLA, is not currently in utilize by narrow gauge trains (Site in German)
• Erlebnisbahn Ratzeberg: hire a hand or pedal powerered work car to explore the 13km line from Ratzeberg (close to Lübeck) to Hollenbek (Site in German)
• Museumsbahnen Schönberger Strand Schönberger Strand to Schönberg (Holstein), 4km, standard gauge, steam and diesel hauled. Occasional steam services continue to Kiel (a further 22km), with a ferry between Kiel and Schönberger Strand making a round trip possible. In addition, historic electric trams operate on a short dual (1100mm and standard) gauge line close to Schönberger Strand station (Site in German)
• SDG operates two metre gauge, steam hauled tourist lines in Saxony:
• Fichtelbergbahn Cranzahl to Obewiesenthal, 17km with a rise of 239m
• Lößnitzgrundbahn Radebeul to Radeburg, 16.6km
• (Site mainly in German but comprises downloadable brochures in English)
• Selfkantbahn Schierwaldenrath and Gillrath, close to the Dutch border north of Aachen. 5.5km, metre gauge, steam hauled or diesel railcars (Site mainly in German with few descriptive material in English and other languages)
• Stumpfwaldbahn Ramsen Eiswoog to Ramsen West, close to Worms. 3.5km, 600mm gauge, steam and diesel hauled (Site mainly in German with few descriptive material in English and French)
• Trossinger Eisenbahn Trossingen main line station to the town, 4.3km, standard gauge, electric hauled. Operates on just a few days of the year (Site in German)
• Wachtl Express tourist train operating on the lines of the Kiefersfelden Grenzbahn. 5km, 900 mm gauge, electric hauled (Site in German)
• Waldeisenbahn Muskau two lines from Weißwasser:
• to Bad Muskau, 7km
• to Kromlau, 3.7km
• 600mm gauge, steam and diesel hauled (Site mainly in German with descriptive and timetable material in English and other languages)
• Wanderbahn im Regental Viechtach to Gotteszell, close to the Czech border. 25 km, standard gauge, modern and historic diesel railcars or diesel hauled (Site in German)
• Wendelsteinbahn Waching, close to Brannenburg, to Wendelstein. 7.6km with a rise of 1215m. Metre gauge rack railway. Electric railcars (Site in German)
• Wutachtalbahn (also known as the Sauschwänzlebahn). Weizen (Sundays Only connections with DB) to Blumberg Zollhaus (connections with Der 3er Ringbahn). 25.6km, standard gauge, with a rise of 330m comprising steep gradients, several loops and tunnels. Steam and diesel hauled (Site in German)
• Zittauer Schmalspurbahn Zittau via Bertsdorf to Oybin, with a branch from Oybin to Jonsdorf. Total length of line 16km, 750mm gauge. Steam and diesel hauled (Site in German)
• Zugspitzbahn Garmisch-Partenkirken to Zugspitzplatt, on the shoulder of the highest mountain in Germany. 19km, 1004mm gauge rack railway with a rise of 1880m. Electric railcars (Site in German and English, slightly difficult to navigate but containing a wealth of detailed information)
• Island Railways
• Of particular interest to historians and enthusiasts alike are the isolated railway systems that sprang up on the North Sea islands of Ostfriesland. Several of these lines survive as tourist operations.
• Borkum Borkumer Kleinbahn, 7km of 900mm gauge line (Site in German)
• Langeoog 2.6km metre gauge line operated by the island ferry company, connecting the harbour with the principal town (Site in German)
• Spiekeroog
• Spiekeroog Pferdebahn
• Pfredebahn, a unique horse drawn railway (Site in German)
• Wangerooge the ferry company operating the 3.4km metre gauge line is a subsidiary of Die Bahn (Site in German)
• The islands of Amrum, Baltrum, Juist and Norderney also formerly had railways. Several other islands in the North and Baltic Seas have or had railway systems connected to the mainland by bridges or causeways.
• Miniature Railways
• Parkeisenbahn Auensee in Leipzig; a 1.8km circuit on the shores of the Auensee, 381mm gauge, steam and diesel hauled (Site in German)
• Parkeisenbahn Chemnitz in the Küchwaldpark; 2.3km circuit, 600mm gauge, steam and diesel hauled (Site mainly in German with few information in English)
• Dresdner Parkeisenbahn in the Großer Garten; 5.6km, 381mm gauge, steam and diesel hauled (Site in German)
• FEZ recreation centre and park in Berlin with two railways:
• Parkeisenbahn 600mm gauge railway. Steam and diesel hauled. A dining carriage is available for exclusive excursions and charters
• Feldbahnprojekt 500mm gauge railway utilizing former industrial equipment. Diesel and battery electric hauled
• (Sites in German)
• Geraer Parkeisenbahn in the Tierpark. 0.8km, 600mm gauge, diesel and battery electric hauled (Site in German)
• Killesberg Kleinbahn in the Höhenpark Killesberg, Stuttgart. 381mm gauge, steam and diesel hauled (Site in German)
• Kleinbahn im Rheinpark in Köln. 2km, 381mm gauge, diesel hauled comprising few steam outline locomotives (Site in German)
• Palmen-Express in the Palmengarten, Frankfurt am Main. Diesel hauled with steam outline locomotive (Site in German)
• Peißnitzexpress on the Peißnitzinsel, Halle (Saale)
• Parkeisenbahn Plauen in the Syratal. 1km, 600mm gauge. Overhead electric traction supply, the only public miniature railway in Germany so powered (Site in German)
• Ziegeleipark open air industrial museum at Mildenburg, about 60km north of Berlin. It has two 600m gauge railways utilizing mainly former industrial equipment, the Ziegeleibahn and the Tonlorenbahn. Diesel hauled trains operate on both lines, steam hauled trains on the Tonlorenbahn (Site in German)
• Metros, Trams and Urban Funiculars
• Berlin
• BVG metro (U-Bahn) and urban trams
• S-Bahn suburban and outer suburban services
• Outer suburban tram routes connecting with S-Bahn services:
o + SRS Friedrichshagen S-Bahn station to Schöneiche, Rüdersdorf and Alt-Rüdersdorf (Site in German with a downloadable brochure in English)
o + Strausberg Strausberg S-Bahn station to Strausberg Lustgarten; also operates the Straussee ferry (Site in German)
o + Woltersdorf Rahnsdorf S-Bahn station to Woltersdorf (Site in German)
• Augsburg trams (Site in German)
• Bad Ems Kurwaldbahn funicular (Site in German)
• Baden Baden Merkur Bergbahn funicular (Site in German)
• Bad Herrenalb a short funicular links the railway station with the Falkenburg Clinic (Site in German, contains no Briefs relating to funicular)
• Bad Schandau Kirnitzschtalbahn, a rural tramway (Site in German)
• Bad Wildbad Sommerbergbahn funicular
• Bielefeld trams (Site in German)
• Brandenburg trams (Site in German)
• Braunschweig trams (Site in German)
• Bremen trams
• Chemnitz
• City-Bahn regional tram-train services (Site in German)
• CVAG city trams (Site in German)
• Cottbus trams (Site in German)
• Darmstadt trams (Site in German)
• Dessau trams (Site in German)
• Dresden trams (comprising the freight carrying CarGoTram) and funiculars (Site in German)
• Durlach (close to Karlsruhe) Turmbergbahn funicular (Site in German)
• Erfurt trams (Site in German)
• Frankfurt am Main Metro (U-bahn) and trams
• Frankfurt (Oder) trams (Site in German)
• Freiburg trams
• Gera trams (Site in German)
• Görlitz trams (Site in German)
• Gotha trams, comprising an out-of-town service to the Thüringerwald (Site in German)
• Halberstadt trams (Site in German)
• Halle (Saale) trams (Site in German)
• Hamburger Hochbahn local trains, trams and a freight service (Site in German)
• Hannover trams (Site in German)
• Heidelberg funicular (for trams see RNV) (Site in German)
• Jena trams (Site in German)
• Karlsruhe trams, comprising the pioneering tram-train network. Historic trams operate in the city centre at certain times (Site in German)
• Kassel trams
• Künzelsau funicular (Site in German)
• Leipzig trams
• Magdeburg trams (Site in German)
• Mainz trams (Site in German)
• München Metro, trams and local trains
• Nordhausen trams, comprising a tram-train service operating on the lines of the Harzer Schmalspurbahn (Site in German)
• Nürnberg Metro (U-bahn), trams (CityBahn) and historic tramway depot
• Plauen trams (Site in German)
• Potsdam trams (Site in German)
• RNV trams in Heidelberg, Ludwigshafen and Mannheim, and the Rhein-Haardtbahn interurban
• Rostock trams
• Saarbahn local network in the Saar region of Germany, with cross-border services to Sarreguemines in France (Site in German)
• Schwerin trams and local trains
• Stuttgart trams (partly underground in the city centre, and comprising a rack section on the steep route 10), also a funicular railway serving the Waldfriedhof cemetery (Site in German)
• Ulm trams (Site in German)
• VRR S-Bahn and trams in the Rhein-Ruhr-Wupper region
• VRS trams in the Köln/Bonn area
• Wiesbaden Nerobergbahn funicular
• Wuppertal Schwebebahn, the famous suspended monorail (Site in German)
• Würzburg trams (Site in German)
• Zwickau trams (Site in German)
• Historic Trams
• Bergische Museumsbahnen historic tourist electric tram line in Wuppertal, about 3km in length (Site in German)
• Döbelner Pferdebahn historic horse tram operation in Döbeln (Site in German)
• Hannover Tramway Museum at Wehmingen, about 25km southeast of the city centre, offers historic tram rides on about 1.5km of track during the summer (Site mainly in German, with a summary in English)
• Naumburg trams part of the former town network is now utilized as a tourist operation (Site in German)
• Stuttgart historic tram rides on the city network (Site in German)

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