With some 600,000 inhabitants, Essen is among Germany's ten largest cities and the geographical heart of the Rhein-Ruhr-Area. Construction of a Stadtbahn network started in the early 1960's and included regauging of many routes from former 1000 mm to standard 1435 mm and the construction of underground sections in the city centre. The first 600 m underground section opened in 1967 along Huysenallee with one station, Saalbau. In the early 1970's a Stadtbahn network was planned for the whole Rhein-Ruhr area and the fast tram link between Essen and Mülheim was chosen as the first to be upgraded. It opened in 1977, partly underground and partly on the surface in the middle strip of the A40 motorway. Subsequently a small underground network was realised.

STADTBAHN

U11 and U18 can be considered real metro lines as they run independent from road traffic all along their routes. U11 is almost entirely underground. Ex-Docklands Light Rail vehicles, many of them repainted yellow, are in use in Essen. The section between Hauptbahnhof and Martinstraße is also used by some 1000 mm tramway lines (3-rail-tracks), which stop at high-level platforms here. Since the mid-1990's the northern route was extended in two stages, first to Altenessen Bahnhof (1998) and further on to II.Schichtstraße from where U17 trains continue on the surface to Buerer Straße in Gelsenkirchen. U11 trains terminate at Karlsplatz. The surface on-street section of U17 to Margarethenhöhe was upgraded in 2002 with high platforms at all stops, which will allow the use of ex-Docklands P89 rolling stock.

- Stadtbahn route length - 21.5 km (of which 1.9 km are shared with trams)
- Rolling stock - DUEWAG B-cars (1976-1985); ex-DLR P86 and P89 cars (1986-1989)

Photos 2005 © Robert Schwandl (UrbanRail.Net)

TRAM

Besides the Stadtbahn, Essen boasts several tram lines which all run through some underground section at some stage. The route between Essen Hauptbahnhof and Martinstraße is equipped with 3-rail tracks for use by Stadtbahn and high-floor tram cars.

- tram route length approx. 52.5 km (of which 1.9 km are shared with Stadtbahn)
- 7 lines, with line 107 running through to neighbouring Gelsenkirchen
- Rolling stock: DUEWAG M8S (1975-76); DUEWAG M8C (1979-1989, high-floor with folding steps for lines 101 and 107); DWA/Adtranz M8DNF (low-floor, 1999-2000)

05 Oct. 1967 - Saalbau (now Philharmonie/Saalbau)
28 May 1977 - U18 - Wiener Platz (now Hirschlandplatz) - Heißen (8.2 km, 2 km underground)
28 May 1977 - Saalbau - Hauptbahnhof - Porscheplatz (2 km)
27 Nov 1981 - U17 - Universität - Planckstr. - Margarethenhöhe (3.6 km underground)
27 Sept 1985 - Porscheplatz - Viehofer Platz - Schützenbahn ramp
31 May 1986 - U11 Saalbau - Gruga and Florastr. (3-rail-section)
09 Nov 1991 - Porscheplatz - Berliner Platz
24 May 1998 - Universität - Altenessen (2.5 km)
29 Sept 2001 - U11/U17 Altenessen - Karlsplatz - ramp - GE-Fischerstraße
27 Jun 2004 - U17 GE-Fischerstraße - GE-Buerer Straße

 Projects

U17 may be extended on the surface 3 stations towards the south from Margarethenhöhe to Hatzper Straße.

Stadtbahn lines (U11, U17 and U18) start operating between 4:00 and 5:00 and run until around midnight, every 10 minutes during daytime and every 20-30 minutes early morning and evening, Saturday afternoon and Sundays every 15 minutes daytime.

See fares on Rhein-Ruhr page

EVAG (Essen Transport - official)

VRR (Tariff System Rhein-Ruhr) incl. maps and timetables

Trambilderbuch incl. many photos

EVAG at Wikipedia.de