The outbreak of the First World War was a major setback for the Stadtbahn. Their entire network was from the general mobilization on July 31, 1914 now actually the troop transport of the military, the civilian passenger transport was henceforth only possible under restrictions. Their military task, however, they could fully meet. As on other rail lines in the country, it came again and again to total settings of regular passenger traffic, so for the first time from 6 August 1914 and again from 26 May 1915. One of the reasons for the restrictions was the lack of staff because more and more employees received their convocation. As a substitute, therefore, women had to be employed on the tram for the first time as of June 1915, as was previously the case with the tram service, but they only took over the station services. However, in order to ensure a quick and smooth transition, the administration hired only the wives and daughters of male employees.