Rail transport in Germany
| Rail network of Germany | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operation | |||||
| National railway | Deutsche Bahn | ||||
| Major operators | Transdev Germany Netinera | ||||
| Statistics | |||||
| Ridership | 2.87 billion (2018) | ||||
| Passenger km | 97.8 billion (2018) | ||||
| Freight | 116 billion tkm (2018) | ||||
| System length | |||||
| Total | 33,399 km (20,753 mi) (2022, Deutsche Bahn only) | ||||
| Double track | 18,556 km (11,530 mi) (2022, Deutsche Bahn only) | ||||
| Electrified | 20,540 km (12,760 mi) (2022, Deutsche Bahn only) | ||||
| High-speed | 1,658 km (1,030 mi) | ||||
| Track gauge | |||||
| Main | 1,435 mm / 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in standard gauge | ||||
| High-speed | standard gauge | ||||
| Electrification | |||||
| Main | 15 kV 16.7 Hz | ||||
| 750 V DC | Berlin S-Bahn | ||||
| 1,200 V DC | Hamburg S-Bahn | ||||
| Features | |||||
| No. tunnels | 1,079 | ||||
| Tunnel length | 168,121 m (551,578 ft) | ||||
| |||||
Rail transport in Germany is provided predominantly by Deutsche Bahn (DB, lit. 'German Railway'). As of 2021, the railway network in Germany (DB only) had a length of 33,399 km (20,753 mi), of which 20,540 km (12,760 mi) were electrified and 18,556 km (11,530 mi) were double track. About 1,658 km (1,030 mi) are high-speed railway lines. Germany has the 6th longest railway network in the world, and the largest in Europe after Russia.
Germany was ranked 4th among national European rail systems in the 2017 European Railway Performance Index assessing intensity of use, quality of service and safety. It had a very good rating for intensity of use, by both passengers and freight, and good ratings for quality of service and safety. It also captured relatively high value in return for public investment with cost to performance ratios that outperform the average ratio for all European countries.
Germany's rail freight of 117 billion tons/kilometer meant it carried 17.6% of all inland German cargo in 2015.
Germany is a member of the International Union of Railways (UIC). The UIC Country Code for Germany is 80.
Urban rail in Germany includes rapid transit (known as U-Bahn), commuter rail (known as S-Bahn), Stadtbahn (light rail), trams and funiculars (e.g. in Dresden). Suspension railways (Schwebebahn) are present in two cities, Dresden and Wuppertal, in addition to the H-Bahn at Düsseldorf Airport and Dortmund University. Stuttgart has an urban rack railway.
Island railways are present on Fehmarn, Sylt and Wangerooge.