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Interregio-Express
The Interregio-Express (IRE) is a train category for local public transport railway services operated by the Deutsche Bahn (DB). Until the December 2024 timetable change, it was available in the German states of Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Berlin, as well as on the High Rhine Railway line, which passes through Switzerland). The IRE category is since only used for the Kulturzug, a train that operates between Berlin and Wrocław, with other IRE services now operating as Regional-Express (RE) services.
The IRE service was first introduced in the 2001 summer timetable, due to the increasing abolition of Interregio routes by DB's long-distance division (DB Fernverkehr). As a result, several German states ordered InterRegioExpress trains on the routes affected. In addition IRE trains were also introduced on routes that had not previously had an Interregio service (e. g. on the Stuttgart–Tübingen–Aulendorf and Ulm–Aalen routes).
Unlike the former Interregio trains, IRE trains were classified as local passenger trains and can therefore be used by passengers with local tickets (DB Fares product group C as well as tickets issued by Passenger Transport Executives). This led however to some passengers being confused, especially to begin with, because they frequently did not realise that they could use these trains with local tickets. Furthermore, the new train type was often wrongly referred to in the early days as an InterRegionalExpress or ironically as an InterRegioErsatz (InterRegio substitute). However, since then, the name Interregio-Express has established itself.
As of 2025[update], the IRE category is used for the following route:
Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria (also cross-border trains to Switzerland):
Saxony-Anhalt and Berlin:
In the meantime IRE trains with former IR coaches ran on the Saarbrücken–Kaiserslautern–Ludwigshafen–Mannheim route for a year, a route now worked by the more usual Regional-Express services. In Hesse in 2001 differences arose between the DB AG, which designated inter alia the Frankfurt–Gießen–Kassel and Frankfurt–Gießen–Siegen as InterRegioExpress routes, and the RMV, which steadfastly refused to adopt this new train category and even today uses the defunct StadtExpress term. In addition, in several federal states, on the introduction of the InterRegioExpress, former RE routes were changed to IRE routes. Whilst the difference between IRE and RE is hardly discernible, RE and RB trains can clearly be told apart just by the frequency of stops. The renaming of RE to IRE has been reversed in all cases.
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Interregio-Express
The Interregio-Express (IRE) is a train category for local public transport railway services operated by the Deutsche Bahn (DB). Until the December 2024 timetable change, it was available in the German states of Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Berlin, as well as on the High Rhine Railway line, which passes through Switzerland). The IRE category is since only used for the Kulturzug, a train that operates between Berlin and Wrocław, with other IRE services now operating as Regional-Express (RE) services.
The IRE service was first introduced in the 2001 summer timetable, due to the increasing abolition of Interregio routes by DB's long-distance division (DB Fernverkehr). As a result, several German states ordered InterRegioExpress trains on the routes affected. In addition IRE trains were also introduced on routes that had not previously had an Interregio service (e. g. on the Stuttgart–Tübingen–Aulendorf and Ulm–Aalen routes).
Unlike the former Interregio trains, IRE trains were classified as local passenger trains and can therefore be used by passengers with local tickets (DB Fares product group C as well as tickets issued by Passenger Transport Executives). This led however to some passengers being confused, especially to begin with, because they frequently did not realise that they could use these trains with local tickets. Furthermore, the new train type was often wrongly referred to in the early days as an InterRegionalExpress or ironically as an InterRegioErsatz (InterRegio substitute). However, since then, the name Interregio-Express has established itself.
As of 2025[update], the IRE category is used for the following route:
Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria (also cross-border trains to Switzerland):
Saxony-Anhalt and Berlin:
In the meantime IRE trains with former IR coaches ran on the Saarbrücken–Kaiserslautern–Ludwigshafen–Mannheim route for a year, a route now worked by the more usual Regional-Express services. In Hesse in 2001 differences arose between the DB AG, which designated inter alia the Frankfurt–Gießen–Kassel and Frankfurt–Gießen–Siegen as InterRegioExpress routes, and the RMV, which steadfastly refused to adopt this new train category and even today uses the defunct StadtExpress term. In addition, in several federal states, on the introduction of the InterRegioExpress, former RE routes were changed to IRE routes. Whilst the difference between IRE and RE is hardly discernible, RE and RB trains can clearly be told apart just by the frequency of stops. The renaming of RE to IRE has been reversed in all cases.