After Werner von Siemens presented his first electric locomotive at the Berlin Trade Show in 1879 and attracted a lot of attention, he then tried to obtain a concession for an elevated electric railway in Berlin. Concerns about falling cars and protests by residents hindered the project. In 1881, he managed to use a line in Gross Lichterfelde that connected the Lichterfelde station to the military academy. The two single-motor cars were made by Siemens & Halske, ran on direct current from the two tracks, and remained in operation until 1893. The system changed around 1890, when the traction voltage was raised to 500 V and was supplied by the overhead line. The meter-gauge “Electric Railway in Lichterfelde” was the world’s first electrically operated tram. The line was extended several times and sold in 1905. From 1921 to 1930, it was part of the tram network of greater Berlin.

Werner von Siemens already had the idea for an elevated railway for the rapidly growing city of Berlin in 1867. But it wasn’t until March 1896 that Siemens & Halske were permitted to build and operate an elevated railway from Warschauer Brücke to Nollendorfplatz. Unfortunately, the company’s founder was unable to enjoy his success, which came four years after his death. To finance this major project, Siemens & Halske and the Deutsche Bank together founded the Gesellschaft für elektrische Hoch- und Untergrundbahnen in April 1897 in Berlin. Two track sections were opened in 1902 from Warschauer Brücke to Potsdamer Platz, as was a branch from the Zoologischer Garten to Gleisdreieck. This was the beginning of a new era in transportation technology for the German capital. In 1902, the elevated railway company transported almost 19 million passengers, and the numbers increased to 29 million in 1903. By the fall of 1913, the Berlin subway network was more than 35 kilometers long. Today the network of the Berlin metro has 173 stations and 146 kilometers of track and is constantly being expanded.

After the Compañía de Tranvías Anglo Argentina obtained the concession in 1909 and built the route, the first subway line was inaugurated on December 1, 1913. It was the first subway in Latin America and in the entire southern hemisphere. Just one year earlier in 1912, Lacroze Hermanos had received a concession for the B subway line, which was inaugurated on October 17, 1930. In 1933, the Compañía Hispano-Argentina de Obras Públicas y Finanzas (CHADOPYF) began building the remaining lines with the participation of various Siemens companies: The tunnel work was done by Siemens-Bauunion in a working group with Grün & Bilfinger, the signaling system was implemented by Vereinigte Eisenbahn-Signalwerke, and Siemens-Schuckertwerke supplied the contact lines and cars. The train design was largely based on vehicles from Berlin’s Gesundbrunnen – Neukölln subway line.

The groundbreaking ceremony for the Munich subway was held on February 1, 1965. In the summer of 1967, the first tests were conducted on the line between Alte Heide and Studentenstadt using prototypes of the A1-type car. On October 19, 1971, the Munich subway began passenger service on the twelve-kilometer U6 line between Kieferngarten and Goetheplatz. From 1970 to 1983, Munich received 193 A2-type two-car units. Type B cars were deployed in 1980. In 1986, 70 subway cars were ordered for which Siemens supplied all the electrical equipment with energy-saving, jerk-free three-phase technology. Type C cars have been in use since 2002. In 2010, Siemens received an order from Stadtwerke München (SWM: Munich City Utilities) for the delivery of 21 C2-type six-part subway trains with an option for an additional 46 trains. In 2012, Siemens premiered the Syntegra bogie for passenger service in Munich. The new design integrated traction, bogie, and braking technology into an energy-saving unit that’s unique around the world.

In 1974, Siemens delivered 20 four-axle vehicles of steel construction with powered bogies and resistive braking to Subterráneos de Buenos Aires (SBA) for its B line. In 1980/81, the customer was supplied with 20 additional two-car units. In 1988, 25 vehicles with the Simatic-S5 (Sitrac) control system were provided for the A, C, D, and E lines. The modernized H line resumed operation in 2016 and was the first line in the Argentinian capital to be equipped with the radio-based Trainguard MT automatic train control system from Siemens.

From the start of construction on the first metro line in 1989 until the Pearl Line was established in 2002, Siemens served as a project partner for vehicles, operating technology, telecommunication, and miscellaneous infrastructure projects. For lines 1 and 2, which were the first to enter operation in 1993 and 2000, Siemens was in charge of project execution. The turnkey projects included delivery of 53 six-car trains plus signaling technology, power supply systems, and the contact line. With their 1,860 passenger capacity per unit, the 28 six-part trains ordered for the Pearl Line’s phase 2 in March 2002 set the standard for a high-performance metro. The vehicle concept incorporated the customer’s requirements and used proven components to guarantee high vehicle availability along with reduced maintenance and repair costs. The aluminum car bodies were designed for a 35-year service life.

A consortium headed by Siemens was responsible for building two Skytrain lines totaling 22 kilometers that have been serving 650,000 passengers a day since 1999. The major contract worth over DM 2.2 billion from the Bangkok Transit System Corporation also included the delivery of 35 three-part, Modular Metro-type trains. An additional 35 cars were ordered in 2010. In 2002, Siemens was awarded the contract to supply equipment for Bangkok’s first subway. The order included 19 three-part metro trains, the infrastructure, project management, and a ten-year maintenance contract for the railway system. The Blue Line was 20 kilometers long with 18 stations. In May 2016, the Bangkok Mass Transit System Public Company placed an order with a consortium comprised of Siemens and the Turkish manufacturer Bozankaya for the delivery of 22 four-part trains for the Green Line. Siemens will maintain the trains for 16 years. In May 2016, Siemens received an order for 22 four-part trains that were assembled by Bozankaya.

In April 2007, a fully automatic mass transit system from Siemens known as the Véhicule automatique léger (Val = light automatic vehicle) was inaugurated at the Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris. Covering a distance of 3.3 kilometers and with five stops, the CDGVAL connects terminals 1, 2, and 3. During peak periods, the Val trains operate at four-minute intervals. Running on rubber tires, the Val at the Charles de Gaulle airport protects the environment and the climate: By eliminating a large proportion of shuttle buses, it saves 750 tons of diesel fuel per year. It also reduces nitrous oxide emissions by almost 15 tons and CO2 emissions by almost 2,500 tons per year.