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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.

I moved to Stuttgart about two years ago, and changing at Charlottenplatz still is an absolute nightmare since I always end up walking in the wrong direction initially. EDIT: A nice, niche bit of trivia: The Stadtbahn trains actually have all-wheel (or all-axle) drive so they can manage the steep gradients!

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.

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.

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.

As a frequent visitor to Stuttgart, the Stadtbahn system is not that difficult to use. 4:00 While the railway line goes indeed towards the Black Forest, S1 terminates before reaching it yet. 5:06 Ludwigsburg, not Ludwigsberg. 13: 46 In fact, they used to be operated like a railway, but with traditional tramstock. 18:29 Berliner Platz actually has three! pairs of platforms, as its a very big intersection.

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!

Thank you Reece, if you actually plan on covering all German mass transit systems, you'll have enough potential content for months .... :-)

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.

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.

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! :)

Stuttgart has one of the most interesting transit network in Europe, IMO. Because of its uniqueness. For istance i find also interesting how stadtbahn infrastracture get out of the urban fabric to reach detached towns, often getting in to a tunnel to reach their core.

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.

It's a very impressive system because it really feels like a system rather than randomly connected lines. All parts are working together to achieve the goal of moving people around the Stuttgart metro area. I especially like how the terminus or almost-terminus of one line is often used to connect with another line rather than having it become more and more dead and less connected to other parts of the network the further it gets out into the periphery.

I visited Stuttgart in April! The Stadtbahn felt similar to LA Metro, but with far more lines and redundancy. And the S-Bahn is way better than Metrolink in LA. Also a sidenote, nearby Esslingen am Neckar has one of only three trolleybus systems in Germany. It's insane to think that this relatively tiny and less known city is way better transit wise than LA.

19:00 worth noting that until recently, U13 (and U16) ran straight across a bridge over the Neckar near Wilhelma directly to Bad Cannstatt, such that it crossed the U2 perpendicularly. However that bridge, along with a smaller one adjacent to it, has since been closed to all motorized traffic due to structural issues. The U13 & 16 therefore now have to run past Wilhelma, sharing track with the U14, and turning onto the already very heavily used König-Karls bridge, sharing the track with the U1, U2 and U11. Thankfully the dual gauge turning onto the bridge still exists for use by the heritage tram, before this situation it was not an often used connection. If, god forbid, any structural issues would be found with the König-Karls bridge, then stuttgart's multimodal infrastructure would really be in trouble. An enhancement I really think is necessary to add some redundancy would be connecting the U14 and U2 over the Reinhold-Maier bridge at Münster, which for now is the last usable river crossing until reaching central Cannstatt.

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.

🙂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. 🙂

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.

To not build a proper U-Bahn-System (as originally intended) was a pretty clever decision in the 1960s - Stuttgart saved a ton of money and developed a good Stadtbahn-System instead. Basically all parts of Stuttgart have a very good connection to the city center via Stadtbahn or S-Bahn.

Great video, it's good to see Stuttgart covered. I spent a year living in Ludwigsburg as a student almost 30 years ago and used the rail system a lot. It was such a part of student life that my friends and I knew the S-Bahn S4 timetable by heart! At that time, there was an exhibition in Hauptbahnhof about Stuttgart 21. There were also still a lot of the old meter gauge trams still running, and interchanges between the Stadtbahn and tram were common - note the dual-height platforms at Charlottenplatz, for example. The Stadtbahn tunnel up to the TV tower was under construction and riding the 15 tram (now U15) up the hill was memorable for the improbably steep gradients it manages to climb. I'd be surprised if there were any steeper non-rack railways to be found anywhere.

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.

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!

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).

Adding one aspect to the complexity: the steepness of the terrain in Stuttgart. That explains some of the complexity of the lines. Because of that, each bogie of the DT 8 has a motor, which, to my knowledge, is unusual.

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.

I'm living in Stuttgart for some years now and before of that, I was living for some time in the San Francisco bay area. With respect to public transit, Stuttgart and San Francisco have quite some things in common: not too big city in a much larger metropolitan area, steep hills in downtown, SF surrounded on three sides by water, Stuttgart within a valley with steep slopes on three sides, both requiring tunnels (and bridges). From the system design, the Stuttgart Stadtbahn is similar to SF's Muni Metro and the S-Bahn is similar to BART. However, a ride on the Stadtbahn feels faster and still way less bumpy. And while the S-Bahn is technically part of the national railway network, BART is an isolated system with many non-standard solutions, e.g., the non-standard gauge, which is definitively not helpful when purchasing equipment. Stuttgart's funicular is far less cool than the cable cars, and electric busses with overhead wires exist only in one suburb, but on the other hand, Stuttgart has the rack railway, which is another somewhat odd but adorable solution for public transit.

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.

Very nice video. As a local, I approve!

Thank you this is my Hometown❤❤❤❤

5:05 The city is called: Ludwigsburg like "Ludwigs castle" (not Ludwigsberg for mountain). Great Video, Thanks for your work.

Thank you so much for doing my city!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Awesome to see this video, I live here currently! I use the U-bahn and S-bahn almost everyday! Love the public transport options here!

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. :)

Currently, Stuttgart has around 635000 Inhabitants, while the metropol region surrounding it has around 5,2 Million.

A note on Stuttgart 21: There are already discussions that, maybe, in the future, a new stub end station might be built underground, under the new buildings that will be built where the station is currently. Personally, I think this is a great idea, because it solves the capacity problem, making the station ready for the "Deutschlandtakt" the German synchronized timetable, while the platforms currently under constructions are a great addition to increase the speed on many connections, similar to the lower level platforms in Berlin Hbf. But only the future will tell what actually ends up getting constructed and what doesn't.

I was in Stuttgart exactly once for the purposes of disaster tourism (Stuttgart 21), so I'm curious if this wakes some memories :D

What you call "chaos" is just a lot of smart solutions to localized urban constraints, each of these solutions fully optimized but then different than another solution. Where you see chaos, I see very smart design patterns, and I have studied this network extensively by riding it for more than 5 days in a row in 2007 with re-visits of 1 or 2 full days at regular intervals since then. The Stuttgarter Stadtbahn is one of the most efficient and well-designed urban transport systems in Europe, for a fraction of the cost of a full 100% underground system.

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 :)

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.

I'd love to see some content about transit in Frankfurt and the surrounding Rhine-Main-Region, especially the S-Bahn!

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

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.

Thanks a lot for this video on my home town! Very interesting to get an outside perspective. Just one small correction: The S3 doesn't run on the southern branch to the airport anymore. It was replaced by a higher frequency on S2, and S3 ends at Vaihingen now. I take this line on a daily basis to work since I live close to the airport. However, I agree with many others here that S-Bahn is quite a mess right now, partly to the fact that the whole Stuttgart area rail network is being transformed to pure digital signalling using ETCS.

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

14:52 In Killesberg was the former Stuttgart Fair before the fair moved to the airport. So the Killesberg Station was build for a huge number of passengers during events and the Station had a regular 10 minutes Service and extra Service during events in the fair. Now the station has only a regular 20 minutes Service and is oversized for the less numbers of passengers, except until the annual Stuttgarter Lichterfest in the Killesberg Park.

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.

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.)

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

A small addition about the Stadbahn lines: You actually skipped over 2 services - The U16 and U19: The U16 is opperating only Mondays to Fridays during rushhours (6-9 a.m.& 4-7 p.m.) starting in Giebl on the E branch mostly following the route of the U13 until Uff Kirchof on the H branch where it switches over to following the route of the U1 until its terminus at Fellbach Lutherkirche. The U19 is also only opperating on Mondays to Fridays from Neugereut, northern terminus of the U2, via Bad Cannstatt to Neckarpark (Staion) and other than most other lines not starting to operate at just past 4 a.m but 6 a.m. and ceasing opperations already at 8 p.m in contrast to 1 a.m. for most of the other lines.

The mix of transport modes in Stuttgart is outstanding. ❤

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.

I would have never expected you talking about the transit system I am using on the daily

My first visit to Stuttgart was in August 1997 and the U Bahn system had at the time, a low floor section. That section was meant for the meter gauge GT4 vehicles. Some lines still have such sections, especially line 15 from the Strassenbahn museum in Bad Canstatt to Ruhbank. Most of the others have since been converted to meter gauge only and high floors. Take for example Rotebühlplatz, the low floor section was removed and the extra rail likewise.

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

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.

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.

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

That kind of mixed types of right of way isn't uncommon in Germany at all, and honestly, I don't think anyone here considers it messy or chaotic, since we're all used to it being that way. You'll find similar mixes of alignments in Cologne, Nürnberg, Munich and many Ruhrgebiet-Cities. At least in Stuttgart, there actually is an overarching Leitmotif in all those mixed alignments: optimizing the cost/benefit ratio, with benefits in this case being average travel speed and capacity. Stuttgart has been one of the champions of the approach to its Stadtbahn to apply many small cost effective improvements that add up across the entire network, as well as an astonishing level of pragmatism in varying theses solutions in different locations in the city to match the local needs there, which is pretty uncommon for our standardization-obsessed country.

that big city but you get anywhere in couple of minutes, from anywhere. simply the best. I love it

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.

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.

I spent 6 months in Stuttgart as an exchange student and living there is what made me interested in learning about transit and trains

Great video about my hometown Stuttgart (have been living in Berlin since 1984). One remark though: I don‘t think that a city of 630 000 people can be called “a bit over half a million people”! 😎😂

Well done Reece 👍👌 cheers from Stuttgart

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

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.

as someone who has lived in stuttgart almost all their life (2 year break in bremen :-)), i really enjoyed this video! i absolutely love the ubahn, its the best public transport ive used in germany. quick, efficient and comfortable. the busses are also pretty good though. i only use the sbahn to get to uni and to visit friends who live further out, so i can't really speak much on it, but it's pretty reliable as well (compared to other db services lol)

As a former employee of the SSB I have to say that it's a very interesting scratch on the surface of this incredible (complicated) system!

As a kid I hated the tram station "Charlottenplatz" the stairs and everything remembered me to the stairs of Hogwards

as someone who uses the S4 and S5 often i can say its a good video but on 5:05 my Town called Ludwigsburg is called Ludwigsberg difference is Berg means mountain and Burg means Castle.when u plan to visit stuttgart come visit Ludwigsburg 2 its a great city with a big old castle with impressive gardens. ( At the Train station is the best Döner called Denis Döner)

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

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

BIIIG up for pronouncing Porsche correctly...this video was great! Stuttgart really is a bit weird but it works out pretty well in practice. With the exception of user friendliness of stations (sometimes compared to the backrooms...im talking about YOU Charlottenplatz)

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

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.

when I first moved to Stuttgart, the old class 420s were still in use on most lines, they made loads of noise, had 4 sets of manually operated pneumatic doors per wagon, no walkthrough wagons, no aircon, and huge first class compartments that were always empty. most of these were then refurbished and sent to Munich where they still run today. the 430s are notoriously unreliable, as evidenced by a recent viral video of an S-Bahn driver showing their explicit displeasure at the machine. the central Verbindungsbahn is also a problematic bottleneck, frequently being closed due to technical issues, stuck trains, or maintenance. It was closed for 6 weeks this summer, which essentially cut off the east part of the metropolitan area from the west; this came directly after similar closures along the S2 & 3 lines for a comparable amount of time. In contrast the Stadtbahn, along with the bus network, both ran by SSB, is quite reliable, and due to the network density and degree of redundancy, is far better positioned to cope with service issues.

Thank you for covering Stuttgart! Some of these lines are really unconventional, even for German standards. Stuttgart 21 is probably the most discussed new main station of any city in germany. I'm looking forward to the completion though. If you want to see a classic high quality tram system, I recommend having a look at Dresden, Saxony's capital city. Plauen might also be interesting with only a population of 60k people and 6 tram lines that run every 15 minutes!

Living near and commuting into stuttgart daily, I‘ve had mostly positive experiences with the U-Bahn system, the S-Bahn though is a different story. It regularily fails to be on time which leads to missing your connection (for me that meant waiting half an hour outside in the cold at Leonberg Trainstation (S6) like once a week or every other week.) Also pretty frequently some technical problems or construction work will lead to no service or severly worse frequency of service on some or all lines towards main station. The tickets are not cheap enough to make up for that unreliability, which is part of why most people that have parking spaces at their office, will still use the car, unfortunately.

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

Thanks for showing my City ❤

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

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

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

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