City-Bahn (type of train)

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DB class 218 with a city train, here north exit of Marienheide station (1986)

The City-Bahn (CB) was a type of train in local traffic that the Deutsche Bundesbahn (DB) introduced in 1984 to make branch lines more attractive. For this purpose, old n-cars were modernized and a dense cycle timetable was introduced. With increasing popularity, the DB changed to the notation CityBahn . The City-Bahn was replaced by the City-Express .

Tracks and vehicles

City-Bahn in Marienheide (1986)

The first route with this offer was the connection Cologne - Overath - Gummersbach - Meinerzhagen , which was opened in 1984 on the Aggertalbahn and Volmetalbahn as Aggertaler . For the operational test on the line in danger of being closed, a total of 25 n-cars , seven of which were driving cars, were given a modern interior, as was also used two years later in the class 628.2 railcars . Analogous to the S-Bahn Rhein-Ruhr , the trains were also painted pure orange / pebble gray, corresponding to the so-called pop paint from the early 1970s. A café was also part of the facility. The trains were hauled by ten suitably painted diesel locomotives of the 218 series . The modernized rolling stock and the hourly service led to a significant increase in passenger numbers. From 1985 the new City-Bahn trains ran from Cologne to Gummersbach, partly on the Volmetalbahn, via Marienheide to Meinerzhagen. From May 1986 the CB ended in Marienheide, and from May 1987 in Gummersbach.

The second City-Bahn route from 1987 onwards was the Niederelbebahn between Hamburg and Stade . Since the line is electrified, class 141 locomotives were used and the pebble gray-orange exterior paintwork of the vehicles was no longer used. Instead, as with the 628.2 series, the mint green and light gray product colors with pastel green stripes under the windows were used as part of the new color concept of the Deutsche Bundesbahn . The locomotives were, as far as the color had already been adjusted, oriental red.

In 1989, city railways were also used in the greater Hanover area, in Saarland and in the West Palatinate. The n-cars specially prepared for this purpose were only available there from 1990. In Saarland, the coffee kitchen bistro wagons based on the model of the first city train in Cologne were also used in the early years , mostly on the Saarhölzbach – Saarlouis – Saarbrücken – Homburg / Saar – Kaiserslautern route.

In 1995 the city railways were renamed the city ​​express , later regional railways and regional express trains replaced the city railroad as a train type. In Hanover, the city railway there was replaced by the Hanover S-Bahn .

gallery

  • Converted interior of a city rail car with mixed seating

  • First class compartment

  • Coffee kitchen car as it was first used on the Saar City Railway

  • Locomotive 218 137-8 in City-Bahn livery in the DB Museum Koblenz

Web links

  • Friedrich Merz: We don't need a ghost train. In: YouTube. Retrieved on November 3, 2018 (excerpt from the Cologne - Gummersbach City Railway).