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The city of Wuppertal (375,000 inhabitants, 20 km east of Düsseldorf) was founded in 1929 when the towns of Elberfeld and Barmen, together with some other municipalities, were joined to form the new city in the Wupper valley. But already in 1898 construction of Europe's most peculiar metro, the Schwebebahn, began here. The line started passenger service on 1 March 1901 between Kluse and Zoo. The western section between Zoo and Vohwinkel followed on 24 May 1901. Two years later, on 27 June 1903, also the eastern section between Kluse and Oberbarmen was brought into service. The line was quite damaged during World War II, but service was resumed one year after the end of the war. The destroyed Kluse station was only rebuilt in 1999.

The Wuppertal Schwebebahn is the continent's only suspension urban rail line, which for most of its length runs 12 m above the river Wupper (10 km). Only the westernmost section between Sonnborner Straße and Vohwinkel runs 8 meters above streets (3.3 km). This line can be called a full metro line because it's totally independent, absolutely urban and runs on a 4-6 minute headway. For almost 100 years this was one of the safest means of transport in the world, but unfortunately in April 1999 a bad accident happened after repair work had been carried out during the weekend and 3 people died and more than 40 were injured as a train fell down into the river Wupper. The single rail which carries the train is supported by 472 iron arches that span over the river bed. Currently all these arches are being replaced and also stations are being restored, most of them in their original Jugendstil design.

Wuppertal is served every 20 minutes by S-Bahn lines S8 (Mönchengladbach - Düsseldorf - Wuppertal - Hagen), and S9 (Haltern - Bottrop - Oberhausen - Essen -Wuppertal). Line S11 (Bergisch-Gladbach - Köln - Neuss - Düsseldorf - Wuppertal-Vohwinkel) reaches Wuppertal during peak hours only.

1 March 1901: Kluse - Zoo
24 May 1901: Zoo - Vohwinkel
27 June 1903: Kluse - Oberbarmen

 Projects

The Wuppertal Schwebebahn is currently being overhauled, but there are no plans for expansion of the network.

- OPERATION

The Schwebebahn operates with 2-car-trains (24 m long with 4 doors) from 5.20 until 23:00. The basic daytime interval is 5 minutes with trains every 15 minutes after 21:00. One train can carry 48 passengers seated and 130 standing. The Schwebebahn transports more than 70,000 passengers a day and is operated by Wuppertaler Stadtwerke (WSW).

- FARES

Wuppertal is part of the VRR tariff system (Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr) which also includes cities like Düsseldorf, Essen or Dortmund. See fare on VRR page.

Wuppertaler Stadtwerke - Schwebebahn (Official Page)

Wuppertal Photo Gallery

The Schwebebahn at University of Wuppertal

Peter Bosbach's - Wuppertaler Schwebebahn site

Stadtbahn Rhein-Ruhr by Jochen Schönfisch

Schwebebahn Live-Webcam

NEW: Christoph Groneck & Paul Lohkemper: WUPPERTAL SCHWEBEBAHN ALBUM. - June 2007, Berlin ISBN 978 3 836573 15 2

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

Herbert Günther: Die Wuppertaler Schwebebahn. - Aug. 2004, Sutton Verlag, ISBN 3897026791

Kurt Schnöring: Die Wuppertaler Schwebebahn. Fotografien und Geschichte. - 2001, Wartberg Verlag, 48 p., many b/w photos, ISBN: 3861348438

Get a ViDeO on the Wuppertal Schwebebahn

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