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Hanover (Hannover) is the capital of the German state of Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony) and has approx. 500,000 inhabitants (more than a million in the Greater Hannover area). The city is known for its trade fairs and hosted the Expo2000.

The Hannover Stadtbahn is, similar to the networks in Stuttgart, Frankfurt, the Rhine-Ruhr Area or Bielefeld, a system combining metro/subway and tramway features. Central sections are underground (shown dark on the map above), whereas the rest is on street level, although mainly (75%) on a separate right-of-way with some level crossings. This kind of system gives a city of the size of Hanover an efficient metro-like system in the city centre, underground and thus totally independent, frequent through bundled routes and easily accessible through high platforms, a feature also growing among surface stations.

The first underground section along Route A was opened in 1975 for south-western lines between Waterloo and Hauptbahnhof. In 1976 the eastern part followed to allow through trains towards Lahe. In June 2006, route A was extended from Lahe to Altwarmbüchen (4.6 km) on a typical surface light rail alignment.

Route B opened as a north-south cross city route in 1979 (Werderstraße - Kröpcke) and continued south in the following years (1981 - Schlägerstr., 1982 - Altenbekener Damm and further south on the surface).

Route C began operation between Kröpcke and Steintor in 1984 and continued west in a tunnel as far as Königsworther Platz and further on the surface in 1985. The eastern branch from Aegidientorplatz to Braunschweiger Platz and further out on the surface opened in 1989. The northern branch from Steintor to Kopernikusstraße finally followed in 1993. An extension for Line 5 from Ostfeldstraße (Kirchrode) to Anderten opened on 15 Dec. 2002.

Initially a fourth city tunnel for Route D was planned, but this won't be built in the near future. A southern feeder line for this route was built to provide access to the eastern entrance for the Expo2000. It reached its southern terminus at Messe/Ost (EXPO-Plaza) on 19 February 2000 and was connected to the tunnel section of Route C. The western section of Route D (Line 10) is a standard tramway line running on the surface also in the city centre.

Apart from the central tunnel sections, two more stations are underground so far, Mühlenberg, on route A in the southwest (lines 3 and 7 - extended to Wettbergen in 1998), and on the new southern section of Route D Bemerode/Mitte, which is actually open above the tracks.

The Hanover Stadtbahn network has a total length of 121.2 km long of which 19 km are in tunnels. Of a total number of 200 stops, 19 are underground stations. Transfer between lines is made very easy at Kröpcke, Aegidientorplatz and Hauptbahnhof (cross-platform). On the surface, many stops provide cross-platform interchange between the Stadtbahn and connecting bus lines.

Just in time for the World Expo in the year 2000, Deutsche Bahn AG (DB) introduced an S-Bahn service for Hanover, with trains every 30 minutes on most lines.

Photos © Robert Schwandl

 Projects

A fourth tunnel through the city was planned as Route D which would eventually include today's line 6 south to the Exhibition Centre and the only remaining tram line 10 running from Aegidientorplatz and Steintor west to Ahlem. Its construction is not likely in the mid-term future.

A branch from Lahe to Misburg-Nord is planned.

A branch from Wallensteinstraße to Arnum via Hemmingen is planned.

- Operation

4:30 - 1:30, every 10 minutes on all lines (except lines 2 and 6 - every 20 min.); evenings every 30 min. Through bundled routes there's a train every 3-5 minutes on central sections of the network.

- Tickets

The Hannover Stadtbahn, operated by Üstra, is fully integrated in the GVH (Großraumverkehr Hannover), a tariff union covering both Hannover city and the surrounding region and including all buses, light rail and DB regional and S-Bahn trains. The Hannover region is divided into 3 zones; some prices for 2007 are (in Euro):

Zone 1: Hannover City (subdivided into 2 zones for travelcards)
Zone 2: surrounding towns (Umland)
Zone 3: whole region.

Short trip ticket 1.30 (3 stops, not valid on DB trains)
Single ticket 1 zone 2.00, 2 zones 2.70, 3 zones 3.30
1-Day-Pass 1 zone 3.90, 2 zones 5.10, 3 zones 6.30

ÜSTRA (Stadtbahn Operator) - Official Page

GVH (Greater Hannover Tariff Union) - Official Page

Stadtbahn Hannover by Andreas Kowollik

Great photo gallery by Thomas Schunk and others

Stadtbahn Hannover at Wikipedia.de

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

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Robert Schwandl: HANNOVER STADTBAHN ALBUM. The Hanover Light Rail Network. - Deutsch/English, Aug. 2005, Robert-Schwandl-Verlag, Berlin, ISBN 3936573107

Horst Moch: Straßenbahn in Hannover. - August 2004, Kenning, ISBN 3933613450

Heinrich Ganseforth, Peter Ruthenberg: Eine neue Stadtbahn für Hannover (Jasper Morrison) . - 1997, Mann, Berlin, ISBN 3786122482

NAHVERKEHR IN HANNOVER - Spezialheft des Straßenbahnmagazins (Public Transport in Hanover), GeraNova, 2000.

Dieter Höltge: Straßen- und Stadtbahnen in Deutschland 2. Niedersachsen und Bremen. - 1992, 358 p., EK Verlag, Freiburg, ISBN 3882553367

Photos © Robert Schwandl

More photos