Riding high in Germany on the world's oldest suspended railway

Summary

It’s easy to be seduced by the romance of train travel. Think of sleeper trains, boat trains, vintage steam railways, elegant dining cars. But it’s rare that an urban transport system can capture the imagination quite as much as the Wuppertal Schwebebahn in Germany caught mine, and that of anyone else who’s clapped eyes on the world’s oldest suspended railway.The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more.In October it will be 125 years since Kaiser Wilhelm II took a test ride in the Schwebebahn, just a few months before the hanging railway officially opened for business in March 1901. It was an incredible feat of engineering then, and remains so today. Even with sleek modern carriages having long replaced the original ones, it looks like something imagined by Jules Verne, with carriages smoothly gliding under the overhead track. They have even preserved the first 1901 carriage, nicknamed Kaiserwagen, which can be hired for private occasions.As the hanging train sways above the river, it turns this commuter service into something like a fairground rideA childlike feeling of glee filled me as I sat in the rear of the long carriage and watched the city reveal itself as I floated anything from 8 to 9 metres (26ft to 39ft) above it. At the railway’s westernmost end, Vohwinkel is the first of only four stations whose carriages run above the street, between iron arches. The rest of the railway, which in total runs for just over eight miles, follows the route of the river Wupper. As the hanging train curves and sways above the serpentine river, it turns this commuter service into something like a fairground ride for its 80,000 daily passengers. My hitherto unknown train geek had been unleashed and was utterly delighted.The Schwebebahn railway follows the route of the River Wupper. Photograph: Hackenberg-Photo-Cologne/AlamyThe Schwebebahn came about almost by accident. The Wupper valley, about 1...