Between 1924 and 1932, the Reichsbahn procured a series of new railcars for the Hamburg-Altona city and suburban railway, which had been electrified with 6,300 V and 25 Hz since 1907, in order to supplement the existing fleet of railcars and to partially replace the steam trains.

Similar to the older railcars, the new ones consisted of individual compartments for second and third class, each with its own door on each side, as was standard for Prussian compartment coaches at the time. This time, however, the car bodies were constructed in a more modern all-steel construction with barrel roofs. Each unit consisted of two parts with a total of three two-axle bogies, of which the middle one between the cars was designed as a Jakobs bogie. The end bogie of one of the two cars was powered on both axles with a total of 300 kW. All electrical equipment came from BBC (Brown, Boveri & Cie.), while the mechanical components came from Waggonfabrik Wismar, WUMAG (Görlitz) and WASSEG (AEG/SSW).

When the new S-Bahn with direct current via conductor rails was introduced on the same tracks from 1940, the vehicle generations with overhead lines and conductor rails were operated in parallel to these. AC operation was discontinued in 1955 without a planned renaming to ET 99. Only two of the vehicles were converted to baggage railcars for the new power system and designated ET 174 001 and 002 by the Bundesbahn. These were scrapped in 1967.

Between 1935 and 1937, the Reichsbahn had three different electric railcars manufactured in order to evaluate the optimum propulsion technology for future high-speed railcar service. Thus, the electrical equipment of each vehicle came from a different manufacturer and the mechanical part came from a total of two manufacturers. What the trains had in common was that they consisted of two self-supporting car bodies with a total length of around 43.5 meters. These not only had rounded front sides to reduce air resistance, the paneling was also partially pulled over the bogies and unevenness in the edging of windows, doors and signs was avoided. As with the express diesel railcars, the planned top speed was 160 km/h.

The three sets were initially given the numbers elT 1900 to elT 1902, but were eventually renamed ET 11 with the running numbers 01 to 03. While the car body of the 01 came from Maschinenfabrik Esslingen, the car bodies of the other two examples were built by MAN. BBC supplied a Buchli drive for the 01, SSW nose-suspended motors for the 02 and AEG a helical-spring drive for the 03.

The vehicles were used on long-distance routes in southern Germany, especially on the Munich-Stuttgart route. For later production models, the not yet electrified connection from Munich to Berlin was also planned. Except for a few improvements to the bogies and the ventilation, they were considered a successful design, but the outbreak of war meant that no series production took place. All three survived the war unscathed and then joined the Bundesbahn. In the network, which was not yet or no longer fully electrified, it was difficult to cover long distances with these vehicles. Eventually, connections between Munich and Salzburg and later between Munich and Frankfurt were established, but these were discontinued in 1961. Only the ET 11 01 was used as a service vehicle until 1971 and was then preserved to this day, the numbers 02 and 03 were scrapped.

The Reichsbahn designated a series of multiple units designed for urban express services as ET 25. Initially they had consecutive numbers from elT 1801 onwards. Their procurement began in 1935 in parallel with other multiple units designed for different speeds. One power car and one control car were provided for each set, with the transformer and other equipment only being in the power car, but the outer bogie was powered in both parts. The power was provided by two nose-suspended motor per bogie, each with an hourly output of 230 kW. With a maximum speed of 120 km/h, they were below the express multiple units, but were fast enough to offer efficient connections between cities further apart.

A modified variant was made up of one set that was converted by a private operator after the war for use on the Höllentalbahn. The grid there was based on 20.000 Volts alternating current at 50 Hertz in order to be able to use the frequency of the national electricity grid. In addition to a total output increased to 1,540 kW and a top speed reduced to 90 km/h, this vehicle also had a dynamic brake and a magnetic rail brake. It was finally used by the Bundesbahn as the ET 255 and restored to its original version in 1962.

Most of the 39 units built were also operated by the Bundesbahn at this time. They had been modernized together with other, similar types and some intermediate cars were created from defective motor cars and control cars. The original round shape of the front ends was replaced by a new, more angular one with slightly slanted windows, as was also seen on other vehicles. They were renamed class 425 in 1968 and were used until 1985. On the territory occupied by the Soviet Union, all roadworthy multiple units had to be handed over to the Soviet Union immediately after the end of the war. The only ones left were two motor cars and a control car, from which a three-part set was restored. This one-off was renamed the class 285 in 1970 and was retired two years later. It remained in Wurzen station for another 20 years, until the scrapping was finally tackled.

The elT 1301 to 1313, which were designated as ET 31 from 1940, were one of the classes of multiple units for intercity traffic at speeds of up to 120 km/h. In contrast to other railcars of the time, the sets each consisted of three parts, each of which had its own drive. In the years 1936 and 1937 a total of 13 trains were completed and distributed to Munich, Nuremberg and Breslau. Each of the three cars had two nose-suspended motors in one bogie, each with an output of 275 kW over an hour. This enabled them to achieve an acceleration that would have been relatively good even for suburban multiple units.

Towards the end of the war only one of the Silesian train sets could be saved to Bavaria. A total of four had been destroyed in the war, four were in the western zone, two had gotten stuck trying to save them in the eastern zone and the remaining three remained in Poland. The two sets in the eastern zone and two of the three in Poland had to be handed over to the Soviet Union. 

At the Bundesbahn, the train sets underwent an unusual conversion. The initial situation was that there was a shortage of functional multiple units, but a number of ET 25 control cars were still available and it was also believed that two powered cars out of three would be sufficient. So the four three-car ET 31 were taken, divided into six groups of two and an ES 25 was added to each of them. Now there were six multiple units designated as ET 32, each of which had the wheel arrangement B-2+2-B+2-2 or B-2+B-2+2-2. A special feature was that there was a gangway between the control car and the adjacent motor car, but not between the two motor cars.

The latter disadvantage was corrected from 1963 with a thorough modernization. The end faces were given a new shape, which could also be found in other post-war vehicles of the Bundesbahn. Two of them were converted again, with the control car becoming the middle car and the second motor car being equipped with a driver's cab. From 1968 these vehicles became the classes 432 and 832. They were retired in 1984 and scrapped except for one example, which suffered the same fate in 2010.

The ET 65, which was known as the elT 12 until 1940, was a multiple unit for suburban traffic in Stuttgart. Although more modern railcars were developed shortly after it, it was able to remain in service with several conversions from 1933 to 1979. Due to the noise of the traction motors, it was known to the population as the “Red Howler”.

The trains originally consisted of a power car with two pantographs, two intermediate cars and a driving trailer. Two-axle Württemberg passenger cars, which had been equipped with electric heating, were used as intermediate cars. The vehicles had multiple controls and were therefore given gangways on the front sides. In contrast to later models, there was still an auxiliary engine room inside the cabin of the railcar, since the electrical system was still too bulky at that time. The car bodies were still riveted, only the last series received welded superstructures.

After the war, two power cars and several driving trailers hab been destroyed, but these were replaced by vehicles from other classes. At the beginning of the 1960s, a modernization took place, in which the front sides were replaced by a common front without a gangway. The speed was increased to 85 km/h with new traction motors. In the second class there were now also upholstered seats and the two old intermediate trailers were replaced by an old refurbished four-axle car, one of the so-called “Umbauwagen”. With the introduction of computer numbering, the railcars became the 465 class and the intermediate and driving trailers became the 865 class. After they had been replaced by the 420 class and were decommissioned in 1978, they were retired in 1979.

In 1924, four steam railcars of the Bavarian type MCCi were taken to the Fuchs wagon factory in Heidelberg to be converted there into electric railcars with BBC drive technology. Since the vehicles lived up to expectations, another 32 were purchased between 1927 and 1933 as new builds and designated ET 85.

Although electric propulsion required less space than the steam engine, the equipment of the time was still too bulky to be installed under the floor. The transformer and tap changer were located in a machine room which, for safety reasons, was only accessible from the outside through a door. Power was provided by two nose-suspended motors, each with an hourly output of 250 kW, in the bogie that was located under the engine room. Analogous to the MCCi and Bavarian local trains in general, the ends initially had gangway doors, but these were later removed. The motor cars were completed by the ES 85 control car, which had a luggage compartment instead of the engine room. 34 control cars were purchased for a total of 36 motor cars. In addition, there were converted three-axle passenger cars, which served as trailers designated EB 85. 70 of these were purchased. This meant that most of the vehicles could run as a four-car set consisting of one motor car, two trailers and one control car.

The vehicles were used not only on the Munich suburban lines as originally planned, but also on the Dreiseenbahn in the Black Forest and on the Wehratalbahn. For longer overland routes, two vehicles were delivered with a modified gear ratio that allowed 100 instead of 75 km/h. After the war, the Bundesbahn took over all of the examples and continued to use them on the traditional routes. Three pieces were rebuilt in 1949 with a shorter gear ratio for steep sections and designated as ET 90. These only reached 50 km/h. From 1968, the motor cars were designated as class 485 and the control cars as class 885. The three ET 90s accordingly became class 490. The latter were phased out by 1972, the remaining vehicles by 1977.

After the First World War, the Reichsbahn operated the route in the Giant Mountains between Hirschberg (today Jelenia Góra) and Polaun (today Korenov) in cooperation with the CSD. The Prussian EG 551/552 to EG 569/570, which were actually designed for freight trains, were used for passenger transport, which was a major cost factor in relation to the very low passenger density in some sections. In addition, on the Czechoslovak section of the route, the CSD billed the usage fees according to axle-kilometres. This economic imbalance was to be ended by the introduction of railcars.

For the first time, a self-supporting car body in all-steel construction was realized on a railcar. The transformer with an output of 500 kW was located in its own compartment in the middle of the car body. A maximum of 468 kW of this went to the two suspension motors, which were each located on the inner axle of the two bogies. At the ends of the carriages, in addition to a gangway door, there was also the wiring for multiple controls and an electric train heater. The passengers quickly gave the railcars the nickname “Rübezahl”, after a mountain spirit from the Giant Mountains.

Eleven power cars and a total of 40 two-axle standard passenger cars were procured as trailers. Usually two railcars with eight trailer cars coupled in between were used and on less frequented sections one railcar was sometimes uncoupled and used alone. From 1934 the vehicles were also used on the Giant Mountain Railway to Krummhübel and the trailers were exchanged for a total of eight driving trailers, which were referred to as ES 89, analogous to the power cars. In 1945 three pieces came to Bavaria, where one of them was used until 1959. After the end of the war, the rest were located in the former German territory in what is now Poland and were not used by the PKP. There, the usable part of the electrics was removed and the rest of the vehicles were scrapped after 1954.

In 1935, the Reichsbahn procured two electric railcars with particularly generous glazing and initially referred to them as elT 1998 and elT 1999. They were built to show passengers the area on public or private special trips and, if necessary, also to increase the attractiveness of the railway in general as it faced increasing competition from road and air transport. In the new scheme from 1940 they became the ET 91.

Many measures were taken during construction to create the best possible view. The car body was glazed as generously as possible on the window fronts and also in the roof area without impairing its strength. The driver's cabs on both sides were located within the passenger compartment without any special separation and could only be separated from this with curtains for journeys at night with interior lighting. Furthermore, the partition walls between the passenger compartment and the entrance area were made of glass in the upper area and the toilet was installed as low as possible so as not to obstruct the view. With the exception of the pantographs, all the electrical equipment was laid under the floor of the car. A bogie was driven by two nose-suspended motors with a total of 390 kW and enabled the railcar to initially reach a speed of 120 km/h. This was reduced to 110 km/h after the installation of a sprung mounting, but in favor of the acceleration.

The two vehicles were based in Munich and were mainly used for tours in the Alps, often also in Austria and Switzerland. ET 91 02 was destroyed in a bomb attack in 1943, after which ET 91 01 was brought to safety about 60 km outside of Munich. This was also used by the Bundesbahn for special trips, right up until the time of the DB AG. From 1968 it received the class designation 491. Despite the increasingly difficult maintenance, it was not parked in the 1990s either. However, its life in service ended in December 1995 when it was badly damaged in a collision with a regional train in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Today it is in the Augsburg railway park in a non-operational condition. The restoration began in 2005, but was not completed due to the major damage.

The ET 165 is a class of pre-war railcars for the Berlin S-Bahn, which to this day has the highest number of railcars in Germany. They were built in a short period of time between 1928 and 1931 and were in daily use until 1997.

The vehicle concept envisaged that two cars, which always remain coupled together in everyday life, form a so-called quarter train and up to four of these quarter trains are connected depending on demand. Since each part had its own power train, the same power-to-weight ratio was available for every train length. Each quarter train consisted of one motor car and one control car. Later, the control cars were replaced by trailers and all existing control cars were converted to trailers. The power supply via third rail had the advantage that the vehicles were supplied directly with 750 volts DC and no longer needed their own transformers. Each of the two bogies of the motor car had two nose-suspended motors connected in series, which were each operated with 375 volts. Furthermore, weight was saved by making the load-bearing parts in a new alloy and the cars were around seven to nine tonnes lighter than their predecessors.

638 motor cars, 465 control cars and 173 trailers were built, which quickly dominated traffic on the Berlin S-Bahn. There were still a few teething problems, such as the wooden doors, which often warped, and the bogies needed improvement, but these were gradually fixed. As a result of the war, some vehicles came to various eastern countries, where some of them remained in use for a long time.

In the post-war period, traffic in both parts of Berlin was rebuilt with these vehicles. In West Berlin in particular, their number fell continuously in the 1970s and 1980s, as large numbers of new vehicles were procured and the existing vehicles were only modernized to a limited extent. Nevertheless, some were still in service after the takeover by Deutsche Bahn AG and were used until 1997 as the class 475/875 together with their sisters from East Berlin.

In the east, a large part of the vehicles had been reconstructed from 1979, as had already happened with the successor class. In addition to the interior design, the front sides were also modernized. The vehicles converted in this way were renamed from class 275 to 276¹ and were only retired in 1997 together with the West Berlin vehicles.