__NOTOC__ The Düsseldorf Stadtbahn, together with the

Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn The Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn (german: S-Bahn Rhein-Ruhr) is a polycentric and electrically driven S-train network covering the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Region in the German federated state of North Rhine-Westphalia. This includes most of the Ruhr (and ci ...

and the Düsseldorf Straßenbahn (

Tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

), is the backbone of the

public transport Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...

system of

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, and is integrated in the

Rhine-Ruhr Stadtbahn The Rhine-Ruhr Stadtbahn (german: Stadtbahn Rhein-Ruhr) is an umbrella system of all of the Stadtbahn ( light rail) lines included in the integrated public transport network of the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr (VRR), which covers the Rhine-Ruhr met ...

network. The

Stadtbahn ' (; German for "city railway"; plural ') is a German word referring to various types of urban rail transport. One type of transport originated in the 19th century, firstly in Berlin and followed by Vienna, where rail routes were created that co ...

officially opened on 6 August 1988 and is operated by

Rheinbahn AG Rheinbahn is a public transport operator operating in Düsseldorf, Meerbusch and Kreis Mettmann. Its network consists of the Düsseldorf Stadtbahn, a network of 11 Stadtbahn (light rail) lines which are integrated in the Rhine-Ruhr Stadtbahn ne ...

. , the Stadtbahn network currently consists of eleven lines, operating on , and serving 161 stations, 22 of which are underground stations (Düsseldorf: 16, Duisburg: 6 (U79)).

Current lines

U70 is a rush-hour-only ''express'' line. It operates the same route as the U76, however does not stop at all stations. U77 is not operated on sundays or holidays. U83 is not operated on weekends. The lines U80-U82 are currently in planning and constructions are set to start in late 2020/early 2021.

Future expansion

In late 2019 construction work for the new U81 started. The first section will connect the main station (

Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof is the main railway station of Düsseldorf, the state capital of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. History The station was opened on 1 October 1891. It replaced the three following stations: *the ''Bergisch-Märkische s ...

) and the

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...

. Opening of this section is scheduled for 2024 and will also enable connections between the arena and the airport.

Rolling Stock

There are a total of 135 trainsets for the Düsseldorf Stadtbahn. There are 103 six-axle articulated tramsets (B80), which are operated on the lines U70 and U74-U79 as well as 32 eight-axle articulated tramsets (GT8SU)., which are mostly found on the lines U75 and U77 and occasionally on line U74. Both the B80 and the GT8SU have a floor at around 90 cm above the tracks. The B80 sets were delivered in two batches: the first was in 1981 and consisted of 12 tramsets with vehicle bodies made of

Steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

and the second one was delivered between 1985 and 1993, with the remaining 92 tramsets, these had vehicle bodies made of

Aluminium Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. I ...

. The two Badges can be distuingished by the sets' service numbers: for the first Badge the numbers will be a "40xx" and for the second one either a "41xx" or "42xx". After an Accident in 2001, one of the sets (numbered 4001) was deemed damaged beyond repair and scrapped. The GT8SU sets were originally purchased by the Rheinbahn in 1973 as low-floor GT8S sets for the Tram network and modified for use on the Stadtbahn in 1981. Furthermore, the lines U71-U73 and U83 are operated by eight-axle trainsets of type NF8U, which have a floor height of 30 cm above the tracks. Starting from 2022, a total of 59 HF6 tramsets manufactured by

Alstom Alstom SA is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer operating worldwide in rail transport markets, active in the fields of passenger transportation, signalling, and locomotives, with products including the AGV, TGV, Eurostar, Avelia ...

subsidiary

Bombardier Transportation Bombardier Transportation was a Canadian-German rolling stock and rail transport manufacturer, headquartered in Berlin, Germany. It was one of the world's largest companies in the rail vehicle and equipment manufacturing and servicing industry ...

are delivered to replace the older GT8SU units.

References

Inline citations

Books

* Dieter Höltge: ''Straßen- und Stadtbahnen in Deutschland Band 4: Ruhrgebiet von Dortmund bis Duisburg'', EK-Verlag, 1994, . * Landeshauptstadt Düsseldorf Amt für Verkehrsmanagement: ''Nahverkehrsplan 2002–2007''. Veröffentlichung, Düsseldorf 2003 * Hans G. Nolden: ''Die Düsseldorfer Straßenbahn''. GeraMond Verlag, München 1998, . * Axel Schild, Dieter Waltking: ''Die Rheinbahn Stadtverkehr in und um Düsseldorf''. alba, Düsseldorf 1996, . * Richard Jacobi, Dieter Zeh: ''Die Geschichte der Düsseldorfer Straßenbahn Von der Pferdetram zur Stadtbahn''. EK-Verlag, Freiburg 1995, . * Friedhelm Blennemann: ''U-Bahnen und Stadtbahnen in Deutschland Planung Bau Betrieb''. alba, Düsseldorf 1975, . * Fritz D. Kegel: ''U-Bahnen in Deutschland Planung Bau Betrieb''. alba, Düsseldorf 1971. * Robert Schwandl: ''Schnellbahnen in Deutschland''. Robert Schwandl Verlag, Berlin 2007, .