Editing Deutsche Bahn (section)

== Train categories ==
Trains in Germany are classified by their stopping pattern, average speed and level of comfort provided:<ref>[http://www.bahn.de/hilfe/view/pk/de/alle_ergebnisseiten_produktinfo.shtml "Produktübersicht"] on DB AG website</ref>

===Long-distance trains===
*'''ICE''' (''[[Intercity-Express]]'') for high-speed long-distance train services between major cities and regions. Certain routes also cross European borders into the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Switzerland and Austria.
*'''EC''' ([[EuroCity]]) for intercity trains that cross borders, and connect Germany with other countries. Can also be operated by foreign state railways.
*'''IC''' (''[[Intercity (Deutsche Bahn)|InterCity]]'') for long-distance [[Higher-speed rail|semi-high-speed]] services that connect regions and cities. IC services are slightly lower in class than ICE services, with trains reaching lower speeds (average around 160 – 220&nbsp;km/h) and with more frequent stops. On some IC routes the trains use legacy railway lines instead of the high-speed lines the ICE takes. International IC services are usually operated as ''EuroCity''.

Just as ICE, EC and (few) IC cross European borders, train categories of other operators cross into Germany and are operated in cooperation with Deutsche Bahn:
*'''[[EuroCity#EuroCity-Express|ECE]]''' for international high-speed rail services in cooperation with [[Swiss Federal Railways|SBB]]. Currently two routes ([[Frankfurt am Main|Frankfurt]]-[[Milan]] and [[Munich]]-[[Zurich]]).
*'''[[TGV]]''' in cooperation with [[SNCF]] from France to Frankfurt and Munich via Stuttgart.
*'''[[Railjet]]''' from Austria to Munich and Frankfurt in cooperation with [[Austrian Federal Railways|ÖBB]] and from Prague to Berlin in cooperation with [[České dráhy|ČD]].

===Regional trains===
* '''IRE''' ({{lang|de|italic=no|[[Interregio-Express]]}}) are longer distance RE trains that connect regions and cities. On most routes they serve as slower IC trains. IRE trains only exist in [[Baden-Württemberg]] and formerly on the Hamburg–Berlin route.
* '''RE''' ({{lang|de|italic=no|[[Regional-Express]]}}) serve regions and connects cities, and do not stop at every station on the route.
* '''RB''' ({{lang|de|italic=no|[[Regionalbahn]]}}) stop at all stations on the route (except where S-Bahn is available) and are often the most basic train service available.
* '''S''' ({{lang|de|italic=no|[[S-Bahn]]}}) is a type of [[rapid transit]] for larger cities and stop at all stations. {{lang|de|italic=no|S-Bahn}} operate high-frequency services and are usually characterised by crossing through the city centre with dense station spacing.<ref>{{Cite web |title=S-Bahn (Germany) |url=https://showmethejourney.com/travel-on/train/15-s-bahn-germany/ |access-date=20 December 2022 |website=ShowMeTheJourney |language=en}}</ref>

There are several other operators in Germany which sometimes offer other categories, also, a local transport authority or tariff associations might brand the trains in a different way than DB does. For example, in the Nuremberg region, RE and RB trains are not differentiated, but called R instead. In some regions, such as {{lang|de|italic=no|[[Verkehrsverbund Berlin-Brandenburg]]}}, private operators do use the RE and RB labels, in others, such as [[Saxony]], they do not. In online and print information systems of DB, private trains officially labelled RB and RE by their operators, might get a different label, for example "ABR" for trains operated by [[Abellio Deutschland|Abellio]], though on platforms, trains and maps or timetables issued by the local transport authority overseeing regional train services, these abbreviations usually do not appear.

===Former categories===
* '''D''' ({{lang|de|italic=no|D-Zug}} or {{lang|de|italic=no|[[Schnellzug]]}}, abbreviated from {{lang|de|italic=no|Durchgangszug}}) was the [[express train]] category and used to be the highest train category. It was replaced by IC and the even faster ICE. The trains of the {{lang|de|italic=no|SyltShuttle plus}} car shuttle service connecting the island of [[Sylt]] with the mainland are still officially referred to as D trains
* '''E''' ({{lang|de|italic=no|[[Eilzug]]}}) was the [[express train|semi-fast service]] offering faster journeys than normal passenger trains but not at such long distances and speed as D trains, though there were some quite long running E trains. No direct successor, would be located between RE and IC.
* '''IR''' ({{lang|de|italic=no|[[InterRegio]]}}), set between RE and IC was meant to connect cities and regions at a lower price, but also be used for local traffic. Replaced partly by IC, RE and IRE.
* '''MET''' (''[[Metropolitan (train)|Metropolitan]]'') was a luxury train service between Hamburg and Cologne. The two special MET train sets are now used for IC and ICE services, and does still have a comfort level above the regular IC and ICE coaches.
* '''N''' ({{lang|de|italic=no|Nahverkehrszug}}), the most basic form of train service stopping at all stations. When all local train services were {{lang|de|italic=no|vertaktet}}, i.e. operating at a fixed interval (mostly one train per hour), they were rebranded as RB.
* '''SE''' ({{lang|de|italic=no|[[Stadt-Express]]}}) operated as a mixture of RE and RB: trains skipped many stations in urban areas but made all stops in the countryside. Rebranded as RE and RB. In some regions, such as Rhine-Main (Frankfurt, {{lang|de|italic=no|[[Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund]]}}), the local transit authority advertised trains as SE. Internally, DB classified them as either RE or RB, but even DB trains display "SE" on their destination boards. This ceased in December 2016.