Together with the S-Bahn Rhein-Ruhr, the Stadtbahn forms the backbone of the local public transport system in the city, which is supplemented by other tram and bus lines.

The high-floor operations started here, subsequently leading to a separation of the rail-bound public transport into a light rail and a tram network.

In addition to these, operation of the U79 is shared between the Rheinbahn and the neighboring Duisburger Verkehrsgesellschaft (DVG) and their respective rolling stock.

However, these plans were changed at the behest of the North Rhine-Westphalian state government as financial sponsor, in favor of a light rail system for the entire Rhine-Ruhr area.

The later aluminium body shells omitted the left hand door, in favour of a larger driver's cab.

Furthermore, the lines U71-U73 and U83 are operated by eight-axle trainsets of type NF8U, which have a floor height of 30 cm (12 in) above the tracks.

Starting from 2022, a total of 59 HF6 LRV manufactured by Alstom subsidiary Bombardier Transportation are being delivered to replace the older GT8SU and B80D units.