The Dresden Suspension Railway (german: Schwebebahn Dresden) is a suspended

funicular A funicular (, , ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to opposite e ...

located in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

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 connects the districts of Loschwitz and Oberloschwitz (Rochwitz side). It is one of the oldest suspension railways, having entered service on 6 May 1901, the same year the

Wuppertal Schwebebahn The Wuppertaler Schwebebahn ("Wuppertal Suspension Railway") is a suspension railway in Wuppertal, Germany. Its original name was ("Eugen Langen Monorail Overhead Conveyor System"). It is the oldest electric elevated railway with hanging cars ...

entered service. Like the Wuppertal railway, this system was designed by

Eugen Langen Carl Eugen Langen (9 October 1833 in Cologne – 2 October 1895 in Elsdorf) was a German entrepreneur, engineer and inventor, involved in the development of the petrol engine and the Wuppertal Suspension Railway. In 1857 he worked in his father' ...

. The line is long and is supported on 33 pillars.

Overview

Despite its unusual suspended format, the Dresden Suspension Railway is operated as a conventional

funicular railway A funicular (, , ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to opposite en ...

. The two cars are attached to each other by a cable, which runs around a drum at the top of the incline. The ascending car is pulled up the hill by the weight of the descending car, assisted if necessary by an electric drive to the drum. The line has the following technical parameters: * Length: ' * Height: ' * Maximum Steepness: ''39.2%'' * Cars: ''2'' * Capacity: ''40 passengers per car'' * Configuration: ''Double suspension track (

Monorail A monorail (from "mono", meaning "one", and " rail") is a railway in which the track consists of a single rail or a beam. Colloquially, the term "monorail" is often used to describe any form of elevated rail or people mover. More accurat ...

)'' * Maximum speed: ' * Traction: ''Electricity'' The ''Schwebebahn'' was not damaged in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, but it was out of service from 1984 to 1992 due to reconstruction. In 1990 and 2002, extensive repair works took place and there is now a new lookout point on the roof of the station. The ''Schwebebahn'' is one of two funicular railways in Dresden, the other being the much more conventional Dresden Cable Car. Both lines are operated by the Dresdner Verkehrsbetriebe AG, who also operate the city's

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 ...

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

and ferry networks.

References

Specific General # Dresdner Verkehrsbetriebe (Hg.): ''Bergauf, bergab mit den Dresdner Bergbahnen.'' Dresden 2005 # Norbert Kuschinski: ''Die jüngere Schwester. 100 Jahre Schwebebahn in Dresden.'' in: Straßenbahnmagazin issue 5/2001, pages 68–73 # Hansjörg F. Zureck: ''Auf dem Balkon von Dresden. Aus der Geschichte der Bergschwebebahn in Dresden-Loschwitz.'' in: Straßenbahnmagazin issue 26/1977, pages 318-330

External links

Dresden cable cars = suspension railway + funicular railway
an page
Dresden Suspension Railway page on the ''Dresdner Verkehrsbetriebe'' website
* {{Use dmy dates, date=February 2021 Buildings and structures in Dresden Suspended monorails Tourist attractions in Dresden Funicular railways in Germany Railway lines opened in 1901 Monorails in Germany Dresdner Verkehrsbetriebe

Overview

See also

References

External links