DRG Class ET 169

The DR Class ET 169 (until 1941: Type "Bernau") was the first electric multiple unit that operated on the newly electrified Berlin S-Bahn lines. 17 trainsets in total were ordered by the Deutsche Reichsbahn in 1925 for delivery into the northern suburbs of Berlin.

History

Already before the electrified S-Bahn came about, there was a trial for the electrified commuter trains running from Potsdamer Wannseebahnhof to Zehlendorf in 1902 and from Potsdamer Ringbahnhof to Lichterfelde Ost from 1903. Also in 1903, the AEG company ran a overhead wire test track from Niederschöneweide to Spindlersfeld. Electrification has also came about to the solutions to increase capacity along the Hamburg-Altonaer Stadt- und Vorortbahn.

World War I interrupted the electrification plans from 1914 to 1918, which, however, were revived just afterwards. In 1920 the Prussian state railways ordered six test trains, which were first pulled by steam locomotives until electrification commenced in 1923. One year later, on 8 August 1924, the first section from Stettiner Vorortbahnhof to Bernau was inaugurated; the two other northern railway lines to Oranienburg and Velten (Kremmen Railway) followed until 1927. To service all electrified connections, Deutsche Reichsbahn purchased 34 power cars and 51 trailers in total.

In everyday operation, however, the engines soon proved to be too weak and already in 1925 upgraded versions (the later DR Class ET 168 and ET 165) were ordered in large numbers. Morevover, the ET 169 railcars were too large to pass the Berlin Nord-Süd Tunnel opened in 1936, and had to be deployed on the Ringbahn line. Plans for a withdrawal from service wer not carried out due to the wagon shortage during World War II.

After the war, the East German Deutsche Reichsbahn had planned to use modernized ET 169 trains on branch lines from Wannsee to Stahnsdorf and from Zehlendorf to Düppel, or as additional trains on the northern Ringbahn and on the Siemensbahn branch from Jungfernheide. But however when the Berlin S-Bahn was divided due to the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961, they were all again allocated to the Oranienburg, Bernau and Velten stretches of the line.

The trainsets were phased out from 1962 and most trains were withdrawn in 1969. Some components were re-used for the rolling stock of the East Berlin U-Bahn line E.

See also

• History of the Berlin S-Bahn

Classes of German EMUs and battery railcars
BR number	401 402 403 403 alt 406 407 410 411 412 415 420 421 422 423 424 425 425 alt 426 426 alt 427 427 alt 428 430 440 442 450 465 485 alt 490 alt 491
Older, pre-1968 classes	ET 11 ET 25 ET 26 ET 27 ET 31 ET 41 ET 51 ET 55 ET 65 ET 82 ET 85 ET 90 ET 91 ("Gläserner Zug")
Battery railcars	515 517 ETA 150 ETA 176 ETA 178 ETA 179
S-Bahn EMUs	Berlin 475 476 477 480 481 485 ET 125 ET 165 ET 166 ET 167 ET 168 ET 169 ET 170 270 Hamburg 470 471 472 473 474 490 ET 99 ET 170 ET 171