Portal:Trains/Selected article/Week 42, 2007

The Schwebebahn Wuppertal is a suspension railway in Wuppertal, Germany. Its full name is the "Eugen Langen Monorail Suspension Railway" (Einschienige Hängebahn System Eugen Langen). The people of Wuppertal know it, however, as the "Old Lady" ("Alte Dame") or the "Iron Wyvern" ("Der stählerne Drache"). Designed by Eugen Langen, who originally planned to build it in Berlin, it was built in 1900, opened in 1901 and is still in use as of 2007 as a local transport system in the city. It is the oldest monorail system in the world. The suspension railway travels along a route 13.3 km long, about 12 m above the surface of the river Wupper between Oberbarmen and Sonnborner Straße for 10 km and approximately 8 m above the city streets, between Sonnborner Straße and Vohwinkel for 3.3 km. At one point the railway crosses the A46 motorway. The entire trip takes about 30 minutes. The Schwebebahn operates within the VRR transport association and accepts tickets issued by the VRR companies.