The first generation of ICE (InterCityExpress) trains were the 60 trainsets of the ICE 1-type, which came into service in 1991. From 1997, the ICE 2 trains were put into service. These trainsets are very similar to the ICE 1 trains, but consist of two units which could be coupled or detached as needed.

A completely new development compared to the → predecessor series ICE 1 and ICE 2 was the ICE 3, which has been in use since 2000 and no longer had powerheads. Instead, there are traction motors mounted under the coaches. The ICE 3 series 407, which have been in use since 2014 and are labelled as "Velaro D" by the manufacturer, are mainly characterized by a significantly modified front.

The ICE 4 is in service since 2017, which is another completely new development to replace the ICE 1 and 2 in the medium term.

The ICE-T are electric multiple units consisting of seven (class 411) or five cars (class 415). They have a comparatively low maximum speed of 230 km/h, as they are less intended for use on high-speed lines, but on upgraded regular rail tracks. Since these have more and narrower track curves than the high-speed lines, they were equipped with a tilting technique. The tilting of the car body by up to eight degrees allows an increased speed in curves. The first trainsets were inaugurated in 1999.

The class 420 trainsets are electric multiple units formed of three cars for 'S-Bahn' commuter services. 480 units were built in eight series in the years 1969 to 1997. They were in operation in the suburban railway networks of Frankfurt am Main, Stuttgart, Munich and Rhine-Ruhr. In the meantime, most of the trainsets were replaced by new class 423 and 422 (Rhine-Ruhr) resp. 430 (Frankfurt, Stuttgart) vehicles.

In the year 2000, Alstom presented a multiple commuter train unit called Lirex (Light Innovative Regional Express), which was exclusively equipped with independent single-wheel chassis. Based on the experience with this prototype, the "Coradia Nordic" trainsets for Sweden were developed, which were delivered from 2005 onwards and had "classic" Jacobs bogies instead of the single wheels. The "Coradia Continental" trains were adapted to the smaller Central European profile. The first of these units were delivered in 2008 for the regional trains network around Augsburg. Since then, the trainsets were ordered by several operators. The trains delivered from 2014 got a new, crash-optimized front.

The "Talent 2" is a multiple unit railcar manufactured by Bombardier. Although the name suggests it would be derivate of the Talent railcars (acronym for "Talbot leichter Nahverkehrs-Triebwagen" = Talbot light regional mutiple unit railcar), the Talent 2 vehicles are technically not related to those cars. The first unit of this class with a maximum speed of 160 km/h was presented in 2008, regarding its front end design it soon got the nickname "Hamsterbacke" (hamster cheek).

Under the designation class 445, the Bombardier "Twindexx Vario" and Stadler "KISS" double-decker electric multiple units for regional service with a maximum speed of 160 km/h are combined.
The Twindexx Vario are in operation in several regional networks of Deutsche Bahn since early 2018. The KISS trains (the german acronym stands for "comfortable, innovative, high-performance suburban train") in Germany have only been purchased by the East-German railway company ODEG until now, operating them around Berlin since 2013.

The series 460-462 are electric multiple units built by Siemens and belong to the so-called "Desiro" family. The Desiro ML (for Mainline) are single-deck trains and were first used by the operator Transregio on the West Rhine Railway at the end of 2008.

In 2016, Siemens presented the "Mireo" (class 463) as the successor of the Desiro ML. The first trains have been in passenger service by the end of 2020 and quickly got the nickname "carp" due to their front design.

The Desiro HC (for "High Capacity") electric multiple units were developed by Siemens and first used in scheduled service on the Rhine-Ruhr Express (RRX) at the end of 2018. The trains are made up of single-deck end coaches and intermediate double-deck coaches. The engines are situated in the end coaches.

The S-Bahn Hamburg is a suburban railway system operated by Deutsche Bahn. It uses direct current (1,200 Volts) supplied by a third rail, therefore the S-Bahn Hamburg is a closed system. As a result of this, the S-Bahn Hamburg has always required its own vehicle types since the DC system was inaugurated in 1941. At the end of 2007, the first dual-system trains were put into service, which enable the connection to the "normal" DB network with overhead wires.

The S-Bahn Berlin is operated by Deutsche Bahn. In deviation from the usual supply of electric rail cars in Germany by overhead wires using 15 kV AC, the Berlin S-Bahn runs with a voltage of 750 volts DC, which is collected from a lateral live rail. This system is normally used only in metro systems. The network of the S-Bahn Berlin is some 330 kilometres long. Some of the outer branches reach into the surrounding districts of Brandenburg.

On this page, you can find all photos of classes for which there's no own subpage.