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The first commercial monorail was the Wuppertaler Schwebebahn, in operation since 1901.

The German city of Wuppertal is located in a narrow valley so space is at a premium.

Due to the Wupper river that runs the length of the valley, and also due to the rocky ground, a subway system was all but impossible.

A regular 'tram' uses to much space if it runs on a dedicated track or gets stuck in rush hour traffic if the track is laid in the road bed (they tried it anyway!).

A German engineer by the name of Eugen Langen proposed a train that, hanging from a single rail (i.e. mono-rail) would be built over the Wupper river.

Planning began in 1887, construction started in 1898 and the first section of the line was opened for the public on March 1st, 1901.

The German emperor Kaiser Wilhelm II and his wife took the first trip on opening day and that particular carriage is still in operation today; you can even get married in it.

This monorail, all electric, is used by over 70,000 passengers a day.

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15y ago

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