formed a commission for the construction of an elevated railway or . In 1894 they chose the system of the engineer Eugen Langen of Cologne, and in 1896 the order was licensed by the City of Düsseldorf. In 2003, the Rhine Heritage Office ( or LVR) announced the discovery of an original section of the test route of the Schwebebahn. Construction on the actual Schwebebahn began in 1898, overseen by the government's master builder, Wilhelm Feldmann. On 24 October 1900, Emperor Wilhelm II participated in a monorail trial run. In 1901 the railway came into operation. It opened in sections: the line from Kluse to Zoo/Stadion opened on 1 March, the line to the western terminus at Vohwinkel opened on 24 May, while the line to the eastern terminus at Oberbarmen did not open until 27 June 1903. Around of steel were used to produce the supporting frame and the stations. The construction cost 16 million gold marks. The railway was closed owing to severe damage during World War II, but reopened as early as 1946. Modernization The Schwebebahn now carries approximately 80,000 passengers through the city per weekday. Since 1997, the supporting frame has been largely modernized, and many stations have been reconstructed and brought up to date technically. Kluse station, at the theatre in Elberfeld, was destroyed during the Second World War and was reconstructed during the modernization phase. Work was planned to be completed in 2001, but a serious accident took place in 1999 which left five people dead and 47 injured. That, along with delivery problems, delayed completion. By 2004, the cost of the reconstruction work had increased from €380 million to €480 million. On 15 December 2009, the Schwebebahn suspended its operations due to safety concerns. Several of the older support structures needed to be renewed, a process that was completed on 19 April 2010. In 2012, the Schwebebahn was closed for significant periods to allow upgrades to the system: from 7 to 21 July and 6 August to 22 October, and on weekends in September (15/16) and November (10/11). The modernization was completed and the line fully reopened on 19 August 2013. Post-2015 train replacement On 10 November 2011, signed a contract with Vossloh Kiepe to supply a new fleet of Generation 15 or GTW 15 trains to gradually replace the ageing GTW 72 fleet. The 31 new articulated cars were assembled by Vossloh