The Wuppertal Suspension Railway was opened on March 1, 1901 – 120 years ago. Since then a lot of water has flowed into the Wuppertal over which it passes, eras have changed, two World Wars have occurred, several carriage models have changed, but the line remains the same, built at the turn of the century before last and last in the middle of the Ruhr region, an important industrial center in Germany.
We can safely say that we are looking at a technical historical monument, modernized and still playing an important role in the transport system of this city. In about 35 minutes the wagons travel about 13 km, making two dozen stops. Now this road carries about 65 thousand passengers a day. Each year – about 24 million. Some tourists come to the city with one purpose – to ride in these cars.
Why was most of the road built over the river, choosing such an unusual option? Because the city stretches along the valley of the Wupper River – not very wide and densely built up: there was not enough space for conventional tramways anymore. The population of the agglomeration was about 400,000 at the time. It would have been too difficult to lay a subway here because of the rocky rocks and high groundwater level.
At the time the road was built, by the way, the city didn’t even exist yet! It was listed on maps and registers under that name in 1929, uniting several bordering settlements on the Vooper. Therefore, in the first decades, they were mentioned in the name of the road – “Schwebebahn Barmen-Elberfeld- Vohwinkel”. Today the urban areas of Barmen, Elberfeld and Vohwinkel.
How Tuffy the elephant fell out of the train and became part of the history of the city.
For a long time the streetcar was seen as one of the safest vehicles in the world – no oncoming traffic, no crossroads, no pedestrians, unless a bird flies over. However, the Wuppertal streetcar’s history is full of curiosities, in which the protagonist is an elephant named Tuffy.
Tuffy the elephant Tuffy – graffiti in WuppertalPhotograph: Creative Commons/Atamari
In the summer of 1950, the manager of a local circus decided to hold an unusual marketing campaign. For this he sent Tuffy the elephant for a ride in the famous suspended carriage. Of course, journalists were invited to take part in the performance. Everything went smoothly, the elephant behaved in the streetcar no worse than a well-behaved dog, but exactly until the first flashes of the cameras. They so scared the circus animal that the elephant jumped out of the car right on the move. According to another version, the elephant simply got bored in the cramped carriage. Shards of broken glass injured one of the journalists.
She was not too high and Tuffy landed safely, or rather, splashed down in a shallow Whoopper. Anyway, it was a minor scare and a lot of press coverage. Tuffy got a few abrasions and the status of a cult animal. Images of this elephant can be seen in Wuppertal in many places.
accidents and incidents
Before the elephant accident there had been accidents on the Wuppertal Monorail, but not so many human casualties. But on April 12, 1999 the Wuppertal Monorail was the site of a serious accident. At that time repairmen forgot to remove the metal claws that had been placed on the rail at night. In the morning, the first streetcar collided with them, derailed and fell into the river. Five people died and more than four dozen were injured. After the case was investigated and repaired, the monorail was put back in service.
The 2010s were also marred by a series of technical accidents and abnormal situations. Traffic was stopped for some time. Passengers were forced to use buses that ran along the route of the suspended road, complaining about the inconvenience and looking forward to the return of their beloved monorail.