Stuttgart Public Transport

"Stuttgart Transport

Following the suit of other German cities such as Berlin, Cologne and Hanover, on 1 March 2008 a Low Emission Zone (LEZ) came into effect in Stuttgart with the aim of improving air quality. This affects all vehicles entering the Stuttgart "Environmental zone" (Umweltzone), including vehicles from abroad.

Local transport

Stuttgart has a light rail system known as the Stuttgart Stadtbahn. In the city centre and densely built-up areas, the Stadtbahn runs underground. Stations are signposted with a "U" symbol, which stands for Unabhaengig (independent). Until 2007, Stuttgart also operated regular trams. Stuttgart also has a large bus network. Stadtbahn lines and buses are operated by the Stuttgarter Straßenbahnen AG (SSB).

The outlying suburbs of Stuttgart and nearby towns are served by a suburban railway system called the Stuttgart S-Bahn, using tracks supplied by the national Deutsche Bahn AG (DBAG).

A peculiarity of Stuttgart is the Zahnradbahn, a rack railway that is powered by electricity and operates between Marienplatz in the Stuttgart South district of the city and Degerloch. It is the only urban rack railway in Germany. Stuttgart also has a Standseilbahn, a funicular railway that operates in the Heslach area of Stuttgart South and the forest cemetery (Waldfriedhof). In Killesberg Park, on a prominent hill overlooking the city, there is the miniature railway run by diesel (and on weekends with steam).

Rail links

Stuttgart is a hub in the InterCityExpress and InterCity networks of Deutsche Bahn AG (DBAG), with through services to most other major German cities. It also operates international services to Strasbourg, Vienna, Zürich and Paris (four times a day, journey time 3 hours 40 minutes).

Long distance trains stop at Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof, the city's main line terminus which is also used by regional DBAG RegionalExpress and RegionalBahn for services to stations in the Stuttgart metropolitan area. The local rail networks (see above) operate underneath the terminus.

Stuttgart also has its own rail freight centre with marshalling yards and a container terminal in the Obertürkheim area of Hedelfingen.

Air, road and waterway links

Stuttgart is served by Stuttgart Airport (German: Flughafen Stuttgart, airport code STR), an international airport approximately 13 km (8 miles) south of the city centre on land belonging to the neighbouring town of Leinfelden-Echterdingen. It takes 30 minutes to reach the airport from the city centre using S-Bahn lines S2 or S3. Stuttgart airport is Germany's only city airport with one runway. Despite protests and local initiatives, surveys are currently underway to assess the impact of a second runway.

The airport is adjacent to the A8 Autobahn, a major motorway which forms the southern boundary of Stuttgart and runs from Luxemburg via Saarbrücken, Karlsruhe, Stuttgart, Munich and Salzburg eventually to Vienna. Other Autobahns leading to Stuttgart are the A81 (Zürich – Singen – Würzburg – Hamburg) and A831.

Stuttgart has an inland port in Hedelfingen on the River Neckar.

The Stuttgart 21 project

After years of political debate and controversy, plans were approved in October 2007 to convert the main train station to a through station. The Stuttgart 21 project will include the rebuilding of surface and underground lines connecting the station in Stuttgart’s enclosed central valley with existing railway and underground lines. Building work is scheduled to start in 2010 and should be completed in 2020."