It is commissioned by Verkehrsverbund Oberelbe (VVO) from DB Regio Verkehrsbetrieb Südostsachsen and currently consists of three services operating over a 127.7 km-long (79.3 mi) network.

The S-Bahn fare structure was introduced on a series of suburban railway lines on 29 September 1974.

Outside of Dresden, it runs to the centres of Freital, Meissen, Pirna, Radebeul and since 9 December 2007 also to Freiberg.

It connects all important places in the upper Elbe region with the state capital of Dresden.

A few isolated places and hiking areas in Saxon Switzerland can be reached better by the S-Bahn than by bus or car.

For larger events and between Easter and Pentecost the trains run with five double-deck carriages.

The sets of the S 2 are made of two double-deck carriages which, unlike the ones on the S 1 and S 3 services, are equipped with an emergency brake bypass to avoid being stopped in the tunnel to the airport station.

Already before the opening of the S 2 on 22 May 1998 a Regionalbahn service operated to Dresden Grenzstraße and served to connect with EADS EFW and ZMDI.

In the first five months of operations, the average utilisation rate was maintained at 32%, with a total of 1,400 passengers per day.

These include, among other things, air conditioning, a barrier-free toilet and electric sockets in first class.

From 9 December 2007, services of the S 2 were generally operated with three double-deck carriages due to the increased demand.

After it had been put back into operation after the flood damage had been repaired at the end of 2003, around 2,300 passengers per day were counted.

In Freital the S-Bahn line serves large parts of the populated areas.

The town of Freital was founded in 1921 from the three villages of Potschappel, Deuben and Döhlen; in 1964 Hainsberg was also incorporated.

It is the only Dresden S-Bahn line that runs outside the area of the Upper Elbe Transport Association.

Between Niederbobritzsch and Freiberg the fares of the Verkehrsverbund Mittelsachsen (Mid-Saxony transport association) apply.

The Trilex Express runs from Dresden Hauptbahnhof to Görlitz or Zittau (via Klotzsche, Radeberg).

When there are good conditions for winter sports, two additional trains run through the Eastern Ore Mountains (Osterzgebirge) to Altenberg.

In addition, a Regional-Express runs from Dresden Hauptbahnhof via Heidenau and Pirna to Děčín in the Czech Republic.

These operate at approximately half-hour intervals and provide an S-Bahn-like service on these diesel-powered lines.

Two other services are operated into Upper Lusatia (Oberlausitz) by the Städtebahn Sachsen and connect Dresden with Kamenz and Königsbrück hourly.

Another service runs from Heidenau (connecting to S-Bahn lines S 1 and S 2) through the Müglitz valley to Altenberg.

Due to the re-commissioning of the Rumburk–Sebnitz railway between Dolni Poustevna and Sebnitz, which had been interrupted since 1945, a passenger service operated by the Czech Railways with Deutsche Bahn's Desiro railcars and classified by Deutsche Bahn as U 28 – Nationalparkbahn (“National Park Railway”) runs from Rumburk (Czech Republic) via Sebnitz and Bad Schandau to Děčín (Czech Republic).

In Freital-Hainsberg (connection to S 3) there is interchange with the Weisseritz Valley Railway (Weisseritztalbahn), which was put out of operation by the 2002 flood, although the Freital-Hainsberg–Dippoldiswalde section was reopened on 13 December 2008.

In the first half of the 1990s, the comprehensive Verkehrskonzept 1994 ("transport concept") 1994 was developed for Dresden and the surrounding area and adopted by the city council.

S-Bahn lines were planned from the Hauptbahnhof to Riesa and Großenhain on the route via Cossebaude.

The S-Bahn line to Tharandt would have been extended to Freiberg, which has been partly realised since the timetable change of 9 December 2007 as the S 30 (now S 3).

In addition, the existing Strehlen station is to be developed into a central interchange between the S-Bahn, trams and buses.

Lot 3 included Regionalbahn lines RB 71 (Pirna–Neustadt–Bad Schandau) and RB72 (Heidenau–Altenberg) as well as the winter sports express service RE 19 (Dresden–Heidenau–Altenberg).