STADTBAHN

Germany's former capital has only about 300,000 inhabitants, but obviously due to its political importance it had the chance to build an underground Stadtbahn route all across the city and further south to Bad Godesberg. Although operated by its own company, Bonner Stadtwerke, the system actually works as an extension of the large Cologne Stadtbahn network with two lines, 16 and 18, connecting both cities along an interurban route, which in the case of line 18 is partly single-track. In Bonn itself the city subway is also used by Bonn exclusive routes 63-68. There are two tunnel sections, a 3.2 km subway through central Bonn with 6 stations and a 1.1 km subway in Bad Godesberg (4 stations), a southern suburb of Bonn, plus two short underground sections including Ramersdorf station on the right bank of the River Rhine, and Robert-Schuman-Platz on the left bank.

In August 1999, most ministries of the German Federal Government moved their headquarters to Berlin. As a consequence some stations changed their name, like Auswärtiges Amt (Foreign Ministry) which is now Bundesrechnungshof/ A. Amt.

TRAMWAY

Besides the Stadtbahn, there are two all-day tramway lines operating with low-floor trams. Between Ramersdorf and Oberkassel Süd, as well as across the Kennedybrücke, tramway and Stadtbahn share the same tracks.

Tramway network length: 15.7 km (2.4 km share with Stadtbahn)
Lines: 2
Track gauge: 1435 mm
Rolling stock: DUEWAG low-floor R1.1 cars (1994)

See tramway photos below

1975: Bonn Hauptbahnhof - Heussallee
1979: Bonn Hauptbahnhof - Stadthaus
1979: Deutsche Telekom - Rheinaue
1981: Rheinaue - Ramersdorf
1994: Hochkreuz - Bad Godesberg Stadthalle

2000 - a new underground terminus opened in Siegburg (Line 66)

 Stadtbahn Projects

The so called Hardtbergbahn (8 km) is a new route from Hauptbahnhof (central railway station) towards the western parts of town. It will include a 1 km tunnel (which will also be used by trams 61 and 62) with one underground station. The central stretch between Stadthaus and the Rhine bridge might also be put underground in the future.

- OPERATION

Most lines run from 4:30 until 2:00 every 10 minutes during the day, and every 20-30 minutes early morning and late evenings. Through bundled routes there is a train every few minutes along the central underground section and south to Bad Godesberg. Both Line 16 and Line 18 operate every 20 minutes between Bonn and Cologne.

- FARES

The Bonn Stadtbahn is integrated in the VRS tariff system (Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Sieg), which also includes the city of Cologne. In 2007, prices for the city of Bonn ("CityTicket" - price class 1b, in Euro) are:

Single - 2.30
4 Trips - 7.80
1-Day Ticket - 6.40 (weekdays after 9:00)
Weekly Pass - 18.20

Stadtwerke Bonn (Official Page)

VRS (Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Sieg)

Bahnen in Bonn (by Edmund Lauterbach)

KIEPE ELEKTRIK GmbH - Electrical Equipment of new Stadtbahn trains

UrbanRail.Net Cologne/Bonn Light Rail Gallery

Christoph Groneck:

Köln/Bonn Stadtbahn Album
The Cologne/Bonn Light Rail Network

Nahverkehr in Deutschland, Band 6
Urban Transport in Germany, Vol. 6

144 Seiten | pages
17x24 cm
3 Netzpläne | 3 Network maps
ca. 350 Farbfotos | colour photos
Text deutsch & English

ISBN 3 936573 07 7
19.50 EUR

Published December 2005

More info and sample pages | Mehr Info und Probeseiten

Schwandl, Robert: Schnellbahnen in Deutschland / Metros in Germany. U-Bahn - Stadtbahn - S-Bahn. - April 2007, Berlin, ISBN 978 3 836573 18 3

- Anything you want to know about German metro and light rail systems, with detailed maps and hundreds of colour photos; 192 pages; Text German and English - More details

Dieter Höltge: Straßenbahnen und Stadtbahnen in Deutschland - Bd.5: Bergisches und Siegerland von Wuppertal bis Bonn. - 2000, 432 Seiten - EK-Verlag, ISBN 3882553332