Rail transport in Germany in the context of "RegioExpress"

Regional rail is a public rail transport service that operates between towns and cities. These trains operate with more stops than inter-city rail, and unlike commuter rail, operate beyond the limits of urban areas, connecting smaller cities and towns.

In North America, "regional rail" is often used as a synonym for "commuter rail", while in other places "commuter rail" refers to systems that primarily or only offer service during rush hour while "regional rail" refers to systems that offer all-day service. In Europe, regional trains have their own category, often abbreviated to R (RB in Germany) or L (for local train).

DB Cargo (German pronunciation: [deːbeː ˈkaʁɡo]; previously known as Railion and DB Schenker Rail) is an international transport and logistics company. It is responsible for all of the rail freight transport activities of the German railway company Deutsche Bahn (the DB Group) both inside Germany and on a global level. DB Cargo has a registered office in Mainz and a further administrative office in Frankfurt am Main.

The company was founded as DB Cargo AG on 1 January 1999 under the second stage of liberalisation reform of the German railway system (Bahnreform) underway around this time. Initial operations were primarily focused on the rail freight market within Germany; however, during early 2000, the company was reorganised under the Railion holding company as part of a merger between DB Cargo and the Dutch state-owned rail company Nederlanse Spoorwegen's rail freight operations. This new structure was designed for the cooperation, and incorporation, of future partnerships with other rail freight companies; between 2004 and 2009, Railion expanded its operations into Italy, Switzerland, and Poland, typically via acquisitions. Following the acquisition of Schenker AG in the early 2000s, the company was restructured again and adopted the DB Schenker Rail branding. During 2016, to indicate its core focus on rail freight transportation, the company was once more rebranded as DB Cargo AG; this naming scheme has been progressively replicated across the majority of its international subsidiaries as well.