Germany - Lines with Obscure or Sparse passenger services
Introduction
Owing to the size and complexity of the German railway system, the Obscure Services listing is subdivided by Land (Province). Berlin and Bremen are separate Länder, but it is convenient to include them with Brandenburg and Niedersachsen respectively. Details of Other Sparse Services, Services not included in the DB Kursbuch and Deletions since previous edition can be found below.
The stations at which long-distance trains start and terminate may vary, depending on the date. Where there are more than two possibilities, such as a train terminating at Kassel, Hannover or Hamburg, only the shortest and longest itineraries are indicated in the lists on this site.
A brief Guide to German railway terminology is available.
This list is based on the timetable dated from 12 December 2021 to 10 December 2022, unless otherwise stated.
List of Länder (Regions)
Baden-Württemberg | entries starting with 'DExx/601' |
Bayern | entries starting with 'DExx/651' |
Berlin and Brandenburg | entries starting with 'DExx/251' |
Hamburg | entries starting with 'DExx/051' |
Hessen | entries starting with 'DExx/501' |
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern | entries starting with 'DExx/101' |
Niedersachsen and Bremen | entries starting with 'DExx/151' |
Nordrhein-Westfalen | entries starting with 'DExx/351' |
Rheinland-Pfalz | entries starting with 'DExx/401' |
Saarland | entries starting with 'DExx/451' |
Sachsen | entries starting with 'DExx/301' |
Sachsen-Anhalt | entries starting with 'DExx/201' |
Schleswig-Holstein | entries starting with 'DExx/001' |
Thüringen | entries starting with 'DExx/551' |
Other Services
The Other Services Page contains trains not operated by DB and which do not appear in their journey planner or timetables. These are mainly seasonal overnight services run by foreign operators.
Trams
See Germany - Tram services over obscure routes
Other Sparse Services
186 | Bad Doberan – Ostseebad Kühlungsborn West | Limited winter service |
190 | Bergen auf Rügen – Sassnitz-Mukran Fahrhafen | Two train pairs on Saturdays only from May to mid-October |
209.20 | Priort – Hennigsdorf – Birkenwerder (b. Berlin) | No weekend service |
209.27 | Wensickendorf – Schmachtenhagen | Weekends only |
238 | Zittau – Kurort Jonsdorf/Kurort Oybin | Limited service for most of the winter |
257 | Dessau Hbf – Wörlitz | No winter service |
326 | Drei Annen Hohne – Eisfelder Talmühle | Variable, but limited, service |
333 | Alexisbad – Hasselfelde and Eisfelder Talmühle | Variable, but limited, service |
397 | [Leer –] Ihrhove – Weener | No trains until probably December 2024, following destruction of the River Ems bridge |
509 | Moritzburg – Radeburg | Only three trains daily |
513 | Freital Hainsberg – Kurort Kipsdorf | Only two trains daily plus one short working to Dippoldiswalde |
517 | Cranzahl – Vejprty (CZ) [– Chomutov] | Three train pairs on summer weekends only |
518 | Cranzahl – Kurort Oberwiesenthal | Limited service in March and November |
544 | Bad Brambach – Plesná (CZ) | Only five trains daily |
566 | Ilmenau – Rennsteig | Weekends only |
662.1 | Monsheim – Münchweiler (Alsenz) | Summer Sundays only. Service suspended until the 2024 season. |
666 | Ramsen – Eiswoog | Wednesdays and Sundays only |
675.1 | Bundenthal-Rumbach – Hinterweidenthal Ost | Summer Wednesdays, Saturdays & Sundays only |
692 | Perl – Thionville [France] | Weekends only; limited service |
707 | Neckarbischofsheim Nord – Hüffenhardt | Summer Sundays, certain summer Saturdays and a few other days |
732 | Stockach – Mengen | Three train pairs over this section on summer Sundays only |
743 | Lauchringen – Blumberg-Zollhaus | Service over the entire route on summer Sundays only |
743 | Geisingen-Leipferdingen – Blumberg-Zollhaus | Limited service |
752 | Aulendorf – Bad Wurzach | Summer Sundays only |
754 | Aulendorf – Pfullendorf | Summer Sundays only |
758 | Amstetten – Gerstetten | Summer weekends only |
759 | Gammertingen – Engstingen | Limited service at weekends and during school holidays |
767 | Eyach – Hechingen (HzL) | Summer Sundays only |
769 | Balingen – Schömberg | Summer Sundays only |
772 | Maulbronn West – Maulbronn Stadt | Summer Sundays only |
790.11 | Kornwestheim – Stuttgart-Untertürkheim | Mondays to Fridays peak hours only |
Regular services not in the Kursbuch
The following lines are not included in the DB Kursbuch, though many have a frequent service. Timetables can be found on the websites shown. Many ICE, IC and cross-border services do not appear in the Kursbuch either, so the European Rail Timetable is the best guide to these. Urban metro systems are not included in this list.
Stuttgart – Berlin (limited service) | Flixtrain | |
Köln – Hamburg (limited service) | Flixtrain | |
136.1 | Niebüll – Tønder (DK) [– Esbjerg] | neg |
137 | Neumünster – Kaltenkirchen – Hamburg-Eidelstedt | AKN Eisenbahn |
138 | Ulzburg Süd – Norderstedt Mitte | AKN Eisenbahn |
139 | Elmshorn – Barmstedt – Ulzburg Süd | AKN Eisenbahn |
202 | Wismar – Berlin – Cottbus (in Kursbuch as Wismar – Wittenberge only) | Ostdeutsche Eisenbahn (ODEG) |
204 | Stendal – Berlin [– Jüterbog] (Berlin – Jüterbog is included in KBS203) | Ostdeutsche Eisenbahn (ODEG) |
209.12 | Berlin – Löwenberg (Mark) – Templin Stadt | Niederbarnimer Eisenbahn (NEB) |
209.25 | Berlin – Werneuchen | Niederbarnimer Eisenbahn (NEB) |
209.26 | Berlin – Küstrin-Kietz [– Kostrzyn (PL)] | Niederbarnimer Eisenbahn (NEB) |
209.27 | Berlin-Karow – Groß Schönebeck/Schmachtenhagen | Niederbarnimer Eisenbahn (NEB) |
209.35 | Furstenwalde (Spree) – Bad Saarow-Pieskow | Niederbarnimer Eisenbahn (NEB) |
209.36 | Königs Wusterhausen – Frankfurt (Oder) | Niederbarnimer Eisenbahn (NEB) |
209.46 | Cottbus – Forst (Lausitz) | Ostdeutsche Eisenbahn (ODEG) |
209.51 | Rathenow – Brandenburg | Hanseatische Eisenbahn |
209.54 | Löwenberg (Mark) – Rheinsberg (Mark) | Niederbarnimer Eisenbahn (NEB) |
209.60 | Eberswalde – Wriezen – Frankfurt (Oder) | Niederbarnimer Eisenbahn (NEB) |
209.63 | Eberswalde – Templin Stadt | Niederbarnimer Eisenbahn (NEB) |
209.73 | Neustadt (Dosse) – Pritzwalk | Hanseatische Eisenbahn |
209.74 | Pritzwalk – Meyenburg | Hanseatische Eisenbahn |
220 | Cottbus – Görlitz – Zittau | Ostdeutsche Eisenbahn (ODEG) |
229 | Görlitz – Hoyerswerda | Ostdeutsche Eisenbahn (ODEG) |
236 | Seifhennersdorf – Zittau | Trilex |
238 | Zittau – Kurort Oybin/Kurort Jonsdorf | SOEG |
269 | Stendal – Tangermünde | Hanseatische Eisenbahn |
360.3 | Hannover – Hildesheim (S3) | Transdev Hannover |
360.6/7 | Hannover – Celle (S6/S7) | Transdev Hannover |
450.28 | Kaarster See – Mettmann – Wuppertal (S28) | RegioBahn |
479 | Boppard – Emmelshausen | Hunsrückbahn |
former 483 | Düren – Linnich | Rurtalbahn |
former 484 | Düren – Heimbach (Eifel) | Rurtalbahn |
514 | Freiberg (Sachs) – Holzhau | Freiberger Eisenbahn |
691 | Bullay – Traben-Trarbach | Moselweinbahn |
former 12474 | Düren - Euskirchen | Rurtalbahn |
Deletions since previous edition
DE21/054 | Hamburg-Harburg (Abzw Oberhafen) – Hamburg-Bergedorf (Rothenburgsort) | No services in current timetable so entry moved to Engineering Work section as DE22/063 |
DE21/156 | Kirchweyhe – Kirchweyhe BTE | The BTE has not run excursions over this curve for several years |
DE21/158 | Uelzen W750 – Uelzen W23 (Veerßer Kurve) | Berlin – Hamburg IRE services permanently withdrawn so entry moved to Engineering Work section as DE22/187 |
DE21/302 | Leipzig-Leutzsch – Wiederitzsch – Leipzig Hbf (Leipzig-Mockau) | No services in current timetable so entry moved to Engineering Work section as DE22/338 |
DE21/359A | Köln-Longerich – Köln West | No services in current timetable so entry moved to Engineering Work section as DE22/394 |
173 | Neustrelitz – Mirow | Now six trains each way every day |
former 12474 | Düren – Euskirchen | Now nine trains each way on Saturdays, seven on Sundays |