The Bochum Stadtbahn is a Light Rail

Light rail

Light rail or light rail transit is a form of urban rail public transportation that generally has a lower capacity and lower speed than heavy rail and metro systems, but higher capacity and higher speed than traditional street-running tram systems...

 system in the cities of Bochum

Bochum

Bochum is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, western Germany. It is located in the Ruhr area and is surrounded by the cities of Essen, Gelsenkirchen, Herne, Castrop-Rauxel, Dortmund, Witten and Hattingen.-History:...

 and Gelsenkirchen

Gelsenkirchen

Gelsenkirchen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northern part of the Ruhr area. Its population in 2006 was c. 267,000....

 and the surrounding cities of Herne

Herne, Germany

Herne is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the Ruhr area directly between the cities of Bochum and Gelsenkirchen.- History :Like most other cities in the region Herne was a tiny village until the 19th century...

, Hattingen

Hattingen

Hattingen is a German town located in northern part of the Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis district, in North Rhine-Westphalia.-History:Hattingen is located on the south bank of the River Ruhr in the south of the Ruhr region. The town was first mentioned in 1396, when the Duke of Mark granted permission to build...

 and Witten

Witten

Witten is a university city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the home of the Witten/Herdecke University, the first private university in Germany.-Bordering municipalities:* Bochum* Dortmund* Herdecke* Wetter * Sprockhoevel* Hattingen...

, and is operated by BOGESTRA

BOGESTRA

The Bochum-Gelsenkirchener Straßenbahnen AG is a public transport operator in the Ruhr area, most notably in the cities of Bochum, Gelsenkirchen and Herne, and is integrated in the Rhine-Ruhr Stadtbahn network.-See also:* List of rapid transit systems...

. It consists of one real Stadtbahn

Stadtbahn

A ' is a tramway or light railway that includes segments built to rapid transit standards, usually as part of a process of conversion to a metro railway, mainly by the building of tunnels in the central city area....

 line and some sections of tram tunnel under the city centres of Bochum and Gelsenkirchen.

The only real Stadtbahn

Stadtbahn

A ' is a tramway or light railway that includes segments built to rapid transit standards, usually as part of a process of conversion to a metro railway, mainly by the building of tunnels in the central city area....

 line is the U35. It runs north-south from Schloss Strünkede in Herne, via the city centre of Bochum and the Ruhr University Bochum, to Querenburg in Bochum. More than two-thirds of this line runs underground. Only the southernmost six stations are at grade in the middle of a freeway. On this section, there are three crossings, making it not a true metro

Rapid transit

A rapid transit, underground, subway, elevated railway, metro or metropolitan railway system is an electric passenger railway in an urban area with a high capacity and frequency, and grade separation from other traffic. Rapid transit systems are typically located either in underground tunnels or on...

. The U35 is by far the busiest public transport line in the service area of BOGESTRA. Therefore, it is the only one to run every 5 minutes on weekdays and the only one on which the trains consist of two coupled train sets.

The other planned Stadtbahn lines were never finished, but parts of them were built and are in use. In Bochum, two more tunnels were built under the city centre, one east-west tunnel and one northeast-southwest tunnel. Both of them have four underground stations. In Gelsenkirchen a tunnel was built as well. It begins at the train station and from there heads north, via the city centre.

External links

• BOGESTRA Homepage (German)