Royal Prussian Railway Administration

The title Royal Prussian Railway Administration (Königlich Preußische Eisenbahn-Verwaltung) or KPEV is often mistakenly used to describe the Prussian state railways (Preußische Staatseisenbahn).

The initials KPEV are found on cast wagon plaques with the coat of arms, and appear to have been designed by an official of the Cologne (Coeln) division and then unwittingly adopted by the other divisions.

The largely independent railway divisions in Prussia reported directly to the Ministry of Public Works.

In 1896 it became the Prussian-Hessian State Railways (Preußisch-Hessische Staatseisenbahnen) and after the First World War, the Prussian State Railway (Preußische Staatsbahn).

These are found in contemporary official documents, unlike the abbreviation KPEV.

KPEV Emblem on a Prussian luggage van
KPEV shield on the S-Bahn bridge at Berlin's Mexicoplatz