Wuppertal Schwebebahn
Friday, 11th December 2009 by Chris Hannigan
The city of Wuppertal, Germany is home to the oldest, and perhaps most spectacular, monorail system in the world.1 The Wuppertal Schwebebahn is a suspended railway system that carries 72,000 passengers a day above the Wupper River through downtown Wuppertal, and then over city streets directly above passenger and vehicular traffic. The route is 13.3 kilometres (8.3 miles) in length and takes about 30 minutes to travel from one end to the other.
Patrons can experience the entire length of the route by entering at the eastern terminal of Oberbarmen. During the journey, the train can reach top speeds of 60 km/h and passenger cars swing out as far as 25 degrees around the corners!2
Travelling westbound, the final 3.3 kilometres of track are suspended over the city streets of Wuppertal. Even though the Schwebebahn's height is only 8 metres above the street, the only collision occurred in 2008 when a train collided with a crane truck near the Hammerstein station. The final stop on the western end of the route is the Vohwinkel station, which is also home to the system's maintenance facility.
The train's route passes over the A46 autobahn, and in a weird twist, the suspended monorail actually goes under the standard railroad near the Zoo/Stadium station.
The Schwebebahn began public operations in 1901, and passengers can experience the 100-year history by taking the trip on the Kaiserwagen train. Built in 1900, the beautifully restored Kaiserwagen offers guests a unique nostalgic experience with treats like cushioned seats, gold decorative windows, lamps, and a retro Art Nouveau ornament disc separating the first and second class compartments. The train attendants even dress in period costume and offer beverage service to make for a very enjoyable ride.
UPDATE 12/14- The Schwebebahn can be considered one of the safest public transportation systems in the world, but there have been some serious accidents along the way that deserve mentioning.
In 1999, maintenance workers left a piece of equipment on the track following an overnight work session. The first train to come along the next morning struck the item and crashed into the Wupper below. According to Wikipedia, the accident killed 5 people and injured 49.
In another incident, an elephant named Tuffi was brought aboard the Schwebebahn in 1950 as a marketing stunt for the Althoff Circus. Apparently Tuffi didn't enjoy the ride because she soon began stomping wildly throughout the cabin, eventually crashing through the side and falling into the river below. Tuffi was injured but survived. Today, the incident has become a famous tale in the history of the Schwebebahn. There's even a painting of Tuffi on a building near the spot where the elephant jumped between stations Alter Markt und Adlerbrücke.
More information can be found on the Schwebebahn's website and Wikipedia.
About the author
Chris is on twitter! @djtripp20
The most famous and strange incident happened in 1950, when a circus let an elephant drive in the monorail. It quickly got nervous and jumped out of it and into the river with only little injuries. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schwebebahn_Wuppertal#21_July_1950
The translation of “Schwebebahn” is wrong in my opinion. The correct translation would be “elevated railway” or “overhead railway”…
The possible tranlations you can find here: http://dict.leo.org/?lp=ende&search=schwebebahn
The Schwebebahn makes an appearance in the Tom Tykwer film “The Princess and the Warrior.”
The elephant’s name was Tuffi, and there’s a pharmacy named Tuffi, next to the river where the poor elephant went through the floorboards of the Shewebebahn.
Besides being the home of Beyer, Wuppertal was the home of Friedrich Engles. You can tour one of the old Engles’ family factories.
Is there a chance the track will bend?
Not on your life, my Hindu friend.
Schweben is the German word for floating or hovering. So the Schwebebahn would be a floating or hovering train. Also while it is true that the only collision with a road vehicle occured in 2008 a much more serious accident happened in 1999 when a train collided with a claw left on the track by maintenance crews. This ripped the supports off the trains roof and plunged the car 10m (30 ft) into the river below. Five people died and more than forty were seriously injured. Until then the Shwebebahn had been considered the safest vehicle in the world.
After some further looking into, the accident in 2008 wasn’t even the first collision with a road user. In 1903 a drover was knocked of his high load by the Schwebebahn. And while you may argue that that was not the actual vehicle struck by the train, there was another incident in 1989 where a train struck the raised bed of a dump truck … but no injuries resulted from this.
Technically Bayer are based in Leverkusen,like the football team. I think Wuppertal was where they started life.
Another update: As of today (15/12/2009) the Schwebebahn has been shut down because of safety concerns caused by crumbling infrastructure. It is expected to resume service around Easter 2010.
Hello, I am from Wuppertal, I am living here 😉 Nice you are reporting from my city! Wuffi
I rode this train once, and the guy next to me smelled like liquer…my goodness it was 8am ?