Schwebebahn Wuppertal

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Schwebebahn Wuppertal

Location	Wuppertal, Germany
Type	suspended
Builder	Eugen Langen
Length	13.3 kilometres (8.3 miles)
Inauguration	March 1, 1901
Lines	1
Stations	20
Daily ridership	72,000
Operator	Wuppertaler Stadtwerke (WSW)
Top speed	60 km/h
Operational mode	with operator

Schwebebahn over the river Wupper

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" or the "Iron Wyvern". 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 km long, about 12 m above the surface of the river Wupper between Oberbarmen and Sonnborner Straße^[1] (10 km^[2]) and approximately 8 m above the city streets, between Sonnborner Straße and Vohwinkle^[3] (3.3 km).^[4] At one point the railway crosses the A46 motorway. The entire trip takes about 30 minutes.^[5]

The Schwebebahn operates within the VRR transport association and accepts tickets issued by the VRR companies.

1 History
- 1.1 Current Modernisation
2 Technology
3 Stations
4 Accidents
5 In Literature
6 In Film
7 References
8 See also
9 External links

[edit] History

The Wuppertal Schwebebahn had one model: in 1824, Henry Palmer of England first presented the world with a railway system which differed from all previous construction forms. It was basically a small suspension railway on which suspended carriages were drawn by horses.

The Schwebebahn Wuppertal crossing an intersection

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 September 9, 1826 the town councillors of Elberfeld met to discuss the use of a "Palmer's Railway" from the Ruhr to the Wupper river, 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 being left out.

The suspension railway which was finally built was planned and tested by the engineer Carl Eugen Langen in Cologne^[6] 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. On October 24, 1900, William II, German Emperor, rode a monorail trial run.^[7]

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 to Zoo/Stadion opened on March 1, the line to the western terminus at Vohwinkel opened on May 24, while the line to the eastern terminus at Oberbarmen did not open until June 27, 1903.^[8] Around 19,200 tonnes of steel were worked to produce the supporting frame and the train stops.^[9] Construction cost 16 million Goldmark. 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.^[10]

[edit] 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 town. 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 5 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 euro.^[11]

Since 2004 many of the train stops have been fitted with CCTV cameras.

[edit] Technology

Details of the suspension and motors

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.^[12]

The supporting frame and tracks are made out of 486 pillars and bridgework sections. At the ends of the route there are turning points^[13] 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^[14] two-car trains^[15] built in the 1970s.^[16] The cars are 24 metres long and have 4 doors. One carriage can seat 48 and stand approximately 130 passengers.^[17] The top speed is 60 km/h and the average speed is 27 km/h.^[18]

On special occasions and for charter events, the Kaiserwagen, the car ridden by Wilhelm II, is operated.^[19]

[edit] Stations

Oberbarmen-eastern terminus
Wupperfeld
Werther Brücke
Alter Markt
Adlerbrücke
Loher Brücke
Völklinger Street
Landgericht
Kluse
Hauptbahnhof
Ohligsmühle
Robert-Daum-Platz
Pestalozzistr
Westende
Varresbecker Street
Zoo/Stadion
Sonnborner Straße
Hammerstein
Bruch
Vohwinkel-western terminus

[edit] Accidents

[edit] January 15, 1917

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.^[20] Subsequently, a safety device was developed to make derailments nearly impossible.^[21]

[edit] July 21, 1950

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.

[edit] September 11, 1968

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.

[edit] March 25, 1997

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.

[edit] April 12, 1999

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.^[22]

[edit] 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.[1]

[edit] In Film

Rudiger Vogeler and Yella Rottlander takes The Schwebebahn in Wim Wenders' 1974 movie Alice in den Städten. It also appears in Tom Tykwer's 2000 film Der Krieger und die Kaiserin (The Warrior and the Empress).