PUBLIC TRANSPORT IN HANOVER

Anyone traveling in the Hanover region by bus, tram or commuter train uses a well-functioning and coordinated network of various transport companies, all of which are united in the "Verkehrsverbund Großraum-Verkehr Hannover" (GVH):

• The Üstra city trains guarantee fast and often direct commute in Hanover, to Langenhagen, Laatzen, Garbsen, Altwarmbüchen, and Sarstedt.
• On the railroad tracks, the S-Bahn and regional trains of the companies Deutsche Bahn, Metronom, Erixx and WestfalenBahn quickly connect most of the cities and municipalities in the vicinity of Hanover with the state capital.
• The bus network of Üstra and Regiobus complements the public transport by rail. Buses create connections between cities, city outskirts and city centers and provide connection to the rail systems.

With EFA - the electronic timetable information - Hannover Region has all the information needed to travel by local train, light rail or light rail and by bus. Contained are the timetable data from all over Lower Saxony and Bremen.

The public transport called Üstra is really good in Hanover. There are 12 city trains and 38 bus lines connecting 872 stations all over Hanover and neighborhoods, 198 thereof train stations. Trains and buses regularly go at least every 20 minutes until the very, very late evening and then thin out to 30 to 40 minutes. During rush hours most of the trains go every 10 minutes. In the city center, you can reach almost any place within a couple of minutes. And, they are very safe. At night, you can even ask the bus driver to stop anywhere on his way to shorten your walk. A special women night cab offer is offered in conjunction with a train ticket during the winter season - taking a cab from or to a train station is supported with 2,50 EUR.

Anything you need to know can be found at the sites of Üstra directly, however, in German language only: www.uestra.de

TRAINS

The trains in Hanover are called "U-Bahn", "S-Bahn" as well as "RB" and "RE". The terms are actually rather misleading, but they grew historically and simply sustained.

• The U-Bahn stands for Underground, and Hanover's system was planned overground to a large extent. The first line was opened in 1975 - after a long process of planning and interruptions due to extraordinary high cost. The first line operating was line 12. Nowadays, the U-Bahn makes use of a huge tunnel system, comprising 4 tunnels A, B, C, and D. Hanover also had a tram line up to 1998 and today, a couple of lines use the tracks of the former tram.
  The U-Bahn train lines are indicated with a "U" and a number. They connect basically within the city borders.
• The word S-Bahn stands for "Schnellbahn" ("fast line"), however, in fact, it is just as fast as the U-Bahn. It has actually only very recently been developed - in the year 2000. It was built to cover the increased traffic expected during the Expo. The construction started in 1993.  All S-Bahn train lines are indicated with an "S" and a number. The lines connect the neighbor cities with the center of Hanover. Terminal are for example Paderborn, Hameln, Hildesheim, Lehrte, Celle, and the airport.
• On top of that you have the diverse regional trains operated by the Deutsche Bahn. They stop at less stations and are thus quicker. They connect the bigger cities only, like Braunschweig, Wolfsburg, Bielefeld, Ülzen or Soltau.