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108-570: Like the Frankfurt U-Bahn , it is a mixed system of light rail and underground railway. One of its three lines, U18, runs completely free of intersections with other traffic. The other two lines are partly tramlines and partly underground lines. The sections of tramline have only a few sections that have no intersections with road traffic. Like all urban public transport in Essen, the Essen Stadtbahn

216-615: A barrel roof arranged at right angles to the track. The station was completed in December 1902. On the platform there was a branch of the main post office, including a telegraph office, and on the northern station forecourt there was a stopping place for cabs. By 1930, the Kettwiger Straße underpass had been widened with the installation of an extra span. At the outbreak of the First World War, many troop transport trains ran through

324-541: A 552-metre (1,811 ft)-long urban tunnel section through Saalbau station, opened on 5 October 1967. This was also the first part of the entire underground tram ( U-Straßenbahn ) network of the Rhine-Ruhr region, since Saalbau station was also the first underground railway station in North Rhine-Westphalia. The next phase of construction was the building of the continuous Stadtbahn line from Essen to Mülheim along

432-399: A basement for the station management. There were also cellars under the central hall and the ticket hall, which was located in the western wing of the building. The central or main hall had a square floor plan with a side length of 18.42 metres. An externally accessible staircase on the eastern side of the building led to the upper attic and to the extended attic, both of which were used by

540-402: A central, four-track junction station serving all lines, which a branch in the north to the northeast and the northwest. The first construction project was the establishment of the shell of Planckstraße station in 1964, which was later used for the connection to the existing above-ground tram line to Margarethenhoehe. The first section of the underground tram line to go into operation, however, was

648-455: A charity providing assistance at stations) opened in 1897, making it one of the oldest in Germany. The station tracks still crossed Kettwiger Straße at a level crossing. An elevated, grade-separated system of tracks was put into operation on 15 June 1899 so that Kettwiger Strasse now passed underneath. The wooden station building was replaced by a stately entrance building based on plans by

756-563: A consortium of Duewag , Siemens , and Kiepe between 1976 and 1985, and are still used today on all three lines. Of the system's 31 B-Wagens, twenty-four (5101–5111, 5121–5128, 5141–5145) were owned by EVAG, while the other seven (5012–5016, 5031–5032) were owned by MVG, prior to the agencies' 2017 merger. Originally, these cars were equipped with fold-up steps that allow entries and exits at stops without platforms or with low platforms. However, since all stations have now been equipped with uniformly high platforms, these steps are being removed in

864-715: A direct connection to Mülheim and the Rhein-Ruhr-Zentrum. With the new route of line U18, the large shopping centres of Essen and Mülheim were directly connected to each other (the Allee-Center Altenessen, Limbecker Platz, Essen inner city, the Rhein-Ruhr-Zentrum and the Forum Mülheim). The operation of the particularly well-used section from Essen Hbf to the University continues to run at 5-minute intervals. The operation of coupled sets on line U17 during peak hour only

972-409: A partly half-timbered building from 1862, was unable to cope with the rapidly growing city of Essen during the period of industrialisation in the late 19th century and was closed in 1897. The construction of a temporary wooden hall on the station roof and smaller auxiliary buildings did not provide any significant improvement for increasing passenger flows. The Essen station mission ( Bahnhofsmission ,

1080-472: A passenger tunnel leading to the platforms. The entrance and exit areas in the station building were clearly separated. The waiting rooms, equipped with a ladies' room and a non-smoking room, were located in the eastern wing of the building. The walls of the waiting rooms for the first and second class passengers were two metres high with red-brown and dark green tiles, while those of the third and fourth class had dark yellow bricks. This station building's wing had

1188-556: A rapid tramway gained favour. Thus a line was built on parts of today's Essen–Mülheim route, which was initially connected by temporary exit ramps with the rest of the tram network. The plans for a tunnel under the centre of Essen replacing an above-ground tram line began in 1961. Again, there were considerations of relieving the above-ground tramway and congestion in the quite small Essen inner city (about 1,400 by 700 metres (4,600 ft × 2,300 ft)), which suffered from increasing traffic. The initial solutions ranged similarly from

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1296-516: A regular budget of 733 million DM. Under pressure to stabilize the budget deficit, the 1964–65 municipal assembly reduced long-term investment planning from 2.7 billion DM to 1.7 billion DM and even hinted that for some time that Eschersheimer Landstraße would be "impassable desert" after completion of the tunnelling work. The U-Bahn opened on 4 October 1968, with the first route running from Hauptwache to Nordweststadt (now line U1). This first section ended up costing 344 million DM to construct, of which

1404-453: Is 1. The second digit is the local line number, which in Essen is not assigned in consecutive order, but instead reflects the number of the tram line that it replaced or which ran nearby. The route of line U11 since the timetable change in January 2010 is no longer fully separated from other traffic. It runs completely underground from the ramp from II Schichtstr. to Messe Ost / Gruga, except that

1512-567: Is a photovoltaic system on the roof that can generate up to 23,300 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year. Furthermore, the two pedestrian underpasses in the east and west and the long-distance bus station in the south were renewed. In addition, the plazas north and south of the station were rebuilt. The eastern tunnel, which had been closed for the installation of a lift, was reopened in October 2011. According to DB information, 123 long-distance trains, 198 local trains and 403 S-Bahn trains served

1620-658: Is a railway station in the city of Essen in western Germany. It is situated south of the old town centre, next to the A 40 motorway . It was opened in 1862 by the Bergisch-Märkische Eisenbahn . However, the station was not the first in Essen: as the station called Essen (today Essen-Altenessen ) on the Köln-Mindener Eisenbahn was opened in 1847. The station suffered extensive damage in World War II and

1728-444: Is a station on line U17. The next construction phase now included for the first time the construction of an underground section on the outskirts of Essen, namely the building of the so-called southern line ( Südstrecke ) from the existing Saalbau station towards Messe/Gruga and Bredeney. This line was equipped with dual gauge track with three rails for both Stadtbahn and tramway operations to Martinstraße station; south of that station

1836-522: Is also equipped with a dashboard in order to facilitate shunting, as well as sliding doors (for closing up the train during shunting movements), and head/tail lights. A total of 100 P/Pt/Ptb Class vehicles were built by Duewag in three batches from 1972-1978 and used until 2016 on the U-Bahn network. While the first batch of 30 vehicles were fitted with folding steps, to facilitate access from street level in tram service or high platforms at U-Bahn stations,

1944-622: Is being considered. According to the EVAG the operation of triple sets on the Karlsplatz–Messe/Gruga route would be possible. In September 2011, U17 services were extended from Berliner Platz to Karlsplatz and U18 was cut back on the same section of line: Two different types of electric multiple units are currently used on the three Essen Stadtbahn lines. Both types are operated as single units and in two-car trains. The system's original Stadtbahnwagen Typ B ("B-Wagen") vehicles were produced by

2052-558: Is developed from the U3 class, but with an appearance similar to the R type trams. Siemens-Duewag built 39 vehicles between 1994 and 1998, numbered 501–539. They were the first U-Bahn vehicles delivered in the current subaru vista blue livery. Originally the U4 vehicles were deployed on A Line services U1, U2 and U3, and later also on lines U8 and U9. An accident involving the two cars 517 and 532 on 28 February 2007 resulted in their early retirement from

2160-583: Is largely built between the carriageways of the Ruhr Expressway and there are small elevated sections in Mülheim. Line U18 was called a "shopping line" from 7 January 2010 to September 2011 because it had stations near the shopping areas of the Allee-Center Altenessen, Limbecker Platz, the Rhein-Ruhr-Zentrum in the Essen inner city and the Forum Mülheim. Before the change of timetable at the beginning of 2010,

2268-588: Is now in the collection of the Frankfurt Transport Museum. The U2 Class were the first production vehicles for the network. Duewag built 104 vehicles of this type in seven batches from 1968 to 1984. The final (seventh) batch of seven units was delivered after a fire at Heddernheim Depot in 1980 destroyed five sets. They were originally painted in a red and white livery, before being repainted in beige, ivory and grey from 1981 and finally from 1996 turquoise (officially known as subaru vista blue ). Unlike

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2376-520: Is operated by Ruhrbahn , a company owned by the Cities of Essen and Mülheim an der Ruhr . The transport companies of neighbouring municipalities are also involved with the operation of some lines under concessions. The Essen Stadtbahn includes three standard gauge lines: U11, U17 and U18. The Essen tram network also has seven "classic" tram lines with around 52 kilometres (32 mi) of track. These tram lines run on metre gauge tracks and run underground in

2484-487: Is served by lines U17 and U18, while the other lines are served by only one service. The numbering of the line follows the VRR's system for Stadtbahn lines, which is composed as follows: the preceding "U" indicates that it is a Stadtbahn line that is largely or completely separated from traffic and that it is not a tram or bus line. This is followed by a number that represents the area of the transport lines, in Essen and Mülheim this

2592-422: Is still only partially completed. Central sections of the routes, shared by multiple services, are called "basic route" or "trunk route"; these branch out into several "connecting lines", which are usually used by only one service and are sometimes referred to as "upgraded lines". The terms "basic section" and "connecting section" and their designations are based on the names of the construction sections. Sections of

2700-401: Is the most important point of intersection between the three Stadtbahn lines and four, sometimes five tram lines where it is possible to switch between Stadtbahn trains and trams on the same platform. For this purpose the two different levels of the platform are connected by ramps. The platforms are arranged so that it is possible to transfer across the platform between trains and trams running to

2808-534: Is the municipal transport company traffiQ. The U-Bahn opened in 1968, and has been expanded several times. It consists of three inner-city tunnels and above-ground lines in the suburbs. About 59% of the track length is underground. The network operates on a variety of right of ways typical of a light rail system, with core sections running underground in the inner city and some above-ground sections operating on street . Like all public transport lines in Frankfurt,

2916-526: Is the shortest of the three Stadtbahn lines and has 17 stations. It runs from Karlsplatz station in Altenessen to Margarethenhöhe, a garden suburb in the south of Essen. The section from Karlsplatz to the Planckstraße ramp, including all the intermediate stations, is underground, while the rest of the line is above ground and, in contrast to line U18, has several at-grade intersections. In the southern region near

3024-594: The Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company ( Bergisch-Märkische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft ) opened the section of the Witten/Dortmund–Oberhausen/Duisburg railway between Bochum and Mülheim an der Ruhr . The station that developed into Essen Hauptbahnhof, but was known until 1897 as Essen BM station, was opened on this line. It was not the first station in Essen. In 1846 Berge-Borbeck station (known since 1914 as Essen-Bergeborbeck )

3132-470: The SPD faction requested that the city council might commit to a two-line straddle-beam monorail system designed by Alweg . Lord Mayor Werner Bockelmann , however, advocated from the outset the construction of a U-Bahn, which was however considered the most expensive option. On 7 July 1960, the city council therefore commissioned a city planner with the preparation of a general planning overview in order to compare

3240-577: The Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr (Rhine-Ruhr transport association, VRR) apply to journeys on the Essen Stadtbahn, as well as on the trams and other public transport in the city. Frankfurt U-Bahn The Frankfurt U-Bahn is a Stadtbahn ( premetro ) system serving Frankfurt , Germany. Together with the Rhine-Main S-Bahn and the tram network , it forms the backbone of the public transport system in Frankfurt. Its name derives from

3348-614: The occupation of the Ruhr , a special train brought six hundred police back to Essen on 1 August 1925. They were expelled by the French in 1923 and had served in Münster and Gliwice (then called Gleiwitz) in the meantime. The returning police officers were welcomed at the station by a crowd, who accompanied them on a triumphal procession to their accommodation on Lührmannstrasse in Rüttenscheid. In

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3456-435: The "boldly begun subway construction" in 1964 in its dimensions with the medieval cathedral building. After just one year, the ambitious mammoth project threatened to fail due to financing problems. Falling tax revenues and a tax policy geared towards federal and state governments drove the municipalities close to ruin in the mid-1960s. Frankfurt was 1.4 billion DM in debt in 1964, the most heavily indebted city in Germany, with

3564-456: The A Line and U5 vehicles are now deployed on all lines. The design of the U5 class is similar to the older trains. They are 25   m long, two-section, six-axle vehicles, but there are three subtypes. The U5-ZR ( Zweirichtungswagen , bi-directional vehicle) have driving cabs at each end. The U5-ER ( Einrichtungswagen , uni-directional vehicle) have a driving cab at one end and an open gangway at

3672-549: The DLR's opening in 1986. However, since they did not meet British safety standards for use in tunnels, the DLR could not use these vehicles on the DLR's extension to Bank , which was opened in 1991. Therefore, DLR sold its 11 P86 vehicles, which at that time were only a few years old, to EVAG, which at the time needed more vehicles for its planned route extensions. In 1989, DLR procured ten P89 vehicles from British Rail Engineering Limited for route extensions. These cars were very similar to

3780-510: The DLR's tunnel sections due to their lack of connecting doors. As a result, after only a few years of operation in London, the P89 sets were also sold to EVAG. All the acquired DLR vehicles were converted by EVAG for their use in Essen. Among other things, driving cabs and rooftop pantographs had to be retrofitted, as these cars had been driven automatically in London and used bottom contact third rail while

3888-521: The Essen Stadtbahn uses overhead electrification. The braking system also had to be modified for street running. Initially the P86 sets were otherwise largely unchanged from their use in London, while the P89 sets were given an overhaul with new motors and braking to allow for street running. The P86 sets then got this overhaul from 2005 to 2012, which also included the replacement of the dual-leaf inward folding doors being replaced with single-lead pocket doors that

3996-456: The Essen Stadtbahn. It links Essen city in the east with Mulheim an der Ruhr in the West, with nine stations in Mülheim. This includes the four-track terminus of Mülheim (Ruhr) Hauptbahnhof, which connects to the trams towards Duisburg , among other things. Line U18 is built to full rapid transit standard, but large parts of the line run above ground. The section between Heißen Kirche and Bismarckplatz

4104-536: The German term for underground railway , U ntergrund bahn . Since 1996, the U-Bahn has been owned and operated by Stadtwerke Verkehrsgesellschaft Frankfurt am Main  [ de ] (VGF), the public transport company of Frankfurt, and is part of the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund (RMV) transport association. The licence contract is up to 31 December 2031 and is renewable. The contracting authority of VGF

4212-420: The P86 vehicles, but could be operated to Bank. Due to strong traffic growth and other route extensions, DLR procured new, more modern vehicles that could be used in trains of up to three sets. The installation of DLR's new Alcatel SelTrac train control system would have meant that the P89 sets would have had to be rebuilt in order to maintain them in operation. They also could not be operated in coupled sets in

4320-475: The P89s got while operating in London, in order to extend their service on the Essen Stadtbahn network, with the converted sets classified as P86U. In this case, the red and blue paint of the DLR was replaced by the yellow and blue EVAG colour scheme, which was used by the P89 sets since their first day of operation in Essen. In June 2021, Ruhrbahn ordered 51 LRVs from Spanish train manufacturer CAF , seeking to replace

4428-503: The Ruhr Expressway, which, as has already been mentioned, was partly built in the 1960s. This route was considered a "model line" for the other Stadtbahn construction projects. On 28 May 1977, the opening of a nearly eight kilometre-long, continuous connection between Mülheim-Heißen and the Essen inner city took place, including the underground stations of Heißen Kirche in Mülheim city and the metro stations of Bismarckplatz, Essen Hauptbahnhof and Wiener Platz (now Hirschlandplatz) in Essen. This

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4536-938: The Second World War nine trains ran from Essen Hauptbahnhof and Segeroth station, taking a total of around 1200 Essen Jews to extermination camps in Nazi-occupied Central Europe, mostly the General Government and Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia . The first train transported around 200 people to the Łódź Ghetto and another eight ran to the Auschwitz concentration camp and to the Theresienstadt Ghetto . Hardly anyone survived. These trains departed Essen between 27 October 1941 and 9 September 1943. Surrounded by armed guards, these trains were operated in broad daylight in front of other passengers and

4644-482: The Second World War. The first preliminary line of the current Stadtbahn emerged in the early 1960s and were laid partly as tram tracks on the median strip of the Ruhrschnellweg ("Ruhr Expressway"), which is exactly where the modern line U18 runs. In this case, an underground Stadtbahn ( U-Stadtbahn ) was not initially planned. Construction work on the tram line in the Ruhr Expressway was carried out simultaneously with

4752-503: The U7 was extended to Enkheim. In order to accommodate the narrower body of the Pt, the U-Bahn platforms had to be modified and in order to allow mixed operation at the same platforms as the other light rail vehicles, which were 30   cm wider, some Pt vehicles were widened around the door area. The resulting subclass was then named Ptb (b for breit , wide). The aforementioned modifications to

4860-416: The above-ground section between Römerstadt and Ginnheim are completely separate from other traffic. Most of the other above-ground sections run on reserved track but have numerous level crossings for road traffic and pedestrians. The section of the U5 between Friedberger Anlage and Marbachweg operates in the largely on street . Tunnels exist at - These are individual routings. As of 2024 extensions of

4968-527: The architect Fritz Klingholz and plans of parts by other architects. It was erected under the direction of the Prussian construction director Alexander Rüdell. Further work was carried out by the Königlichen Eisenbahndirektion zu Essen ( Royal Railway Directorate at Essen ) and especially the iron structures under the direction of Ministerialdirektor Schroeder. Between 1897 and 1905, the station

5076-416: The beginning of the 1950s, the first plans were made to relieve the then already overburdened tram. More than 100,000 motor vehicles were registered in Frankfurt in 1958, and more than 180,000 commuters used the transport infrastructure on a daily basis. Various alternatives to the construction of a modern high-speed traffic system and the separation of above-ground traffic flows were discussed. On 5 April 1960,

5184-476: The centre of Essen and four outer branches, each of which is served by one or two Stadtbahn services. The Stadtbahn serves 45 stations. The main line is the section between Essen Hauptbahnhof and Berliner Platz, which is served by all three Stadtbahn lines. The northern section between Berliner Platz and Karlsplatz is served by lines U11 and U17. The line between the Essen Hauptbahnhof and Bismarckplatz station

5292-496: The centre of Essen. While sections are built as Stadtbahn lines, partly in tunnel, and have stations with high platforms, there are also tram lines used only by low-floor trams serving stops with low platforms. An exception is the underground section of the southern route to Bredeney where the stations are served by a mixture of high-platform and low-platform rollingstock and therefore the stations have to be adapted for both types of vehicle. The four-track station at Essen Hauptbahnhof

5400-532: The city center (line U9 being the exception). In 2023, the U-Bahn carried 123.6 million passengers, an average of approximately 338,600 passengers per day. The most recent expansion of the network was on 12 December 2010 when two new lines were added, the U8 and the U9 (both part of the long-planned but only partially completed fourth route ), which opened up the university campus area and the new development area at Riedberg . At

5508-478: The costs of the three systems: Alweg straddle-beam monorail, U-Bahn and Stadtbahn (premetro). Responsible for the planning was in October 1961 designated to the head of the Traffic Department Walter Möller . The decision was finally made in late 1961 in favour of a U-Bahn system, which was to be built in several sections initially using existing tram infrastructure. In the first construction phase,

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5616-465: The course of the current rollingstock upgrades (which includes the incorporation of surveillance cameras in the carriages, new paintwork, new dot-matrix displays inside and LED advertising outside). Class P86 (5231–5240) and P89 (5221–5230) light rail vehicles were purchased second-hand from London's Docklands Light Railway (DLR) from 1991. The class P86 (P for Poplar DLR depot , 86 for the year) vehicles were originally built by Linke-Hofmann-Busch for

5724-533: The end of the war, around 150,000 wounded had reached Essen. The train, the Julius von Waldthausen , named after a member of a patrician family from Essen, had 25 wagons hauled by a Prussian P 8 . The nail man Schmied von Essen (blacksmith of Essen) by the Berlin sculptor, Ludwig Nick (1873–1936), was erected on 25 July 1915 in a pavilion on the station forecourt designed by Essen architect Edmund Körner. The figure

5832-498: The entire current Stadtbahn fleet. The first units are expected to arrive in early 2024, with delivery of the entire order expected by 2026. One project is the above-ground extension of line U17 from the current terminus of Margarethenhöhe to the south through three stations. An alternative extension of line U11 to the south has also been examined. In addition, there are plans to replace the old high-floor tram cars with their folding steps which are used on lines 101 and 107, which share

5940-516: The entrance from the street of Freiheit , as it still is. The entire concourse of the station building was gutted and rebuilt with 5,700 square metres of retail space. The facades were renovated and the main passage widened. The southern entrance was rebuilt with two glass pavilions, which now house the Deutsche Bahn travel centre and the Ruhrbahn customer service centre. The former glass cafe rotunda

6048-416: The evening at 30-minute intervals. During trade fairs, services on line U11 run on weekends at 10-minute intervals; between Messe (fair ground) and Berliner Platz they sometimes even run at 5-minute intervals. Operations end on all three lines at about 23:00. During the building of the first tramline in Essen in 1893, planning began on a partially underground railway, which was not realised until decades after

6156-504: The existing passenger flows linking the tramway systems of the neighbouring cities of the Ruhr. Soon after that actual planning started on the tunnels in the city centre. The planning was carried out simultaneously on the construction of a highway tunnel for the Ruhr Expressway underneath the inner city. In the end, the so-called Y-Lösung ("Y solution") was adopted under which the Essen Hauptbahnhof Stadtbahn station became

6264-479: The existing station. The state of North Rhine-Westphalia developed a funding package that provided a total of €350 million for stations in the five cities of Essen, Duisburg , Dortmund , Münster and Wuppertal . DB Station&Service intended to call tenders the first work in July ;2007. However, the actual renovation project was not a package for several cities, but only affected Essen Hauptbahnhof. This

6372-418: The federal government assumed €35 m, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia €5.1 m and Deutsche Bahn almost €17 m. In addition, the then Essener Verkehrs-AG (EVAG) invested almost €5.3 m in the project. On 11 February 2008, Essener Verkehrsgesellschaft began to rebuild the approximately one hundred metre-long passage built in 1977 at the first basement level between Willy-Brandt-Platz, which

6480-417: The federal government contributed 56 million DM and the state of Hesse contributed 129 million DM. The route network consists of the four routes "A", "B", "C" and "D" used by a total of nine different services, U1 to U9. The total operating length of is 64.85 kilometres (40.30 mi). The first three routes ("A", "B" and "C") each have a separate tunnelled section under the city centre. The fourth, D, route

6588-410: The fleet and being scrapped for spare parts. Between 2010 and 2017 all remaining U4 cars were refurbished. They were fitted with new yellow handrails and orange entrance areas to help visually impaired passengers orientate themselves in the train, and an air conditioning system for the driver's cab. The trains were also modified so they could run in multiple with the newer U5 Class. The U5 Class,

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6696-475: The high platforms of the Stadtbahn. Therefore, the high-floor tramcars use fold-up steps on these two lines. This line is equipped with dual gauge track with three rails to cater for the different track gauges. All three Stadtbahn lines run to the same pattern: services on each line run during the peak hour at 10-minute intervals, in the evenings and on weekends or public holidays at 15-minute intervals and late in

6804-504: The later installation of additional shops, that the station lost its former spaciousness and openness. The groundbreaking ceremony for reconstruction of the station was held in September 2008. Prior to this Essen Hauptbahnhof was crowded and dilapidated. Since only a few expansion options were available, temporary relocation of station operations to Essen-West was considered. Instead, it was found to be cost-effective to renovate and modernise

6912-507: The legs were designated by the letter of the route and a Roman numerical suffix - sections of the connecting lines with an Arabic numeral. The designation of the connecting lines "A1", "A2", "A3" and "B1" was also used to designate the lines until 1978. Like all light rail vehicles, trams and subways in Germany, the Frankfurt U-Bahn is subject to the BOStrab tram regulations . The tunnels and

7020-564: The line with U11 from Essen Hauptbahnhof to Martinstraße. It was proposed to upgrade the southern section to Bredeney to standard gauge as Stadtbahn line U12, but this was eventually rejected by the city of Essen. The current plans envisage the partial lowering of the platforms in the southern tunnel. This would allow the tram on lines 101 and 107 to continue to operate to Bredeney and the future operation of low-floor trams. The high-floor platforms would be slightly elevated and thus would provide stepless entries and exits for line U11 services. However,

7128-446: The lines branch to form pairs of metre gauge and standard gauge track. This included four underground Stadtbahn stations for line U11 and, south of the junction, an underground tram station at Florastraße. Services started in 1986. The last major phase of construction to date was the northern extension, carried out in two stages. In 1998, the tunnel was finished from Universität Essen station to Altenessen station . Three years later,

7236-457: The lines ran as follows: With the timetable change on 7 January 2010, the rail network was reorganised. The lines operated as follows: With this change, line U11 lost its character as a line built fully to rapid transit standards. Only line U18 retains this, but the link to the fairgrounds (Messe) for the residents of the northern suburbs of Essen and the city of Gelsenkirchen has been significantly improved. The residents of Altenessen have gained

7344-485: The newest of the U-Bahn fleet, has been produced by Bombardier Transportation (now Alstom ) in Bautzen , and is part of the manufacturer's Flexity Swift range. The first order of 146 vehicles was placed in 2006, another order for 78 vehicles came in 2011. and 22 further vehicles were ordered in 2018, with a 23rd vehicle to be delivered to compensate for delivery delays. The first vehicles were delivered in 2008, for use on

7452-429: The north and between trains and trams running to the south. A bridge spans the entire underground station that is accessible by lifts, providing an easy interchange and a barrier-free transfer for the disabled to trains running in opposite directions. Stadtbahn cars and trams share several other stations. Tram lines 101 and 107 run on the southern section of the Stadtbahn tunnel from Essen Hauptbahnhof to Martinstraße, using

7560-465: The north side, outside the entrance building. There is also a "kids lounge" for children travelling alone. The station concourse was out of use from September 2008. It was reopened to the public on 21 December 2009. The official opening took place on 16 January 2010 in the presence of Federal Minister of Transport Peter Ramsauer , Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia Jürgen Rüttgers , and Deutsche Bahn Chief Rüdiger Grube . During

7668-478: The operation of three-car sets to the Messe on line U11 through these stations would no longer be possible. A change to low-floor trams on line 107 would be possible in the medium term and the purchase of new of low-floor vehicles is planned from 2012. Interchange station: U-Stadtbahn above, tram under Shared by U-Stadtbahn and trams at same platform Shared by U-Stadtbahn and trams at different platforms As part of

7776-581: The other. Two of these can be connected to form a 50   m long train, called U5-50, in a concept similar to the TW2500 on the Hanover Stadtbahn . The third type are designated U5-MW , ( Mittelwagen , intermediate vehicle). They have no cab and both ends of the unit are outfitted with gangways. One or two of these can be coupled between two U5-ER sets to form a continually walk-through train of either 75 metres (U5-75) or 100 metres (U5-100). Each cabless end

7884-437: The planning for the Stadtbahn in the 1970s other tunnels would have been built, including an underground east–west connection, that would have involved existing tram routes. The project as a whole consisted of about 30 kilometres of tunnels, the complete re-gauging of all lines to standard gauge and the elimination of all tram lines that were not covered by these plans. The plan was targeted for completion in 2008. Up to this point,

7992-518: The platforms is possible via lifts from the lower level. A pedestrian tunnel at the eastern end of the platforms also allows passage from central Essen to the Südviertel district. Below the station there is an underground station on two levels (one a circulation level and below that, four platform tracks) serving the trams and the Essen Stadtbahn, which are operated by Ruhrbahn . It has an unusual appearance with its pervasive blue light. On 1 March 1862

8100-581: The platforms were reversed as well. Even after no other lines required the folding steps, the Ptb remained indispensable on the U5 service where on certain sections the stations did not have high platforms until 2016. Some Ptb class cars had their widened steps restored to regular width and were repurposed for a time on tram lines 15, 17 and 20 due to a tram stock shortage. [REDACTED] Essen Hauptbahnhof Essen Hauptbahnhof (German for "Essen main station")

8208-476: The prototype vehicles the U2 Class did not have folding steps. Instead there were fixed steps inside the doors, level with the underground station platforms but a step up from the lower platforms at above-ground stations. The U2 cars were all used on the A Line until 1998 when 32 vehicles were transferred to the C Line . This had slightly higher platforms (87   cm) and these vehicles were rebuilt as U2e with

8316-517: The railway company. The stairs also reached the attic. Platform 1 had its own platform canopy. The two island platforms, on the other hand, were spanned by a two-span train shed, the construction of which was carried out by the August Klönne company of Dortmund. The train shed was 130 m-long, 10.7 m-high and was carried by arch trusses with a span of 21.33 m on cast iron columns spaced 8.6 m apart. Another, southern platform had

8424-406: The railway tracks on two levels, and are connected by stairs and escalators. On the lower level there are shops and, south of the entrance hall, a travel centre; on both levels there are restaurants. The lower level allows passage from central Essen to the north of the station to Essen-Südviertel in the south. The upper level serves as the circulation level giving access to the tracks. Direct access to

8532-470: The renovation of the lobby, the platforms were only accessible via tunnels from the west (station underpass/Freiheit) and east (side entrance opposite the Haus der Technik ). In addition Essener Verkehrs-AG relocated the bus stops from the underpass to the north and south exits. The then Essener Verkehrs-AG (now Ruhrbahn ) opened its €7.8 m customer centre at the southern entrance on 12 April 2010. There

8640-463: The rest of the train traffic was not interrupted. The Essen station mission, like the other station missions, was suppressed during the Second World War. Allied air raids in 1944 and 1945 destroyed Fritz Klingholz's station building, along with the two-span train shed. After the war, the station was replaced with a new building in the typical style of the 1950s, partly designed by the architects Kurt Rasenack and Bernd Figge. The entrance hall that

8748-451: The retention of the surface tramway with the creation of a new centralised node, up to the creation of a pure U-Bahn (metro) system as in Berlin and Hamburg . For various reasons, however, it was agreed to build an underground tramway with the possibility of future upgrade to a full U-Bahn. The idea of building a pure U-Bahn system at once was considered, but discarded due to the need to handle

8856-430: The second and third batches had fixed steps and thus was initially incompatible with the platforms on the U-Bahn lines. To differentiate the two subclasses, the batch with folding steps was designated Pt (t for tunnelgängig , operable in tunnels). Between 1984 and 1986 the third batch was rebuilt with folding steps in order to be operated on the C Line , and the second batch were also rebuilt as Pt Class in 1992 when

8964-722: The section was opened to Karlsplatz and up the ramp to the surface station of II. Schichtstraße. U11 services ended at Karlsplatz, while U17 services continue to Gelsenkirchen , the above ground section north of Karlsplatz was upgraded up to 2001 on the route on an earlier metre-gauge tram line for standard gauge Stadtbahn operations. The Gelsenkirchen section of line U17 ended from 2001 to 2004 at Fischerstraße. Two extra stations in Gelsenkirchen, Schloss Horst and Buerer Straße, were taken into operation in 2004. From January 2010, line U11 operated to Gelsenkirchen Buerer Straße, replacing line U17, which now ran only as far as Berliner Platz. Line U18

9072-540: The side aisles, the gable ends and the transverse walls of the central hall were built of bricks. The structure of the outer walls was made from Lauterecken sandstone as a veneer over red brick. The gable roof was covered with interlocking tiles. The clock tower on the northwest corner of the building had an illuminated dial. The design of the building, which had a Renaissance Revival style with Gothic Revival elements, primarily catered for its transport function. All routes for passengers and luggage were on one level, with

9180-402: The southern terminus at Messe Süd / Gruga is in a cutting. Line U11 is an important fast connection between the northern district of Altenessen and the exhibition ground (Messe) and Gruga Park in the southern suburbs. This line passes under through the city centre with the two interchanges to tram lines at Berliner Platz and Essen Hauptbahnhof. Line U11 serves a total of 23 stations. Line U17

9288-675: The station in August 1914 and continued west to the front. The trains stopped briefly and the soldiers were given refreshments. A help centre had been set up in the main station by the Red Cross to receive those arriving by the hospital trains. Two hospital trains commuted between the Western Front and the Ruhr to bring the wounded home between 1914 and 1918. The first train arrived at Essen Hauptbahnhof with around 300 wounded troops on 30 August 1914. By

9396-510: The station, from long distance to local services. It used to be one of the Metropolitan stops on the Hamburg to Cologne line before the service was discontinued in 2002. There are night services by EuroNight trains to cities such as Moscow and Brussels , and DB NachtZug trains to Zurich and Vienna , among others. Some 400 trains pass through the station each day, making Essen Hauptbahnhof

9504-532: The stations that had already been built in the city centre and in Ruettenscheid would still be operated by trams in pre-metro mode ( Stadtbahn-Vorlaufbetrieb ). However, these plans were found to be too financially ambitious and could not be pursued. The construction of underground railway in Essen officially ended with the inauguration of the northern line in 2001. The stations built and used by trams in pre-metro mode remain, with all their shortcomings. The fares of

9612-537: The steps in the door areas removed. The vehicles remaining on the A Line were also rebuilt from 1999, with the steps raised but not removed, becoming U2h . The last U2 car was withdrawn after a farewell trip on 3 April 2016. Three examples have been preserved. Siemens adapted the U2 design for the North American light rail market and similar vehicles were supplied to Edmonton , Calgary and San Diego . The U3 Class

9720-642: The system has been integrated in the Rhein-Main Verkehrsverbund (RMV) since 1995. From 1974 until the founding of the RMV, the Stadtwerke were shareholders in the predecessor group, the Frankfurter Verkehrsverbund (FVV; Frankfurt Transport Association). The network consists of 84 stations on nine lines, with a total length of 64.85 kilometres (40.30 mi). Eight of the nine lines travel through

9828-608: The system in planning or under construction include: There are two depots for U-Bahn trains: The U1 Class consists of two six-axle, two-section prototype vehicles built by Duewag in 1965, derived from the manufacturer's previous tramcars. The original designation was U6 ( U -Bahn vehicle with 6 axles), but this was changed to U1 when the U2 Class were delivered. The first prototype was delivered in cream livery but both were painted red and white from 1968. The U1 Class were removed from service in 1976 because they were incompatible with newer vehicle types. One non-operational U1 Class

9936-400: The terminus of Margarethenhöhe, parts of the line are single track. In 2002, the last above-ground stations on line U17 were equipped with high platforms that are accessible for the disabled, making entries and exits on the entire Essen Stadtbahn system fully accessible. Line U18 has had 17 stations, since the timetable change in September 2011 and is the only completely grade-separated line of

10044-534: The third busiest railway station in the Ruhr Area after Dortmund Hauptbahnhof and Duisburg Hauptbahnhof . Essen Hauptbahnhof is a "separation" station, where trains divide to run on several different routes. Its platforms have individual platform canopies. In addition to through platforms, the station has some bay platforms for trains on the line towards Gelsenkirchen and Münster and lines to Hagen and Borken . A centrally located concourse runs across and under

10152-423: The tunnels of the inner city were to be built for the time being, which were to be connected via provisional ramps to the adjacent tram routes. It was not until the second construction phase that the tunnels were to be extended beyond the inner city and connected to suitable upgraded above-ground routes in the suburbs. In the third construction phase, the change from Stadtbahn to U-Bahn would have been completed, which

10260-426: The upgrade of the Ruhr Expressway itself, since the latter up to that time had only three lanes and flat junctions and had insufficient capacity because of the large increase in traffic. Following the upgrade of other forms of public transport, the possibility of some form of public transport on the Ruhr Expressway were considered, including express buses on a separate bus lane. Ultimately, however, an option based around

10368-481: Was almost completely rebuilt in the 1950s and 1960s. During the following years, the Essen Stadtbahn and the A 40 were other construction projects affecting the station. Today it is an important hub for local, regional and long-distance services, with all major InterCityExpress and InterCity trains calling at the station as well as RegionalExpress and Rhein-Ruhr S-Bahn services. Trains of all kinds call at

10476-615: Was based on the U2, but slightly longer (24.49   m), with a body made entirely of steel, and without any steps for access from low platforms. Duewag built 27 vehicles in 1979 and 1980, which were originally deployed on the U4 and transferred to the U6 in 2015. In 2017 the last type U3 train was retired from service. After their withdrawal in Frankfurt 24 trains were refurbished and transferred to Monterrey Metro in Mexico. The other three have remained in Frankfurt as museum vehicles. The U4 class

10584-412: Was called a "shopping line" and continued to Karlsplatz station. Since September 2011, line U11 continues to Gelsenkirchen Buerer Straße and line U17 has replaced line U18 to Karlsplatz. Line U18 has run since September 2011 between Mülheim Hauptbahnhof and Berliner Platz in Essen. The 19.6-kilometer (12.2 mi) Essen Stadtbahn system includes a 9.8-kilometer (6.1 mi) underground trunk line through

10692-402: Was completed on 15 November 1959 no longer exists. The west wing of the north entrance was adorned with a distinctive cafe in a glass rotunda, which was originally occupied by the station cafe and was most recently a travel agency. A curved roof allowed light to fall on the northern entrance hall. However, this was replaced later by a larger, prefabricated flat roof. This meant, in combination with

10800-570: Was considered a symbol of the willingness to donate in the First World War. Anyone who paid an amount of money could hammer an iron, silver, or gold nail into the smith or one of the side panels. The blacksmith's relief was moved to the Stadtgarten (city garden) after the war and was installed in a light well in the Grugapark in 1934, where it was destroyed in an Allied air raid in World War II. After

10908-417: Was demolished in 2009 and replaced by a rectangular, glass extension, which is used by a fast food restaurant. Lifts were installed on the five platforms to give them barrier-free access for the disabled. Similarly, the platform surfaces and platform canopies were repaired and the sound system and lighting were replaced. The Bahnhofsmission (station mission) was given a larger office at the taxi waiting area on

11016-421: Was named after him in 1994, and the street called Freiheit . It replaced the electrical systems according to new fire protection regulations and modernised the ventilation. In addition, new shops were built. From 11 August until 21 November 2008 the passage to the city centre was closed and was then modernised and reopened before work was complete. However, the underground station was always accessible via

11124-620: Was opened on the Duisburg–Dortmund railway of the Cologne-Minden Railway Company ( Cöln-Mindener Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft , CME) as the first station in the current city of Essen. In 1847, the CME opened the then major station of Essen CME (now Essen-Altenessen station ) on the Duisburg–Dortmund railway (part of its trunk line ). The first entrance building of the station, originally called Essen BM , at today's Hachestrasse,

11232-479: Was partly a response to the need for the renovation to be completed by the middle of 2010 at the latest, as Essen was designated as one of the European Capitals of Culture for the year. The Essen council was awarded the contract to rebuild the station. The former funding gap of €18 m was jointly covered by the federal government, the state government and Deutsche Bahn. Of the total costs of around €57 m,

11340-468: Was put into operation. This included Planckstraße station, which had been built as a shell in the 1960s along with its associated ramp. The surface stations initially had low platforms located on the outside of the tracks, which were raised in 2002 and relocated onto islands between the tracks. At the same time, the two underground stations of Berliner Platz and Universität Essen ( University ) were opened; both are also stations on line U18 and Universität Essen

11448-517: Was renamed from Essen BM to its present name of Essen Hauptbahnhof as the Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company had been dissolved and nationalised in 1886. The basic structure of the new entrance building was an iron structure that was visible on the interior of the ceilings and walls. The reason for the erection of iron girders was the fear of mining subsidence as a result of the deep coal mining in Essen. The surrounding walls of

11556-406: Was the first Stadtbahn line of the network that was completely independent of the tram network to be opened. Porscheplatz (now called Rathaus Essen) Stadtbahn station was also put into operation on 28 May 1977; it was (and still is) operated by trams. The commissioning of the remaining five underground stations in Mülheim followed on 3 November 1979. In 1981, the route of line U17 to Margarethenhoehe

11664-498: Was to operate completely independently of traffic in tunnels, cuts and dams. On 28 June 1963 the first pile of rubble for the construction of the 3.2-kilometre (2.0 mi)-long tunnel under the Eschersheimer Landstraße. For the first stage of development until 1975 - approximately corresponding to today's main lines A and B - construction costs of 565 million DM were expected. The new Lord Mayor Willi Brundert compared

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