Dortmund
HISTORY OF THE DORTMUND METRO
Mister M presents
Dortmund subway
Dortmund Metro Museum
The H-Bahn (abbreviation for Hängebahn, German for 'hanging railway') in Dortmund and Düsseldorf (there known as "Sky train") is a suspended, driverless passenger suspension railway system. The system was developed by Siemens, who call the project SIPEM (SIemens PEople Mover).
Two installations exist, one at the Dortmund university campus, the other at the Düsseldorf Airport. While Siemens is no longer actively marketing the system, and will no longer carry out turnkey projects, new installations are still possible in collaboration with the Dortmund operating company.
Since 2011 Air Train International has been marketing the system in China and as of May 2013 there are proposals to build lines in Shanghai and Wenzhou. A number of other Chinese cities are also studying the system.
In 1973, the Federal Ministry made DM 22 million (€11,250,000) available for the research and promotion of this system. A test line was opened on 21 July 1975 in Düsseldorf by the former transport minister Hans Matthoefer with a length of 180 metres (approx. 200 yards). In 1976, the system was extended by 1.5 km (a little less than a mile).
The first publicly funded overhead railway has run since 1984 at the University of Dortmund, where it initially just connected the north and south campuses with a single line. However, many stations have 2 platforms with a track either side permitting carriages to pass each other in opposite directions. This stretch was opened on 2 May 1984 by Dr. Heinz Riesenhuber, and comprised 1.05 kilometres (0.65 mi) of track and two trains. The cost was approximately DM 24,000,000 (€12,270,000), of which 75% was funded by the German Federal Government, 20% by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and 5% by the city of Dortmund.
TIMELINE STORIES
MAPLINE routes
The H-Bahn network has a route network of approximately 3 km and runs along two lines that are integrated into the public transport network of the city of Dortmund and the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr (VRR). The H-Bahn currently operates on weekdays (except Saturday) from 06:21 to 12:00.
Line 1, approximately 2.8 km long, leads from the Dortmund-Eichlinghofen area via the Campus Süd and Universität S stops to the Dortmund Technology Center / Technology Park.
It runs every 10 minutes according to the cycle of the S-Bahn line 1 Dortmund - Düsseldorf at the Do - Universität S stop.
Line 2 is approximately 1 km long and connects the South Campus and North Campus campuses every 5 minutes.
The first stop of the HB1 route is Dortmund Technologiezentrum - Dortmund and the last stop is Dortmund Eichlinghofen H-Bahn - Dortmund. HB1 (Direction: Dortmund Eichlinghofen H-Bahn [Dortmund]) operates on weekdays.
