Essen, the second largest city in the Ruhr area with about 600,000 inhabitants, has a metre-gauge tram network of about 50 kilometres length. In addition, there are the three light rail lines (U11, U17 and U18), which run on a standard-gauge tracks (1,435 mm) and have a length of about 20 kilometres. The light rail routes are served by vehicles with a floor height of 1,000 mm. A special feature are the vehicles bought from the London Docklands Light Railway, which have been retrofitted with drivers cabs (the cars were operated automatically in London) as well as pantographs on the roof.

The public transport in Essen is operated by → Ruhrbahn GmbH.

Essen is connected to the Mülheim / Oberhausen tram network by the lines 104 and U18 and the line 107 leading to Gelsenkirchen establishes a connection between the Essen and the Bochum / Gelsenkirchen metre-gauge network.