the Wuppertal Schwebebahn

 

A very distintive feature (which appeared in the movie The Princess and the Warrior/ Der Krieger und die Kaiserin), the Wuppertal Schwebebahn is like an elevated railway, but with the vehicles hanging from the track from above rather than riding on it (German schweben "to hang, float, be suspended") and as the name suggests is located along the valley of the Wupper river in Western Germany.  Designed by Eugen Langen, apparently to be used in Berlin, the installation with elevated stations was built in Barmen, Elberfeld and Vohwinkel between 1897 and 1903; the first track opened in 1901. It is still in use today as normal means of local public transport, one of the oldest elevated railways in the world, and moves over 25 million passengers a year.

The Schwebebahn travels along a route of 13.3 km (8.3 miles), at a height of about 12 metres (39 ft 4 in) between Oberbarmen and Sonnborner Strasse (10 km or 6.2 miles) and about 8 metres (26 ft 3 in) above the valley road between Sonnborner Strasse and Vohwinkel (3.3 km). At one point the railway crosses the A46 motorway. The entire trip takes about 30 minutes. 

Since 1997 the supporting frame has been largely modernised, and several stations have been reconstructed and brought technically up to date. The “Kluse” station, at the theatre in Elberfeld, had been destroyed during the Second World War; this too was reconstructed during the modernisation. Work was planned to be completed in 2001; however a serious accident took place in 1999 which left five people dead and 47 injured. This, along with delivery problems, meant that the completion date was delayed. Since 2004, many of the railway stations have been fitted with CCTV cameras.

The cars are suspended from a single rail built underneath a supporting steel frame and hang on wheels which are driven by an electric motor operating at 600 volts DC, fed from an extra rail.
The supporting frame and tracks are made out of 486 pillars and bridgework sections. The termini at each end of the line also serve as train depots and reversers.

The current fleet consists of 27 two-car trains built in the 1970s. The cars are each 24 metres long, have 4 doors and can seat 48 with approximately 130 standing passengers. The top speed is 60 km/h and the average speed is 27 km/h. The Kaiserwagen ("Emperor's car"), the original train used by Kaiser Wilhelm II during a test ride on 24 October 1900, is still operated on scheduled excursion services, special occasions and for charter events. 

Renovations to the structure were projected to be completed by this year. Official site

The Kaiserwagen