劉士華

在德國西部城市伍珀塔爾，有一條與眾不同的鐵路——這里的列車在軌道下方運(yùn)行。

Unlike ordinary train lines that staydeterminedly fixed to dry land， suspension railways dangle （懸垂） beneath a tracksuspended from pylons （電纜塔）.

In 1893， Langen offered his suspen?sion railway system to the city， Wuppertal，which accepted the proposal. Constructionbegan in 1898 and the line was ceremo?niously opened in 1901. Almost 20，000tons of steel were used to create theelevated track which snakes through thecity. Its 20 beautiful stations comple?mented the glass and wood interiors ofcarriages that could carry 65 people each.

The network was extended to its finallength of 13.3 kilometers in 1903， withjourneys beginning and ending at turningloops connected to the line’s Vohwinkeland Oberbarmen stations. The railwayproved to be a hit with the locals. Overthe next few years， the train’s lengths wereincreased from two to six carriages， run?ning every five minutes.

Today， the gently swaying Schwebe?bahn （單軌懸掛式鐵路） is still in use as acommuter train， moving an astonishing 25million passengers annually.“ Nowadays， forstatic （靜止不動的） and economic reasons，gray concrete is often the choice and char?acterizes our infrastructure，” says Cologne?based architect Christian Busch.

For locals and visitors alike， theSchwebebahn remains a beloved thing.“My fascination with the Schwebebahnlies in the fact that it was constructed over100 years ago，” says Busch.“ A ride in theSchwebebahn allows the passenger anextraordinary insight into the life of localresidents and really looks like a fairgroundattraction from days gone by.”

Reading Check

What do locals and visitors think ofsuspension railways？

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