Editing North Rhine-Westphalia (section)

== Transport ==

With its central location in the [[Blue Banana|most important European economic area]], high population density, strong urbanization and numerous business locations, North Rhine-Westphalia has one of the densest transport networks in the world.

=== Regional rail network ===
[[File:VRR Linien-Netz 2014.jpg|thumb|Transportsystem Rhein-Ruhr in 2014]]
[[Image:Einfahrt Stadtbahn U46 in U-Bahnhof Saarlandstraße.JPG|thumb|Stadtbahn in [[Dortmund]]]]
The regional rail network is organised around the big cities on the Rhine and Ruhr such as [[Cologne]], [[Düsseldorf]] and [[Dortmund]]. The public transport companies in the Ruhr area and Düsseldorf are run under the umbrella of the [[Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr]], which provides a uniform ticket system valid for the area. The region of Cologne and Bonn is run under the [[Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Sieg]]. There is also a ticketing system called ''NRW-Tarif'' which offers tickets between all the regions of North Rhine-Westphalia. The state is well-integrated into the national rail system, the {{Lang|de|[[Deutsche Bahn]]|italic=no}}, for both passenger and goods services, each city in the region has at least one or more train stations. The bigger central stations have frequent direct connections to most bigger German cities and European cities such as [[Amsterdam]], [[Brussels]], [[Paris]] and [[Basel]]. Some direct trains run to [[Vienna]] and [[Zürich]].

The Rhein-Ruhr area also contains some of the longest [[tram]] system in the world, with tram and [[Stadtbahn]] services from [[Witten]] to [[Krefeld]] in the VRR zone and [[Cologne]] to [[Bad Honnef]] and [[Siegburg]] via [[Bonn]] within the VRS zone. Besides the local public transportation there is an interconnected commuter rail network, with the [[Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn]] network serving the Ruhr area as well as Düsseldorf and the [[S-Bahn Köln]] serving the area around Cologne.

{{As of|2012}}, the VRR network alone consists of 978 lines,<ref name="net-report">{{cite web |url=http://www.vrr.de/blaetterkatalog/Verbundbericht_2013_RZ/blaetterkatalog/ |title=Verbundbericht 2012/2013 als Blätterkatalog |publisher=Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr (VRR) |language=de |trans-title=Network Report 2012/2013 as a Page-by-page Catalog |page=107 |access-date=23 October 2013 |archive-date=5 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140705172134/http://www.vrr.de/blaetterkatalog/Verbundbericht_2013_RZ/blaetterkatalog/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> of which there are: 
* in regional rail transit
** 11 [[S-Bahn]] lines<ref name="net-report" /> (''see:'' [[Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn]])
** 15 [[RegionalExpress]] lines<ref name="net-report" /> (''see:'' [[List of regional railway lines in North Rhine-Westphalia]])
** 24 [[RegionalBahn]] lines<ref name="net-report" /> (''see:'' [[List of regional railway lines in North Rhine-Westphalia]])
* in local rail transit 
** 19 [[Stadtbahn]] light rail lines<ref name="net-report" /> (''see:'' [[Rhine-Ruhr Stadtbahn]])
** 45 [[tram (Straßenbahn)]] lines<ref name="net-report" />
** 1 [[Schwebebahn Wuppertal|Schwebebahn]] line<ref name="net-report" /> (in [[Wuppertal]])
** 2 [[H-Bahn]] peoplemover systems<ref name="net-report" /> made up of three lines (two [[H-Bahn#Dortmund|H-Bahn]] lines in [[Dortmund]], and the [[H-Bahn#Düsseldorf Airport|Düsseldorf SkyTrain]] at [[Düsseldorf]] airport)
* in bus transit
** 906 [[bus|bus lines]],<ref name="net-report" /> including
*** 33 express bus lines (Schnellbus, SB)
*** 18 semi-fast bus lines (CityExpress, CE)
** 6 [[trolleybus]] lines<ref name="net-report" /> (in [[Solingen]])
* 15,300&nbsp;km of route network<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vrr.de/en/index.html |title=Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr – Homepage – Welcome to the VRR |publisher=Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr (VRR) |access-date=23 October 2013 |archive-date=29 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180529224053/http://vrr.de/en/index.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> (bus, light rail, and train)
* 11,500 transit stops

In 2022 the VRS and AVV area <ref name="network plan">{{cite web |url=https://www.vrs.de/fileadmin/Dateien/Downloadcenter/Netzplaene/Schienennetz_FlyerDINlang_dt_2022.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.vrs.de/fileadmin/Dateien/Downloadcenter/Netzplaene/Schienennetz_FlyerDINlang_dt_2022.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |title=Schienennetz VRS Gesamtgebiet 2022 |publisher=Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Sieg (VRS) |language=de |access-date=12 June 2022 }}</ref> contains 
* in regional rail transit
** 7 S-Bahn lines (with 4 being part of the [[Rhein-Ruhr S-Bahn]])
** 11 [[RegionalExpress]] lines (6 conntected to VRR)
** 18 [[RegionalBahn]] services
* in local rail transit 
** 16 [[Stadtbahn]] lines (''see:'' [[Cologne Stadtbahn]] and [[Bonn Stadtbahn]])
** 3 [[tram|streetcar (Straßenbahn)]] lines within the city of Bonn

===Road===
[[Image:A40-Ruhrschnellweg-Huttrop.jpg|thumb|Autobahn A40 in Essen]]
North Rhine-Westphalia has the densest network of [[German Autobahnen|Autobahns in Germany]] and similar Schnellstraßen (expressways). The Autobahn network is built in a grid network, with five east–west ([[Bundesautobahn 2|A2]], [[Bundesautobahn 4|A4]], [[Bundesautobahn 40|A40]], [[Bundesautobahn 42|A42]], [[Bundesautobahn 44|A44]]) and eight north–south ([[Bundesautobahn 1|A1]], [[Bundesautobahn 3|A3]], [[Bundesautobahn 43|A43]], [[Bundesautobahn 45|A45]], [[Bundesautobahn 52|A52]], [[Bundesautobahn 57|A57]], [[Bundesautobahn 59|A59]], [[Bundesautobahn 61|A61]]) routes. The A1, A2, A3, A4 and A61 are mostly used by through traffic, while the other autobahns have a more regional function.

Both the A44 and the A52 have several missing links, in various stages of planning. Some missing sections are currently in construction or planned to be constructed in the near future.

Additional expressways serve as bypasses and local routes, especially around Dortmund and Bochum. Due to the density of the autobahns and expressways, [[Bundesstraße]]n are less important for intercity traffic. The first Autobahns in the Region opened during the mid-1930s. Due to the density of the network, and the number of alternative routes, traffic volumes are generally lower than other major metropolitan areas in Europe. Traffic congestion is an everyday occurrence, but far less so than in the [[Randstad]] in the Netherlands, another polycentric urban area. Most important Autobahns have six lanes.

=== Airports ===
The region benefits from the presence of several airport infrastructure. The main airport is [[Düsseldorf Airport]], world class, which hosted 25.5 million passengers in 2019 and offers flights to various international destinations. Düsseldorf is the fourth-largest airport in Germany after [[Frankfurt Airport|Frankfurt]], [[Munich Airport|Munich]] and [[Berlin Brandenburg Airport|Berlin]] and serves as a [[airline hub|hub]] for [[Eurowings]] and as focus city for several more airlines. The airport has three passenger terminals and two runways and can handle wide-body aircraft up to the [[Airbus A380]].<ref name="a380ready">{{cite web|url=http://www.airliners.de/flughafen-duesseldorf-a380/35850|title=Flughafen Düsseldorf schließt Bauarbeiten für A380 ab|access-date=11 December 2016}}</ref>

The second airport is the [[international airport]] of [[Germany]]'s fourth-largest city [[Cologne]], and also serves [[Bonn]], former capital of [[West Germany]]. With around 10 million passengers passing through it in 2023, it is the sixth-largest passenger airport in Germany and the third-largest in terms of cargo operations. It is also a hub for Eurowings, but also for some cargo airlines. By traffic units, which combines cargo and passengers, the airport is in fifth position in Germany.<ref>{{cite web |title=ADV Monthly Traffic Report |date=November 2015 |publisher=Flughafenverband |url=http://www.adv.aero/fileadmin/pdf/statistiken/2015/11.2015_ADV-Monatsstatistik.pdf |access-date=6 January 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304204205/http://www.adv.aero/fileadmin/pdf/statistiken/2015/11.2015_ADV-Monatsstatistik.pdf |archive-date=4 March 2016 }}</ref> As of March 2015, Cologne Bonn Airport had services to 115 passenger destinations in 35 countries.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.airliners.de/sommerflugplan-2015-sieben-ziele-flughafen-koeln-bonn/35295|title=Sommerflugplan 2015: Sieben neue Ziele ab Flughafen Köln/Bonn|work=airliners.de|access-date=4 June 2015}}</ref> It is named after [[Konrad Adenauer]], a Cologne native and the first post-war Chancellor of West Germany.

Third airport in the region, [[Dortmund Airport]] is a minor [[international airport]] located {{convert|10|km|abbr=on}} east of [[Dortmund]]. It serves the eastern [[Rhine-Ruhr|Rhine-Ruhr area]], the largest [[urban agglomeration]] in [[Germany]], and is mainly used for low-cost and leisure charter flights. In 2019 the airport served 2,719,563 passengers.

There are three more minor airports within the state: [[Münster Osnabrück Airport]], [[Airport Weeze]] and [[Paderborn Lippstadt Airport]].

===Waterways===
The [[Rhine]] flows through North Rhine-Westphalia. Its banks are usually heavily populated and industrialized, in particular the [[agglomerations]] [[Cologne]], [[Düsseldorf]] and [[Ruhr area]]. Here the Rhine flows through the largest conurbation in Germany, the [[Rhine-Ruhr]] region. [[Duisburg Inner Harbour]] (Duisport) and [[Dortmund Port]] are large industrial inland ports and serve as hubs along the Rhine and the German inland water transport system. The country is crossed by many canals like [[Rhine–Herne Canal]] (RHK), der [[Wesel-Datteln-Kanal]] (WDK), der [[Datteln-Hamm-Kanal]] (DHK) and [[Dortmund-Ems-Kanal]] (DEK) an important role for inland navigation.