Munich S-Bahn - History

History

An underground railway line for Munich was first proposed in 1928 in a report on the "relocation of traffic centres". An underground route would allow "direct long distance traffic to and through the city centre".

On 22 May 1938, the first tunnel, which was part of the north-south route, was started in the Lindwurmstraße, between the present-day underground stations Sendlinger Tor and Goetheplatz. In the speech of Julius Dorpmüller, the general director of Deutsche Reichsbahn, the project was called "S-Bahn" for the first time. Due to World War II the construction and plans for the Munich S-Bahn were set aside.

In 1965, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Free State of Bavaria, the state capital of Munich and the Deutsche Bundesbahn signed a contract on the construction of the Munich S-Bahn. The further development was most influenced by a decision made in Rome on 26 April 1966: The International Olympic Committee chose Munich over Detroit, Madrid and Montreal as the scene for the 1972 Summer Olympics. This resulted in a tight schedule: There were only six years to complete the Munich S-Bahn network.

Not only did the tunnel through the city centre have to be built, the full railway infrastructure had to be expanded. The network of suburban lines had to be changed over and modernized. A large number of stations had to be upgraded; the platforms were brought to a length of 210 m to allow for three-unit trains; the platform height was raised to 76 cm. However, the floor height of the trains used then and now is at ca. 1 m, which makes boarding difficult for people with wheelchairs or prams. Tunnel stations and platforms updated recently where no freight trains run feature a height of 96 cm, however.

On 25 February 1971 the topping-out ceremony could be celebrated in the core route tunnel. In May the first S-Bahn train of the ET 420 series was put into service on the route between Pasing and Gauting. On 1 September 1971 a regular advance service was started on that route.

On 28 May 1972, the Munich S-Bahn network was finally put into service with 360 km of tracks and 101 trains of the ET 420 series. It was the first time a S-Bahn network that size was put into service on a single date. The route S10 to Wolfratshausen (today S7) was operated with conventional push-pull trains from the southern wing of Munich Central Station. It was electrified later and connected to the core route after the construction of a 260 m tunnel crossing the large number of mainline rail tracks leading to Munich Central Station.

Three months later the German President Gustav Heinemann opened the 1972 Summer Olympics. During the Games there were two additional S-Bahn lines servicing the now-defunct station Olympiastadion (Olympic Stadium). The new S-Bahn system stood the test and transported 3.18 million passengers in 7,138 runs to and from the sports sites in only 17 days.

Since then the Munich S-Bahn network has been expanded multiple times. In 1992, the route between Ismaning and the newly opened Airport Munich II has been put into service. Until 2005, there was a 266 million Euro programme to substantially extend the infrastructure. For example, the route Giesing-Deisenhofen has been upgraded with a second track. Since 2000, trains of the type series ET 420 have been gradually replaced by ET 423 trains.

Further dates:

• 15 June 1966 - Construction of the core route tunnel begins in Arnulfstraße.
• 28 April 1972 - first test runs on the tunnel route (Hauptbahnhof-Marienplatz-Ostbahnhof).
• 28 May 1972 - regular service with 360 route km begins.