Wuppertal’s Hanging Train Is Weird… and Brilliant

By: Yikai Markus Chen

Okay, so the first time I saw Wuppertal’s floating train — the Schwebebahn — I thought it was something out of a sci-fi movie. A literal train hanging from a track above the river? What?!

But the more I learned, the more I realized: this weird train is one of the smartest things I’ve ever seen in a city.

It’s been running since 1901 (yes, over a hundred years ago), and it’s still fully electric. Around 85,000 people use it every single day. It doesn’t clog the roads. It doesn’t take up green space. It just floats there — quietly helping people get around.

And that’s the point, I guess. In a time when we talk about smart cities, climate change, and carbon emissions, Wuppertal did something over a century ago that still works today. It didn’t wait for new technology. It just solved a problem creatively — and it stuck.

I included this example in my EE because it challenges the idea that sustainable cities always need shiny new ideas. Sometimes, something old just needs to be maintained. Or appreciated again.

There’s a lot we can learn from this small city. And honestly, I wish more places would look up — literally — and realize that maybe the future doesn’t have to be built from scratch. Maybe it’s already there, hanging above us.