The ''City-Bahn (CB)'' was a German
train category
Railway companies in Europe assign their trains to different categories or train types depending on their role. Passenger trains may be broadly split into long-distance and local trains; the latter having average journey times of under an hour and ...
introduced by the
Deutsche Bundesbahn
The Deutsche Bundesbahn or DB (German Federal Railway) was formed as the state railway of the newly established Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) on 7 September 1949 as a successor of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft (DRG). The DB remained ...
(DB) in 1984 for
local train
Regional rail, also known as local trains and stopping trains, are passenger rail services that operate between towns and cities. These trains operate with more stops over shorter distances than inter-city rail, but fewer stops and faster servi ...
services, in order to make secondary routes more attractive. Old
Silberling
Silberling is the colloquial name for the n-coaches of the Deutsche Bundesbahn, a type of regional Passenger car (rail), passenger coach of which more than 5,000 units were built from 1958 to 1981. Nearly all of the coaches have undergone exten ...
coaches were modernised and a more frequent fixed-interval service (''Taktfahrplan'') introduced. As its use spread the DB changed the way it was written to ''CityBahn''. The ''City-Bahn'' was replaced by the ''
Stadt-Express The ''Stadt-Express'' ''(SE)'', formerly '' City-Bahn (CB)'', is a train category in Germany, that links conurbations with the outer reaches of the surrounding countryside. The name literally means "City Express".
Deutsche Bahn no longer offers St ...
''.
Routes
One of the services was the
Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...
–
Overath
Overath (; ) is a town in the Rheinisch-Bergischer district of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
Geography
Overath is located about 25 km east of Cologne, in the Bergisches Land. Despite the reclassification as a 'Stadt' (town, though the ...
–
Gummersbach
Gummersbach (; ksh, Jummersbach) is a town in the States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, being the district seat of the Oberbergischer Kreis. It is located east of Cologne.
History
In 1109 Gummersbach was mentioned in offic ...
line, which was opened in 1984 as the ''Aggertaler'' on the
Agger Valley Railway (''Aggertalbahn'',
KBS 459). For experimental services on the closure-threatened line,
Silberling
Silberling is the colloquial name for the n-coaches of the Deutsche Bundesbahn, a type of regional Passenger car (rail), passenger coach of which more than 5,000 units were built from 1958 to 1981. Nearly all of the coaches have undergone exten ...
coaches were converted to the then modern interiors of the
VT 628.2 and, like the
Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn
The Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn (german: S-Bahn Rhein-Ruhr) is a polycentric and electrically driven S-train network covering the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Region in the German federated state of North Rhine-Westphalia. This includes most of the Ruhr (and ci ...
, painted in orange and light grey livery. A café was also part of the redesign. The trains were hauled by similarly painted locomotives of
Class 218. The modernised rolling stock and the fixed hourly services led to a considerable increase in passengers. From 1985 the new ''City-Bahn'' rakes ran from Cologne to Gummersbach, and sometimes onwards via
Marienheide
Marienheide is a municipality in the Oberbergischer Kreis, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
Geography
Marienheide is located about 50 km east of Cologne.
Neighbouring places
The neighbouring towns are Gummersbach and Wipperfürth as well ...
to
Meinerzhagen
Meinerzhagen (sometimes spelled Meinertzhagen; ) is a town in the Märkischer Kreis, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
Geography
Meinerzhagen is located in the hills of the Sauerland. The highest elevation is the Nordhelle with 652 m above sea le ...
; however this only lasted until May 1986, then they only went as far as Marienheide, and from May 1987 only to Gummersbach again.
The second ''City-Bahn'' route was the
Lower Elbe Railway
The Lower Elbe Railway (german: Niederelbebahn or ''Unterelbebahn''), is a railway line between Hamburg and Cuxhaven in northwestern Germany, which was opened in 1881 by the ''Lower Elbe Railway Company'' (''Unterelbesche Eisenbahngesellschaft''). ...
(''Niederelbebahn''), where trains ran between
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
and
Stade
Stade (), officially the Hanseatic City of Stade (german: Hansestadt Stade, nds, Hansestadt Stood) is a city in Lower Saxony in northern Germany. First mentioned in records in 934, it is the seat of the district () which bears its name. It is l ...
. Because the line is electrified,
Class 141 locomotives were employed.
In the same year ''City-Bahn'' trains were also deployed to the area of Hanover and from 1989 in the
Saarland
The Saarland (, ; french: Sarre ) is a state of Germany in the south west of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, and ...
. However the specially converted
Silberling
Silberling is the colloquial name for the n-coaches of the Deutsche Bundesbahn, a type of regional Passenger car (rail), passenger coach of which more than 5,000 units were built from 1958 to 1981. Nearly all of the coaches have undergone exten ...
coaches did not appear here until 1990.
In 1995 the ''City-Bahn'' services were renamed ''
Stadt-Express The ''Stadt-Express'' ''(SE)'', formerly '' City-Bahn (CB)'', is a train category in Germany, that links conurbations with the outer reaches of the surrounding countryside. The name literally means "City Express".
Deutsche Bahn no longer offers St ...
'', later ''
Regionalbahn'' and ''
RegionalExpress
In Germany, Luxembourg and Austria, the Regional-Express (RE, or in Austria: REX) is a type of regional train. It is similar to a semi-fast train, with average speed at about 70–90 km/h (top speed often 160 km/h) as it calls at ...
'' trains superseded the ''City-Bahn'' as a
train type. In Hanover the
Hanover S-Bahn
The Hanover S-Bahn (in German: ''S-Bahn Hannover'') is an S-Bahn network operated by DB Regio and Transdev Hannover in the area of Hanover in the German state capital of Lower Saxony. It went operational shortly before Expo 2000 and is focused o ...
had the honour of running ''City-Bahn'' services.
Models
The German model train company
Märklin
Gebr. Märklin & Cie. GmbH or Märklin (MÄRKLIN or MAERKLIN in capital letters) is a German toy company. The company was founded in 1859 and is based at Göppingen in Baden-Württemberg. Although it originally specialised in doll house accesso ...
has made a model of the "City-Bahn" line for a limited series in 2009. The road number for the engine is BR 218 143-6, and is item number 39182. Additional
Silberling
Silberling is the colloquial name for the n-coaches of the Deutsche Bundesbahn, a type of regional Passenger car (rail), passenger coach of which more than 5,000 units were built from 1958 to 1981. Nearly all of the coaches have undergone exten ...
passenger cars are also made under item numbers 43808 (3 car set), and 43818 (add on car for 43808 and 39182).
See also
*
Train categories in Europe
Railway companies in Europe assign their trains to different categories or train types depending on their role. Passenger trains may be broadly split into long-distance and local trains; the latter having average journey times of under an hour and ...
Sources
:de:City-Bahn (Zuggattung)
External links
History of the ''City-Bahn'' from Cologne to Gummersbach with photos
Passenger rail transport in Germany