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The Dresden S-Bahn is a network of S-Bahn-type
commuter train Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are consi ...
services in Dresden and the surrounding area. It is commissioned by
Verkehrsverbund Oberelbe The Verkehrsverbund Oberelbe (Upper Elbe Transport Association or VVO) is a transport association run by public transport providers in the Saxon Elbeland area of the German state of Saxony. The VVO area comprises the city of Dresden, togeth ...
(VVO) from DB Regio ''Verkehrsbetrieb Südostsachsen'' and currently consists of three services operating over a network. The S-Bahn fare structure was introduced on a series of suburban railway lines on 29 September 1974. The term "S-Bahn" has only officially been used for the system since 31 May 1992. Since 24 May 1998, VVO fares have been valid for the S-Bahn Dresden. Outside of Dresden, it runs to the centres of
Freital Freital is a town in the district of Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge in Saxony, Germany. The town is situated on a small river, the Weißeritz, and is southwest of Dresden. Geography Freital is located southwest of Dresden in the Döhlen ...
, Meissen, Pirna, Radebeul and since 9 December 2007 also to
Freiberg Freiberg is a university and former mining town in Saxony, Germany. It is a so-called ''Große Kreisstadt'' (large county town) and the administrative centre of Mittelsachsen district. Its historic town centre has been placed under heritage ...
. All lines stop at
Dresden Hauptbahnhof Dresden Hauptbahnhof ("main station", abbreviated Dresden Hbf) is the largest passenger station in the Saxon capital of Dresden. In 1898, it replaced the ''Böhmischen Bahnhof'' ("Bohemian station") of the former Saxon-Bohemian State Railway ('' ...
. According to data from the Deutsche Bahn, the Dresden S-Bahn is the S-Bahn with the highest customer satisfaction in Germany.Deutsche Bahn AG (Hrsg.):


Rolling stock

Services are operated by double-deck-
push–pull train Push–pull is a configuration for locomotive-hauled trains, allowing them to be driven from either end of the train, whether having a locomotive at each end or not. A push–pull train has a locomotive at one end of the train, connected via ...
s. All trains have 1st and 2nd. class. As with other S-Bahn services operated by
Deutsche Bahn The (; abbreviated as DB or DB AG) is the national railway company of Germany. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). The Federal Republic of Germany is its single shareholder. describes itself as the ...
, trains are marked " Bahn Dresden ." From 16 July 2007, 53 new double-deck cars (13
control Control may refer to: Basic meanings Economics and business * Control (management), an element of management * Control, an element of management accounting * Comptroller (or controller), a senior financial officer in an organization * Controlli ...
and 40 middle cars) were gradually delivered by
Waggonbau Görlitz The Waggonbau Görlitz Corporation (Görlitz Rolling Stock Corporation) has built locomotives and rolling stock since 1849. They are best known for the double-deck rail cars that have been in production since 1935 in Görlitz, Germany. The Gör ...
for lines S 1 and S 3 until the timetable change on 9. December 2007, replacing the old double-deck cars. The cost of acquiring the 53 cars that are capable of operating at up to was €72 million. On the same day, a new rollingstock depot was opened in the old town of Dresden. The new vehicles were delivered in full by the timetable change in December 2007. Trains were hauled by locomotives of class 143 and
Bombardier Traxx Alstom Traxx (sold as Bombardier TRAXX before 2021) is a modular product platform of mainline diesel-electric and electric locomotives produced originally by Bombardier Transportation and later Alstom, which was built in both freight and passen ...
(class 146.0). Siemens ES64U2 (class 182) locomotives were due to take over operations from the timetable change in December 2015.


Stations


S-Bahn stations in the Dresden inner city

*
Dresden Hauptbahnhof Dresden Hauptbahnhof ("main station", abbreviated Dresden Hbf) is the largest passenger station in the Saxon capital of Dresden. In 1898, it replaced the ''Böhmischen Bahnhof'' ("Bohemian station") of the former Saxon-Bohemian State Railway ('' ...
(access to the city center; transfer to long-distance and regional services and to trams and buses) * Dresden Freiberger Straße (access to the city centre and to the World Trade Center Dresden) * Dresden Mitte (access to Messe Dresden–Dresden exhibition ground–and to the International Congress Center Dresden; transfer to trams and buses) * Dresden-Neustadt (transfer to long-distance and regional services and to trams and buses)


Lines

The trains of the S-Bahn Dresden run annually. It consists of the following lines:


Line S 1

Line S 1 is the oldest and most important S-Bahn line in and around Dresden. It connects all important places in the upper Elbe region with the state capital of Dresden. Commuter traffic and travel for recreation and tourism are still significant. A few isolated places and hiking areas in
Saxon Switzerland Saxon Switzerland (german: Sächsische Schweiz) is a hilly climbing area and national park around the Elbe valley south-east of Dresden in Saxony, Germany. Together with the Bohemian Switzerland in the Czech Republic it forms the Elbe San ...
can be reached better by the S-Bahn than by bus or car. From Schöna, it runs along the Elbe on the Elbe Valley Railway through the
Elbe Sandstone Mountains The Elbe Sandstone Mountains, also called the Elbe Sandstone Highlands (german: Elbsandsteingebirge; cs, Děčinská vrchovina), are a mountain range straddling the border between the state of Saxony in southeastern Germany and the North Bohemi ...
, through
Bad Schandau Bad Schandau (; hsb, Žandow) is a spa town in Germany, in the Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge district of Saxony. It is situated on the right bank of the Elbe, at the mouth of the valley of the Kirnitzsch and in the area often described as ...
and past
Königstein Fortress Königstein Fortress (german: Festung Königstein), the " Saxon Bastille", is a hilltop fortress near Dresden, in Saxon Switzerland, Germany, above the town of Königstein on the left bank of the River Elbe. It is one of the largest hilltop ...
to Pirna. There it leaves the immediate bank of the Elbe and runs through
Heidenau Heidenau is a town in the Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge Saxon Switzerland-Eastern Ore Mountains (german: Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge) is a district ('' Kreis'') in Saxony, Germany. It is named after the mountain ranges Saxon Switzer ...
and southeastern Dresden almost straight to Dresden Hauptbahnhof. It follows a curve through the inner city, crosses the Elbe river and runs after a sharp curve beyond Dresden-Neustadt station next to the
Leipzig–Dresden railway The Leipzig–Dresden line is a German railway line. It was built by the Leipzig–Dresden Railway Company between 1837 and 1839. It was the first long-distance railway and the first railway using only steam traction in Germany. It also included ...
. It passes through Radebeul and Coswig, where it branches towards Meißen over the
Borsdorf–Coswig railway The Borsdorf–Coswig railway is a mainline railway in the German state of Saxony, originally built and operated by the Leipzig-Dresden Railway Company. It runs mostly along the Freiberger Mulde from Borsdorf via Döbeln and Meissen to Coswig ne ...
. The sets of the S 1 consist basically of four double-decked carriages. For larger events and between Easter and Pentecost the trains run with five double-deck carriages. Between Dresden and Pirna were the upgrading of the existing tracks for S-Bahn operations at up to (the first stage of the construction of the Dresden S-Bahn; these tracks are now classified as part of the
Pirna–Coswig railway The Pirna–Coswig railway is a two-track, electrified mainline railway in the German state of Saxony, predominantly served by the Dresden S-Bahn. It runs parallel to the pre-existing tracks of the Děčín–Dresden and Dresden–Leipzig railwa ...
) as well as the construction of two new long-distance railway tracks (for ) were completed by 12 December 2004. On 16 July 2007, the first 16 newly procured double-deck carriages were handed over for the S 1. The trains are equipped with air conditioning, an electronic
passenger information system A passenger information system, or passenger information display system, is an automated system for supplying users of public transport with information about the nature and the state of a public transport service through visual, voice or other m ...
, interior lighting by means of
light emitting diodes A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that emits light when current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy in the form of photons. The color of the light (cor ...
n as well as sockets at the seats in 1st class. The control cars have 82 seats, the middle cars each have 126 seats. By 9 December 2007, the whole S 1 was equipped with new carriages. (brochure) From the 2010/2011 timetable change on 12 December 2010, the S 1 services were drawn by locomotives of the class 145. This should result in a four-minute reduction in travel time over the whole route. Since the locomotives do not have sufficient door control for the new double-deck carriages, the trains had attendants the train at each platform. Since the end of 2011, Siemens ES64U2 (class 182) locomotives have replaced the class 145 locomotives. The class 182 locomotives were taken over by DB Regio from
DB Schenker DB Schenker is a division of German rail operator Deutsche Bahn that focuses on logistics. The company was acquired by Deutsche Bahn as Schenker-Stinnes in 2002. It comprises divisions for air, land, sea freight, and Contract Logistics. Histo ...
and equipped with a local transport package (including a train destination display and side-selective door control). With a change of 2015/2016 timetable on 13 December 2015, another change was made to class 146.0 locomotives.


Line S 2

The ''Flughafen-S-Bahn'' ("Airport S-Bahn") connects Pirna, Heidenau and Dresden with
Dresden Airport Dresden Airport is the international airport of Dresden, the state capital of Saxony, Germany. It is located in Klotzsche, a district of Dresden north of the city centre. It was formerly also known in German as ''Flughafen Dresden-Klotzsche''. ...
and the microelectronics companies located in the north of the city. Between Dresden-Neustadt and Pirna/Heidenau (on working days) or Dresden Hbf (on weekends and holidays) S 2 services run along the same route as the S 1 services, so that there are services at intervals alternating between 10 and 20 minutes on this section. The sets of the S 2 are made of two double-deck carriages which, unlike the ones on the S 1 and S 3 services, are equipped with an emergency brake bypass to avoid being stopped in the tunnel to the
airport station An Airport station or Airport Station may refer to a train station named as such or similarly. For other train stations located at an airport and named otherwise, see list of airport stations. Airport station may refer to: * Aeroport (Moscow Met ...
. A railway line between Dresden-Klotzsche and the airport was rebuilt and extended to connect to the airport. Already before the opening of the S 2 on 22 May 1998 a Regionalbahn service operated to Dresden Grenzstraße and served to connect with
EADS EFW Elbe Flugzeugwerke GmbH (literally: Elbe aircraft factory, commonly abbreviated as ''EFW'') is an aerospace manufacturer based in Dresden, Germany. It was established during 1955 as ''VEB Flugzeugwerke Dresden'' (VEB). Early projects included t ...
and
ZMDI Zentrum Mikroelektronik Dresden (ZMD) was regarded as the heart of East Germany's microelectronics research in the 1980s as well as its most advanced integrated circuit manufacturer. Together with TU Dresden and VEB Spurenmetalle Freiberg, ZMD fo ...
. The S 2 branches off the
Görlitz–Dresden railway The Görlitz–Dresden railway is a two-track main line railway in the German state of Saxony, originally built and operated by the ''Saxon-Silesian Railway Company''. It runs through Upper Lusatia from Dresden via Bischofswerda, Bautzen and Löba ...
just north of Klotzsche station. Trains running towards the airport pass over the non-electrified line towards Görlitz. The
Dresden-Klotzsche–Dresden Airport railway The Dresden-Klotzsche–Dresden Airport railway is a single-track, electrified main line in Saxony, Germany. It runs from Dresden-Klotzsche station on the Görlitz–Dresden railway to Dresden Airport and today it is served exclusively by the Dr ...
runs as a single track and ends at a double-track underground station under the terminal of Dresden Airport. The construction of the new and upgraded line began In the middle of 1998. The beginning of operations to the airport coincided with the commissioning of the new airport terminal, on 25 March 2001 with 36 diesel multiple units services operating daily at half-hour intervals. In the first five months of operations, the average utilisation rate was maintained at 32%, with a total of 1,400 passengers per day. Around 810,000 passengers were counted on the line by the end of 2001. The electrification of the sections between Dresden-Neustadt and the airport began at the beginning of March 2002. In 2002, 683,000 travelers were counted on the line. By the end of 2004, the operations consisted of a total of eight newly procured double-deck vehicles. These include, among other things, air conditioning, a barrier-free toilet and electric sockets in first class. The line was extended to Pirna at the timetable change in December 2004. Some of the 1st class seats were redesignated as 2nd class seats. From 9 December 2007, services of the S 2 were generally operated with three double-deck carriages due to the increased demand. From 2009 onwards, two or three carriages were used depending on the demand, but since 2011 only trains with two double-deck carriages have operated on this line. Around two million passengers were counted on the line in 2005 and it was 2.8 million in 2010. Until the timetable change on 30 May 1999, the S 2 service operated on the Dresden Hbf–Radeberg–Arnsdorf (b Dresden) route. These S 2 services reversed in the Arnsdorf (b Dresden) carriage train to continue as Regionalbahn services to
Kamenz Kamenz () or Kamjenc ( Sorbian) is a town (''Große Kreisstadt'') in the district of Bautzen in Saxony, Germany. Until 2008 it was the administrative seat of Kamenz District. The town is known as the birthplace of the philosopher and poet Gott ...
, Görlitz or Zittau. It was at that time the only S-Bahn line that was operated with diesel-hauled push-pull trains.


Line S 3

The S 3 service runs on the
Dresden–Werdau railway The Dresden–Werdau railway is an electrified, double-track main line in the German state of Saxony. It runs from Dresden via Freiberg, Chemnitz and Zwickau to Werdau wye, where it joins the Leipzig-Hof railway. The line was opened in severa ...
from the Hauptbahnhof towards
Chemnitz Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt , ) is the third-largest city in the German state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden. It is the 28th largest city of Germany as well as the fourth largest city in the area of former East Germany ...
. It passes through the ''Plauenscher Grund'' ("Plauen ground"), the deep valley of the
Weißeritz The Weißeritz (also: ''Vereinigte Weißeritz'' in German i.e. United Weißeritz, ''Bystrica'' in Sorbian) is a river of Saxony, Germany. It is long and a left tributary of the Elbe. The river is formed by the confluence of the Wild Weißeri ...
between Plauen and Freital. From Freital it runs in the valley of
Wilde Weißeritz Wilde is a surname. Notable people with the name include: In arts and entertainment In film, television, and theatre * ''Wilde'' a 1997 biographical film about Oscar Wilde * Andrew Wilde (actor), English actor * Barbie Wilde (born 1960), Canadi ...
to
Tharandt Tharandt () is a municipality in Saxony, Germany, situated on the Weißeritz, 9 miles southwest of Dresden. It has a Protestant Church and the oldest academy of forestry in Germany, founded as the Royal Saxon Academy of Forestry by Heinrich Co ...
. The line was almost completely destroyed by August 2002 floods. After it had been put back into operation after the flood damage had been repaired at the end of 2003, around 2,300 passengers per day were counted. Inside Dresden, the next stop on the S 3 after the Hauptbahnhof is Dresden-Plauen station. In Freital the S-Bahn line serves large parts of the populated areas. The town of Freital was founded in 1921 from the three villages of Potschappel, Deuben and Döhlen; in 1964 Hainsberg was also incorporated. Next to the Freital-Deuben station, there is a bus station with connections to ten regional and six local bus routes. The railway line runs along the traffic axis of the town, which is also serves as the main axis of Freital's bus routes. Typically, sets of two double-deck carriages are used. Until the timetable change in May 1995, operated S 3 as S 5. Between 9 December 2007 and 11 December 2010, it operated as a supplementary line to S 3, line S 30 and since the timetable change on 12 December 2010, the entire line between Dresden Hbf and
Freiberg Freiberg is a university and former mining town in Saxony, Germany. It is a so-called ''Große Kreisstadt'' (large county town) and the administrative centre of Mittelsachsen district. Its historic town centre has been placed under heritage ...
has operated as S 3. It normally begins and ends in Tharandt, but it serves the stations of Edle Krone, Klingenberg-Colmnitz, Niederbobritzsch, Muldenhütten and Freiberg (Sachs) running to Freiberg from Monday to Friday in the morning peak and from Freiberg in the afternoon peak. It is the only Dresden S-Bahn line that runs outside the area of the Upper Elbe Transport Association. Between Niederbobritzsch and Freiberg the fares of the ''Verkehrsverbund Mittelsachsen'' (Mid-Saxony transport association) apply. Since beginning of 2012, the service has been hauled by a class 145 locomotive. As of the end of October, a circuit was operated by a
Bombardier Talent 2 The Talent 2 is a multiple unit railcar manufactured by Bombardier Transportation. The train began production in 2008 and first entered service with Deutsche Bahn in 2011. Despite having the same name as the original Talent, designed by Waggonf ...
set on staff training and since 1 January 2013 all circuits have been scheduled to be hauled by class 143.


Other railway lines in the area of the S-Bahn


Regional-Express

Various
Regional-Express 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 ...
lines run from Dresden Hauptbahnhof to
Chemnitz Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt , ) is the third-largest city in the German state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden. It is the 28th largest city of Germany as well as the fourth largest city in the area of former East Germany ...
(via Freital, Tharandt),
Cottbus Cottbus (; Lower Sorbian: ''Chóśebuz'' ; Polish: Chociebuż) is a university city and the second-largest city in Brandenburg, Germany. Situated around southeast of Berlin, on the River Spree, Cottbus is also a major railway junction with ext ...
and
Hoyerswerda Hoyerswerda () or Wojerecy () is a major district town in the district of Bautzen in the German state of Saxony. It is located in the Sorbian settlement area of Upper Lusatia, a region where some people speak the Sorbian language in addition t ...
(via Cossebaude, Coswig and
Ruhland ( Sorbian: ''Rólany'') is a town in the Oberspreewald-Lausitz district, in Upper Lusatia, Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated on the river Schwarze Elster, 12 km southwest of Senftenberg. Ruhland station is a major railway junction, f ...
) and
Elsterwerda Elsterwerda (; Lower Sorbian: ''Wikow'') is a town in the Elbe-Elster district, in southwestern Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated on the Black Elster river, 48 km northwest of Dresden, and 11 km southeast of Bad Liebenwerda. Histo ...
, with some stopping at Dresden stations ( Dresden-Friedrichstadt, Dresden-Cotta, Cossebaude among others) on the Berlin-Dresden railway, which is not included in the Dresden S-Bahn network. The Trilex Express runs from Dresden Hauptbahnhof to Görlitz or Zittau (via
Klotzsche Klotzsche is a borough (''Stadtbezirk'') of Dresden, Germany. It consists of four quarters (''Stadtteile''): *Klotzsche proper *Hellerau *Rähnitz *Wilschdorf The borough is located north of the Elbe Valley and the Dresden city centre, on the w ...
,
Radeberg Radeberg is a small town in the district of Bautzen, Saxony, Germany. It is located approximately 20 kilometres north-east of Dresden. The town has an Evangelical and a Roman Catholic church, and an old castle. History Radeberg was mention ...
). When there are good conditions for winter sports, two additional trains run through the
Eastern Ore Mountains The Eastern Ore Mountains (german: Osterzgebirge) form a natural region of Saxony that covers the eastern part (in area almost the eastern half) of the Saxon Ore Mountains range. Together with the Western and Central Ore Mountains, it is part of ...
(''Osterzgebirge'') to Altenberg. In addition, a Regional-Express runs from Dresden Hauptbahnhof via Heidenau and Pirna to Děčín in the Czech Republic.


Regionalbahn services

Trilex Regionalbahn services towards Görlitz and Zittau have formed the local services corresponding with the Trilex-Express services between Dresden and
Bischofswerda Bischofswerda (; hsb, Biskopicy) is a small town in Germany at the western edge of Upper Lusatia in Saxony. Geography The town is located 33 km to the east of Dresden at the edge of the Upper Lusatian mountain country. The town is kno ...
since the timetable change in December 2008 (then still operated by DB Regio Südost). These operate at approximately half-hour intervals and provide an S-Bahn-like service on these diesel-powered lines. Two other services are operated into
Upper Lusatia Upper Lusatia (german: Oberlausitz ; hsb, Hornja Łužica ; dsb, Górna Łužyca; szl, Gōrnŏ Łużyca; pl, Łużyce Górne or ''Milsko''; cz, Horní Lužice) is a historical region in Germany and Poland. Along with Lower Lusatia to t ...
(''Oberlausitz'') by the
Städtebahn Sachsen The Städtebahn Sachsen was a railway company that operated regional train services in Saxony, Germany by order of Verkehrsverbund Oberelbe. Städtebahn was a subsidiary of ''Nordbayerische Eisenbahngesellschaft'' (NBE) and started its operation ...
and connect Dresden with
Kamenz Kamenz () or Kamjenc ( Sorbian) is a town (''Große Kreisstadt'') in the district of Bautzen in Saxony, Germany. Until 2008 it was the administrative seat of Kamenz District. The town is known as the birthplace of the philosopher and poet Gott ...
and
Königsbrück Königsbrück (Upper Sorbian: ''Kinspork'') is a town in the Bautzen district, in Saxony, Germany. It is situated west of Kamenz, and northeast of the Saxon capital Dresden. Königsbrück is known as the western gate of the historic Upper Lusati ...
hourly. Another service runs from Heidenau (connecting to S-Bahn lines S 1 and S 2) through the Müglitz valley to Altenberg. The Heidenau–Altenberg and the Pirna–Neustadt (Sachs)–Sebnitz–Bad Schandau services are also operated by Städtebahn Sachsen. Due to the re-commissioning of the Rumburk–Sebnitz railway between Dolni Poustevna and
Sebnitz Sebnitz (; hsb, Zebnica) is a town in the Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge district, in Saxony, Germany. Geography The town of Sebnitz lies in the valley of the river Sebnitz and its side valleys between 251 and 460 m above sea level betw ...
, which had been interrupted since 1945, a passenger service operated by the
Czech Railways Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech ...
with Deutsche Bahn's Desiro railcars and classified by Deutsche Bahn as ''U 28 – Nationalparkbahn'' (“National Park Railway”) runs from
Rumburk Rumburk (; german: Rumburg) is a town in Děčín District in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 11,000 inhabitants. It lies on the border with Germany. Administrative parts Rumburk is made up of town parts of Rumb ...
(Czech Republic) via Sebnitz and
Bad Schandau Bad Schandau (; hsb, Žandow) is a spa town in Germany, in the Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge district of Saxony. It is situated on the right bank of the Elbe, at the mouth of the valley of the Kirnitzsch and in the area often described as ...
to Děčín (Czech Republic). Since then, Städtebahn Sachsen has operated the Sebnitz–Bad Schandau and return services only once a day.


Narrow-gauge railways

Two narrow-gauge railways connect the S-Bahn network to two nearby
750 mm gauge railways narrow-gauge railways are very similar to and gauge. 750 mm gauge rolling stock is almost compatible with 760 and 762 mm railways. Railways Gallery Колея 750 мм (в перспективе).jpg, Measuring by the tape ...
. In Radebeul Ost (connection to S 1), it is possible to change to the
Radebeul–Radeburg railway The Radebeul–Radeburg railway, also known as the ''Lößnitzgrundbahn'' ("Lössnitz Valley Railway") and locally nicknamed the ''Lößnitzdackel'' (Lößnitz Dachshund), is a gauge narrow gauge steam-hauled railway in the outskirts of Dresden, ...
(''Lößnitzgrundbahn''). In Freital-Hainsberg (connection to S 3) there is interchange with the Weisseritz Valley Railway (''Weisseritztalbahn''), which was put out of operation by the 2002 flood, although the Freital-Hainsberg–
Dippoldiswalde Dippoldiswalde (Saxon: ''Dipps'') is a town in Saxony, Germany, part of the Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge district. It is situated 23 km east of Freiberg, and 18 km south of Dresden. The town is situated on the Weisseritz railway, ...
section was reopened on 13 December 2008.


Network extensions


Completed construction measures

The S-Bahn has had two tracks for its own operations between Dresden-Neustadt and Pirna since 2004, between Radebeul Ost and Coswig since 2013 and between Radebeul Ost and Dresden-Neustadt since 2016. These tracks had been built before the Second World War, but had been dismantled as
reparations Reparation(s) may refer to: Christianity * Restitution (theology), the Christian doctrine calling for reparation * Acts of reparation, prayers for repairing the damages of sin History *War reparations **World War I reparations, made from ...
after the war. This allows additional services to be run in the peak between Pirna and Dresden-Neustadt, although on the S 2 only from between Pirna and the Hauptbahnhof. Before the electrification of the line to the airport, the S 2 services were operated exclusively with class 642 diesel multiple units, which were covered with advertising for Dresden Airport. Since the timetable change in December 2004, however, newly procured double-deck trains have also been used on this line. The railcars that were formerly used have been operating on other regional lines and the advertising was gradually removed between 2007 and 2010. The Dresden S-Bahn has modern facilities and stations everywhere. The construction measures were partly planned in the long term and partly "forced" in the short term by the 2002 flood. The development of the Dresden-Pirna line alone cost €222 million, according to Verkehrsverbund Oberelbe. The cost of repairing the damage cannot be calculated to separate damage from the long-distance tracks from the S-Bahn tracks. After about one year of construction, the new ''Meißen Altstadt'' station near the centre and the restored second track between Meißen and Meißen-Altstadt were opened on 30 November 2013 on the
Borsdorf–Coswig railway The Borsdorf–Coswig railway is a mainline railway in the German state of Saxony, originally built and operated by the Leipzig-Dresden Railway Company. It runs mostly along the Freiberger Mulde from Borsdorf via Döbeln and Meissen to Coswig ne ...
. According to the original call for tenders, construction planning, construction preparation and construction work between Meißen and Meißen-Triebischtal was expected to run between August 2012 and August 2014. The new ''Dresden-Bischofsplatz'' station was put into operation between Dresden-Neustadt and Dresden-Pieschen on 20 March 2016.


The S-Bahn in Dresden transport planning

In the first half of the 1990s, the comprehensive ''Verkehrskonzept 1994'' ("transport concept") ''1994'' was developed for Dresden and the surrounding area and adopted by the city council. The surrounding area included
Riesa Riesa is a town in the district of Meißen in Saxony, Germany. It is located on the river Elbe, approximately northwest of Dresden. History The name ''Riesa'' is derived from Slavic ''Riezowe''. This name, romanised as "Rezoa", appears first i ...
in the north-west,
Bischofswerda Bischofswerda (; hsb, Biskopicy) is a small town in Germany at the western edge of Upper Lusatia in Saxony. Geography The town is located 33 km to the east of Dresden at the edge of the Upper Lusatian mountain country. The town is kno ...
in the north-east and
Freiberg Freiberg is a university and former mining town in Saxony, Germany. It is a so-called ''Große Kreisstadt'' (large county town) and the administrative centre of Mittelsachsen district. Its historic town centre has been placed under heritage ...
in the south-west in addition to the area around Pirna. S-Bahn lines were planned from the Hauptbahnhof to Riesa and
Großenhain Großenhain (also written as Grossenhain; hsb, Wulki Hojn) is a Große Kreisstadt (German for major district town) in the district of Meissen, Saxony, Germany. It was originally known as Hayne. The current name simply means "big Hayne" History ...
on the route via Cossebaude. Only one line was planned on the four-track line via Radebeul to Coswig. The S 2 line would have alternated between
Königsbrück Königsbrück (Upper Sorbian: ''Kinspork'') is a town in the Bautzen district, in Saxony, Germany. It is situated west of Kamenz, and northeast of the Saxon capital Dresden. Königsbrück is known as the western gate of the historic Upper Lusati ...
and the airport (the last option was implemented). S-Bahn lines from Bischofswerda and
Kamenz Kamenz () or Kamjenc ( Sorbian) is a town (''Große Kreisstadt'') in the district of Bautzen in Saxony, Germany. Until 2008 it was the administrative seat of Kamenz District. The town is known as the birthplace of the philosopher and poet Gott ...
would have run on the main line via Dresden-Neustadt to Heidenau and end in Dohna on the Müglitz Valley Railway. Heidenau, Pirna and Bad Schandau were not considered as possible end points. The traffic concept had four S-Bahn lines on the main route, with its own S-Bahn tracks, which between them would have run every 7.5 minutes. However, these plans had already been rejected by the end of the 1990s. The S-Bahn line to Tharandt would have been extended to Freiberg, which has been partly realised since the timetable change of 9 December 2007 as the S 30 (now S 3).


Other considerations

In addition to the already newly built S-Bahn stations of Dresden Freiberger Straße, Dresden Flughafen, Meißen Altstadt and Dresden Bischofsplatz, the transport development concept 2025 of the city of Dresden includes another S-Bahn station in Dresden at the corner of Königsbrücker Straße and Stauffenbergallee (S 2). In addition, the existing Strehlen station is to be developed into a central interchange between the S-Bahn, trams and buses. It is also proposed to establish another S-Bahn line between the Hauptbahnhof and Coswig. This is intended to strengthen existing regional traffic. The goal is services every 30 minutes via Friedrichstadt and Cotta. In Cotta a new central station is to be created with connections to buses and trams. Concrete plans for these objectives are not known.


Passenger numbers

37,300 passengers per day use the Dresden S-Bahn lines from Mondays to Fridays (as of 2012). These are about 70% of the railway passengers in the VVO area. In November 2013, Deutsche Bahn reported the number of daily passengers at around 36,000. The individual lines recorded the following average daily passenger numbers in 2015: S1 Dresden – Schöna * weekdays: 14,420 passengers (2009: 12,060 passengers) * weekends/holidays: 13,760 passengers (2009: 12,085 passengers ) S2 Dresden – Pirna * weekdays: 3,690 passengers (2009: 4,190 passengers) S3/RB30 Dresden – Tharandt * weekdays: 5,450 passengers (2009: 4,480 passengers) * weekends/holidays: 3,360 passengers (2009: 2,775 passengers)


Invitation to tender for transport services

On 11 March 2008, the ''Zweckverband Verkehrsverbund Oberelbe'' (ZVOE) published a tender for passenger operations on all lines of the Dresden S-Bahn. These were combined in lot 1. Lot 2 included Regionalbahn lines RB33 (Dresden–Königsbrück) and RB34 (Dresden–Kamenz). Lot 3 included Regionalbahn lines RB 71 (Pirna–Neustadt–Bad Schandau) and RB72 (Heidenau–Altenberg) as well as the winter sports express service RE 19 (Dresden–Heidenau–Altenberg). The interested companies and those admitted to the tender had the opportunity to submit their offers to the ZVOE. Many companies expressed their interest in the transport services by 28 July 2008. A formal negotiation took place to determine the most economical tenders. Operations on the tendered routes would commence in December 2010. The new contracts have a ten-year term and four-year extensions are planned. In the decision of March 2010, a contract was awarded to the current operator DB Regio, which will operate the S-Bahn until 2027. DB Regio announced that from December 2010 the locomotives used on the S 1 would be the more powerful Siemens ES64U2 locomotives ( EuroSprinter, class 182), which would be acquired from
DB Schenker DB Schenker is a division of German rail operator Deutsche Bahn that focuses on logistics. The company was acquired by Deutsche Bahn as Schenker-Stinnes in 2002. It comprises divisions for air, land, sea freight, and Contract Logistics. Histo ...
. Also, a video surveillance system was to be retrofitted in the carriages. Eisenbahngesellschaft Potsdam was to be awarded lots 2 and 3. However, the award procedure was criticised by the tender office of the state of Saxony and the tender for the two lots was voided. ''Eisenbahngesellschaft Potsdam'' also won the second tender. The operations of the
Städtebahn Sachsen The Städtebahn Sachsen was a railway company that operated regional train services in Saxony, Germany by order of Verkehrsverbund Oberelbe. Städtebahn was a subsidiary of ''Nordbayerische Eisenbahngesellschaft'' (NBE) and started its operation ...
would be transferred.


References


External links

* {{coord missing, Saxony S-Bahn Tourist attractions in Dresden 1974 establishments in Germany Deutsche Bahn S-Bahn in Germany