Stuttgart Stadtbahn
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Stuttgart Rathaus Stadtbahn underground station
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| Overview | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Locale | Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany | ||
| Transit type | Light rail (Stadtbahn) | ||
| Number of lines | 15 (& 2 special event lines) | ||
| Number of stations | 203 (2013) | ||
| Annual ridership | 174.9 million (2014) | ||
| Website | Stuttgarter Straßenbahnen AG (SSB) | ||
| Operation | |||
| Began operation | 28 September 1985 | ||
| Operator(s) | Stuttgarter Straßenbahnen AG | ||
| Number of vehicles | 179 (2013) | ||
| Headway | 10 minutes (daytime) | ||
| Technical | |||
| System length | 130 km (81 mi) (2013) | ||
| Track gauge |
1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge |
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| Electrification | 750 V DC overhead lines | ||
| Average speed | 27 km/h (17 mph) | ||
| Top speed | 80 km/h (50 mph) | ||
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The Stuttgart Stadtbahn is a light rail system in Stuttgart, Germany. The Stadtbahn began service on 28 September 1985. It is operated by the Stuttgarter Straßenbahnen AG (SSB), which also operates the bus systems in that city. The Stuttgart Stadtbahn is successor system of a tram network (Straßenbahnen) that characterized the urban traffic in Stuttgart for decades.
The network of Stuttgart Stadtbahn covers much of Stuttgart and also reaches the neighbouring towns of Remseck am Neckar, Fellbach, Ostfildern, Leinfelden-Echterdingen and Gerlingen (clockwise). Currently, the Stuttgart Stadtbahn system is made up of fifteen lines (U1-U9, U12-U15, U21 and U24) and two special event lines (U11 and U19), serving 203 stations, and operating on 130 kilometres (81 mi) of route. In 2014, the Stuttgart Stadtbahn carried 174.9 million passengers.
As of 2016[update], the Stuttgart Stadtbahn system is made up of thirteen main lines (U1-U9 and U12-U15), two special lines (during the construction site between Charlottenplatz and Staatsgalerie; U21 and U24) and two special event lines (U11 & U19):
Stuttgart Stadtbahn, now all standard gauge (1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)), developed out of a traditional tramway system, which in Stuttgart was metre gauge.
In 1961 the city council of Stuttgart decided that a general modernization of the municipal tram system was needed; in central areas, the tram should be relocated underground, and in peripheral areas it should get new tracks that would be separate from road traffic. Concurrent proposals for a new completely underground subway (U-Bahn) were rejected in 1976. At the same time it was decided to enhance modernization of the existing tram in combination with a change from metre gauge to standard gauge. For this reason, Stuttgart made the intermediate effort of rebuilding almost all its tracks with mixed-gauge, on which old streetcars (SSB GT4, built 1959–1965) could run as well as new metro cars (SSB DT 8, in regular service since 1985).
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