page_title: Stadtbahn
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Stadtbahn / History
caption_attribution_description: KVB TW 4517 in Bensberg
context_page_description: A Stadtbahn are types of rail transport. One type of transport originated in the 19th century, firstly in Berlin and followed by Vienna, where rail routes were created that could be used independently from other traffic.
  In the 1960s and 1970s Stadtbahn networks were created again but now by upgrading tramways or light railways. This process includes adding segments built to rapid transit standards –usually as part of a process of conversion to a metro railway– mainly by the building of metro-grade tunnels in the central city area. In the first years after the opening of the tunnel sections, often regular trams vehicles were used. These trams were followed by specially designed vehicles like the Stadtbahn B series. By the 1980s virtually all cities had abandoned the long-term goal of establishing a full-scale metro system due to the excessive costs associated with converting the tramways. Most Stadtbahn systems are now a mixture of tramway-like operations in suburban and peripheral areas and a more metro-like mode of operation in city centres, with underground stations.
caption: Cologne Stadtbahn at Bensberg in 2005
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