Did you know that there’s an upside-down railway in Germany?
Have you ever heard of an upside-down railway? Wait, what does that even mean? Well, it means exactly what it says! No, this is not an imaginary scene from a sci-fi movie. Such a railway does exist in reality! In fact, the designs of the Schwebebahn suspension railway, located in Wuppertal, Germany, have inspired many science fiction movies. The railway tracks are at the top, while the train is suspended from the tracks in an inverted manner! So, the passengers travelling in it experience something akin to flying while enjoying scenic views of the Wupper river over which this railway track is made. Here is all you need to know about the world’s only upside-down railway!
How did it all begin?
The Schwebebahn railways spans 13 km across the city, between Vohwinkel and Oberbarmen stations. One train comes to the station after every five minutes, so people don’t have to wait for long. Construction for the Schwebebahn railway began in 1898. However, the need for it originated in 1880, during the industrialization of Imperial Germany. The city of Wuppertal was facing issues concerning transportation. What used to be a small settlement turned into a booming urban locality of 40,000 residents. The workers and residents needed a way to get around the city, but the Wupper river valley in the area made traditional modes of transport a challenge. They needed a unique way of moving around from one place to another that did not mean crossing the river each time. So, the city officials invited proposals to solve this problem. And in came Langen! Eugene Langen was an entrepreneur and engineer. He was experimenting with a suspension railway for moving goods at his sugar factory. In 1893, he showed his proposal to the city officials of Wuppertal. They accepted his idea for a monorail (track with a single rail or beam) suspension line and the construction completed in 1901. German emperor Wilhelm II is said to have taken the first ride with his wife, Auguste Viktoria!
Tuffi on the train
While the emperor himself was the first passenger to ride the Schwebebahn suspension railway, many famous personalities followed suit. One such famous passenger was Tuffi, the elephant. The story of Tuffi is quite adventurous. She was part of the Althoff Circus, which had arranged a promotional trip using the young elephant. The circus owner Franz Althoff regularly used Tuffi to promote the circus. Now, Tuffi had already ridden on trams and drunk from a holy water fountain. So, she boarded the train at Wuppertal station just fine. But the baby elephant panicked when the carriage was crowded with journalists and officials. She trampled on a row of seats and then jumped through the window and into the river 33 feet below! Thankfully, the river was not too deep and had muddy ground. So, Tuffi survived the fall with some minor scrapes. She was then taken back to the circus camp. In 2020, an artist named Bernd Bergkemper made a statue to honour Tuffi at the place where she landed in the river in 1950. The statue is made of basalt and is now a popular tourist destination.
Then vs now: Evolution of the upside-down train
From the time of its first ride till now, Schwebebahn has undergone many changes. In 1972, the iconic GTW 72 carriages were introduced. One of the units of GTW 72 derailed in the Wuppertal Schwebebahn accident on 12th April 1999. The accident killed five people whereas 47 were injured. These carriages ran for 27 years before being replaced in 2019 by sleek and new ‘Generation 15’ carriages. Now, all the first-generation carriages have been replaced by new ones. The monorail is now a vital part of city transport and carries 80,000 passengers daily. The Schwebebahn suspension railway has proven itself as an efficient public transport indeed!