Today, 7th December marked the 176th Anniversary of German Railways. The first commercial railway, powered by British-built Der Adler (“The Eagle”), started from Nuremberg to Fürth, a distance of 6 kilometers, signalled the beginning of railway undertakings in Germany. Soon the railway began to expand with other states established their own railway and were consolidated in 1924 with the formation of the Deutsche Reichsbahn Gesellschaft (DRG).

From Der Adler to ICE, German railways is still growing with new high speed lines being built and foreign and private operators entering the German rail passenger and freight markets. There are over 500 private operators in Germany!