SWU Verkehr GmbH

SWU Verkehr GmbH is the public transport operating company of the twin cities of Ulm (Baden-Württemberg) and Neu-Ulm (Bavaria) in southern Germany. It is a wholly owned, operationally independent subsidiary of Stadtwerke Ulm/Neu-Ulm (SWU), the municipal utility group, and it carries the great majority of local public transport (ÖPNV) in the two cities. Its network combines two tram lines with 18 bus lines, six of which are night services, and it also acts as a railway infrastructure undertaking. The company was created in 1998 as part of a restructuring of the municipal utility into the SWU corporate group. It took its present shape in 2018, when the former licence-holding entity SWU Nahverkehr Ulm/Neu-Ulm GmbH was dissolved and merged into SWU Verkehr GmbH, which since then has bundled line licences, infrastructure and vehicle operation. Its subsidiary SWU mobil GmbH employs most of the driving staff. SWU Verkehr's tram network grew from what was, until 2009, Germany's smallest tram operation. Line 1 was extended to Böfingen in 2009, and the new Line 2, built at a cost of roughly 192 million euros with substantial federal and state funding, opened in December 2018. The network has continued to expand, reaching 252.7 kilometres of route length in 2024, when 41.3 million passengers were carried — surpassing the pre-pandemic record of 40.8 million set in 2019. Beyond urban transport, the company owns around 14 kilometres of industrial sidings in Ulm and Neu-Ulm, bought the Senden–Weißenhorn railway from DB Netz and reopened it to passengers in December 2013, and since September 2023 has operated the northern section of the Gessertshausen–Türkheim line. It markets its services under the SWU brand, with real-time maps, timetable information and disruption notices published on the SWU website.

SWU Verkehr GmbH was founded in 1998 as part of a restructuring of the Stadtwerke Ulm/Neu-Ulm into the SWU corporate group, separating the transport business into its own operating company for economic reasons. Until 21 March 2009 the Ulm tramway was the smallest tram operation in Germany; on that day its then single line, Line 1, was extended by 4.6 kilometres and seven stops into the Böfingen district. On 30 March 2011 the Ulm municipal council commissioned SWU Verkehr GmbH with the design and approval planning for Line 2, consisting of the branches "Schulzentrum Kuhberg" and "Wissenschaftsstadt". The total route length was 10.5 kilometres, of which 9.3 kilometres were new track, with 18 barrier-free stops to be built. The total investment volume was about 115 million euros, including the necessary expansion of the SWU transport depot; after deducting expected federal and state subsidies, the cost to the city of Ulm was around 50.2 million euros. In July 2014 the section from Schulzentrum Kuhberg to the main station, and in January 2015 the branch from the main station to the Wissenschaftsstadt, were approved by the Tübingen regional council, with federal and state authorities contributing 85.3 million euros to updated construction costs of 192 million euros. The first sod was turned on 15 October 2015 near the turning loop at Egginger Weg on the Kuhberg; in the same month preparatory work began on the ÖPNV bridge over the railway tracks north of the main station towards Kienlesberg. The new Line 2 entered service on 9 December 2018. Further network expansion is planned, with feasibility studies commissioned for a route from the main station via Neu-Ulm to Ludwigsfeld and for an extension of Line 1 from Söflingen to Kohlplatte. In preparation for the direct award planned for 1 January 2020, the corporate structure of the utility's transport division was adjusted on 1 January 2018: the former licence holder SWU Nahverkehr Ulm/Neu-Ulm GmbH was dissolved as a subsidiary of SWU Verkehr GmbH and merged into it. Since then SWU Verkehr GmbH has bundled all tasks for providing local transport as the holder of line licences and operator of infrastructure and vehicles. Passenger services had been provided since 2006 by SWU Verkehr GmbH and Schwaben Mobil Nahverkehr Service GmbH, in which SWU Verkehr GmbH held a 51 percent majority; since 1 January 2018 Schwaben Mobil Nahverkehr Service GmbH has operated as a wholly owned subsidiary of SWU Verkehr GmbH under the name SWU mobil GmbH. In 2019 a total of 40.8 million passengers were carried on a network 199.1 kilometres long. In 2020 and 2021 passenger numbers collapsed to below 27 million because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2024, with 41.3 million passengers, the 2019 figure was exceeded for the first time, while the network was simultaneously expanded to 252.7 kilometres. Through a direct award by the city of Ulm, all SWU Verkehr line licences expiring on 31 December 2019 were extended by 22.5 years, and the line licences of all other lines operating in the city of Ulm were also transferred to SWU Verkehr. Until the restructuring into a transport authority association in 2024, SWU Verkehr was a partner company in the DING transport association. As a railway infrastructure undertaking, SWU Verkehr owns nearly 14 kilometres of industrial sidings in Ulm and Neu-Ulm. In mid-2009 it leased from DB Netz the roughly ten-kilometre Senden–Weißenhorn railway, which at the time carried only freight. The Bavarian railway company Bayerische Eisenbahngesellschaft then tendered regional passenger rail services between Weißenhorn and Ulm in December 2012; the contract was won by DB ZugBus Regionalverkehr Alb-Bodensee (RAB). The planning approval procedure for upgrading the line and renewing stations was initiated in December 2011. After its completion SWU Verkehr renovated the line in summer 2013 and finally bought it in October of that year. Since December 2013 passenger trains have run between Ulm and Weißenhorn on an hourly schedule. On 1 September 2023 SWU Verkehr took over operation of the 13-kilometre northern section between Gessertshausen and Langenneufnach of the Gessertshausen–Türkheim railway from Bahnbetriebsgesellschaft Stauden, under a lease agreement with the line's owner, the Staudenbahn-Schienenweg-Trägerverein. The company plans to upgrade and electrify the section for reactivation in passenger transport. SWU Verkehr operates all inner-city bus and tram lines in the city of Ulm and in parts of the city of Neu-Ulm. From 1947 to 1963 the transport division of SWU also operated the Ulm trolleybus. In its 2017 local transport plan the city of Ulm set fixed service standards that have been binding for all services on lines under the city's authority since 1 January 2020.

• 2024

  41.3 million passengers carried, surpassing the 2019 record, with the network expanded to 252.7 km.

• 2023

  On 1 September, SWU Verkehr took over operation of the northern section of the Gessertshausen–Türkheim railway.

• 2020

  Passenger numbers fall below 27 million due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

• 2019

  40.8 million passengers carried on a 199.1 km network; line licences extended by 22.5 years through direct award.

• 2018

  On 1 January, SWU Nahverkehr Ulm/Neu-Ulm GmbH dissolved and merged into SWU Verkehr GmbH; Schwaben Mobil renamed SWU mobil GmbH.

• 2018

  On 9 December, new Line 2 entered service.

• 2015

  On 15 October, first sod turned for Line 2 near the Egginger Weg turning loop on the Kuhberg.

• 2013

  SWU Verkehr renovated the Senden–Weißenhorn line in summer and bought it in October; passenger trains began running in December.

• 2011

  On 30 March, Ulm municipal council commissioned SWU Verkehr with design and approval planning for Line 2.

• 2009

  On 21 March, Line 1 extended by 4.6 km and seven stops to Böfingen, ending Ulm's status as Germany's smallest tram operation.

• 2009

  Mid-year, SWU Verkehr leased the roughly 10 km Senden–Weißenhorn railway from DB Netz.

• 1998

  SWU Verkehr GmbH founded as part of the restructuring of Stadtwerke Ulm/Neu-Ulm into the SWU corporate group.

Municipal public transport provider for the Ulm/Neu-Ulm twin-city area, integrated into the SWU utility group and focused on barrier-free, reliable local mobility.

• Tram Line 1

  The original tram line, extended to Böfingen in 2009.

• Tram Line 2

  New line opened in December 2018, serving Schulzentrum Kuhberg and Wissenschaftsstadt.

• Bus network

  18 bus lines, including 6 night bus lines, in Ulm and Neu-Ulm.

• Senden–Weißenhorn regional rail

  Passenger service on the line SWU Verkehr bought from DB Netz, running hourly since December 2013.

• Industrial sidings

  Nearly 14 km of industrial railway tracks in Ulm and Neu-Ulm.

1. 1SWU - Nahverkehr in Ulm und Neu-Ulmswu.de
2. 2SWU Verkehr – Wikipediade.wikipedia.org
3. 3Wikidata Q130236683wikidata.org