The world's oldest operating monorail is in Wuppertal, Germany.

A Hanging Commute: Suspended Monorails in Germany

Nestled in the westernmost part of Germany, about 20 miles west of Dusseldorf, the city of Wuppertal is home to the most innovative and revolutionary form of transportation of its time: the Schwebebahn monorail. Built more than 100 years ago – and still in operation today – the monorail is a suspended, hanging rail system that travels along 8.3 miles of track.  Because more than 80 percent of the system needed to travel above the Wupper River, 19^th Century engineers had to come up with an alternative to the conventional elevated rail line. In 1898, using steel bridge components, construction of world’s first suspended monorail began.

In Wuppertal, the monorail travels at an estimated 35 mph, and arrives at one of the 20 stations every two to three minutes.  The system can carry up to 3,500 passengers per hour and serves approximately 24 million people every year.  Wuppertal’s monorail has undergone several facelifts to modernize the system and adapt to changing transit technology. In 2002, the town council decided to fully automate the suspension line, with all trains directed via a digital control center. Such investments have improved service, reduced energy consumption, and attracted more riders to transit.

While cities in Australia and Japan have built extensive urban monorail systems, they are beginning to make appearances in American cities. Seattle and Las Vegas are among the few cities that have already incorporated monorails into their transit networks. Walt Disney World’s Monorail System, which covers 13.7 miles of track, has one of the highest ridership of all monorails, with more than 50 million passenger trips each year.  As cities in the world work to identify the most appropriate type of transit to best meet their community’s needs, monorails may be an efficient and environmentally friendly choice for communities to consider.

 

 

Photo Courtesy of Sean Rutter

For Additional Information:

• Schwebebahn Monorail – City of Wuppertal

• What is a monorail – The Monorail Society

NEWS
Local News

Midway Airport deal falls apart: Consortium can't borrow cash needed to finance deal – Chicago Tribune “Unable to borrow the mountain of cash needed to finance the deal, a consortium, including a unit of troubled Citigroup Inc., had to scotch its plans to lease and operate the city-owned airport facility.”

Rank projects before spending our tax money – Daily Herald “The goal is to fund projects that are clearly needed, improve safety, create jobs, offer regional benefits, improve the environment, reduce congestion and enhance not just roads but also public transit.”

Uncomfortable transit junket has politicos on same page for assistance – Daily Herald “The group of legislators were Democrats and Republicans from the city and suburbs. While that's usually a recipe for dissent, everyone was on the same page about passing a substantial capital bill that includes a big chunk - about $10 billion - for public transit.”

Obama's $8 billion plan would dramatically shorten trips from Chicago to other Midwest cities – Chicago Tribune “Passenger trains traveling at 110 m.p.h.—arriving in Chicago from St. Louis in under four hours—could be operating in three or four years after President Barack Obama allocated $8 billion in federal stimulus money to begin building a national high-speed rail system.”

Proposed law would shake up status quo on state transit pet projects – Daily Herald “The legislation backed by Ryg, a Vernon Hills Democrat, and Republican Rep. Sid Mathias of Buffalo Grove seeks to fund projects that are clearly needed, improve safety, create jobs, offer regional benefits, improve the environment, reduce congestion, and enhance not just roads but also public transit.”

Express bus route will use I-55 shoulders – Chicago Tribune “The Chicago region's first truly express buses will debut early next year, darting past traffic by using the left shoulders of Interstate Highway 55 between the Loop and the southwest suburbs, transit officials said Wednesday.”

Rural mass transit district plan moves ahead – Register-Mail “Many people would like to go from Galesburg to Peoria for shopping trips, but the current VNA system can only take people to Peoria for medical appointments. A rural transit system would allow people to ride along to go shopping.”

Mini capital plan is only first step – Daily Herald “While this program fills an immediate need, we cannot lose sight of the real danger we all face if Illinois fails to follow through with a comprehensive transportation program.”

World News

Express toll lanes added to regional plan – San Francisco Chronicle “A 25-year spending and planning strategy adopted by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission Wednesday calls for the development of an 800-mile network of express lanes - carpool lanes that solo drivers could pay a toll to use.”

Spain's Bullet Train Changes Nation -- and Fast – Wall Street Journal “Spain is on track to bypass France and Japan to have the world's biggest network of ultrafast trains by the end of next year.”

Climate is right to fight warming – San Francisco Chronicle “One of the key - and most controversial - strategies would be to establish a mandatory cap-and-trade system in which oil refineries, manufacturers and other major carbon emitters would buy and sell credits based on their greenhouse-emission allowances.”

Cabinet secretaries collaborate on building livable communities – Seattle Times “Two of President Obama's Cabinet secretaries — Shaun Donovan of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Ray LaHood of Transportation (DOT) — are promising to make their bureaucracies work together in crafting their programs as they impact communities nationwide.”

Ohio joins truck-only lane study – Land-Line Magazine “Ohio has joined Indiana, Illinois and Missouri in a study of building truck-only lanes on Interstate 70.”

Obama is urged to take the wheel on infrastructure – Los Angeles Times “Two prominent governors, California's Arnold Schwarzenegger and Pennsylvania's Edward G. Rendell, sent a memo to President Obama saying he needed to assert more political leadership instead of leaving it to Congress to draft a plan for improving the nation's aging highways, bridges and ports.”

Obama Marks 2,000th Stimulus-Funded Transit Project – Washington Post “Obama said that the $28 billion allocated to transit projects and highways has already funded 2,000 separate projects around the country.”

Resources

• Fine-Particulate Air Pollution and Life Expectancy in the United States – New England Journal of Medicine
• Making Transportation Sustainable: Insights from Germany – Brookings
• Bike Share Opportunities in New York City – NYC Dept. of City Planning  

Enjoy Talking Transit?  The content is a result of the research, outreach and advocacy efforts of MPC’s dedicated Transportation team.  You can make a difference on the issues you read about here by making a donation to MPC today, http://www.metroplanning.org/donation.asp. 

 

Contact Information

For comments, suggestions or submissions, please contact Emily Tapia Lopez, Associate, at etapia@metroplanning.org or 312-863-6047.