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GTW 72

🇩🇪 Germany ·built by MAN SE· from 1972· Suspended monorail train type operated in Wuppertal, Germany

🚇 metro electric retired
10 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
  1. 1. Schweb09112005-028: No machine-readable author provided. Stefan17675~commonswiki assumed (based on copyright claims).· Public domain
  2. 2. WSW GTW 72 22, Oberbarmen, 2016 (03): Bahnfrend· CC BY-SA 4.0
  3. 3. Wuppertal Anlieferung des neuen GTW 2014-11-14 026: Atamari· CC BY-SA 4.0
  4. 4. Wuppertal Anlieferung des neuen GTW 2014-11-14 027: Atamari· CC BY-SA 4.0
  5. 5. Wuppertal Anlieferung des neuen GTW 2014-11-14 031: Atamari· CC BY-SA 4.0
  6. 6. Wuppertal Anlieferung des neuen GTW 2014-11-14 037: Atamari· CC BY-SA 4.0
  7. 7. 1991-Wuppertal-Schwebebahnstation-Vohwinkel: Gunnar Klack· CC BY-SA 4.0
  8. 8. Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F049396-0002, Wuppertal-Elberfeld, Schwebebahn: Detlef Gräfingholt· CC BY-SA 3.0 de
  9. 9. Dia von Wuppertal, Sonnborner Straße nach O: Im Fokus· CC BY-SA 4.0
  10. 10. Die Schwebebahn an Alter Markt - geo.hlipp.de - 15202: Stephen Craven on geo.hlipp.de· CC BY-SA 2.0
Read about it on Wikipedia ↗
GTW 72, photo 1 of 10
1/10 No machine-readable author provided. Stefan17675~commonswiki assumed (based on copyright claims).· Public domain

what is it?

The GTW 72 (GTW = "Gelenktriebwagen" or articulated railcar) is a suspended monorail train type operated by Wuppertaler Stadtwerke on the Wuppertal Schwebebahn from 1972 until 2018.

who runs it

Wuppertaler Stadtwerke

base stats

  • speed 60 km/htop speed
  • power 50 kWpower output
  • weight 5 tin working order
  • seats 156passengers
  • built 28made in total

Bars compare against all trains: 600 km/h (maglev), 1,700 seats; power, weight and number built on a log scale up to 20 MW, 1,000 t and 20,000 built.

fun facts

  • First built 54 years ago, in 1972.
  • 24.1 m long: about 5 cars parked nose to tail.
  • Seats 156: 3 full city buses (~50 seats each).
  • Served for 46 years (1972–2018).

metro: Urban rapid transit: frequent, high-capacity trains, often underground.

spec sheet

built
1972
in service from
1972
retired
2018
status
retired
number built
28
kind
metro
traction
electric
origin
🇩🇪 Germany
builders
MAN SE
designer
Klaus Flesche, de
operators
Wuppertaler Stadtwerke
top speed
60 km/h
power
50 kW
electric system
600 V DC
formation
3 sections per trainset
length
24.1 m
weight
5 t
capacity
156 passengers

From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.

Sources: Wikidata Q1007102, Wikipedia: GTW 72 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.

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