Editing Essen (section)

== Transport ==
=== Streets and motorways ===
[[File:A40-Ruhrschnellweg-Huttrop.jpg|thumb|[[Bundesautobahn 40|Ruhrschnellweg]] towards the central business district of Essen]]
The road network of Essen consists of over 3,200 streets, which in total have a length of roughly {{convert|1600|km|mi|0}}.

Four ''[[German Autobahnen|Autobahnen]]'' touch Essen territory, most importantly the [[Bundesautobahn 40|A 40]], known as {{lang|de|Ruhrschnellweg}} ({{lit |Ruhr expressway}}), which runs directly through the city, dividing it roughly in half. In a west-eastern direction, the A 40 connects the Dutch city of [[Venlo]] with Dortmund, running through the whole [[Ruhr]] area. It is one of the arterial roads of the Ruhr area (carrying over 140,000 vehicles per day) and suffers from heavy congestion during rush hours, which is why many people in the area nicknamed it {{lang|de|Ruhrschleichweg}} ({{lit |Ruhr crawlway}}). A tunnel was built in the 1970s, when the then-[[Bundesstraße]] was upgraded to [[Autobahn|motorway]] standards, so that the A 40 is hidden from public view in the inner-city district near the [[Essen Hauptbahnhof|main railway station]].

In the north, the [[Bundesautobahn 42|A 42]] briefly touches Essen territory, serving as an interconnection between the neighboring cities of [[Oberhausen]] and [[Gelsenkirchen]] and destinations beyond.

A part of the [[Bundesautobahn 44|A 44]], a highly segmented connection from [[Aachen]] and the Belgian border to [[Kassel]], planned to go further into [[Central Germany (cultural area)|central Germany]], ends in Essen's south.

A segment of the [[Bundesautobahn 52|A 52]] connects Essen with the more southern region around [[Düsseldorf]]. On Essen territory, the A 52 runs from the southern boroughs near [[Mülheim|Mülheim an der Ruhr]] past the fairground and then merges with the [[Bundesautobahn 40|Ruhrschnellweg]] at the [[Autobahndreieck]] Essen-Ost junction east of the city centre.

With the A 40/A 52 in the southern parts of the city and the A 42 in the north, there is a gap in the motorway system often leading to congestion on streets leading from the central to the northern boroughs. An extension of the A 52 to connect the Essen-Ost junction with the A 42 to close this gap is considered urgent;<ref>Bundesverkehrswegeplan 2003, p. 124{{incomplete short citation|date=July 2021}}</ref> it has been planned for years but not yet been realized – most importantly due to the high-density areas this extension would lead through, resulting in high costs and concerns with the citizens.

=== Public transport ===
As with most communes in the Ruhr area, local transport is carried out by a local, publicly owned company for transport within the city, the [[DB Regio]] subsidiary of [[Deutsche Bahn]] for regional transport and Deutsche Bahn itself for long-distance journeys. The local carrier, Ruhrbahn, is a member of the [[Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr]] (VRR) association of public transport companies in the Ruhr area, which provides a uniform fare structure in the whole region. Within the VRR region, tickets are valid on lines of all members as well as DB's [[railway line]]s (except the high-speed [[InterCity]] and [[Intercity-Express]] networks) and can be bought at ticket machines and service centres of Ruhrbahn, all other members of VRR, and DB.

{{As of|2009}}, Ruhrbahn operates 3 U-[[Stadtbahn]] lines of the [[Essen Stadtbahn]] network, 7 [[Trams in Essen|Straßenbahn (tram)]] lines and 57 bus lines (16 of these serving as {{lang|de|Nacht Express}} late-night lines only). The Stadtbahn and Straßenbahn operate on total route lengths of {{convert|19.6|km|mi}} and {{convert|52.4|km|mi}}, respectively.<ref>{{cite web |title=Kleine EVAG Statistik 2010* (*stand 31.12.2009) |url=http://www.evag.de/fileadmin/downloads/Geschaeftsberichte_Statistik_Organigramm/Kleine_EVAG_Statistik_2010.pdf |access-date=20 October 2013 |trans-title=Small EVAG Statistics 2010* (*as of 31.12.2009) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111116030233/http://www.evag.de/fileadmin/downloads/Geschaeftsberichte_Statistik_Organigramm/Kleine_EVAG_Statistik_2010.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=16 November 2011 |publisher=Essener Verkehrs-Aktiengesellschaft (EVAG) |language=de |date=31 December 2009}}</ref> One tram line and a few bus lines coming from neighboring cities are operated by these cities' respective carriers. The U-Stadtbahn, which partly runs on used [[Docklands Light Railway]] stock, is a mixture of tram and full [[rapid transit|underground]] systems with 20 underground stations for the U-Stadtbahn and additional four underground stations used by the tram. Two lines of the U-Stadtbahn are completely intersection-free and hence independent from other traffic, and the U18 line leading from Mülheim main station to the ''Bismarckplatz'' station at the gates of the city centre partly runs above ground amidst the [[Bundesautobahn 40|A 40 motorway]]. The Essen Stadtbahn is one of the Stadtbahn systems integrated into the greater [[Rhine-Ruhr Stadtbahn]] network.
<gallery widths="180">
Essen hbf 1817.jpg|[[Essen Hauptbahnhof]]
EVAG (Essen) NF2-TW 1601.jpg|[[Essen Stadtbahn]] NF2-TW 1601
Clp 20140717 1848 Bf Essen Hbf EG.jpg|Essen Hauptbahnhof
Essen Hauptbahnhof Freiheit.jpg|Essen Hauptbahnhof in the city centre
U-bahnhof-essenhbf.JPG|[[Essen Hauptbahnhof]] subway station
Stadtbahn Essen - Kaiser-Wilhelm-Park.jpg|Platforms at Kaiser-Wilhelm-Park
</gallery>

On the same motorway, a long-term test of a [[guided bus]] system is being held since 1980. Many Ruhrbahn rail lines meet at the main station but only a handful of bus lines. However, all but one of the Night Express bus lines either originate from or lead to [[Essen Hauptbahnhof]] in a star-shaped manner. All Ruhrbahn lines, including the Night Express lines, are closed on weekdays from 1:30{{nbsp}}am to 4:30{{nbsp}}am.

Of the [[Rhein-Ruhr S-Bahn]] network's 13 lines, 5 lines lead through Essen territory and meet at the Essen Hauptbahnhof main station, which also serves as the connection to the [[Regional-Express]] and [[Intercity-Express]] network of regional and nationwide high-speed trains, respectively. Following Essen's appointment as [[European Capital of Culture]] 2010, the main station, which is classified as a [[German railway station categories#Category 1|station of highest importance]] and which had not been substantially renovated over decades, {{update after |2010 |text=will be redeveloped with a budget of €57{{nbsp}}million until early 2010.}}<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.bmvbs.de/-,302.1040342/doc.htm |title=Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090906113721/http://www.bmvbs.de/-,302.1040342/doc.htm |url-status=dead|archivedate=6 September 2009}}</ref> Other important stations in Essen, where regional and local traffic are connected, are the {{lang|de|Regionalbahnhöfe}} (regional railway stations) in the boroughs of Altenessen, [[Essen-Borbeck-Mitte|Borbeck]], Kray and Steele. Further 20 S-Bahn stations can be found in the whole urban area.

In 2017, the public transport organization of Mülheim, the Mülheimer Verkehrsgesellschaft (MVG) and the Essener Verkehrsgesellschaft (EVAG) merged and became the ''Ruhrbahn''. All vehicles and staff were merged and are now operated together.

=== Aviation ===
[[File:Luftbild Flughafen Essen-Mülheim.JPG|thumb|[[Essen/Mülheim Airport]]]]
Together with the neighbouring city of [[Mülheim|Mülheim an der Ruhr]] and the state of [[North Rhine-Westphalia]], Essen maintains [[Essen/Mülheim Airport]] ([[IATA airport code|IATA]]: ESS, [[ICAO airport code|ICAO]]: EDLE). While the first flights had already arrived in 1919, it was officially opened on 25 August 1925. Significantly expanded in 1935, Essen/Mülheim became the central airport of the Ruhr area until the end of the [[Second World War]], providing an [[Asphalt concrete|asphalt]]ed runway of {{convert|1553|m|ft|0}}, another unsurfaced runway for [[gliding]] and destinations to most major European cities. It was heavily damaged during the war, yet partly reconstructed and used by the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] as a secondary airport since visibility is less often [[fog|obscured]] than at [[Düsseldorf Airport]]. The latter then developed into the large civil airport that it is now, while Essen/Mülheim now mainly serves occasional air traffic (some 33,000 passengers each year),<ref>According to ''RVV-Verkehrsstatistik 2007'' (''RVV'' Traffic Statistics 2007).</ref> the base of a fleet of [[airships]] and Germany's oldest public [[flight training]] company. Residents of the region around Essen typically use [[Düsseldorf Airport]] (about 20 driving minutes) and occasionally [[Dortmund Airport]] (about 30 driving minutes) for both domestic and international flights.