Our history

115 years of Bahnen der Stadt Monheim, the city’s public transport provider:
From a small electric railroad to an innovative mobility partner.

1900s: The birth of Bahnen der Stadt Monheim (BSM)
December 5, 1908 – This date is recorded in the archives of the Rhine municipalities as the birth of today’s Bahnen der Stadt Monheim (BSM), Monheim’s public transport provider. This was the day on which, after a roughly eight-month construction period, electric trains started running on the line between Langenfeld station to Monheim Heerweg. In those early days, regional electricity provider Rheinisch-Westfälische Elektrizitätswerke (RWE) was commissioned by the owner of the rail network, Kleinbahn der Rheingemeinden, with operating the lines connecting the Rhine communities. At the beginning of the 20th century, RWE operated a number of rail services in the area of today’s North Rhine-Westphalia. Over the following years, Kleinbahn der Rheingemeinden extended its network to a total of around 13 kilometers, with connections to Leverkusen-Rheindorf and Baumberg being added.

1930s: Rapid growth in freight and passenger transport
Following this phase of expansion, the local railroad in Monheim experienced rapid development. In the 1930s, the volume of goods transported by rail was already around 350,000 tons a year, and almost 400,000 passengers made use of the passenger service.

1960s: The city bus system is expanded
After the City of Monheim took over the management of the Monheim railroads in 1962, the company was renamed Bahnen der Stadt Monheim (BSM). At this time, passenger transport also shifted from rail to road. In the early 1960s, the total number of passengers was around 1.6 million a year. Later, BSM took advantage of the flexibility of road passenger transport, opening up the entire city area with an urban bus system.

1980s: Foundation of the regional transport associations and restructuring of the rail network
The 1980s were dominated by the large transport associations in North Rhine-Westphalia. The Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr (VRR) was the transport association founded in the north of the region in 1980. The Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Sieg, a transport association located to the south, began operations in 1987. The creation of these two associations was intended to promote the development of local public transport by means of uniform fare systems with tickets that were valid across the region. Bahnen der Stadt Monheim GmbH has been a partner in both transport associations since the VRR and VRS were first founded. The City of Monheim am Rhein is also a founding member of both associations.

In the early 1980s, the rail network of Bahnen der Stadt Monheim, or BSM for short, was restructured. Relocating the railway line, which had previously run through the town, to the outskirts of the town meant a significant improvement in Monheim’s traffic situation.

The closure of the Shell plant in 1987 meant that BSM lost their biggest customer – a bitter economic setback for the rail company. Despite this, the City of Monheim am Rhein held on to the railway. Since 2010, the annual tonnage has significantly increased again thanks to a new major customer. Although BSM ceased operating the railroad on December 31, 2014, a private service provider took over the remaining freight transport business on Monheim’s rails from that date onward. To this day, responsibility for the rail network and infrastructure, including maintenance and repair, still lies with BSM.

Today: An innovative mobility partner
Today, BSM contributes significantly to the quality of life and gives the city of Monheim am Rhein a significant competitive edge with its bus, e-bus and city bike services.

From rail to road:
The development of Monheim’s bus services

In the early 1960s, RWE, the power plant company, withdrew from operating the electric railroads and transferred the running of the railroad back to the City of Monheim. The main reasons for doing so were an investment backlog with regard to vehicles and equipment as well as dwindling margins due to increasing numbers of people acquiring their own cars. In addition, freight traffic was increasingly shifting to the road. At the same time, the company followed the spirit of the times and discontinued passenger rail transport in 1963, replacing it with a modern bus transport system – with around 1.6 million passengers a year. As a result, the advantages of a bus service could be systematically exploited. The entire urban area of Monheim was gradually included and a modern bus network successfully established.

Due to Monheim’s rapidly growing population, passenger numbers had already doubled to over 4 million a year after just 10 years. Today, almost 6.7 million passengers use Monheim’s buses every year. And the trend is rising!

This remarkable success for a company of our size is based on our constant focus on customers and a high level of innovation. Since the demand for transportation does not stop at the city limits – especially in a town that lies at the interface between two major cities – Monheim’s railroads are one of the very few companies in Germany to be a full member of two transport associations: the Rhine-Ruhr Transport Association and the Rhine-Sieg Transport Association, despite considerable resistance. For commuters in particular, this removes a serious obstacle to accessing public transport, as it means that buying a transfer ticket to allow you to travel beyond the borders of that particular transport association is as easy as pie.

At the same time, the service has been continuously expanded. These days, numerous lines, which actually cover all passengers’ needs, operate in Monheim am Rhein. This focus on customer service is also found in the technical area. For many years now, only low-floor buses have been used, most of which have air conditioning. Even the older vehicles are powered by at least Euro 3 engines; all vehicles with poorer emission performance have already been taken out of service. After all, it’s not only the health of the environment that is important to us, but, above all, the health of all citizens in Monheim.

Interesting facts about Bahnen der Stadt Monheim

  • 100% subsidiary of the municipal Monheimer Versorgungs- und Verkehrs-GmbH, which in turn is a 100% subsidiary of the City of Monheim
  • Business activities in local public transport as well as in the freight transport sector
  • 143 employees (as of 2024)
  • Founding member of the two largest transport associations in North Rhine-Westphalia: Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr (VRR) and Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Sieg (VRS)
  • Modern fleet of vehicles with 45 buses and 5 autonomous electric buses, that meet the latest environmental requirements
  • Bus network with 16 routes and a route length of 187.2 km (in cooperation with Rheinbahn AG Düsseldorf and wupsi GmbH Leverkusen)
  • 482 stops
  • 5.6 million passengers a year
  • Continuous optimization of operating processes to improve connections
  • Extensive network of sales outlets throughout the city of Monheim