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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 metropolitan area in western Germany. It does not include the Cologne and Bonn Stadtbahn systems, which are integrated in the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Sieg (VRS).
At the beginning of the 1960s, road traffic in the Rhine-Ruhr area increased like in other German metropolitan areas. Existing trams were regarded as obstacles for car-oriented cities. Therefore, these trams should be relocated to underground sections below city centers (as Stadtbahn lines) if they were not replaced by bus lines.
The cities of Bochum, Castrop-Rauxel, Dortmund, Duisburg, Essen, Gelsenkirchen, Herne, Mülheim an der Ruhr, Oberhausen, Recklinghausen and Wattenscheid founded the Stadtbahngesellschaft Ruhr in 1969 for coordinating the plans to transform tram routes into Stadtbahn routes. Düsseldorf and Hattingen joined in 1972; since then, the cooperation has been called Stadtbahngesellschaft Rhein-Ruhr. Witten joined in 1981, Recklinghausen left in 1982.
Original Stadtbahn plans proposed upgrading up to 300 kilometers of tram lines step by step. Most of these proposed lines were planned in north-south direction and would have branched off of a main line that would have run more or less east-west. Due to financial constraints and the downturn of the economy in the region, many sections or the originally planned system have not been built. As a result, there are isolated standard gauge Stadtbahn lines inside of metre gauge tram systems – one example would be the U35 line in Bochum.
There are five Stadtbahn systems that make up the Rhine-Ruhr Stadtbahn (their operating companies are shown in parentheses):
As of 2016[update], there are 23 lines altogether in the Rhine-Ruhr Stadtbahn:
| Line | System | Cities on Route | Stations (underground) |
Date Opened |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| U11 | Essen Stadtbahn | Essen, Gelsenkirchen | 23 (14) | 1 June 1986 |
| U17 | Essen Stadtbahn | Essen | 17 (12) | 27 November 1981 |
| U18 | Essen Stadtbahn | Essen, Mülheim | 17 (10) | 28 May 1977 |
| U35 | Bochum Stadtbahn | Bochum, Herne | 21 (15) | 2 September 1989 |
| U41 | Dortmund Stadtbahn | Dortmund, Lünen | 28 (12) | 27 May 1983 / 2 June 1984 |
| U42 | Dortmund Stadtbahn | Dortmund | 28 (7) | 15 May 1976 / 26 September 1992 / 16 June 2002 |
| U43 | Dortmund Stadtbahn | Dortmund | 34 (5) | 27 April 2008 |
| U44 | Dortmund Stadtbahn | Dortmund | 19 (4) | 27 April 2008 |
| U45 | Dortmund Stadtbahn | Dortmund | 8 (7) | 2 June 1984 |
| U46 | Dortmund Stadtbahn | Dortmund | 7 (7) | 27 May 1983 / 2 June 1996 |
| U47 | Dortmund Stadtbahn | Dortmund | 27 (8) | 2 June 1984 |
| U49 | Dortmund Stadtbahn | Dortmund | 11 (8) | 1990 |
| U70 | Düsseldorf Stadtbahn | Düsseldorf, Krefeld, Meerbusch | 17 (5) | 6 August 1988 |
| U71 | Düsseldorf Stadtbahn | Düsseldorf | 42 (6) | 21 February 2016 |
| U72 | Düsseldorf Stadtbahn | Düsseldorf, Ratingen | 31 (6) | 21 February 2016 |
| U73 | Düsseldorf Stadtbahn | Düsseldorf | 23 (6) | 21 February 2016 |
| U74 | Düsseldorf Stadtbahn | Düsseldorf, Meerbusch | 31 (8) | May 1994 |
| U75 | Düsseldorf Stadtbahn | Düsseldorf, Neuss | 28 (7) | May 1994 |
| U76 | Düsseldorf Stadtbahn | Düsseldorf, Krefeld, Meerbusch | 28 (6) | 6 August 1988 |
| U77 | Düsseldorf Stadtbahn | Düsseldorf | 22 (8) | May 1994 |
| U78 | Düsseldorf Stadtbahn | Düsseldorf | 15 (8) | 6 August 1988 |
| U79 | Duisburg, Düsseldorf | 45 (21) | 6 August 1988 | |
| U83 | Düsseldorf Stadtbahn | Düsseldorf | 35 (6) | 21 February 2016 |
All plans included the following standards:
Cross-platform interchanges were planned wherever useful and possible. All Stadtbahn lines have been electrified with overhead catenary and are powered with direct current like former trams.
However, most of Rhine-Ruhr tram lines still use metre gauge (1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in)). Combined Stadtbahn and tram tracks use three-rail tracks (Essen) or even four-rail tracks (Krefeld). Some sections in Mülheim an der Ruhr, Bochum und Essen were constructed with metre gauge and temporary integrated into the network, being able to be converted easily to standard gauge at a later point of time.
Since the start of Rhine-Ruhr Stadtbahn, existing tram routes were integrated and partly developed as pilot routes. Among others, the former tram lines 8/18 Essen–Mülheim were chosen to become the most important pilot route with tracks in between the Ruhrschnellweg express highway lanes; the new pilot Stadtbahn line U18 was opened in 1977.
Most of today's Stadtbahn lines were developed out of former tram lines. Their line numbers were simply converted into two-digit numbers prepended by U for distinguishing between both standards; the U refers to both unabhängig (engl.: independent) and U-Bahn (metro) standards being the later target, although complete U-Bahn (metro) lines have in fact never existed in the Rhine-Ruhr area. By 2022, the only full independent lines in the Rhine-Ruhr area are the Dortmund H-Bahn, Düsseldorf SkyTrain, Wuppertal Schwebebahn (also referred as line 60 in the Stadtbahn numbering scheme) hanging and suspended monorails, the U18 line in Essen and U46 in Dortmund.
The very ambitious original plans have not paid enough attention to financial restrictions and increased tunneling costs in the mining areas. So, the schedule for opening the planned sections has been severely delayed with some routes even cancelled. The next step to transform Stadtbahn routes to metro standards is no longer foreseen.
To use of constructed sections, existing tram lines have been operated further on the new alignments including temporary use of tram gauges and low-floor platforms. Some stations even contain both low-floor and high-floor platforms in case of mixed tram and Stadtbahn operation.
For the Rhine-Ruhr Stadtbahn, new standardised Stadtbahn trains named Stadtbahnwagen B were developed. However, Stadtbahn companies ordered them with different lengths, layout of doors etc..
Tram lines still use former rolling stock and new low-floor trams where Stadtbahn projects were stopped or severely delayed.
| Opening date | Stadtbahn section | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 05 Oct 1967 | Essen Saalbau | sub-surface tram station, changed in 1984 (metre gauge) |
| 03 Nov 1972 | Bochum Klinikum – Hustadt | as tram until 1994, not in tunnel (metre gauge) |
| 1974 | Duisburg Neuer Friedhof – Düsseldorf Wittlaer | pilot route, includes elevated and underground sections, as tram until 1981 |
| 15 May 1976 | Dortmund Kirchderne – Grevel | elevated, as tram lines 402/406 until 1992, today called U42 |
| 28 May 1977 | Mülheim Heißen Kirche – Essen Wiener Platz | pilot route, first line with full Stadtbahn standards in the Rhine-Ruhr area |
| 28 May 1977 | Essen Saalbau – Porscheplatz | sub-surface tram operation (metre gauge) |
| 25 May 1979 | Bochum Schauspielhaus – Hauptbahnhof | sub-surface tram operation (metre gauge) |
| 03 Nov 1979 | Mülheim Heißen Kirche – Mülheim Hauptbahnhof | partly not in tunnel |
| 03 Oct 1981 | Düsseldorf Rampe Kennedydamm – Rampe Opernhaus (Heinr.-Heine-Allee) | sub-surface tram operation until 1988, two stops |
| 27 Nov 1981 | Essen Bismarckstraße – Rampe Planckstraße | further to Margarethenhöhe |
| 27 Nov 1981 | Essen Wiener Platz – Universität/Gesamthochschule | |
| 28 Nov 1981 | Bochum Rampe Ruhrstadion – Bochum Hauptbahnhof | sub-surface tram operation (metre gauge) |
| 27 May 1983 | Dortmund Clarenberg – Hörde Bf | as premetro lines 401/406 until 1984, today called U41 |
| 02 Jun 1984 | Dortmund Westfalenpark bzw. Rampe Märkische Str. – Lortzing-/Schützenstraße | high-floor Stadtbahn (Stammstrecke I) |
| 01 Sep 1984 | Gelsenkirchen Hauptbahnhof – Musiktheater | sub-surface tram operation (metre gauge) |
| 27 May 1985 | Mülheim Hauptbahnhof – Aktienstraße | sub-surface tram operation (metre gauge) |
| 27 Sep 1985 | Essen Porscheplatz – Viehofer Platz | sub-surface tram operation (metre gauge) |
| 31 May 1986 | Essen Saalbau – Messe/Gruga bzw. Rampe Florastraße | further to Bredeney, mixed operation metre gauge tram / standard gauge Stadtbahn |
| 24 Aug 1986 | Dortmund Märkische Straße – Willem-van-Vloten-Straße | including Kohlgartenstraße ramp |
| 7 May 1988 | Düsseldorf Heinrich-Heine-Allee – Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof | four-track tunnel, four stops, demolition of Opernhaus ramp |
| 06 Aug 1988 | Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof – Rampe Stahlwerkstraße | further to Oberbilk/Philipshalle (S) and Holthausen |
| 06 Aug 1988 | Düsseldorf Heinrich-Heine-Allee – Rampe Tonhalle | further to Oberkassel, Krefeld and Neuss |
| 02 Sep 1989 | Herne Schloss Strünkede – Bochum Hauptbahnhof | |
| 27 May 1990 | Dortmund Westfalenstadion | |
| 09 Nov 1991 | Essen Porscheplatz – Berliner Platz | mixed sub-surface tram operation (metre gauge) and guided bus operation |
| 1992/1993 | Dortmund Hafen – Insterburger Straße | track moving, grade separated with a road underpass |
| 11 Jul 1992 | Duisburg Rampe Platanenhof bzw. Rathaus – Duissern (Rampe Rübenstraße) | four-track tunnel, partly sub-surface tram operation (metre gauge) |
| 26 Sep 1992 | Dortmund Stadtgarten – Brunnenstraße | high-floor Stadtbahn (Stammstrecke II) |
| 26 Sep 1993 | Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof – Ronsdorfer Straße | further to Eller/Vennhauser Allee, two stops |
| 27 Nov 1993 | Bochum Hauptbahnhof – Waldring | further to Hustadt on gauge-converted tram route |
| 28 May 1994 | Gelsenkirchen Musiktheater – Ruhrzoo | sub-surface tram operation (metre gauge) |
| 1 May 1995 | Dortmund Stadtgarten – Städtische Kliniken | |
| 02 Jun 1996 | Dortmund Stadtgarten – Polizeipräsidium | |
| 24 May 1998 | Dortmund Polizeipräsidium – Westfalenhallen | |
| 24 May 1998 | Essen Universität/Gesamthochschule – Altenessen Bf | |
| 19 Sep 1998 | Mülheim Schloss Broich – Hauptbahnhof | sub-surface tram operation (metre and standard gauge) |
| 23 Sep 2000 | Duisburg Duissern – Meiderich Bf | partly sub-surface tram operation (standard gauge), demolition of Rübenstraße ramp |
| 30 Sep 2001 | Essen Altenessen Bf – Rampe II. Schichtstraße | further to Gelsenkirchen-Horst |
| 15 Jun 2002 | Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof – Oberbilk/Philipshalle (S) | further to Holthausen, three stops, demolition of Stahlwerkstraße ramp |
| 16 Jun 2002 | Dortmund Städtische Kliniken – Kreuzstraße | |
| 20 Mar 2005 | Dortmund Barop Parkhaus | road underpass and relocation of station |
| 27 Jan 2006 | Bochum Bochumer Verein – Lohring, Rathaus – Hauptbahnhof | sub-surface tram operation (metre gauge) |
| 27 Apr 2008 | Dortmund Unionstraße – Reinoldikirche (– Ostentor) | low-floor Stadtbahn (Stammstrecke III) |
| 24 Sep 2009 | Düsseldorf Holthausen – Benrath, Betriebshof | high-floor Stadtbahn |
| 30 Aug 2010 | Düsseldorf Werstener Dortstraße – Werstener Dorfstraße – Südpark – Universität Ost/Botanischer Garten | high-floor Stadtbahn |
| 20 Feb 2016 | Düsseldorf Pempelforter Straße – Kirchplatz | low-floor Stadtbahn (Wehrhahn-Linie) |
| 14 Nov 2016 | Dortmund Hauptfriedhof – Allerstraße | road underpass (B1/A 40) and closure of Vahleweg station |
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