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Dortmund has 593,000 inhabitants and lies at the eastern edge of the large Rhine-Ruhr conurbation integrated in the VRR tariff system (Verkehrverbund Rhein Ruhr).

The general Rhein-Ruhr Stadtbahn network designed in the early 1970's included three routes for the Dortmund area, of which two are almost finished now. Route 1 runs from northwest to southeast and route 2 from northeast to southwest. Both routes are directly linked at Westfalenhallen, from where U46 trains continue their journey on line U45 to Hauptbahnhof and vice versa. Until 1999, on U45 older single unit trams were still used between Brambauer and Stadthaus, so in some stations a low platform section could still be seen, which have now been raised. On 16 Nov. 1999, 90 cm high platforms were brought into service on the route between Fredenbaum and Brechten, the remaining section to Brambauer was also adapted to Stadtbahn-standard and reopened on 6 Jan 2002. The only low-floor platforms can be seen on the eastern U47 to Aplerbeck.

The combinded line U45/U46 is totally underground, and line U49 runs totally segregated from road traffic, except for one level crossing just east of its peak-only Hafen terminus. Line U42 has its own right-of-way, though with level crossings, from Grevel to Hombruch, except for a short street-running section between Harkortstraße and Hombruch-Hallenbad. Between Franz-Zimmer-Siedlung and Grevel (7 stops), U42 has been operating mostly elevated as a fast tram since 1976. Some stretches on U47 between Allerstraße and Aplerbeck and on U49 between Brechten and Brambauer are single-track.

The Stadtbahn network has a total length of 55 km (17.5 km underground, 37.5 km above ground) with 23 underground stations and 59 surface stops.

Photos © R. Schwandl

The Stadtbahn network is complemented by approx. 19.5 km of tram routes (former lines 403 and 404, which became U43 and U44 when the east-west tunnel was opened in 2008). Due to the tram-like alignment along their surface routes these lines cannot be classified as Stadtbahn lines, but remain conventional tram lines with an underground route through the city centre (including five underground stations).

In Dortmund another curious rail line can be found, the H-Bahn, a suspended automated line running from Technologiezentrum and S-Bahn station Dortmund-Universität across the University campus to the neighbourhood of Eichlinghofen (3 km). There are actually two lines operated:

Line 1 Technologiezentrum - S DO-Universität - Eichlinghofen
Line 2 Campus Nord - Campus Süd

Further plans would take it to Barop where it would link to Stadtbahn and S-Bahn.

22/10/1969: Construction start on route 1
1976: 4.1 km rapid tram from Kirchderne to Grevel (6 stations)
1983: Hörde - Clarenberg (1.5 km tunnel, 2 stations)
1984: Route 1/5 - 9.5 km Hacheney - Münsterstr. / Schützenstr. (11 stations, 3 stops)
16/04/1985: Construction start on route 2
1986: 2.7 km - Märkische Straße - Willem-van-Vloten-Straße
1990: 0.3 km - Remydamm
1992: 3.4 km Hafen - Huckarde Bushof (route 5) (1 station, 3 stops)
1992: 6.5 km - route 2 north (2.5 km in tunnel) Stadtgarten - Franz-Zimmer-Straße (4 stations, 6 stops) + upgraded fast tram to Grevel
1995 Stadtgarten - Städtische Kliniken (1 station)
1996 Stadtgarten - Polizeipräsidium (2 stations)
1998 Polizeipräsidium - Westfalenhallen (1 station)
2000/2002: Upgrading of route 1 to Brechten and Lünen-Brambauer
16/6/2002: Städtische Kliniken - Grotenbachstraße (Hombruch)

28/04/2008: Unionstraße - Ostentor (East-West Tunnel for low-floor tram operation)

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

 Projects

From Huckarde a branch is planned towards Jungferntal and Kirchlinde.

- OPERATION

The Dortmund Stadtbahn starts operating between 3:30 and 4:30 and runs until around 0:45, at a basic daytime interval of 10 minutes on all lines (except line U49 between Brechten and Brambauer - only 20 minutes), and every 15 minutes in the evenings.

- FARES

see VRR-page

Dortmunder Stadtwerke (official page)

Stadtbahnbauamt (Construction Bureau)

www.stadtbahn-dortmund.de by Christian Rendschmidt & Felix Joch

H-Bahn

Stadtbahn Rhein-Ruhr by Jochen Schönfisch

strassenbahn-dortmund.de by Mathias Diercks