The Munich S-Bahn () is an electric rail transit system in Munich, Germany. "S-Bahn" is the German abbreviation for Stadtschnellbahn (literally, "urban rapid rail"), and the Munich S-Bahn exhibits characteristics of both rapid transit and commuter rail systems.
The Munich S-Bahn network is operated by S-Bahn München, a subsidiary of DB Regio Bayern, which is itself a subsidiary of the German national railway company, Deutsche Bahn. It is integrated into the Munich Transport and Tariff Association (Münchner Verkehrs- und Tarifverbund, MVV) and interconnected throughout the city with the locally owned Munich U-Bahn. Today, the S-Bahn covers most of the populated area of the Munich metropolitan area of about 3 million inhabitants. In terms of system length, the Munich S-Bahn is the fourth-largest in Germany, behind the Rhine-Neckar S-Bahn, Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn and the S-Bahn Mitteldeutschland.
The Munich S-Bahn was established on 28 May 1972. It was intended as part of the scheme to provide an adequate transport system during the 1972 Summer Olympics held in Munich by connecting the pre-existing suburban rail services in the west and east of the city via a new tunnel section from Hauptbahnhof to Ostbahnhof.
Lines
System
The system has seven branches in the west, which were originally numbered from north to south from the S 1 (to Freising) to the S 7 (Wolfratshausen). These are coupled with the five eastern branches. Operational requirements have changed several times, particularly due to line extensions, resulting in random numbering in the east. Two lines end at Munich East station (Ostbahnhof), these are currently S 1 and S 6. The first change was made in June 1991 when the branch to Ebersberg changed from S 4 to S 5 as a requirement to shorten the travel time to and from Herrsching. The line to Wolfratshausen was first called the S 10, but when it was connected to run over the trunk line it was changed to the S 7.
The S-Bahn branch in the east via Ismaning to the airport was designated as the S 8. Later this was combined with the original line S 3, which shared part of the route of the S 8, and the new route is called the S 8. This eliminated route S 3. The old route S 5 was later largely replaced by the current S 3, so there was no line S 5 until December 2024.
In addition, there is line S 20, which runs from Pasing to Höllriegelskreuth. These two lines do not run through the trunk line tunnel. The numbers beginning with 2 comes from the time of the introduction of these lines, as the line to Holzkirchen via Deisenhofen still had the number S 2 (instead of the current S 3). These lines cross the Isar via Großhesselohe Bridge.
In the Deutsche Bahn time table, the S-Bahn lines are numbered from 999.1 to 999.8 and 999.20; line A is numbered as 999.30.
Frequency The basic interval of the Munich S-Bahn is one train every 20 minutes. On parts of some branches during peak hours there is a 10-minute frequency produced by added trains. A special case is the line to Erding, where on weekdays a mix of express trains from Erding and normal S-Bahn trains from Markt Schwaben runs in the morning peaks, producing a 10-minute frequency west of Munich East station. There are also occasional additional trains on the western section of the S4 and on the S1 between Freising and Munich during the peak hour, which do not continue past the Hauptbahnhof (not run through the trunk line tunnel). On some branches, one of three trains does not run to the terminus station at off-peak times, so that on these outer sections trains run at 20 or 40 minutes alternatively. The S8 is 24/7 (only in the airport direction). The S-Bahn operates daily from approximately 4:15 am to 1 am, but night trains only operate every 20 to 40 minutes. Weekend trains on Friday and Saturday nights, and before public holidays, operate all night long.Civitatis Tours S.L., Munich S-Bahn, accessed on 26 June 2025
Line Route Frequency Freising – Pulling – Neufahrn Every 20 or 40 minutes alternatively Munich Airport – Flughafen Besucherpark – Neufahrn – Eching – Lohhof – Unterschleißheim – Oberschleißheim – Feldmoching – Fasanerie – Moosach – Laim – Hirschgarten – Donnersbergerbrücke – Hackerbrücke – Hauptbahnhof – Karlsplatz (Stachus) – Marienplatz – Isartor – Rosenheimer Platz – Ostbahnhof Every 20 minutes Petershausen – Vierkirchen-Esterhofen – Röhrmoos – Hebertshausen – Dachau Every 20 or 40 minutes alternatively Altomünster – Kleinberghofen – Erdweg – Arnbach – Markt Indersdorf – Niederroth – Schwabhausen – Bachern – Dachau Stadt – Dachau Every 60 minutes,every 30 minutes in the peak hour Dachau – Karlsfeld – Allach – Untermenzing – Obermenzing – Laim – Hirschgarten – Donnersbergerbrücke – Hackerbrücke – Hauptbahnhof – Karlsplatz (Stachus) – Marienplatz – Isartor – Ostbahnhof – Leuchtenbergring – Berg am Laim – Riem – Feldkirchen – Heimstetten – Grub – Poing – Markt Schwaben Every 20 minutes Markt Schwaben – Ottenhofen – St. Kolomann – Aufhausen – Altenerding – Erding Every 20 or 40 minutes alternatively Mammendorf – Malching – Maisach Every 20 or 40 minutes alternatively Maisach – Gernlinden – Esting – Olching – Gröbenzell – Lochhausen – Langwied – Pasing – Laim – Hirschgarten – Donnersbergerbrücke – Hackerbrücke – Hauptbahnhof – Karlsplatz (Stachus) – Marienplatz – Isartor – Rosenheimer Platz – Ostbahnhof – St.-Martin-Straße – Giesing – Fasangarten – Fasanenpark – Unterhaching – Taufkirchen – Furth – Deisenhofen (*) Every 20 minutes Deisenhofen – Sauerlach – Otterfing – Holzkirchen Every 20 or 40 minutes alternatively Geltendorf – Türkenfeld – Grafrath (– Schöngeising – Buchenau) Every 20 or 40 minutes alternatively (Grafrath – Schöngeising –) Buchenau – Fürstenfeldbruck – Eichenau – Puchheim – Aubing – Leienfelsstraße – Pasing – Laim – Hirschgarten – Donnersbergerbrücke – Hackerbrücke – Hauptbahnhof – Karlsplatz (Stachus) – Marienplatz – Isartor – Rosenheimer Platz – Ostbahnhof – Leuchtenbergring – Berg am Laim – Trudering Every 20 minutesTrudering – Gronsdorf – Haar – Vaterstetten – Baldham – Zorneding – Eglharting – Kirchseeon – Grafing stationEvery 20 minutes in the peak hoursGrafing station – Grafing Stadt – Ebersberg Every 20 or 40 minutes in the peak hours Pasing – Laim – Hirschgarten – Donnersbergerbrücke – Hackerbrücke – Hauptbahnhof – Karlsplatz (Stachus) – München Marienplatz station – Isartor – Rosenheimer Platz – Ostbahnhof – St.-Martin-Straße – Giesing – Perlach – Neuperlach Süd – Neubiberg – Ottobrunn – Hohenbrunn – Wächterhof – Höhenkirchen-Siegertsbrunn Every 20 minutes Höhenkirchen-Siegertsbrunn – Dürrnhaar – Aying Every 20 or 40 minutes alternatively Aying – Peiß – Großhelfendorf – Kreuzstraße Hourly Tutzing – Feldafing – Possenhofen – Starnberg Every 20 or 40 minutes alternatively Starnberg – Starnberg Nord – Gauting – Stockdorf – Planegg – Gräfelfing – Lochham – Westkreuz – Pasing – Laim – Hirschgarten – Donnersbergerbrücke – Hackerbrücke – Hauptbahnhof – Karlsplatz (Stachus) – Marienplatz – Isartor – Rosenheimer Platz – Ostbahnhof – Leuchtenbergring – Berg am Laim – Trudering – Gronsdorf – Haar – Vaterstetten – Baldham – Zorneding – Eglharting – Kirchseeon – Grafing Station Every 20 minutesGrafing Station – Grafing Stadt – Ebersberg Every 20 minutes in the peak hour and every 20 or 40 minutes during the day Wolfratshausen – Icking – Ebenhausen-Schäftlarn – Hohenschäftlarn – Baierbrunn – Buchenhain – Höllriegelskreuth Every 20 or 40 minutes alternatively Höllriegelskreuth – Pullach – Großhesselohe Isartalbahnhof – Solln – Siemenswerke – Mittersendling – Harras – Heimeranplatz – Donnersbergerbrücke – Hauptbahnhof Every 20 minutes Herrsching – Seefeld-Hechendorf – Steinebach – Weßling Every 20 or 40 minutes alternatively Weßling – Neugilching – Gilching-Argelsried – Geisenbrunn – Germering-Unterpfaffenhofen – Harthaus – Freiham – Neuaubing – Westkreuz – Pasing – Laim – Hirschgarten – Donnersbergerbrücke – Hackerbrücke – Hauptbahnhof – Karlsplatz (Stachus) – Marienplatz – Isartor – Rosenheimer Platz – Ostbahnhof – Leuchtenbergring – Daglfing – Englschalking – Johanneskirchen – Unterföhring – Ismaning – Hallbergmoos – Flughafen Besucherpark – Munich Airport Every 20 minutes Pasing – Heimeranplatz – Mittersendling – Siemenswerke – Solln – Großhesselohe Isartalbahnhof – Pullach – Höllriegelskreuth Hourly (Mo-Fr) (*) Terminus of extra services in peak. Up to here services in the peak run at 10-minute intervals.
(+) Occasional additional services to create 10 minute frequency.
Routes The S-Bahn partly operates on its own routes (one or two tracks), parts of it are double-track lines where S-Bahn operations are mixed with other traffic (passengers and freight), and in some cases more than two tracks are available. In the latter case one-or two tracks are set aside for the S-Bahn operations only and the two other tracks are used for the remaining traffic.
In the following table, the route length is shown from Munich Hauptbahnhof or from Ostbahnhof (Munich East station) because it reflects the chainage officially applied to the lines. An exception is S27 where the chainage starts at Pasing.