U-Bahn 175466 210572173 2008-05-06T14:25:29Z 84.191.217.115 [[Image:U-Bahn.svg|100px|right|U-Bahn Logo in Germany]] [[Image:U-Bahn Wien.svg|100px|right|U-Bahn Logo in Vienna, Austria]] [[Image:U-Bahn.jpg|200px|left|thumb|U-Bahn at [[Olympia-Stadion (Berlin U-Bahn)|Olympia-Stadion]]]] '''U-Bahn''' is the [[German language|German]] abbreviation for '''''U'''ntergrund'''bahn''''' ("underground railway"), referring to a means of urban [[rapid transit]], such as the "[[London underground]]" or "[[Paris métro]]". The term was created at the beginning of the 20th century in [[Berlin]], where the [[Deutsche Bahn|Deutsche Reichsbahn Gesellschaft]] ("German state railway company") (predecessor of today's [[Deutsche Bahn]]) created a system of urban and suburban railway lines with fast electric trains with short stopping intervals, called the [[S-Bahn]] (''Schnellbahn'', "rapid railway"). The ''Hochbahngesellschaft'' ("elevated railway company"), operating elevated and suburban lines, decided they required an equally short and memorable name for their system, and thus called it U-Bahn, for ''Untergrundbahn'' ("underground railway"). In Germany the most common symbol for the U-Bahn is a white "[[U]]" on a square blue background, in Austria it is on a circular background. The name was soon adopted for Hamburg's city-owned independent mass transit tram lines. (There was also a Reichsbahn-owned and operated [[S-Bahn]] in [[Hamburg]]). [[Hamburg U-Bahn|Hamburg]], [[Berlin U-Bahn|Berlin]], [[Nuremberg U-Bahn|Nuremberg]], [[Munich U-Bahn|Munich]], and [[Vienna U-Bahn|Vienna]] fit the criteria for a an U-Bahn: fast, electrically operated [[train]]s, completely segregated from other traffic. One line of the [[Frankfurt U-Bahn]], the U4, also meets these criteria. As the post-[[World War II]] rebuilding led to wealth and prosperity in [[West Germany]], German car fanaticism motivated many larger city councils to plan the replacement of the traffic-obstructing [[tram system|tramways]] with U-Bahn systems and [[bus]] routes. [[Nuremberg]] and [[Munich]] decided on a full U-Bahn (like those in [[Berlin]] and [[Hamburg]]) independent from their existing tramways. [[Stuttgart]], [[Frankfurt]], [[Cologne]], [[Bonn]], [[Düsseldorf]], [[Duisburg]], [[Bochum]], [[Essen, Germany|Essen]], [[Dortmund]], [[Gelsenkirchen]], [[Herne, Germany|Herne]], [[Mülheim an der Ruhr]], [[Hanover]] and [[Bielefeld]] started to build [[tunnel]]s for their existing trams, rebuilding tram lines underground. Those systems of tram in [[tunnel]]s in [[city centre]] areas do not meet the criteria of a metro; they are instead [[light rail]] systems. Nonetheless, they are usually referred to as U-Bahn. Officially, they are called ''Stadtbahn'' ("city railways") or ''U-Stadtbahn''. During the 1990s, when, according to original planning, the tramways of Nuremberg and Munich were scheduled to disappear, a reorientation process set in. Shortage of money, increased passenger numbers and the insight that larger streets only attract even more cars slowed the building of [[metro|subway]] lines and led to a renaissance of the tramways in those cities that had forgotten them. In Nuremberg and [[Munich]], after 30 years new rolling stock was purchased, existing lines were modernised, and new ones were built, leading to new integrated traffic concepts. Today, Berlin, Munich and Nuremberg not only have buses, but also trams, S-Bahn, and U-Bahn systems, each with non-shared tracks and different vehicles. The [[Dorfbahn Serfaus]], a [[funicular]] in a ski resort in Austria, is by some referred to as the smallest underground railway in the world. Although it is a transport system within the village, it does not use the brand U-Bahn, and is typically not classified as a metro or rapid transit system. __NOTOC__ === Austrian U-Bahn systems === * [[Vienna]] ([[Vienna U-Bahn]], see also: [[Vienna S-Bahn]]) === German U-Bahn systems === [[Image:OePNVSystemeDeutschland.png|300px|thumb|U-Bahn, light rail and tramway systems in Germany]] * [[Berlin]] ([[Berlin U-Bahn]], see also: [[Berlin S-Bahn]]) * [[Frankfurt]] ([[Frankfurt U-Bahn]], see also: [[Rhine-Main S-Bahn]]) (but meets only light rail criteria except line U4) * [[Hamburg]] ([[Hamburg U-Bahn]], see also: [[Hamburg S-Bahn]]) * [[Munich]] ([[Munich U-Bahn]], see also: [[Munich S-Bahn]]) * [[Nuremberg]] ([[Nuremberg U-Bahn]], see also: [[Nuremberg S-Bahn]]) === German cities with [[light rail]] (''Stadtbahn'') systems === * [[Bielefeld]] * [[Bochum]] * [[Bonn]] * [[Düsseldorf]] * [[Duisburg]] * [[Dortmund]] * [[Essen, Germany|Essen]] * [[Freiburg]] * [[Frankfurt]] (one line meets U-Bahn criteria) * [[Gelsenkirchen]] * [[Hanover]] * [[Herne, Germany|Herne]] * [[Karlsruhe]] * [[Kassel]] * [[Cologne]] * [[Mülheim an der Ruhr]] * [[Rostock]] * [[Stuttgart]] == External links == *Berlin: [http://www.bvg.de/ Berliner Verkehrsgesellschaft] *Frankfurt: [http://www.vgf-ffm.de/ Verkehrsgesellschaft Frankfurt] *Hamburg: [http://www.hha.de/ Hamburger Hochbahn AG] *Munich: [http://www.mvg-mobil.de/ Münchner Verkehrsgesellschaft] *Nuremberg: [http://www.vag.de/ Verkehrs-Aktiengesellschaft Nürnberg] *Vienna: [http://www.wienerlinien.at/ Wiener Linien] {{U-Bahn}} [[Category:German loanwords]] [[Category:Rapid transit]] [[Category:U-Bahn in Germany| ]] [[Category:Underground rapid transit systems]] [[de:U-Bahn]] [[he:או באן]] [[ro:U-Bahn]]