| Wuppertaler Schwebebahn | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Schwebebahn between Adlerbrücke and Alter Markt | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Overview | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Locale | Wuppertal, Germany | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Transit type | Suspension railway | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Number of stations | 20 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Daily ridership | 82,000[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operation | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Began operation | 1 March 1901; 124 years ago (1901-03-01) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operator(s) | Wuppertaler Stadtwerke (WSW) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Character | Elevated | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Technical | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| System length | 13.3 km (8.3 mi) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Average speed | 25.6 km/h (15.9 mph) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top speed | 60 km/h (37 mph) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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TheWuppertaler Schwebebahn (English:Wuppertal's Suspension Railway) is asuspension railway inWuppertal, Germany. The line was originally called inGerman:Einschienige Hängebahn System Eugen Langen (English:Single-Rail Hanging Railway, System of Eugen Langen) named after its inventor,Eugen Langen. It is the oldest electric elevated railway with hanging cars in the world. Being grade-separated, it is consideredrapid transit.[2]
Langen first offered the technology to the cities ofBerlin,Munich, andBreslau which all turned it down.[3] However, the towns ofBarmen,Elberfeld, andVohwinkel along the banks of the riverWupper were intrigued by the technology’s ability to connect their communities. The elevated tracks and stations were built between 1897 and 1903; the first track opened in 1901. The railway line is credited with growth of the original cities and their eventual merger into Wuppertal.[3] TheSchwebebahn is still in use as a local public transport line, moving 25 million passengers annually, per the 2008 annual report.[4] New rail cars were ordered in 2015, called Generation 15, and the first new car went into service in December 2016.
The Schwebebahn runs along a route of 13.3 kilometres (8.3 mi), at a height of about 12 metres (39 ft) above the riverWupper betweenOberbarmen andSonnborner Straße (10 kilometres or 6.2 miles) and about 8 metres (26 ft) above the valley road betweenSonnborner Straße andVohwinkel (3.3 kilometres or 2.1 miles).[5][6] At one point the railway crosses theA46 motorway. The entire trip takes about 30 minutes.[6] The Schwebebahn operates within theVerkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr (VRR) and accepts tickets issued by the VRR companies including theDeutschlandticket.
The Wuppertaler Schwebebahn had a forerunner: in 1824,Henry Robinson Palmer of Britain presented a railway system which differed from all previous constructions. It was a low single-rail suspension railway on which the carriages were drawn by horses.Friedrich Harkort, aPrussian industrial entrepreneur and politician, loved the idea. He saw big advantages for the transport of coal to the early industrialised region in and around the Wupper valley. Harkort had his own steel mill inElberfeld; he built a demonstration segment of the Palmer system and set it up in 1826 on the grounds of what is today the Wuppertal tax office. He tried to attract public attention to his railway plans.
On 9 September 1826, the town councillors of Elberfeld met to discuss the use of a "Palmer's Railway" from theRuhr region, Hinsbeck, orLangenberg, to theWupper valley, Elberfeld, connecting Harkort's factories. Friedrich Harkort inspected the projected route with a surveyor and a member of the town council. The plans never went ahead because of protests from the transport branch[clarification needed] and owners of mills that were not on the routes.
In 1887 the cities of Elberfeld and Barmen formed a commission for the construction of an elevated railway orHochbahn. In 1894 they chose the system of the engineer Eugen Langen ofCologne, and in 1896 the order was licensed by the City of Düsseldorf.[6][7] In 2003, theRhine Heritage Office (Rheinisches Amt für Denkmalpflege des Landschaftsverbandes Rheinland or LVR) announced the discovery of an original section of the test route of the Schwebebahn.[citation needed]
Construction on the Schwebebahn began in 1898, overseen by the government's master builder, Wilhelm Feldmann. On 24 October 1900,Emperor Wilhelm II participated in a monorail trial run.[6]
In 1901 the railway came into operation. It opened in sections: the line from Kluse to Zoo/Stadion opened on 1 March, the line to the western terminus at Vohwinkel opened on 24 May; the line to the eastern terminus at Oberbarmen opened on 27 June 1903.[5] Around 19,200 tonnes (18,900 long tons; 21,200 short tons) of steel were used to produce the supporting frame and the stations.[6] The construction cost 16 milliongold marks. The railway was closed owing to severe damage duringWorld War II, but reopened in 1946.[5]
The Schwebebahn carries approximately 80,000[1] passengers through the city per weekday. Since 1997, the supporting frame has been largely modernized, and many stations have been reconstructed and brought up to date technically. Kluse station, at the theatre in Elberfeld, was destroyed during theSecond World War and was reconstructed during the modernization phase. Work was planned to be completed in 2001, but aserious accident took place in 1999 which left five people dead and 47 injured. That, along with delivery problems, delayed completion. By 2004, the cost of the reconstruction work had increased from €380 million to €480 million.[8]
On 15 December 2009, the Schwebebahn suspended its operations due to safety concerns. Several of the older support structures needed to be renewed, a process that was completed on 19 April 2010.[9]
In 2012, the Schwebebahn was closed for significant periods to allow upgrades to the system: from 7 to 21 July and 6 August to 22 October, and on weekends in September (15/16) and November (10/11).[10] The modernization was completed and the line fully reopened on 19 August 2013.
In November 2018 a bus bar detached and fell to the ground but nobody was injured. Following this accident, the Schwebebahn was closed down for nearly nine months.[11] It re-opened on 1 August 2019.[12]
On 10 November 2011,Wuppertaler Stadtwerke signed a contract withVossloh Kiepe to supply a new fleet of Generation 15 trains, technically namedGTW 14, to gradually replace the ageing GTW 72 fleet. The 31 new articulated cars were assembled byVossloh España inValencia, Spain,[13] featuring a light blue livery and havingcushioned seating,air conditioning,information displays,LED lights, improveddisabled access, andinduction motors withenergy recovery during braking.[14] The first new train was commissioned by WSW in November 2015[15][16], started test rides in February 2016 and the first five vehicules entered regular passenger service on 18 December 2016,[17] at which point the line'spower supply voltage was raised from 600 to 750 V.[18]
The GTW 72 stock was gradually withdrawn from service as the new trains were introduced, the last of which operated immediately prior to the line's shutdown in November 2018. WSW announced it would not scrap any of the GTW 72 stock, but instead offer 21 of the vehicles for sale and three for free, as long as they remained in the city of Wuppertal.[19][20]
Wuppertal Schwebebahn has a sister suspension railway relationships withShonan Monorail since 2018. Shonan Monorail is a suspension railway located inKanagawa, Japan and connects the cities betweenKamakura andFujisawa. Starting in 2018, both suspension railways made a campaign of their twinning.[21]
The cars are suspended from a single rail built underneath a supporting steel frame. The cars hang on wheels which are driven by multiple electric motors operating at600 or750 V DC, fed from alive rail below the running rail.[22]
Until August 2019, the Schwebebahn used block signalling like other light- and heavy-rail systems. Signals with red, green, and yellow lights, present at every station, signalled the driver if the next block, usually continuing until the next station, was free or not. The yellow aspect was mostly used to warn about construction work ahead, while a blinking red light warned about more severe problems. Today, the Schwebebahn uses theEuropean Train Control System, allowing for shorter distances between trains.
The supporting frame and tracks are made out of 486 pillars and bridgework sections. When the line was originally built,Anton Rieppel, head of MAN-Werk Gustavsburg, designed the structural system, which he patented.[23] At each end of the line is a servicing depot, including a loop of track to allow the trains to be turned around.[6]
The current fleet consists of 31 articulated cars.[6] The cars are 24 metres long and have 4 doors. One carriage can seat 42 fix plus 3 on jump seats in the wheelchair area with 130 standing passengers permitted.[24] The top speed is 60 kilometres per hour (37 mph) and the average speed is 27 km/h (17 mph).[6]
TheKaiserwagen (Emperor's car), the original train used by EmperorWilhelm II during a test ride on 24 October 1900, is still operated on scheduled excursion services, special occasions and for charter events.[6]
The Schwebebahn is alluded to inTheodor Herzl's 1902utopian novelAltneuland (The Old New Land). For Herzl, the Schwebebahn was the ideal form of urban transport, and he imagined a largemonorail built in its style inHaifa.[30]
A sequence inPeter Delpeut's 1992 collage filmLyrical Nitrate, using film from between 1905 and 1915, features the Schwebebahn.Rüdiger Vogler andYella Rottländer's characters ride the Schwebebahn inWim Wenders's 1974 movieAlice in the Cities (Alice in den Städten). It also appears in the 1992 Dutch movieThe Sunday Child (De Zondagsjongen) byPieter Verhoeff, inTom Tykwer's 2000 filmThe Princess and the Warrior (Der Krieger und die Kaiserin), and as a background to a number of outdoor dance choreographies in anotherWim Wenders film – 2011'sPina, where some dances are also set inside the cars.
The Schwebebahn is both subject and title of video work by theTurner Prize-nominated artistDarren Almond. Produced in 1995, Schwebebahn is the first of three videos that constitute his Train Trilogy.
TheMuseum of Modern Art has a two-minute film from 1902 featuring the Schwebebahn.[31]A colourized and upscaled version of the 1902 film is now available[32] and has been matched with a recent video.[33]
Some of the events inLe Feu de Wotan, a Belgianbande dessinée in theYoko Tsuno series, take place in theSchwebebahn.
Thedenouement of the episode of the 1972 ITC TV seriesThe Adventurer called "I'll Get There Sometime" takes place on the railway.
In 2013 theSchwebebahn Simulator 2013[34] was launched forWindows,Mac OS X andWii U. In this simulator, the player controls theGTW 72.
In the "Add-on Wuppertal" DLC[35] of theOMSI 2 bus simulator, there is the option for the player to control the Schwebebahn of the newest model (GTW 15), with all stations faithfully recreated.
And the 1901 constructed suspended monorail (Schwebebahn) in Wuppertal, Germany, can, because of its grade separated operation and its conformity with other definitions, be called a rapid transit system.
51°16′1.52″N7°10′53.13″E / 51.2670889°N 7.1814250°E /51.2670889; 7.1814250
