{"id":2980,"date":"2024-09-11T19:36:49","date_gmt":"2024-09-11T17:36:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/?p=2980"},"modified":"2024-09-12T09:28:21","modified_gmt":"2024-09-12T07:28:21","slug":"wuppertal-monorail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/transitophile.com\/chango\/wuppertal-monorail\/","title":{"rendered":"Wuppertal Monorail: Tourist Impressions"},"content":{"rendered":"

The powder blue craft shown gliding past the riverfront greenery is our planet’s oldest monorail<\/a>: the Wuppertal Schwebebahn<\/a> in Germany, in regular service since 1901. More than 80,000 straphangers ride the 13.3 kilometer route daily. The Schwebebahn suffered one serious accident<\/a> in 1999, when a train derailed, and a not-particularly-serious accident in 1950, when a panicked circus elephant fell from the monorail<\/a> into the river Wupper.<\/p>\n

(No, I didn’t make that up. Tuffi<\/a>: the elephant’s name was Tuffi. Some Einstein of the Rhineland thought that a 1,000+ kilo elephant wouldn’t object to a ride in a narrow enclosed space high over a waterway. Tuffi felt otherwise. Fortunately, the fall cost her nothing worse than a scratch on her fanny, which is more than can be said for the few reporters unlucky enough to have been caught between the trumpeting, charging elephant and the monorail’s window.)<\/p>\n

What transit geek wouldn’t yen for a ride? I finally treated myself to one last weekend. My impressions:<\/p>\n

TRANSIT BACKBONE AND TOURIST ATTRACTION<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

On one hand, the Schwebebahn (that’s ‘suspension railway’ in German) remains a transit artery, carries commuters to jobs, kids to schools, local shoppers to markets. My hotelier told me that Wuppertal had to double public bus service during an eight month Schwebebahn closure in 2018-19.<\/p>\n

\"Wuppertal<\/a>
Wuppertal Schwebebahn near D\u00f6ppersberg station<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On the other hand, the monorail is also Wuppertal’s top tourist draw<\/a>. I chatted with a German dad who had shepherded his grade-school kids a hundred kilometers to ride the Schwebebahn. I visited (and spent discretionary euros in Wuppertal) because I wanted to ride the monorail, period.<\/p>\n

An area’s stewards would have to be seriously broke or brain dead to let such a jewel go to seed, and they haven’t. Car interiors are immaculate, and all trains I saw looked as spiffy as those shown. The novice rider will notice that the train’s floors sway ever-so-slightly underfoot, but likely soon will take this swaying for granted. Service is frequent, and the scenery is terrific.<\/p>\n

NEGATIVES?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

I can think of two.<\/p>\n

(\u2666<\/span>)\u00a0A visitor may tire of trudging up multiple flights of stairs to reach station platforms. It’s an elevated line, after all, cruises a full twelve meters above the Wupper River. The rider must get up that high, can’t easily jump or pogo stick.<\/p>\n

(But aren’t there elevators? There are, but I didn’t sample them.)<\/p>\n

\"Wuppertal<\/a>
Wuppertal monorail and car interior<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

(\u2666<\/span>)\u00a0Gracious English-speaking staff at Wuppertal’s attractive combination info center \/ gift shop would have been pleased to sell me<\/a> a monorail tote bag, or monorail coffee cup, or monorail espresso set, or monorail station model, or even a set of monorail gift sacks.<\/p>\n

And a twenty-four hour monorail transit pass<\/a>, so I could legally board the train I’d come all the way to Wuppertal to ride?<\/p>\n

Well, no. For that I had to return wearily to the Deutsche Bahn rail hub and query a clerk at a Relay convenience store.<\/p>\n

Wuppertal, the info center is already handling money. What sin would you commit by letting them sell train tickets, too?<\/p>\n

ODDS N’ ENDS<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

(\u2666<\/span>)\u00a0I stayed at the Postboutique<\/a> Hotel, recommend it without reservation.<\/p>\n

(\u2666<\/span>)\u00a0I do not recommend and won’t name one Wuppertal restaurant, which sold me the single worst pizza I’ve ever eaten … ever, in my entire life, and remember, I’m an old guy.<\/p>\n

(\u2666<\/span>)\u00a0Whether Wuppertal-bound or not, don’t miss the chance to travel through time<\/a> to ride the Schwebebahn in 1902.<\/p>\n

\"Wuppertal<\/a>
Wuppertal city center near D\u00f6ppersberg station<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

Edit, 20240912<\/span>: I deleted two photos.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The powder blue craft shown gliding past the riverfront greenery is our planet’s oldest monorail: the Wuppertal Schwebebahn in Germany, in regular service since 1901. More than 80,000 straphangers ride the 13.3 kilometer route daily. The Schwebebahn suffered one serious accident in 1999, when a train derailed, and a not-particularly-serious accident in 1950, when a… <\/p>\n

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