Nuremberg S-Bahn
The Nuremberg S-Bahn is an electric rapid transit network covering the region of Nuremberg, Fürth and Erlangen which started operations in 1987 and is now integrated into the Greater Nuremberg Transport Association. The full length of the five current lines is about 277.6 kilometres.
The S-Bahn trains are operated by DB Regio Mittelfranken, a subsidiary of DB Regio Bayern. From December 2018 the service was due to be taken over by National Express Germany; however, it withdrew from the bidding process on 25 October 2016, so the lines will continue to be operated by DB Regio Mittelfranken for the foreseeable future.
The service between Fürth and Erlangen-Bruck has been marred by frequent delays and service restrictions due to the slow construction for four-track expansion. No completion date is given. The original plans for the upgrade of the Nuremberg Bamberg line to four tracks called for a new alignment of S-Bahn tracks east of the current two tracks to serve a industrial development between Nuremberg Fürth and Erlangen. The city of Fürth sued against these plans, halting the construction and leaving sections of half built track without use. As an "interim solution" switches are planned to be installed to connect existing quadruple track sections to the legacy alignment, but a completion date is not yet known.
Current lines
Day services
| Line | Route | Opened | Length | Stations |
| Bamberg** – Forchheim** – Erlangen** – Fürth Hbf** – Nürnberg Hbf* – Lauf * – Hersbruck * – Hartmannshof* | 1987*–2010** | 37 | ||
| Roth – Schwabach – Nürnberg Hbf – Feucht – Altdorf | 1992–2004 | 23 | ||
| Nürnberg Hbf – Feucht – Neumarkt | 1992–2010 | 10 | ||
| Nürnberg Hbf – Ansbach – Crailsheim | 2010–2017 | 18 | ||
| Nürnberg Hbf – Allersberg | 2020 | 2 | ||
| Nürnberg Hbf – Neustadt an der Aisch | 2021 | 11 |
Night services
There is also a night service every 60 minutes between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m. on the lines S1, S2, S3, S4 and S6 on days before Saturday, Sunday and public holidays.Rolling stock
Initially the rolling stock consisted of Class 141 locomotives, later Class 143 locomotives hauling 3–4 x-Wagen coaches. Additional commuter trains were sometimes hauled by Class 111 locos.In 2007 electric multiple units of DB Class 442 were bought to supplement and replace the loco hauled units. They were to go into service in 2010, but due to technical problems they had to be sent back to the producer. Meanwhile n-Wagen sets with rented locomotives were used instead of them. The Class 442 finally went into service in 2012.
In late 2020 a new batch of class 1440 Alstom Coradia Continental were brought into service, replacing the last x-Wagen sets. Three x-Wagen sets will, however, be kept at least until the smaller timetable change in June 2021 for replacement and additional commuter services with Class 111 locomotives. The Class 1440 were introduced primarily on S1 where they freed up the older class 442 sets to serve other routes. A few Class 1440 sets are also used on S4 and the new S5. As the line S5 uses the Nuremberg-Ingolstadt High Speed Line, the two units used on S5 had to be equipped with LZB. A large scale advertisement campaign was launched to inform the public of the new rolling stock.
Similar to the subway, for big events the S-Bahn often lent Class 423 trains from the Munich S-Bahn to support the rather small Nuremberg fleet.