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{{Infobox Public transit|name=Schwebebahn Wuppertal|image=Schweb02012006-008.JPG|imagesize=250px|locale=Wuppertal, Germany|system_length=13.3 kilometres (8.3 miles)|began_operation=[March 1, 1901 in rail transport|lines=1|stations=20|ridership=72,000|operator=Wuppertaler Stadtwerke (WSW)|-->The
Schwebebahn Wuppertal is a suspension railway in Wuppertal, Germany. Its full name is the “Eugen Langen Monorail Suspension Railway” (
Einschienige Hängebahn System Eugen Langen). The people of Wuppertal know it, however, as the “Old Lady” ("Alte Dame") or the “Iron Wyvern” (“Der stählerne Drache”). Designed by Eugen Langen, who originally planned to build it in
Berlin, it was built in
1900, opened in 1901 and is still in use today as a local transport system in the city. It is the oldest monorail system in the world.
The suspension railway travels along a route 13.3 kilometres long, about 12 metres above the surface of the river
Wupper between Oberbarmen and Sonnborner Straße (10 km) and approximately 8 m above the city streets, between Sonnborner Straße and Vohwinkel (3.3 km). At one point the railway crosses the
Bundesautobahn 46 motorway. The entire trip takes about 30 minutes.
The Schwebebahn operates within the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr transport association and accepts tickets issued by the VRR companies.
History
The Wuppertal Schwebebahn had one model: in 1824, Henry Palmer of England first presented the world with a rail transport system which differed from all previous construction forms. It was basically a small suspension railway on which suspended carriages were drawn by horses.
Friedrich Harkort, a famous German industrialist and politician, loved the idea. He had a system of this type built as a trial in
1826 and ran it on the grounds of what is today the tax office at Elberfeld. He tried to interest the public in his scheme.
On 9 September
1826, the town councillors of Elberfeld met to discuss the use of a “Palmer’s Railway” from the Ruhr to the river Wupper, mainly for the purpose of supplying the growing city with cheaper coal. Friedrich Harkort inspected the projected route with a surveyor and a member of the town council. The railway was to go from Elberfeld to Hinsbeck or from Elberfeld to
Langenberg. The plan never went ahead, however, due to the owners of various pits who had not been included in it and felt disadvantaged at having been left out.
The suspension railway which was finally built was planned and tested by the engineer Carl Eugen Langen in Cologne during the 1880s. In
2003, the
Rhenish Heritage Office (
Rheinische Amt für Denkmalpflege des Landschaftsverbandes Rheinland or LVR) published a press report announcing the discovery of an original section of the test route of the Wuppertal Schwebebahn.
Construction on the actual Wuppertal Schwebebahn began in
1898 in rail transport. On 24 October 1900 in rail transport, William II, German Emperor, rode a monorail trial run.
In
1901, after a construction period of about three years overseen by the government’s master builder, Wilhelm Feldmann, the railway came into operation. It opened in sections: the line from Kluse (Schwebebahn Wuppertal station) to
Zoo/Stadion (Schwebebahn Wuppertal station) opened on March 1, the line to the western terminus at
Vohwinkel (Schwebebahn Wuppertal station) opened on
24 May, while the line to the eastern terminus at Oberbarmen (Schwebebahn Wuppertal station) did not open until
27 June 1903 in rail transport. Around 19,200 tonnes of steel were worked to produce the supporting frame and the train stops. Construction cost 16 million
German gold mark. Since its first opening, the railway has closed once due to severe damage from World War II, but managed to open as early as 1946 in rail transport.
Current modernisation
The Wuppertal Schwebebahn was considered one of the safest means of transport in the world, carrying up to 75,000 passengers a day through the city. Since 1997, the supporting frame has been largely modernised, and a large number of train stops have been reconstructed and brought up to date technically. The “Kluse” stop, at the theatre in Elberfeld, had been destroyed during the
Second World War; this too was reconstructed during the modernisation. Work was planned to be completed in 2001; however a serious accident took place in 1999 which left five people dead and 47 injured. This, along with delivery problems, meant that the completion date was delayed. In recent years (2004), the cost of the reconstruction work has nearly doubled from €250 million to €390 million.
Since
2004, many of the train stops have been fitted with
Closed-circuit television cameras.
Technology
The suspension railway is a
monorail suspended from a steel supporting frame with a rail built underneath it. It hangs on wheels which are driven by electric motor operating at 600 volts DC.
The supporting frame and tracks are made out of 486 pillars and bridgework sections. At the ends of the route there are turning points and parking spaces for the trains, which turn around so as to carry passengers there and back one after the other.
The current fleet consists of twenty-seven two-car trains built in the 1970s. The cars are 24 metres long and have 4 doors. One carriage can seat 48 and stand approximately 130 passengers. The top speed is 60 km/h and the average speed is 27 km/h.
On special occasions and for charter events, the
Kaiserwagen, the car ridden by Wilhelm II, is operated.
Stations
Accidents
15 January 1917 in rail transport
On this day a train rear ended another train that had stopped unexpectedly in front of it between Oberbarmen and Wupperfeld, causing the trailing car of the stopped train to fall off of the track. There were two minor injuries. Subsequently, a safety device was developed to make derailments nearly impossible.
21 July 1950 in rail transport
A circus made a publicity stunt on this day by putting an elephant named Tuffi on the train at Alter Markt. Tuffi became disturbed shortly after the ride began and crashed through the left side of the car and fell into the river below. The elephant, two journalists, and one passenger received minor injuries. Both the WSW and the circus director were fined in the incident.
11 September 1968 in rail transport
On this day, a truck crashed into a pillar and caused to section of track to fall. There were no trains in the area at the time. This incident led to the use of concrete walls in pillar anchors.
25 March 1997 in rail transport
A technical malfunction caused a rear-end collision in Oberbarmen station between a structure train and the Kaiserwagen. There were 14 injuries, but no derailment.
12 April 1999 in rail transport
The only fatal accident on the Schwebebahn Wuppertal occurred during construction work on the Robert-Daum-Platz station. Workers forgot to remove a metal claw from the track and the first train of the morning crashed down into the river. There were 5 deaths and 47 injuries.
In Literature
The Schwebebahn is alluded to in Theodore Herzl's utopian novel
Altneuland. (
The Old New Land) For Herzl, the Schwebebahn was the ideal form of urban transport, and he imagined a large monorail built in its style in Haifa.
In Film
Rudiger Vogeler and Yella Rottlander take The Schwebebahn in Wim Wenders’ 1974 movie
Alice in the Cities. It also appears in
Tom Tykwer’s 2000 film
The Princess and the Warrior (The Princess and the Warrior).
The Schwebebahn provides both subject matter and title to a video work by the
Turner Prize-nominated artist
Darren Almond. Produced in 1995,
Schwebebahn is the first of three videos that constitute his Train Trilogy.
References
See also
External links
- Official Website (German and English)
- Photos and Info Schwebebahn Monorail in Wuppertal, Germany
- Monorail in Wuppertal, Germany
- Structurae: Wuppertaler Schwebebahn
- Wuppertal in UrbanRail
- The Monorail Society
{{Infobox Public transit|name=Schwebebahn Wuppertal|image=Schweb02012006-008.JPG|imagesize=250px|locale=Wuppertal, Germany|system_length=13.3 kilometres (8.3 miles)|began_operation=[March 1,
1901 in rail transport|lines=1|stations=20|ridership=72,000|operator=Wuppertaler Stadtwerke (WSW)|-->The
Schwebebahn Wuppertal is a suspension railway in
Wuppertal,
Germany. Its full name is the “Eugen Langen Monorail Suspension Railway” (
Einschienige Hängebahn System Eugen Langen). The people of Wuppertal know it, however, as the “Old Lady” ("Alte Dame") or the “Iron
Wyvern” (“Der stählerne Drache”). Designed by
Eugen Langen, who originally planned to build it in Berlin, it was built in 1900, opened in
1901 and is still in use today as a local transport system in the city. It is the oldest monorail system in the world.
The suspension railway travels along a route 13.3 kilometres long, about 12 metres above the surface of the river
Wupper between Oberbarmen and Sonnborner Straße (10 km) and approximately 8 m above the city streets, between Sonnborner Straße and Vohwinkel (3.3 km). At one point the railway crosses the Bundesautobahn 46 motorway. The entire trip takes about 30 minutes.
The Schwebebahn operates within the
Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr transport association and accepts tickets issued by the VRR companies.
History
The Wuppertal Schwebebahn had one model: in
1824,
Henry Palmer of England first presented the world with a rail transport system which differed from all previous construction forms. It was basically a small suspension railway on which suspended carriages were drawn by horses.
Friedrich Harkort, a famous German industrialist and politician, loved the idea. He had a system of this type built as a trial in
1826 and ran it on the grounds of what is today the tax office at Elberfeld. He tried to interest the public in his scheme.
On 9 September
1826, the town councillors of Elberfeld met to discuss the use of a “Palmer’s Railway” from the
Ruhr to the river Wupper, mainly for the purpose of supplying the growing city with cheaper coal. Friedrich Harkort inspected the projected route with a surveyor and a member of the town council. The railway was to go from Elberfeld to Hinsbeck or from Elberfeld to
Langenberg. The plan never went ahead, however, due to the owners of various pits who had not been included in it and felt disadvantaged at having been left out.
The suspension railway which was finally built was planned and tested by the engineer Carl Eugen Langen in Cologne during the 1880s. In 2003, the Rhenish Heritage Office (
Rheinische Amt für Denkmalpflege des Landschaftsverbandes Rheinland or LVR) published a press report announcing the discovery of an original section of the test route of the Wuppertal Schwebebahn.
Construction on the actual Wuppertal Schwebebahn began in 1898 in rail transport. On
24 October 1900 in rail transport,
William II, German Emperor, rode a monorail trial run.
In
1901, after a construction period of about three years overseen by the government’s master builder, Wilhelm Feldmann, the railway came into operation. It opened in sections: the line from
Kluse (Schwebebahn Wuppertal station) to Zoo/Stadion (Schwebebahn Wuppertal station) opened on March 1, the line to the western terminus at
Vohwinkel (Schwebebahn Wuppertal station) opened on 24 May, while the line to the eastern terminus at
Oberbarmen (Schwebebahn Wuppertal station) did not open until
27 June 1903 in rail transport. Around 19,200 tonnes of steel were worked to produce the supporting frame and the train stops. Construction cost 16 million German gold mark. Since its first opening, the railway has closed once due to severe damage from
World War II, but managed to open as early as
1946 in rail transport.
Current modernisation
The Wuppertal Schwebebahn was considered one of the safest means of transport in the world, carrying up to 75,000 passengers a day through the city. Since
1997, the supporting frame has been largely modernised, and a large number of train stops have been reconstructed and brought up to date technically. The “Kluse” stop, at the theatre in Elberfeld, had been destroyed during the
Second World War; this too was reconstructed during the modernisation. Work was planned to be completed in
2001; however a serious accident took place in 1999 which left five people dead and 47 injured. This, along with delivery problems, meant that the completion date was delayed. In recent years (2004), the cost of the reconstruction work has nearly doubled from €250 million to €390 million.
Since 2004, many of the train stops have been fitted with
Closed-circuit television cameras.
Technology
The suspension railway is a
monorail suspended from a steel supporting frame with a rail built underneath it. It hangs on wheels which are driven by electric motor operating at 600 volts DC.
The supporting frame and tracks are made out of 486 pillars and bridgework sections. At the ends of the route there are turning points and parking spaces for the trains, which turn around so as to carry passengers there and back one after the other.
The current fleet consists of twenty-seven two-car trains built in the 1970s. The cars are 24 metres long and have 4 doors. One carriage can seat 48 and stand approximately 130 passengers. The top speed is 60 km/h and the average speed is 27 km/h.
On special occasions and for charter events, the
Kaiserwagen, the car ridden by Wilhelm II, is operated.
Stations
Accidents
15 January 1917 in rail transport
On this day a train rear ended another train that had stopped unexpectedly in front of it between Oberbarmen and Wupperfeld, causing the trailing car of the stopped train to fall off of the track. There were two minor injuries. Subsequently, a safety device was developed to make derailments nearly impossible.
21 July 1950 in rail transport
A circus made a publicity stunt on this day by putting an elephant named
Tuffi on the train at Alter Markt. Tuffi became disturbed shortly after the ride began and crashed through the left side of the car and fell into the river below. The elephant, two journalists, and one passenger received minor injuries. Both the WSW and the circus director were fined in the incident.
11 September 1968 in rail transport
On this day, a truck crashed into a pillar and caused to section of track to fall. There were no trains in the area at the time. This incident led to the use of concrete walls in pillar anchors.
25 March 1997 in rail transport
A technical malfunction caused a rear-end collision in Oberbarmen station between a structure train and the Kaiserwagen. There were 14 injuries, but no derailment.
12 April 1999 in rail transport
The only fatal accident on the Schwebebahn Wuppertal occurred during construction work on the Robert-Daum-Platz station. Workers forgot to remove a metal claw from the track and the first train of the morning crashed down into the river. There were 5 deaths and 47 injuries.
In Literature
The Schwebebahn is alluded to in Theodore Herzl's utopian novel
Altneuland. (The Old New Land) For Herzl, the Schwebebahn was the ideal form of urban transport, and he imagined a large monorail built in its style in
Haifa.
In Film
Rudiger Vogeler and Yella Rottlander take The Schwebebahn in
Wim Wenders’ 1974 movie
Alice in the Cities. It also appears in Tom Tykwer’s 2000 film
The Princess and the Warrior (The Princess and the Warrior).
The Schwebebahn provides both subject matter and title to a video work by the
Turner Prize-nominated artist
Darren Almond. Produced in 1995,
Schwebebahn is the first of three videos that constitute his Train Trilogy.
References
See also
External links
- Official Website (German and English)
- Photos and Info Schwebebahn Monorail in Wuppertal, Germany
- Monorail in Wuppertal, Germany
- Structurae: Wuppertaler Schwebebahn
- Wuppertal in UrbanRail
- The Monorail Society
