__NOTOC__ The Düsseldorf Stadtbahn () is a ''

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 ...

'' ("city train", i.e. urban

light rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...

system) serving

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

and surrounding areas in the

Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region The Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region () is the largest metropolitan region in Germany, with over ten million inhabitants. A polycentric conurbation with several major urban concentrations, the region covers an area of , entirely within the feder ...

of the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

state of

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

. Together with the S-Bahn Rhein-Ruhr, the Stadtbahn forms the backbone of the local public transport system in the city, which is supplemented by other tram and bus lines. On some lines, the light rail operates beyond the city limits of Düsseldorf to the neighboring cities of

Neuss Neuss (; written ''Neuß'' until 1968; ; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is on the west bank of the Rhine opposite Düsseldorf. Neuss is the largest city within the Rhein-Kreis Neuss district. It is primarily known for its ...

Meerbusch Meerbusch () is a town in Rhein-Kreis Neuss, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It has been an incorporated town since 1970. Meerbusch is the municipality with the most income millionaires in North Rhine-Westphalia. Geography Meerbusch is a town i ...

Krefeld Krefeld ( , ; ), also spelled Crefeld until 1925 (though the spelling was still being used in British papers throughout the Second World War), is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany. It is located northwest of Düsseldorf, its c ...

Duisburg Duisburg (; , ) is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine (Lower Rhine) and the Ruhr (river), Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruh ...

and

Ratingen Ratingen (; ) is a town in the district of Mettmann in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It lies in the northwestern part of Berg about 12 km northeast of Düsseldorf. Administration With a communal reform of 1975 the independent municipalit ...

. The Düsseldorf network is part of the Rhine-Ruhr light rail system. After the first tunnel section was opened in 1981, the entire public transport system on the heavily frequented axis between the old town and the main station has been able to operate underground since 1988, when the inner-city tunnel was opened. The high-floor operations started here, subsequently leading to a separation of the rail-bound public transport into a light rail and a tram network. With the start of service on the Wehrhahn line on February 21, 2016, the light rail network grew to a route length of 85.5 and a line length of 188.2 kilometers; Rheinbahn's 2020 annual report lists the route length of the light rail network as 98.7 kilometers. The eleven - instead of previously seven - lines are operated with 135 Rheinbahn vehicles. In addition to these, operation of the U79 is shared between the Rheinbahn and the neighboring Duisburger Verkehrsgesellschaft (DVG) and their respective rolling stock. Fares on the network are those of the Rhine-Ruhr Transport Association (''

Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr The Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr (), abbreviated VRR, is a public transport association (Verkehrsverbund) in the Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It covers large parts of the Ruhr, Ruhr area, the Lower Rhine region including Düsse ...

'', VRR). This allows for integrated ticketing with the Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn and several other regional and local transport agencies across the Rhine-Ruhr region.

History

Metro plans

The original plans of the 1960s envisioned a subway system for Düsseldorf. In 1959, the findings of a special commission formed by the city administration, the police, the Rheinbahn, and the city of Düsseldorf considered a total of 47 kilometers of classic subway network with five lines. According to the drafts, this would have completely replaced the tramway system with only three supplementary bus lines and would have made the streets of the state capital completely adjusted for cars. The idea was to have several streetcar lines divided into different areas. In addition, the streetcar lines would have been integrated into the subway system. The aim was to have several sections leading to different parts of the city, which would have been bundled into two main lines in the city center. A connection of these was planned at a central subway station at today's Heinrich-Heine-Allee. However, these plans were changed at the behest of the North Rhine-Westphalian state government as financial sponsor, in favor of a light rail system for the entire Rhine-Ruhr area.

Current lines

U70 is a rush-hour-only ''express'' line. It operates the same route as the U76, however it does not stop at all stations along the way. U77 is not operated on Sundays or holidays. Lines U81-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 ...

) and the

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

. Initially, this segment was expected to open in 2025; however, due to planning errors and construction delays, the launch has been postponed to the second quarter of 2026.

Rolling Stock

There are a total of 135 trainsets for the Düsseldorf Stadtbahn. Of which there are 103 six-axle articulated LRV (Light Rail Vehicle) of the type Düwag B80D (Type B, 80km/h Vmax, "Drehstrohm" ddie current motor, which operate on the lines U70 and U75-U79 as well as 32 eight-axle articulated tramsets (GT8SU)., which are mostly found on the lines U75 and U78. Both the B80D and the GT8SU have a floor height at around above the tracks. The B80D sets were delivered in two batches: the first in 1981 consisted of 12 LRV with vehicle bodies made of

Steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

, and the second batch was delivered between 1985 and 1993, with the remaining 92 LRV, manufactured with

Aluminium Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...

body shells. The two batches can be distinguished by the sets' car numbers, as well as details of the body shell: for the first batch the numbers are prefixed by "40" and for the second one either a "41" or "42". The steel body shells stand apart from their later counterparts by the inclusion of a rounded transition from the side of the car to the roof, whereas the aluminium body shells have an angular, sharply beveled topography. The earlier sets also used to have a singular door near the driver's cab on both the left and right sides relative to the driver's seat, which on the left side was eventually taken out and replaced with a simple window, which can today still be guessed at from its current appearance of the drivers' cab (2023). The later aluminium body shells omitted the left hand door, in favour of a larger driver's cab. The steel body shells were also given a more glossy exterior paint job, while a more matt paint job was used on the aluminium body shells. After an accident in 2001, one of the sets (numbered 4001) was deemed to be damaged beyond repair and scrapped. The GT8SU sets were originally purchased by the Rheinbahn from Düwag/Kiepe in 1973 as street-level-entry GT8S sets for the Tram network and later modified for use on the Stadtbahn in 1981 with folding steps, now designated GT8SU for "U-Bahn". Furthermore, the lines U71-U73 and U83 are operated by eight-axle trainsets of type NF8U, which have a floor height of above the tracks. Starting from 2022, a total of 59 HF6 LRV manufactured by

Alstom Alstom SA () is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer which operates worldwide in rail transport markets. It is active in the fields of passenger transportation, signaling, and locomotives, producing high-speed, suburban, regional ...

subsidiary

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

are being delivered to replace the older GT8SU and B80D 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, .