In the eighties it was recognized in many places that urban traffic is less and less socially and environmentally friendly. On February 8, 1993, the City Council of Oberhausen passed a new traffic development plan with the aim of developing traffic compatible with the city. On February 7, 1994, the city council passed a decision in principle on local public transport - including the groundbreaking decision to reintroduce the tram in Oberhausen. Because a large shopping center and leisure area is to be built on 150 hectares of industrial wasteland in the geographical center of Oberhausen - the New Center.

The far-reaching urban and economic change has changed mobility requirements and made a new, modern local transport system necessary. According to the plan, a third of the 75.000 daily expected visitors to the Neue Mitte should travel by public transport. Plans for a standard-gauge light rail were rejected in advance, as were those for an S-Bahn. A combined tram-bus route that is independent of individual motorized traffic seemed to be the easiest and quickest to implement. City of Oberhausen and Stadtwerke Oberhausen are developing a completely new public transport concept, which increases the attractiveness of public transport with high transport capacity and at the same time significantly reduced travel time and promotes the desirable switch from individual transport to local public transport.

Record-breaking construction time

Construction work will begin on August 4, 1994. In a record time of only 22 months, a local traffic route and the tram access route from Mülheim will be built on the disused Deutsche Bahn and Thyssen Werksbahn routes. In total, the tram route is 8,4 kilometers long and in 1996 it will become the backbone of the new STOAG network.

The tram is an important link between the northern and southern districts of Oberhausen. At the same time, it represents an important link between the traditionally closely intertwined cities of Mülheim and Oberhausen.

13 new stops are being built along the route, all of which were designed by renowned architects. The Neue Mitte stop is particularly striking; the architecture comes from Parade & Partner from Düsseldorf. The roof construction is intended to be a reminder of the industrial history of the property on which the Neue Mitte was built.

The new STOAG: faster, more punctual, more flexible

The new transport network delights passengers with new lines, new cycles, shorter travel times, greater reliability and new vehicles. As part of the new network concept, STOAG procured a total of 1996 buses - 53 articulated buses and 29 solo buses - and six low-floor trams in 24. The investments of around DM 255 million for the route (90% subsidy according to the municipal financing law with funds from the federal government and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia) and DM 46 million for the new one have paid off. The number of passengers has increased significantly, as has the proportion of public transport. Even today, the public transport route is the heart of local public transport in Oberhausen.