On 22 May 1938, the first tunnel, which was part of the north–south route, was started in the Lindwurmstraße, between the present-day underground stations Sendlinger Tor and Goetheplatz.

In the speech of Julius Dorpmüller, the general director of Deutsche Reichsbahn, the project was called "S-Bahn" for the first time.

The route S10 to Wolfratshausen (today S7) was operated with conventional push-pull trains from the southern wing of Munich Central Station.

It was electrified later and connected to the core route after the construction of a 260-metre (850 ft) tunnel crossing the large number of mainline rail tracks leading to Munich Central Station.

The new S-Bahn system stood the test and transported 3.18 million passengers in 7,138 runs to and from the sports sites in only 17 days.