This Transit System is EXTREMELY Complicated! | Stuttgart S-Bahn & Stadtbahn 

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I can tell you from first-hand experience that falling asleep in the S4 and ending up in a dark train waiting in the loop at Schwabstraße to turn around is an experience that will not necessarily improve the quality of your day.

As a former Stuttgart resident i have to say i absolutely love the U-Bahn. Where the S-Bahn keeps doing DB things like having long delays and poor reliability, the U-Bahn just works. You can get anywhere in the city, quick, easy and comfortable. Especially when paired up with the SSBs also pretty dense and reliable bus network.

Yessss finally Stuttgart. You mentioned Porsche and Mercedes-Benz, but it would have been nice to also mention Bosch as the world's largest automotive supplier. With large office buildings on one side of the tracks at the Feuerbach S-Bahn station and a huge manufacturing plant on the other. Similar to the stations of the Porsche and Mercedes plants, thousands of Bosch employees arrive in Feuerbach by S-Bahn and U-Bahn.

Yes, the city I live in. The mentioned complexity of station design is basically a result of the philosophy of a Stadtbahn, where you pick the right RoW mode where necessary. Tunnels in the tight city center, usage of existing space for semi street running, or independent track where the space is there. This allows you to pick whatever your requirements demand and not lock your self in to some standard.

The "U" portion of the U15 has another impressive feat: With 8,5% it is the (or one of) the steepest normal gauge adhesion railways in Europe.

I just have to say, after watching this video of a major car manufacturing city in Germany that still has quite an impressive rail network, just imagine what Detroit, and the state of Michigan in general, could have done if they built something like this instead of destroying half the city to build highways.

When Stuttgart 21 was planned in the late 90s and early 2000s rail was on the downturn. Sadly this means that the 8 platforms are painfully undersized today and I really hope they put some stub ends underground adjacent to the next station to be built cut and cover to add more capacity.

Yeah that's what surprises me about Germany as a Southeast Asian. Seeing a train that arguably looks like a metro train serve both underground train stations, overground platform-level stations, tram stations, and either run as a train on its own tracks or goes on the road like a tram. NGL first time seeing it it felt like a fever dream.

Great video! I work for the SSB in the Stuttgart Tram Museum (Straßenbahnmuseum) and found this a pretty good overview. I must take this opportunity to recommend our museum for learn8ng about the history of trams and the transition to light rail with lots of historic vehicles on display and heritage rides every Sunday. And soon there will be an English language audioguide to help those who dont read German!

The "U" was also supposed to separate the new Stadtbahn lines from the older tram network during the transition phase. The most notable thing is that Stuttgart is the only Stadtbahn city that managed to completely transition from the previous tram network, while also building the infrastructure that is necessary to make such a system work well, which means getting most necessary tunnels, dedicated row's and platforms built. Other cities like Hannover still lack critical tunnel infrastructure, or have have gotten themselves a non compatible low floor system for the sake of avoiding to build high platforms (e.g. Düsseldorf) or worse, who did both (Cologne). This dedication lead stuttgart to even getting tunnels built below outer villages and towns, so the Stadtbahn can avoid geographical constraints. The DT8 trains are also the absolute best in terms of comfort you can find on the tram/ Stadtbahn market. Not many vehicles can cope with some of the steep gradients in and around the the city.

Actually, next month, I'm starting to work as a transit model engineer and strategic planner for the SSB (planning and operating company of the U-lines and buses in Stuttgart). I'm originally from the metro area, but this video was a very neat summary and update of all the lines. So I enjoyed this video even more than the others. Thanks! :)

Great video! Some corrections: S6 is the Black Forest line - the railway is even called "Württembergische Schwarzwaldbahn". S1 is going to the southern "Gäu" landscapes. Stadtbahn "Line E" even goes underground one more time in Weilimdorf. Some more details I didn't see in the first comments: U13/U16 used to go more directly to Bad Cannstatt but a bridge over the Neckar had to be closed due to unexpected aging. U11 in long configuration skips one of the Berlin Platz stops because the platform is too short! The Stadtbahn has has two more lines U16 and U19 which mostly double existing lines on weekdays. The U19 additionally serves Neckarpark/Wasen on small events instead of U11.

Stuttgart is amazing, I would highly recommend you to visit during summer. Riding around all the trains in and out of the city and in the beaitufl green surroundings is such a vibe. I was shocked at the sheer amount of urban rail in Stuttgart, even for german standards.

Finally! 😍 I've been waiting for this for a long time! The way the Stadtbahn system transitioned from a meter gauge tram network to a standard gauge Stadtbahn network over the decades really deserves a video on its own. The last line was transitioned to standard gauge only on 2015! Also worth to mention is, that 100% of the Stadtbahn stations have level boarding, unlike the S-Bahn network. I hope you are going to do a more detailed video about Stuttgart 21 in the future. Its way more than just a new station!

Correction on the S6/S60 service: On weekdays, these two services run coupled from Schwabstraße to Renningen, so S6 has 15-minute intervals all the way to Weil der Stadt. Alternating between full-length trains all the way through and half-length trains that split/join with half-lenght trains from S60 at Renningen.

I was surprised to see Stuttgart before Frankfurt as the latter's Stadtbahn is definitively the easier system (inbetween the former's and Rotterdam Metro in terms of complexity). Now to the video: - One thing you forgot to mention is that the Class 430 have less capacity than their 422 predecessors thanks to their larger heads and in turn shorter middle cars which results in four quartets of seats being replaced by pairs instead alongside one window being shorter than the rest and also introducing irregular door spacing. The gap fillers also aren't inherent to the 430 as Frankfurt's are lacking them. - The Stadtbahn is definitively an interesting system not just how much of a tram-metro hybrid it is but also how it's been turned step-free (i.e. making folding steps unnecessary) when many others still have yet to ditch them. This is on top of keeping a heritage tramway. - Ironically, the DT8 trains are practically metro trains (having some extras like mirrors and turn signals thanks to street running operations but could easily be ditched if it weren't for them) whereas the other systems are in-between metro and tram (high floor carriages but using articulations) which especially contrasts systems like Frankfurt and Bochum's which are the most metro-like in infrastructure. - IMO, line 10 is not interesting for the fact that it's an urban rack railway but rather that it's a rack _tramway_ (notice the turn signals on the railcars).

Historical Sidenote to the Stadtbahn cars: There were some tram stops because the system used to be a streetcar one, so you entered them right from ground level. For that they had built in stairs that could either transform into stairs or would remain on the same height as the floor (so called Klapptrittstufen). For accessability reasons and faster passenger exchange all stations were transformed into high floor stations.

🙂Thanks for the nice video. The Stuttgart basin does not make rail transport any easier; we have height differences of over 250 meters within the city. 🙂

This system makes understanding the NYC Subway a walk in the park! But really, I'm glad you were thorough with this, because as complex as their system is, it shows that even in a major auto city, having a good transit network is very much possible! Berliner Platz actually has THREE separate stops, two of which have the exact same name, Berliner Platz (Liederhalle)! While the third one, Berliner Platz (Hohe Straße), is differentiated by the part in parentheses. But on the map, all three are shown as one stop. And regarding the farmland by U3's eastern terminus, it's home to a large agricultural university called University of Hohenheim, the city's oldest university, so having that terminus there is quite convenient for students That Killesbergpark you mentioned is also pretty cool! The park dates back to a horticultural show in 1939. Before the show, a large area of the park had been a quarry. It was transformed into a park with exhibition sites for the show, and has remained, hosting horticultural events on a regular basis!

Can’t wait to visit this city in December. Totally not just because of Porsche and Mercedes.

Our tram network in Sheffield, UK, also has trams built by Duewag. Within the UK they're pretty unique and I believe now the oldest trams in normal use in the UK but it's odd to see how similar the interior of those in Stuttgart look to the ones in Sheffield. Good trams though, the fact they're the oldest in common use in the UK just goes to show how good they've been.

Nice video, thanks! 🙂 About the S-Bahn: The word "Verbindungsbahn" has been used by the experts during planning and construction and can still be found in literature and on the German wikipedia article. The general public nowadays knows it more as the "Stammstrecke" (trunk line) that runs from Bad Cannstadt to Rohr, and that's also how the railway company calls it, e.g. when they have to announce schedule changes due to construction works etc. About the Stadtbahn: I wouldn't call it chaotic, I would call it pragmatic. At every single corner they have decided what is the best solution with respect to cost vs. benefit. Yet, it is unfinished. Tunnels between Charlottenplatz and Bopser as well as between Berliner Platz and Herderplatz are badly missing. Contact with automotive traffic (in particular cars doing forbidden left turns on intersections) often causes accidents and delays. In the 1960ies there were actually plans to build a "real" metro - I'm glad that they didn't follow this all-or-nothing approach which would have left us with probably three lines and the rest of the tram network converted to diesel bus service due to cost. Your way of explaining the structure of the Stadtbahn network is a bit unconventional. It is uncommon to think in terms of north-south or east-west services (and when I had to do so, I would say that U1 is clearly north-south, not east-west). Most people just talk about line numbers heading to whatever suburb. When talking about the structure of the network, a more common approach (for people interested in that subject 🙂) is to say that in the city center we have three trunk lines (which happen to be the same as for the above-mentioned plans for a "real" metro): 1. The "Tallängslinien" (= along-the-valley lines, referring to the Nesenbach, a creek that has carved out the valley in which downtown is situated, which flows nowadays completely underground from Vaihingen to Mercedesstraße where it flows into the Neckar river). This is basically the U1 service, with U2 and U14 branching off in the suburbs. 2. The "Talquerlinien" (=across-the-valey lines, crossing the Nesenbach at Charlottenplatz). This is basically U6, with U5, U15, and - later added - U7 and U12 branching off in the suburbs. 3. The "Diagonallinien" (= diagonal lines). This is mainly U9 (as it was before the route change due to the Stuttgart 21 construction site) with U4 running most of the time in parallel but with a different route through downtown and in the Ostendplatz area). In addition to that there are the Tangentiallinien (= tangential lines) outside the downtown area: U3, U8, U13. It is worth mentioning that while many services (e.g., U2, U4) switch between segments of these basic lines, there is no connection tunnels between the Tallängslinien and the Talquerlinien within the downtown area, not at Charlottenplatz and not at Hauptbahnhof. This is a remains of the plans for the real metro. If it had been built, U9 would probably have gotten a tunnel separate from U1 in the Staatsgalerie-Stöckach area, so all three trunk lines would have been completely separate.

When I got more into transit and started to watch international videos I always had a problem to "translate" them to what I knew: Stuttgarts transit network. What is a light rail, how does it compare to tram and metro, can metro only be underground, and all such things. As Stuttgarts Stadtbahn runs sometimes in the middle of the street, sometimes underground and sometimes on their own tracks between (smaller) towns, it was quite something, especially with English as a second language. Now, several years later, I understand all of that, but the Stadtbahn still has a special place in my heart, with the mess that it is.

In addition to what is shown in the video, there is a network of bus lines criss crossing the city. To visitors I advice to get the VVS app to get around. Even as a native it sometimes shows me routes I didn't know where possible. And with tickets that can be used in the S-Bahn, Stadbahn and the Bus service there are only a few places you can't reach in the Stuttgart area with the public transit system.

as a stuttgart resident supporting stuttgart 21, it needs to be said that the huge surface area that the tracks cover directly in stuttgarts city center as well as the even bigger train siding facility (for real, look at the map, it makes up a quarter of stuttgarts inner city) will be abolished, which makes room for new housing and greenery.

Thank you so much for doing my city!

Very nice video. As a local, I approve!

Having recently moved back to Stuttgart, this episode is extra fun for me. (I lived here a couple decades ago for 6 years, and wow have things changed since!) I used to mostly drive when I lived here before, though still took a ton of S-Bahn trips. Now, we’re car-free and use the public transportation system exclusively when we aren’t walking or biking. Being able to go anywhere I want on public transportation is life changing after driving 1,000,000 miles in the states over the last 18 years(actually documented miles… ugh). That said, I’d love for you to deep dive into Stuttgart 21. A whole pro vs con video on it would be amazing. They started the project while we lived here before, and I remember it being a little controversial, but seeing how it is still going two decades later… I’d love to learn everything I can on it. I am curious why it isn’t compatible with the “clock” system… as it is going to be Germany’s first digitally controlled rail system. I just don’t know much about how the systems work… Thanks for making this video, was very cool seeing places that I regularly go to and know well. :)

Thank you for this video. I have been to Stuttgart many times and I love that system. It is very quirky and lots of stations everywhere. The story about Stuttgart 21 is so wild, that it would require a whole video series. In 1989, I was in the Stuttgart main train station and in the tower, on the main floor was already the plan for the new station, at that time called, Stuttgart 2010, for a completion in 2010. Nobody, I mean NOBODY in all of Stuttgart or Germany cared for it. However, once they wanted to start digging, all of a sudden, the world went loose and many opposed the idea, mainly for sentimental reasons. I was so pissed at all of the people opposing the new station, as they had years before that to do something about it. Due to this mess, the cost went up significantly, which then again, a lot of people opposed. I personally think it is awesome, moving a big ass train station not only underground, but also move the connections by 90 degrees. When you drive in the car from Munich to Stuttgart, you see all the new tunnels and tracks that are put in place to support this new train station, which is very impressive. I am sure, once this is up and running, everybody will love it as it creates so much more green space in the heart of the city. Well done video, thank you.

Thank you this is my Hometown❤❤❤❤

Fun Fact: At the Sbahn Station Zuffenhausen was build they also build a tunnel under the Bundesstraße B10 which runes along side the S-Bahn and Intercity. Tracks for the Stadtadbahn including a whole station. But they never used it.

Nice video, I live near to Stuttgart and I love the way they solved the problem with the big height differents between the city center and the suberbs with for example line 10. Also I'm happy that you will make a whole video about "Stuttgart 21". Thanks for your great content :)

Some say the reason why Detroit has poor public transit was due to the car industry headquarters being located there, Stuttgart proves this doesn't have to be the case. Unfortunately, Detroit faces other issues that inhibit a functioning public transit system.

Thanks for this incredible video of the rail network near where I live. I didn't knew all the lines till now. So, "wieder was glernt", learnt something again. To Stuttgart 21: There are some problems from the start that couldn't be done better (gradient, number of platforms). And there are some bad mistakes (architects crazy expensive ideas). But: Half of the cost is from the delays of the people , who didn't like it (a lot so old, they won't live to see the opening). And in the planing of S21, nobody thought about time-based schedules. We will see if this ever happens, now that NIMBYS blocked the new tracks to Hamburg.

The Stuttgart Stadtbahn really caught me off guard when I first had a reason to visit the city last year. As somebody originally from Karlsruhe going to Stuttgart just wasn’t something you’d do, even though it’s not far and the few times I’ve been we’re always to museums or concerts with a car. So when I went there on business for a couple of days I had some time to pass in the afternoons and realized the impressive system they had built there, especially given the steep hills around the city core. They dip in and out of tunnels very regularly but run quite reliably and fast, at least from an outsiders perspective. The huge number of services is a bit confusing as first, but for regulars I feel like it would be very handy, since it allowed for a lot of one-seat rides.

Congratualtiions Reece from Roger Sexton on a brilliant video! Regarding Stuttgart 21, until 1990 both Stuttgart and Zurich had Hauptbahnhofs consisting simply of 16 dead-end platform tracks. Today Zurich Hbf still has 18 dead-end tracks (two of them underground) and eight underground through platform tracks. When completed the Stuttgart 21 is completed the Hbf will have just ten through platform tracks, all of them underground. (The above ground tracks will all disappear.)

Grew up in and lived all my life in Kornwestheim which is sandwiched right in between Stuttgart and Ludwigsburg, so I've been using this transit system all my life. The S-Bahn isn't as reliable as I would like but yeah, the Stadtbahn is great.

As someone who uses the S6 to commute to work (or into the city center in general) I can tell you it is an absolute nightmare. Aside from the overall DB problem that also applies to all the S-Lines, there's constantly little defects or problems that cause the S6 to terminate in Zuffenhausen. That is also currently the case as Feuerbach is non-accessible. Whenever this happens, not only do they terminate the train earlier, but they also reduce the frequency of all lines connected to this issue. Which means every morning an already full S6/60 has to change platforms (you actually have to queue at the stairs nowadays!!) and then try to squeeze into an already packed to the brim S4 or S5. -100/10 would not recommend

I love that you're going through all German transit systems, particularly looking forward to Bielefeld and Wuppertal.

I just stumbled over the last remark: Stuttgart's public transit system punches above it's weight. But you need to consider the whole metropolitan area of Stuttgart, which includes lots and lots of smaller cities and communities. When you take that into account, the Stuttgart Metropol Region has a population of 2.5 million and it does not take into account other neighborong areas that also have commuters from and to the region. All these people need transportation and they are willing to contribute with public money to improve and extend it.

the U5 Project in Hamburg is supposed to cost around 25 billion Euros

Great video as usual, I love these German urban rail systems. Gives me ideas for Simcity lol

I moved recently (like a couple of years recently) to stuttgart from outside of germany and I have two things to note: - the U-bahn rail placement can be described in one way: pragmatic. No need to build a tunnel if service can be done aboveground in possibly shared spaces. - the information in the stations on what line is going where and what the platform is, is ATROCIOUS. (Prime example is in the Hauptbahnhof Arnulf-Klett-Platz) And that is even a two parter: the information is not consistency presented so you are constantly looking for it. And when you finally find it: it's incomplete/inconsistent with itself. They really should do a design pass on it to make it legible. It's survivable when you live here but my god this is just torturing tourists for fun.

Hey Reece, thank you for covering Stuttgart, a city not too far away from where I live with a great Stadtbahn system. Personally, I think that Stuttgart has "THE" quintessentail Statbahn system, demonstrating how to do light-rail right (medium-sized city, many lines, not a cheap metro replacement, strategic tunnels where needed). 13:38 These lines once actually were proper suburban rail. They were part of the "Filderbahn", an interurban network connecting all towns and villages near Stuttgart on the Filder plateau. Just like the citie's tram routes, the narrow-gauge Filderbahn was partly integrated into the standard-gauge Stadtbahn system, using its right-of-way. The "Zacke" (Line 10, the rack railway) once also was part of the FIlderbahn, linking the interurban network with central Stuttgart.

It's good to see Stuttgart getting some coverage. I used the '10', the rack railway for a couple of years going to college and it is incredibly steep; I'd get a view of the city every morning and evening. At the time they still had the old tram and trolley (seen just before you go to the funicular train) and this was far too small, so I'd cycle from my villge outside Stuttgart on a fairly old bike, and lock it to the railings of a small stop right on the edge of the valley; the neighbourhood was full of Porsches and expensive Ebikes so no-one bothered to steal my bike in the two years I did this. The rack line used to be the main route into Stuttgart fron the east, and was part of a different company called the "Filderbahn" which ran rural freight and passenger services on a metre gauge network. commuters would come into Degerloch and transfer to the rack line to go down into the city. The steam trains must have done murder on the washing for the expensive houses of the old Weinsteige.

After having been to many cities in Germany, the U-Bahn in Stuttgart still remains my favorite. Very reliable and comfortable!

The line U2 is the one i always use.. i live close to todays terminus, i say that because in the almost 30 years i've lived here they have added 3 new stations to the line.. i remember in my early childhood U2 only went up to the station Obere Ziegelei and we had to switch over to a bus line. Then they added Hauptfriedhof where we again had to switch over to a bus line. Then the station Steinhaldenfeld was added, for this station they had to build a 1km long tunnel that goes underneath a big graveyard. At that time i was around 10, i still remember how on the opening day everyone was allowed to walk through the tunnel once before it was put into operation. It was amazing walking through that tunnel xD and finally the station Neugereut, todays terminus, was added a few years later. Which means i don't have to switch over to a bus anymore or walk half a marathon before getting home, i remember being so happy over that station being added xDD it's interesting watching these systems develop with time.

Another great explainer, Reece. I can't get over how cool the bridge at 22:04 is.

I loved travelling on that network when I was over there. I had no issues, I need to get back one day.

9:29 its U- Bahn. Yes kind of Stattbahn but more like underground train like in London

Great video, I think one thing to note about the controversy surrounding the removal of trees, even if its a relatively small number in a very green area is that that kind of persistent outrage even over small amounts is what keeps places like Stuttgart so green, whether the outrage is responded to or not, helps keep things in check sometimes

Do dusseldorf i've been on it's tram network and it is really underrated and isn't spoken about much, especially for such an effective and clean system

Thank you this video! I live in Stuttgart and love the public transport here. It's clean, punctual and services run frequently. There is also an extensive bus network which means that wherever you live, there's either a bus stop or tram station in walking distance. SSB also operates an on-demand mini bus system that will pick you up at the nearest stop and get directly to your destination. They also run little sightseeing trains in the largest park. I love the modular approach. Want to travel large distances fast? Take the S-Bahn. Want to go to a little suburb? Take the bus. With a €49 ticket it's also very affordable.

Hanover has also a Stadtbahnsystem thats very interesting, would be nice seeing a video about it in the future :)

It wasnt just some random trees that they removed, the controversey was that they cut down several TWO HUNDRED (!) year old trees in the historic Schloßpark in the center of the city. Such massive and old trees are simply irreplaceable. And in the built up areas like city centers, each tree has a massive effect on the area.

Well done Reece 👍👌 cheers from Stuttgart

Thanks for your video, it's very well explained. As a former native to Stuttgart, I can add this: There have been many debates over the years to extend the S-Bahn-Network, most notably the S2. It terminates in Schorndorf, but Schwäbisch Gmünd (about 22 kilometers to the east) wished for a S-Bahn-connection since I can actively remember. In comparison to many other european countries, Germany has a much higher density of population, which leads to (sometimes) very intricate discussions about who gets a connection to which transport system.

Can't wait for your vid about Frankfurt! As someone who uses the S-Bahn to get to work every day it'll be a lot of fun :D

it's crazy that I was watching another video from this channel from a few months ago and I said to myself "it would be crazy if there was a video dedicated to Stuttgart" and not only there is one, it was uploaded less than 24 hours ago, thank you

it will never not feel absolutely wild to me to see places i know well and have been to a lot, if not lived there or nearby, being shown in media

It's indeed a quite complex system. I only know the connection from Stuttgart HBF to the University. Thanks for your videos, there are so much details, including Stuttgart 21

The Japanese do a great job of coordinating bus with rail transit schedules. A bus is waiting when a train pulls in at many stations.

very nice seeing my hometown and it’s transit system represented on one of my favorite channels. Thank you for the video

This was a fun surprise! I have a close friend in the states whose family lives here and we’ve stayed with them. Imagine Detroit having transit like this!

Stuttgart's S-Bahn is also going to get upgraded to ETCS (the new european railroad control system). This will slightly increase the networks capacity (becaues of lower minimum safety distance), which is super neccessary because of pretty bad punctuality over the last years.

In a video about an already complex transit system, you don’t have time to go through everything but I would have loved to see some coverage on the bus system. Just like how the U-Bahn and S-Bahn of this intricate system have formed around Stuttgart’s unique topography, the bus network provides coverage throughout the city from the central downtown area all the way to remote hilly districts. When I used to live in Stuttgart, I did an internship at an organization located about 3 kilometers away from my home. A three kilometer commute in any other German city would not cause that much of an issue, but for me the trip comprised of descending from the north part of the city into the downtown valley area (also known as the “Kessel” or *kettle* in English), and then going up out of the Kessel into a remote suburban area without a tram / U-Bahn connection. Despite the topographical variance of the route, I had a well served door to door bus connection. The buses in Stuttgart are truly next level compared to most other German cities I’ve been in

You forgot to mention the fate of the Gäubahn, which won't be able to continue its service into the main station for several years, until an additional, very costly tunnel most likely in the 30s will be built. Until then, trains using the Gäubahn will have to terminate in Stuttgart-Vaihingen, on the southern edges of the city. The Gäubahn currently still offers connections into the south of the state, as well as towards Zurich. Direct journeys from Zurich to the Stuttgart central station won't be possible anymore for about a decade or so. It's an extremely contentious issue, which you could have covered as well. When it comes to pros to the project, you could have also mentioned the additional station at the airport, which will allow both high speed connections directly into the airport, as well as an additional shoulder station to alleviate some of the pressure from the new central station, as well as add capacity. It's also going to be a pretty import transit hub for regional trains state wide.

The SNL Stefon "this club has everything" style of transit explained video. A funicular to a cemetery!?!?

AFAIK the S62 is supposed to extend to Calw once the line to there gets reopened.

The point was sort of made here but just to restate, even the light rail U-Bahn goes everywhere. U12 goes to an entirely separate town in a different district, U15 almost 200m up a hill, and others to a dozen towns within the Stuttgart municipal area (which are almost separate).

Reece: "the only urban rack railway" Dolderbahn: Am I a joke to you?

I hope that one day you’ll cover the city of Bern, that would be interesting! Thanks for the Videos :)

A very nice video about the Stuttgart local transport system. However, I have a few comments: The S-Bahn has been running continuously on all lines Monday to Friday at 15-minute intervals for around 2 years (excluding off-peak hours and night). The S3 from Backnang was shortened to S-Vaihingen for this purpose. A division into north and south as well as east and west does not make sense for the Stadtbahn system. Basically, Stuttgart has two Stadtbahn systems in the city center: the "Talquerlinien" (valley crossing lines) and the "Tallängslinien" (lines within the valley). These intersect at the main station and Charlottenplatz, but there are no connections in the city center between these lines. The Talquerlinien are the lines U5, U6, U7, U12 and U15. The Tallängslinien include the U1, U2, U4, U9, U11, U14 and U29. Lines U3, U13, U16, U19 and U34 are tangential or suburban lines that do not serve the network's central stops. What I find very practical about Stuttgart's local transport is the unusually soft seats for a big city and the air-conditioned vehicles. The elevated platforms are now impractical because they are expensive, make it difficult to change to other means of transport and cannot easily be extended if the calculated capacity is no longer sufficient. Low-floor trams are cheaper and more practical, but are not compatible with the Stuttgart system. Another disadvantage is the fact that the car bodies are extremely long, which only allows for very wide curve radii. This means that you are not flexible when it comes to newer findings regarding the door arrangement. For example, transport planners found that people who only travel a short distance prefer to get on in the middle, whereas people who travel further tend to get on at the end of the tram or train. This makes it more sensible to offer more doors and standing room in the middle, but more seats at the ends of the vehicles. Since the lift in the main workshop can only accommodate half of a vehicle, this wagon design was created in Stuttgart. Sometimes houses even had to be demolished to make room for the large curve radii. And the Stadtbahn system has another major disadvantage. Capacity in the city center is almost exhausted. If you want to offer more trains, you would have to dig new tunnels. A tram would be more flexible and cheaper to build here. There is already a 2-minute cycle in the center on both the Tallängslinien and Talquerlinien. The U11 is pushed in between, which means that immediately following trains are slightly delayed. I'm curious to see how the SSB plans to manage the two planned new branch routes in the north (to Pattonville and from Mühlhausen to Mönchfeld), because there isn't much space left if you want to continue to offer an attractive 10-minute service. And I don't want to write too much about Stuttgart21. It is really very complicated and is the only one of the 21 train stations that is being built in a big city. How complicated this is is shown by the example of the eastern tunnel to the new main station: the railway tracks would cross the tracks of the Stadtbahn tunnel. Therefore, the area around the Staatsgalerie stop had to be extensively rebuilt, which is still not completed. The Nesenbach (a little creek) also flows underground in the area. This had to be carried out under the new tunnels. To do this, it runs in a tunnel at the bottom and is pumped back up to its original level on the other side. However, the capacity is not sufficient in heavy rain. Above that comes the tunnel for the railway. And then the new Staatsgalerie stop was built, which is now a few meters higher than the old stop. So new tunnels for the Stadtbahn had to be built during ongoing operations (!!!). And since there is also a subterranean tram triangle between the Staatsgalerie, Charlottenplatz and Hauptbahnhof stops, this also has to be rebuilt. That's why there are currently no Stadtbahn lines that run between the Staatsgalerie and the main station for over 2 years. Before that, the route between the Staatsgalerie and Charlottenplatz was closed for two years. It is mega-insanity that is disproportionate to the benefits of the new main station, which is planned to be far too small.

I visited Stuttgart this summer completely unplanned. I had originally planned on visiting Konstanz but it was kinda hard to get to from Innsbruck and extremely expensive to book accommodation. Stuttgart on the other hand was easy to get to, and extremely affordable. I had heard bad things about Stuttgart's new train station under construction and the ugly rebuilding of it's historic city center in modernist style so I wasn't initially all that excited to go there. Overall though I actually quite liked my visit, the city's car-centric nature along the major roads does suck but there are many great parks and I love the decentralized way it operates while still being functional with many different neighborhoods and villages all connected by the tram-train-metro network. There were some really nice newly built neighborhoods that I enjoyed visiting but Cannstatt on the other hand was great for that quaint, traditional German feel. I would definitely want to go back to explore more of the city!

He said Porsche and not Porsch. Thank You for that. Greathings from northern germany

Very well done, good job explaining the Stadtbahn System which looks confusing (but is just fine after a while 😅) At 17:20 you mentioned the Terminus of the U3. The outline town you mentioned is actually home to one of the two large universities in Stuttgart, an agricultural university in part (hence the fields). The service makes it easier to reach the university if you live off campus

I've lived in Stuttgart now for almost 3 years and lemme tell you, the U-Bahn is the best!I *hate* having to take the S-Bahn to get anywhere, it's always got some problem, it's late, it's really smelly inside (often smelling of beer and urin, especially S1, 2 and 3 during festival times) the door alarm is a piercing, shrieking nightmare and people are somehow more rude when they're on the S-Bahn than on other public transport, at least I think so. Also, those little ramp extensions on the trains are a nice idea, but on some stations (like Ludwigsburg) where the platform is significantly lower than the train level, they're just no use. The U-Bahn though? Nearly always punctual, when there's a problem the LED displays on the stations give you a heads up, they're clean, quiet and the seating is far more comfortable. They're reliable and the folks running it and the busses from the SSB deserve all the praise in the world and massive raises IMO, cause keeping that whole mess running so smoothly is a herculean feat and I don't think they get acknowledged enough for it! And all of the platforms (that I've been to, at least) are very accessible as well! Ramps and elevators and flush with the tram floor level!

The only way to travel around in Stuttgart is using trains. There are traffic jams every day in Stuttgart. I never understood why so many still using their car in Stuttgart. S-Bahn and tram work great, even if it seems complicated.

Would've never thought to see a documentary about my cities public transport in english.

What stugartts stadtbahn and perhaps all stadtbhans remind of is the contrast between walking in a chaotic and organic street network vs an effective and grid street network. Stadtbhans for large modern cities are probably not the way to go but they do got some charm. There's a quaintness to the stadtban.

Stadtbahn seems quite similar to the tram network in Antwerp

5:06 it is called Ludwigsburg not Ludwigsberg fyi

While the video has been thoroughly, I need to add that the Ubahn routes are changing once again. The u1 will go from Staatsgalerie to Hauptbahnhof for some reason. The U9 won't take it's old route as of now. This was made official earlier this week. Also I used to live near a U11 station and it was hell during Wasen. What was interesting though is that for certain meetings and occasions from Mercedes and Porsche, the ssb operated specific trains to Cannstatt. Also thanks to the ssb for being reliable, bus and trams, and not doing DB stuff. Small historical fact: there were more tram lines and most trams were running overground. Due to Stuttgart being a car-heavy city, the trams were moved underground to create more space for cars

"More disbursed than diversed." Nicely put, sir! 👏😆

Even as someone who lives in Stuttgart, yes, the U-Bahn System is very confusing and sometimes very unsatisfying to use. Since it is not grade separated in a lot of places. People have car accidents on the rails or with the rail cars, people forget the height of their own vehicles and damage the overhead wires and the SSB itself has more than enough technical difficulties to bring the time table out of synch. But on the other hand, even though RMT hasn't mentioned it, the Bus network the SSB also manages means that no matter where you are in the central areas of the city, you will probably only have to walk less than five minutes to the next Bus stop or train station. Wich makes it very comfortable to use. A very good alternative to the car and saves you the trouble of having to navigate through traffic with it's fairly rowdy drivers. Oh, and one negative I also have to mention: There is no good around the clock service. The U-Bahn normally stops around 12pm and restarts at 4 to 5 am. Bus service as well, not counting the night busses that start their tours every hour from Schlossplatz. And the S-Bahn is also very infrequent if not also closed during the night. It could be worse, honestly. It works and that's what counts :)

Thank you very much for making this video. It's very interesting seeing a documentary about your home area from a rail professional from abroad, even from another continent. I'm living in the town, where the S-Bahn S1 has its eastern terminus, which is 30 kilometres or 20 miles away from Stuttgart city centre. You said in the beginning of this video that you have familiar boundaries to Stuttgart. So I suppose you visited your relatives there when you made this video. I wish you much success with keeping on making these amazing videos.

My granddad had a stroke in the Stuttgart rack railway, (of course not because it's so fast or bumpy, just by chance, he took it every day)

i have no clue why but this was surprisingly interesting

The U-Bahn is awesome! Very frequent service, very reliable, very comfortable. The S-Bahn is pretty good. The regional trains are absolutely abysmal, especially on the track to the north.

As a person who lived in Stuttgart for a long time, i can tell you that the complexity of the Stuttgart Train system doesnt even compare to the complete chaos of the Karlsruhe Train system. Its so complex that neither google maps nor their own plans really understand it

Quite impressive for a small city. Now just see when Stuttgart21 will be finished..

My hometown!

Great video. I grew up around Stuttgart and there was new stuff for me in it as well. Stuttgart 21 probably needs its own video if you really want to go into it. I still want to say something that might not be easy to research. One big problem right now is that Stuttgart 21 has made the S-Bahn extremely unreliable around Stuttgart. It is almost common place that S-Bahn are half an hour late, or don't service all stops. Especially during rush hour when they are supposed to service every 15min they never manage it. If you want to catch a train in Stuttgart Hbf you almost need to take a S-Bahn earlier etc. Also you never know wether S-Bahn stops below or above ground in Stuttgart Hbf.

Very nice video. I just wanted to mention that the city above Stuttgart is called Ludwigsburg and not Ludwigsberg since we have no mountains (just the Lemberg theoretically) Keep up the good content.

i didn't even know this subway was a thing it looks kind of good & A1.

U3 actually runs until Plieningen which is not a town on its own but the southernmost district of Stuttgart. In Plieningen there’s the University of Hohenheim which is one of two Universities in Stuttgart and also the reason why this far-off part of the city has an own U-Bahn line

Total chaos! But it looks like super useful chaos.

Living in Stuttgart and learned some things from you xD thanks. *Ludwigsburg 5:04

Reece - the compass directions in your script don’t always seem to match those shown in the maps, and in some places it became slightly confusing… so much so that I looked up Stuttgart in Google Maps to check that the maps in the video hadn’t been rotated slightly. Nevertheless, a very interesting video showing how a tram network can be gradually transformed into something closely resembling a metro (I wonder if that is why Stuttgart chose to use the U-bahn sign, rather than the more common H sign on their stops). The Stadtbahn reminds me somewhat of the Manchester Metrolink which has a similar combination of some on-street tram running and lots of segregated rail corridors.