108-764: The S-Bahn ( / ˈ ɛ s b ɑː n / ESS -bahn , German: [ˈɛsˌbaːn] ) is a hybrid urban – suburban rail system serving a metropolitan region predominantly in German-speaking countries. Some of the larger S-Bahn systems provide service similar to rapid transit systems, while smaller ones often resemble commuter or even regional rail systems. The name S-Bahn derives from Schnellbahn (lit. rapid train), Stadtbahn (lit. city train) or Stadtschnellbahn (lit. rapid city train). Similar systems in Austria and German-speaking Switzerland are known as S-Bahn as well. In Belgium , it
216-512: A multiple unit instead of individual trams and are often included within the broader term light rail ; however, they differ in that trams frequently share the platform with vehicular traffic and do not have signal priority. The term "tram" is used in most parts of the world. In North America, such systems are referred to as "streetcar" or "trolley" systems. In Germany, such systems are called Straßenbahn , which literally translates as "street train" or "street railway". A light rail system
324-459: A third rail . In 1924, the first electrified route went into service. The third rail was chosen because it made both the modifications of the rail tracks (especially in tunnels and under bridges) and the side-by-side use of electric and steam trains easier. To set it apart from the subterranean U-Bahn , the term S-Bahn replaced Stadt-, Ring- und Vorortbahn in 1930. The Hamburg service had established an alternating current line in 1907 with
432-587: A "Train S" in French, the Paris RER has the characteristic structure of an S-Bahn system, with branches going to distant suburbs and sharing a common corridor in the city center. It is also called "S-Bahn" in some German-language signs. The trains of the Berlin and Hamburg S-Bahn systemsran on separate tracks from the beginning. When other cities started implementing their systems in the 1960s, they mostly had to use
540-403: A 2006 article, the political scientist Ted Balaker and the urban planner Cecilia Juong Kim stated that public rail transit provides certain benefits for a community but also that the goals of policymakers are not often met. They also note some American economists claim that contrary to popular belief, rail transit has failed to improve the environment, serve the poor, or reduce highway congestion in
648-460: A city (while other mainline trains only call at major stations). They are slower than regional mainline trains, but usually serve as fast crosstown services within the city. The Copenhagen S-tog for example goes up to 120 kilometres per hour (75 mph), faster than most urban heavy rail and mass transit. S-Bahn trains generally serve the hinterland of a certain city, rather than connecting different cities, although in high population density areas
756-656: 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
864-513: 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. Although not called
972-413: A constant speed. Individual cars stop and start by releasing and gripping the cable as required. Cable cars are distinct from funiculars (whose cars are permanently attached to the cable) and cable railways (which are similar to funiculars but have rail vehicles that are attached and detached manually). Transit agencies' names for lines do not necessarily reflect their technical categorization. For example,
1080-443: A dedicated grade-separated line in the city centre with close stop spacing and a high frequency, similar to metro systems. A good example of this is Berliner Stadtbahn in Berlin's S-Bahn, which is regarded as a tourist attraction. Outside of the city center, most S-Bahn systems are entirely built on older local railways, or in some cases parallel to an existing dual track railway. Most use existing local mainline railway trackage, but
1188-502: A few branches and lines can be purpose-built S-Bahn lines. S-Bahn trains typically use overhead lines or a third rail for traction power. In Hamburg both methods are used, depending on which line is powered. In smaller S-Bahn systems and suburban sections of larger ones, trains typically share tracks with other rail traffic, with the Berlin S-Bahn , Hamburg S-Bahn and Copenhagen S-train being notable exceptions. Further out from
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#17327660540211296-516: A few exceptions to this exist. A good example of such an exception is the Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn , which interconnects the cities, towns and suburbs of the Ruhr , a large urban agglomeration . Many larger S-Bahn systems have at their core a corridor of exclusive trackage that individual suburban branches feed into, creating a high frequency trunk corridor. In many cases, this central corridor is
1404-691: A house of study) in Leipzig to provide different forms of studies to Jewish students who were prohibited from attending any institutions in Germany. Jewish studies were emphasized and much of the Jewish community of Leipzig became involved. Like all other cities claimed by the Nazis, Leipzig was subject to aryanisation . Beginning in 1933 and increasing in 1939, Jewish business owners were forced to give up their possessions and stores. This eventually intensified to
1512-564: 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. 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
1620-493: A population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the eighth-largest city in Germany and is part of the Central German Metropolitan Region . The name of the city is usually interpreted as a Slavic term meaning place of linden trees , in line with many other Slavic placenames in the region. Leipzig is located about 150 km (90 mi) southwest of Berlin, in the southernmost part of
1728-590: A significant role in precipitating the fall of communism in Central and Eastern Europe, mainly through demonstrations starting from St. Nicholas Church . The immediate effects of the reunification of Germany included the collapse of the local economy (which had come to depend on highly polluting heavy industry ), severe unemployment, and urban blight. By the early 2000s the trend had reversed, and since then Leipzig has undergone some significant changes, including urban and economic rejuvenation, and modernisation of
1836-459: A switched network. A funicular is a cable-driven inclined railway that uses the weight of descending cars to help pull the ascending cars up the slope. The term funicular derives from the Latin word funiculus , the diminutive of funis , meaning 'rope'. A cable car, in the context of mass transit, is a system using rail cars that are hauled by a continuously moving cable that runs at
1944-570: A total of 63 Ortsteile (localities). Some of these correspond to outlying villages which have been annexed by Leipzig. Like many cities in Eastern Germany, Leipzig has an oceanic climate ( Köppen : Cfb ), with significant continental influences due to its inland location. Winters are cold, with an average temperature of around 1 °C (34 °F). Summers are generally warm, averaging at 19 °C (66 °F) with daytime temperatures of 24 °C (75 °F). Precipitation in winter
2052-911: A trade city since at least the time of the Holy Roman Empire . The city sits at the intersection of the Via Regia and the Via Imperii , two important medieval trade routes. Leipzig's trade fair dates back to 1190. Between 1764 and 1945, the city was a centre of publishing. After the Second World War and during the period of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) Leipzig remained a major urban centre in East Germany, but its cultural and economic importance declined. Events in Leipzig in 1989 played
2160-638: 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 8.6 km (5.3 mi) single-line diesel-powered system which consisted of four stations from Erfurt Central Station to Erfurt Berliner Straße station in
2268-513: Is a pure S-Bahn station known as Berlin Nordbahnhof ; as the city Stettin today is Polish city Szczecin ). A lower rate for the newly founded Berliner Stadt-, Ring- und Vorortbahn (Berlin City, Circular and Suburban Rail) was introduced on 1 October 1891. This rate and the growing succession of trains made the short-distance service stand out from other railways. The second suburban railway
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#17327660540212376-601: Is a rail-based transit system that has higher capacity and speed than a tram, usually by operating in an exclusive right-of-way separated from automobile traffic, but it is not, unlike rapid transit, fully grade-separated from other traffic. Light rail also generally operates with multiple-unit trains , rather than single tramcars. It emerged as an evolution of trams/streetcars. Light rail systems vary significantly in terms of speed and capacity and range from slightly improved tram systems to systems that are essentially rapid transit but with some level crossings. The term "light rail"
2484-471: Is a rail-based transit system that runs mainly or completely along streets (with street running ), with a relatively-low capacity and frequent stops; however, modern trams have a greater passenger capacity than traditional trams. Passengers usually board at the street or curb level, but low-floor trams may allow level boarding. Longer-distance lines are called interurbans or radial railways . Modern trams also operate as self-propelled trains coupled through
2592-1161: Is a railway in which the track consists of a single rail, as opposed to the traditional track with two parallel rails . The term possibly comes from 1897, from German engineer Eugen Langen , who called an elevated railway system with wagons suspended the Eugen Langen One-railed Suspension Tramway (Einschieniges Hängebahnsystem Eugen Langen). A commuter rail, regional rail or suburban rail system operates on mainline trackage, which may be shared with intercity rail and freight trains . Systems tend to operate at lower frequencies than rapid transit or light rail systems but tend to travel at higher speeds, have more widely spaced stations and cover longer overall distances. They have high passenger capacities per single train. Though many European and East Asian commuter rail systems operate with frequencies and rolling stock similar to that of rapid transit, they do not qualify as such because they share tracks with intercity/freight trains, or they have at grade crossings. For example, S-trains are hybrid systems combining
2700-556: Is about half that of the summer. The amount of sunshine differs significantly between winter and summer, with an average of around 51 hours of sunshine in December (1.7 hours per day) compared with 229 hours of sunshine in July (7.4 hours per day). Leipzig was first documented in 1015 in the chronicles of Bishop Thietmar of Merseburg as urbs Libzi ( Chronicon , VII, 25) and endowed with city and market privileges in 1165 by Otto
2808-669: Is an abbreviation of the German Stadtschnellbahn ("city rapid railway") and was introduced in December 1930 in Berlin. The name was introduced at the time of the reconstruction of the suburban commuter train tracks— the first section to be electrified was a section of the Berlin–Stettin railway from Berlin Nordbahnhof to Bernau bei Berlin station in 1924, leading to the formation of the Berlin S-Bahn. The main line Berliner Stadtbahn ("Berlin city railway")
2916-489: Is known as S-Trein ( Flemish ) or Train S ( French ). In Denmark , they are known as S-tog [ˈesˌtsʰɔˀw] , and in the Czech Republic as Esko or S-lines . In Milan , they are known as Linee S . There is no complete definition of an S-Bahn system. S-Bahn are, where they exist, the most local type of passenger train service that stops at all existing stations on mainline networks inside and around
3024-822: Is named the "Underground" and is commonly nicknamed the "tube". Systems in Germany are called "U-Bahn", which stands for Untergrundbahn ("underground rail"). Many systems in East, Southeast and South Asia like Taipei , Chennai and Singapore , are called "MRT", which stands for "mass rapid transit". Systems that are predominantly elevated may be referred to as "L", as in Chicago , or "Skytrain", as in Bangkok and Vancouver . Other less common names include "T-bane", which stands for "tunnelbana" (in Scandinavia, literally tunnel track ) and "MTR" (mass transit railway). A monorail
3132-497: Is now part of the city, Friedrich Schiller wrote his poem " Ode to Joy ". An older spelling of Leipzig in English is Leipsic . The Latin name Lipsia was also used. The name Leipzig is commonly held to derive from lipa , the common Slavic designation for linden trees , making the city's name etymologically related to Lipetsk, Russia and Liepaja, Latvia . Based on medieval attestations like Lipzk (c. 1190),
3240-467: Is one of the oldest symphony orchestras in the world. Several well-known composers lived and worked in Leipzig, including Johann Sebastian Bach (1723 to 1750) and Felix Mendelssohn (1835 to 1847). The University of Music and Theatre "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" was founded in 1843. The Oper Leipzig , one of the most prominent opera houses in Germany, was founded in 1693. During a stay in Gohlis , which
3348-481: Is planned as Herzstück Regio-S-Bahn Basel (lit. heart-piece Regio-S-Bahn Basel). Urban rail Urban rail transit is a wide term for various types of local rail systems providing passenger service within and around urban or suburban areas. The set of urban rail systems can be roughly subdivided into the following categories, which sometimes overlap because some systems or lines have aspects of multiple types. A tram , streetcar , or trolley system
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3456-611: Is sometimes known as "heavy rail" to distinguish it from light rail. Both heavy and light often refer to the capacity and sometimes to investment costs. In most parts of the world, such systems are known as a "metro", short for "metropolitan", which is itself short for " Metropolitan Railway ", the first such system in the world. The term "subway" is used in many American systems, as well as in Glasgow and in Toronto . The system in London
3564-582: 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
3672-551: 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
3780-547: Is the most common term especially in Americas, but German systems are called Stadtbahn , which translates to "city railway". Additionally " tram-train " systems are called Regionalstadtbahn and " semi-metro " systems are called U-Stadtbahn or U-Strab . A rapid transit system is a railway , usually in an urban area , with high passenger capacities and frequency of service and (usually) full grade separation from other traffic, including other rail traffic. It
3888-862: Is the part of the North European Plain in Germany. The city sits on the White Elster , a river that rises in the Czech Republic and flows into the Saale south of Halle. The Pleiße and the Parthe join the White Elster in Leipzig, and the large inland delta-like landscape the three rivers form is called Leipziger Gewässerknoten . The site is characterized by swampy areas such as the Leipzig Riparian Forest ( Leipziger Auenwald ), though there are also some limestone areas to
3996-493: Is typical for the S-Bahn. Where both S-Bahn and metro exist, the number of interchange stations between the two systems is substantial, with metro tickets being valid on S-Bahn services and vice versa. The S-Bahn Mitteldeutschland constitutes the main local railway system for Leipzig but also connects to Halle , where a few stations are located. The Rostock S-Bahn is an example of a smaller S-Bahn system. The name S-Bahn
4104-473: Is used to refer to various methods of providing faster bus services and the systems that use it have similar characteristics to light rail . Guided buses are buses capable of being steered by external means, usually on a dedicated track or roll way that excludes other traffic. Some cities experimenting with guided bus technologies, such as Nancy , have chosen to refer to them as 'trams on tires' ( rubber-tired trams ) and given them tram-like appearances. In
4212-595: 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. A tunnel connecting Basel 's two large intercity stations ( Basel Badischer Bahnhof and Basel SBB )
4320-595: The 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin with trains scheduled at least every 2 minutes. The idea of heavy rail rapid transit was not unique to Berlin. Hamburg had an electric railway between the central station ( Hauptbahnhof ) and Altona which opened in 1906, and in 1934 the system adopted the S-Bahn label from Berlin. In the same year in Denmark, Copenhagen's S-tog opened its first line. In Austria, Vienna had its Stadtbahn main line electrified in 1908 and also introduced
4428-497: The East German government . The reunification of Germany , however, was at first not good for Leipzig. The centrally planned heavy industry that had become the city's specialty was, in terms of the advanced economy of reunited Germany, almost completely unviable, and closed. Within only six years, 90% of jobs in industry had vanished. As unemployment rocketed, the population fell dramatically; some 100,000 people left Leipzig in
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4536-887: The Green Line in Boston is referred to as a subway although it is mostly made up of above-ground portions. Conversely, the Docklands Light Railway in London , C Line in Los Angeles , and some metro lines in China are referred to as "Light Rail" but qualify as rapid transit because they are fully grade-separated and provide a high frequency of service. Many cities use names such as subway and elevated railway to describe their entire systems, even if they combine both methods of operation. Slightly less than half of
4644-673: The London Underground 's tracks, for example, are actually underground. The New York City Subway also combines elevated and subterranean stations, and the Chicago "L" and the Vancouver SkyTrain use tunnels to run through central areas. A bus shares many characteristics with light rail and trams but does not run on rails. Trolleybuses are buses that are powered from overhead wires . Vehicles that can travel both on rails and on roads have been tried experimentally but are not in common use. The term bus rapid transit
4752-708: 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 rete celere ( lit. ' fast network ' ) instead of S-Bahn. The oldest network in Switzerland
4860-638: The Nazi government officially renamed the city Reichsmessestadt Leipzig (Reich Trade Fair City Leipzig). In 1989 Leipzig was dubbed a Hero City ( Heldenstadt ), alluding to the honorary title awarded in the former Soviet Union to certain cities that played a key role in the victory of the Allies during the Second World War, in recognition of the role that the Monday demonstrations there played in
4968-635: The North German Plain (the Leipzig Bay ), at the confluence of the White Elster and its tributaries Pleiße and Parthe , that form an extensive inland delta in the city known as Leipziger Gewässerknoten [ de ] , along which Leipzig Riverside Forest , Europe's largest intra-city riparian forest has developed. Leipzig is at the centre of Neuseenland ( new lake district ), consisting of several artificial lakes created from former lignite open-pit mines . Leipzig has been
5076-805: The Nuremberg Laws . However, due to the Leipzig Trade Fair and the international attention it garnered, Leipzig was especially cautious about its public image. Despite this, the Leipzig authorities were not afraid to strictly apply and enforce anti-semitic measures. On 20 December 1937, after the Nazis took control of the city, they renamed it Reichsmessestadt Leipzig, meaning the "Imperial Trade Fair City Leipzig". In early 1938, Leipzig saw an increase in Zionism through Jewish citizens. Many of these Zionists attempted to flee before deportations began. On 28 October 1938, Heinrich Himmler ordered
5184-734: The Potsdam Agreement . In the mid-20th century, the city's trade fair assumed renewed importance as a point of contact with the Comecon Eastern Europe economic bloc, of which East Germany was a member. At this time, trade fairs were held at a site in the south of the city, near the Monument to the Battle of the Nations . The planned economy of the German Democratic Republic, however, was not kind to Leipzig. Before
5292-904: The Principality of Liechtenstein is the Feldkirch–Buchs railway line, which connects with the Austrian rail network in Feldkirch and with the Swiss network in Buchs SG . 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
5400-465: 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
5508-399: The Salzburger Lokalbahn (SLB)(S1 and S11) and . 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,
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#17327660540215616-426: The (yellow) F-line. The F-line has departures in each direction every five minutes, or 12 t.p.h. service . In 1882, the growing number of steam-powered trains around Berlin prompted the Prussian State Railway to construct separate rail tracks for suburban traffic. The Berliner Stadtbahn connected Berlin's eight intercity rail stations which were spread throughout the city (all but the Stettiner Bahnhof which today
5724-425: The American Consulate was closed, and its building became a temporary place of stay for Americans and Allied refugees from Serbia , Romania and Japan . During the 1930s and 1940s, music was prominent throughout Leipzig. Many students attended Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy College of Music and Theatre (then named Landeskonservatorium.) However, in 1944, it was closed due to World War II . It re-opened soon after
5832-412: The Leipzig-Thekla subcamp who were unable to march were either burned alive, shot or beaten to death by the Gestapo, SS , Volkssturm and German civilians in the Abtnaundorf massacre. Some were rescued by Polish forced laborers of another camp; at least 67 people survived. 84 victims were buried on 27 April 1945, however, the total number of victims remains unknown. During World War II, Leipzig
5940-526: The Polish Consulate and its library. In 1941, the American Consulate was also closed by order of the German authorities. During the war, Leipzig was the location of five subcamps of the Buchenwald concentration camp , in which over 8,000 men, women and children were imprisoned, mostly Polish, Jewish, Soviet and French, but also Italian, Czech and Belgian. In April 1945, most surviving prisoners were sent on death marches to various destinations in Saxony and German-occupied Czechoslovakia , whereas prisoners of
6048-411: The Rich . Leipzig Trade Fair , started in the Middle Ages , has become an event of international importance and is the oldest surviving trade fair in the world. This encouraged the grewing of the Leipzig merchant bourgeoisie . There are records of commercial fishing operations on the river Pleiße that, most likely, refer to Leipzig dating back to 1305, when the Margrave Dietrich the Younger granted
6156-424: The S1, operates between Bludenz to Lindau-Reutin ( D ) via Bregenz . 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
6264-457: 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: Schaan-Vaduz (which serves the capital Vaduz ), Forst Hilti and Nendeln . A fourth station, Schaanwald , was closed in 2013. [REDACTED] Established in 2002, the Warsaw Szybka Kolej Miejska (SKM) , translating to 'Rapid Urban Rail,' functions as
6372-400: The Second World War, Leipzig had developed a mixture of industry, creative business (notably publishing), and services (including legal services). During the period of the German Democratic Republic, services became the concern of the state, concentrated in East Berlin ; creative business moved to West Germany ; and Leipzig was left only with heavy industry. To make matters worse, this industry
6480-426: The Swedish-led side. On 24 December 1701, when Franz Conrad Romanus was mayor, an oil-fueled street lighting system was introduced. The city employed light guards who had to follow a specific schedule to ensure the punctual lighting of the 700 lanterns. The Leipzig region was the arena of the 1813 Battle of Leipzig between Napoleonic France and an allied coalition of Prussia , Russia , Austria and Sweden. It
6588-415: The United States. They also claim economists are somewhat more optimistic about rail transit's impact on economic development. Leipzig Leipzig ( / ˈ l aɪ p s ɪ ɡ , - s ɪ x / LYPE -sig, -sikh , German: [ˈlaɪptsɪç] ; Upper Saxon : Leibz'sch ; Upper Sorbian : Lipsk ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony . The city has
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#17327660540216696-572: The buildings hit, a firestorm occurred. This prompted firefighters to rush to the city; however, they were unable to control the fires. Unlike the firebombing of the neighbouring city of Dresden , this was a largely conventional bombing with high explosives rather than incendiaries. The resultant pattern of loss was a patchwork, rather than wholesale loss of its centre, but was nevertheless extensive. The Allied ground advance into Germany reached Leipzig in late April 1945. The U.S. 2nd Infantry Division and U.S. 69th Infantry Division fought their way into
6804-412: The central parts of a city the individual services branch off into lines where the distances between stations can exceed 5 km, similar to commuter rail. This allows the S-Bahn to serve a dual transport purpose: local transport within a city centre and suburban transport between suburbs and central boroughs of larger cities. Frequencies vary wildly between systems, with headways ranging from 2 minutes in
6912-423: The centrepiece of the S-Bahn Mitteldeutschland ( S-Bahn Central Germany ) public transit system, Germany's largest S-Bahn network, with a system length of 802 km (498 mi). Leipzig has long been a major centre for music, including classical and modern dark wave . The Thomanerchor (English: St. Thomas Choir of Leipzig), a boys' choir, was founded in 1212. The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra , established in 1743,
7020-565: The characteristics of both rapid transit and commuter rail systems. Generally, S-trains share tracks with mainline passenger and freight trains, but the distances between stations and the service headway resemble metro systems. Automated guideway transit systems tend to operate with medium passenger capacities. Larger systems span a variety of conceptual designs, from subway-like advanced rapid transit (ART) systems to smaller (typically two to six passengers) vehicles known as personal rapid transit (PRT) which offer direct point-to-point travel along
7128-413: 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. 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
7236-468: The city on 18 April and completed its capture after fierce urban action, in which fighting was often house-to-house and block-to-block, on 19 April 1945. In April 1945, the Mayor of Leipzig, SS- Gruppenführer Alfred Freyberg , his wife and daughter, together with Deputy Mayor and City Treasurer Ernest Kurt Lisso, his wife, daughter and Volkssturm Major and former Mayor Walter Dönicke, all committed suicide in Leipzig City Hall. The United States turned
7344-469: The city over to the Red Army as it pulled back from the line of contact with Soviet forces in July 1945 to the designated occupation zone boundaries. Leipzig became one of the major cities of the German Democratic Republic ( East Germany ). Following the end of World War II in 1945, Leipzig saw a slow return of Jews to the city. They were joined by large numbers of German refugees who had been expelled from Central and Eastern Europe in accordance with
7452-438: The city. Another, somewhat old-fashioned epithet is Pleiß-Athen ( Athens on the Pleiße River ), hinting at Leipzig's long academic and literary tradition, as the seat of one of the oldest German universities and a centre of the book trade. It is also referred to as "Little Paris" ( Klein-Paris ) after Johann Wolfgang Goethe 's Faust I , which is partly set in the famous Leipzig restaurant Auerbachs Keller . In 1937
7560-502: The core sections of large networks to 20 minutes in remote sections of the network, at off-peak times and in smaller systems. The rolling stock typically used for S-Bahn systems reflects its hybrid purpose. The interior is designed for short journeys with provision for standing passengers, but may have more space allocated to comfortable seating than metro trains. Integration with other local transport for ticketing, connectivity and easy interchange between lines or other systems like metros
7668-440: The deportation of Polish Jews from Leipzig to Poland. The Polish Consulate sheltered 1,300 Polish Jews, preventing their deportation. On 9 November 1938, as part of Kristallnacht , in Gottschedstrasse , synagogues and businesses were set on fire. Only a couple of days later, on 11 November 1938, many Jews in the Leipzig area were deported to the Buchenwald Concentration Camp. As World War II came to an end, much of Leipzig
7776-610: 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 4 lines operated by ÖBB. The youngest network is the S-Bahn Oberösterreich in the Greater Linz area of the state of Upper Austria , which
7884-691: The eastern one for the Royal Saxon State Railways and the western one for the Prussian state railways . In the 19th century, Leipzig was a centre of the German and Saxon liberal movements. The first German labor party , the General German Workers' Association ( Allgemeiner Deutscher Arbeiterverein , ADAV) was founded in Leipzig on 23 May 1863 by Ferdinand Lassalle ; about 600 workers from across Germany travelled to
7992-458: 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
8100-554: 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
8208-459: 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
8316-467: The fall of the East German regime. More recently, the city has sometimes been nicknamed Hypezig , the "Boomtown of eastern Germany", or "The better Berlin" ( Das bessere Berlin ) and is celebrated by the media as a hip urban centre for its vibrant lifestyle and creative scene with many startups . Leipzig is located in the Leipzig Bay , the southernmost part of the North German Plain , which
8424-569: The first two U-Bahn lines, only began to operate prior to the 1972 Summer Olympics . The term S-Bahn was a registered wordmark of Deutsche Bahn until 14 March 2012, when, at the request of a transportation association, the Federal Patent Court of Germany ordered its removal from the records of the German Patent and Trade Mark Office . Prior to this Deutsche Bahn collected a royalty of 0.4 cents per train kilometer for
8532-541: The fishing rights to the church and convent of St Thomas. There were a number of monasteries in and around the city, including a Franciscan monastery after which the Barfußgäßchen (Barefoot Alley) is named and a monastery of Irish monks ( Jacobskirche , destroyed in 1544) near the present day Ranstädter Steinweg (the old Via Regia ). The University of Leipzig was founded in 1409 and Leipzig developed into an important centre of German law and of
8640-546: The foundation on the new railway. Leipzig expanded rapidly to more than 700,000 inhabitants. Huge Gründerzeit areas were built, which mostly survived both war and post-war demolition. With the opening of a fifth production hall in 1907, the Leipziger Baumwollspinnerei became the largest cotton mill company on the continent, housing over 240,000 spindles. Yearly production surpassed 5 million kilograms of yarn. During World War I , in 1917,
8748-524: The intersection of the ancient roads known as the Via Regia (King's highway), which traversed Germany in an east–west direction, and the Via Imperii (Imperial highway), a north–south road. Leipzig was a walled city in the Middle Ages and the current "ring" road around the historic centre of the city follows the line of the old city walls. Since 1992 Leipzig has been divided administratively into ten Stadtbezirke (boroughs), which in turn contain
8856-407: The north of the city. The landscape is mostly flat, though there is also some evidence of moraine and drumlins . Although there are some forest parks within the city limits, the area surrounding Leipzig is relatively unforested. During the 20th century, there were several open-pit mines in the region, many of which have been converted to lakes. Also see: Neuseenland Leipzig is also situated at
8964-454: The original Slavic name of the city has been reconstructed as *Lipьsko , which is also reflected in similar forms in neighbouring modern Slavic languages (Sorbian/Polish Lipsk , Czech Lipsko ). This has, however, been questioned by more recent onomastic research based on the very oldest forms like Libzi (c. 1015). Due to the etymology mentioned above, Lindenstadt or Stadt der Linden (City of Linden Trees) are common poetic epithets for
9072-463: The point where Nazi officials were strong enough to evict the Jews from their own homes. They also had the power to force many of the Jews living in the city to sell their houses. Many people who sold their homes emigrated elsewhere, outside of Leipzig. Others moved to Judenhäuser, which were smaller houses that acted as ghettos, housing large groups of people. The Jews of Leipzig were greatly affected by
9180-505: The press to support local and state militias, patriotic wartime mobilization, humanitarian relief and postwar commemorative practices and rituals. When it was made a terminus of the first German long-distance railway to Dresden (the capital of Saxony) in 1839, Leipzig became a hub of Central European railway traffic, with Leipzig Hauptbahnhof the largest terminal station by area in Europe. The railway station has two grand entrance halls,
9288-692: The publishing industry in Germany, resulting, in the 19th and 20th centuries, with the Reichsgericht (Imperial Court of Justice) and the German National Library being located here. During the Thirty Years' War , two battles took place in Breitenfeld , about 8 km (5 mi) outside Leipzig city walls. The first Battle of Breitenfeld took place in 1631 and the second in 1642. Both battles resulted in victories for
9396-488: The rail traffic. The project, named S-Bahn Liechtenstein [ de ] 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,
9504-645: The remaining 18 Jews still in Leipzig were deported from Leipzig to Auschwitz. According to records of the two waves of deportations to Auschwitz there were no survivors. According to records of the Theresienstadt deportation, only 53 Jews survived. During the German invasion of Poland at the start of World War II , in September 1939, the Gestapo carried out arrests of prominent local Poles , and seized
9612-697: 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
9720-526: The term Schnellbahn ("rapid railway") in 1954 for its planned commuter railway network, which started operations in 1962. The S-Bahn label was sometimes used as well, but the name was only switched to S-Bahn Wien in 2005. As for Munich , in 1938 the Nazi government broke ground for an S-Bahn-like rapid transport system in Lindwurmstraße near what is now Goetheplatz station on line U6. The system
9828-576: 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 ) and the Lübeck S-Bahn ( network plan ). 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
9936-598: The train category S train as well. In the Czech Republic , integrated commuter rail systems exist in Prague and Moravian-Silesian Region . Both systems are called Esko , which is how S letter 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
10044-719: 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: The only railway line passing through
10152-906: The transport infrastructure. Leipzig is home to one of the oldest universities in Europe ( Leipzig University ). It is the main seat of the German National Library (the second is Frankfurt ), the seat of the German Music Archive , as well as of the German Federal Administrative Court . Leipzig Zoo is one of the most modern zoos in Europe and as of 2018 ranks first in Germany and second in Europe. Leipzig's late-19th-century Gründerzeit architecture consists of around 12,500 buildings. The city's central railway terminus Leipzig Hauptbahnhof is, at 83,460 square metres (898,400 sq ft), Europe's largest railway station measured by floor area. Since Leipzig City Tunnel came into operation in 2013, it has formed
10260-529: The use of multiple units with slam doors . In 1940 a new system with 1200 V DC third rail and modern electric multiple units with sliding doors was integrated on this line (on the same tracks). The old system with overhead wire remained up to 1955. The other lines of the network still used steam and later Diesel power. In 1934, the Hamburg-Altonaer Stadt- und Vorortbahn was renamed as S-Bahn. The oldest and largest S-Bahn system in Austria
10368-653: The use of the term. The "S" stood for "station". Just before the opening of the first line in the Copenhagen S-train network, the newspaper Politiken on 17 February 1934 held a competition about the name, which in Danish became known as Den elektriske enquete or "The electrical survey" (as the Copenhagen S-trains would become the first electrical railways in Denmark). But since an "S" already
10476-413: The war ended in 1945. On 22 May 1930, Carl Friedrich Goerdeler was elected mayor of Leipzig. He later became an opponent of the Nazi regime . He resigned in 1937 when, in his absence, his Nazi deputy ordered the destruction of the city's statue of Felix Mendelssohn . On Kristallnacht in 1938, the 1855 Moorish Revival Leipzig synagogue , one of the city's most architecturally significant buildings,
10584-479: Was repeatedly struck by Allied bombing raids , beginning in 1943 and lasting until 1945. The first raid occurred on the morning of 4 December 1943, when 442 bombers of the Royal Air Force (RAF) dropped a total amount of almost 1,400 tons of explosives and incendiaries on the city, destroying large parts of the city centre. This bombing was the largest up to that time. Due to the close proximity of many of
10692-752: 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
10800-587: Was deliberately destroyed. Goerdeler was later executed by the Nazis on 2 February 1945. Several thousand forced labourers were stationed in Leipzig during the Second World War. Beginning in 1933, many Jewish citizens of Leipzig were members of the Gemeinde , a large Jewish religious community spread throughout Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In October 1935, the Gemeinde helped found the Lehrhaus (English:
10908-614: Was destroyed. Following the war, the Communist Party of Germany provided aid for the reconstruction of the city. In 1933, a census recorded that over 11,000 Jews were living in Leipzig. In the 1939 census, the number had fallen to roughly 4,500, and by January 1942 only 2,000 remained. In that month, these 2,000 Jews began to be deported. On 13 July 1942, 170 Jews were deported from Leipzig to Auschwitz concentration camp . On 19 September 1942, 440 Jews were deported from Leipzig to Theresienstadt concentration camp . On 18 June 1943,
11016-402: Was electrified with a 750 volt third rail in 1928 (some steam trains ran until 1929) and the circle line Berliner Ringbahn was electrified in 1929. The electrification continued on the radial suburban railway tracks along with the timetable moving to a rapid transit model with no more than a 20-minute headway per line where a number of lines overlapped on the main line. The system peaked during
11124-402: Was extremely polluting, making Leipzig an even less attractive city to live in. Between 1950 and the end of the German Democratic Republic, the population of Leipzig fell from 600,000 to 500,000. In October 1989, after prayers for peace at St. Nicholas Church , established in 1983 as part of the peace movement, the Monday demonstrations started as the most prominent mass protest against
11232-629: Was inaugurated in December 2016. It is a 5 line system operated by Stern und Hafferl and the ÖBB. 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 ). In 2018, local trains of NMBS/SNCB in and around Antwerp , Ghent , Liège and Charleroi changed to
11340-405: Was put up at all the stations, weeks before the survey, the result became S-tog which means "S-train". This was also just a few years after the S-trains had opened in Berlin and Hamburg. Today the Copenhagen S-trains uses six lines and serves 86 stations, 32 of them are located inside the (quite tiny) municipality borders. Each line uses 6 t.p.h (trains per hour) in each direction, with exception of
11448-455: Was supposed to run through tunnels in the city centre. The planning process mainly consisted of the bundling and interconnecting of existing suburban and local railways, plus the construction of a few new lines. Plans and construction work - including the building shell of Goetheplatz station - came to a very early halt during World War II and were not pursued in its aftermath. Very extensive nowadays, Munich's existing S-Bahn system, together with
11556-577: Was the Hamburg -Altonaer Stadt- und Vorortbahn connecting Hamburg with Altona and Blankenese . The Altona office of the Prussian State Railway established the electric powered railway in 1906. The beginning of the 20th century saw the first electric trains, which in Germany operated at 15,000 V on overhead lines . The Berliner Stadt-, Ring- und Vorortbahn instead implemented direct current multiple units running on 750 V from
11664-585: Was the largest battle in Europe before the First World War and the coalition victory ended Napoleon 's presence in Germany and would ultimately lead to his first exile on Elba . The Monument to the Battle of the Nations celebrating the centenary of this event was completed in 1913. In addition to stimulating German nationalism, the war had a major impact in mobilizing a civic spirit in numerous volunteer activities. Many volunteer militias and civic associations were formed, and collaborated with churches and
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