Cologne-Ehrenfeld – Rheydt railway line
The Cologne-Ehrenfeld – Rheydt railway line is a predominantly double-track, electrified main line in North Rhine-Westphalia . It branches off the Cologne – Aachen railway line in Cologne-Ehrenfeld and leads to Rheydt Hauptbahnhof .
In the course book of Deutsche Bahn , the route is assigned to the northern part of the right-hand Rhine route . The course book route 465 therefore includes the Mönchengladbach - Cologne - Koblenz route . The reason for this is the uninterrupted regional train runs introduced a few years ago.
history
The origins of the line go back to the Mönchengladbach – Stolberg railway line , built by the Bergisch-Märkische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft in 1870–1875 , which led from today's Mönchengladbach main station via Geneicken, Mülfort, Odenkirchen and Hochneukirch to Jülich , Eschweiler and Stolberg .
As early as 1869, the Prussian trade minister, Count von Itzenplitz, proposed that agricultural and industrial products should be transported more quickly via a rail link from the Dutch border via Mönchengladbach to Cologne, while at the same time creating a rail link from the Dutch seaports via the existing left-hand Rhine stretch to the Upper Rhine. This plan was discarded and resumed in 1880. The city of Mönchengladbach and the Chamber of Commerce submitted an application to approve a route from Mönchengladbach via Giesenkirchen , Jüchen , Gubberath and Grevenbroich to Cologne . They turned to the chief steward of the Empress Augusta , Count Maximilian von Nesselrode-Ehreshoven , through whose mediation one could submit the wishes in writing to the Minister of Railways Maybach. In 1889 the station Hochneukirch connect to at the Düren-Neuss railway located Grevenbroich railway station built and opened to traffic on May 1, 1889th The direct connection from Grevenbroich to Cologne finally followed in 1899.
As early as 1905 there was a railway line between Odenkirchen and Rheydt Gbf, which ran north of Rheydt Gbf over the Aachen – Mönchengladbach and the Iron Rhine and threaded into the freight station from the north between the Iron Rhine and the Krefeld – Rheydt railway.
Only in 1908 was the direct connection between Odenkirchen and Rheydt Hauptbahnhof opened, which runs from Odenkirchen a long way parallel to the route to the freight yard. As a result of the construction, the line over Geneicken, which was built in 1870, was sidelined by the already double-track, parallel railway line between Mönchengladbach Hauptbahnhof and Rheydt Hauptbahnhof. This section, which was electrified in 1968 and initially used for trains from Mönchengladbach to Cologne, was finally shut down and dismantled in May 1985 between Odenkirchen and Geneicken. The line between Rheydt-Odenkirchen and Rheydt Gbf was abandoned in 1945, the overpass structure over the line to Aachen no longer exists today.
A double-track expansion of the section between Rheydt Hauptbahnhof and Rheydt-Odenkirchen together with a single-track section of the Viersen – Venlo railway line is estimated at just under 50 million euros. The city council of Nettetal is vehemently calling for the package also in connection with the Iron Rhine. The expansion has now been upgraded to the priority area.
Route description
Cologne Ehrenfeld train station
The high-speed line between Cologne and Aachen runs right through Ehrenfeld . The Köln-Ehrenfeld station is a regional station, here there is access to the S-Bahn lines S 12 and S 13 of the S-Bahn Cologne , the regional express lines NRW-Express , Rhein-Erft-Express and Rhein-Sieg- Express as well as to the regional railway lines Rhein-Erft-Bahn and Erft-Bahn .
In the western part of the station there is also the S-Bahn stop Köln-Müngersdorf Technologiepark , which can only be reached via the S-Bahn line Cologne – Düren, which runs parallel to the high-speed line.
Four light rail lines (3, 4, 5 and 13) connect Ehrenfeld with the city center and the surrounding suburbs.
Cologne-Bocklemünd train station
The Cologne-Bocklemünd train station was on the Cologne – Mönchengladbach railway (route km 5.6), directly on the federal highway 59 in the south of the Cologne district of Bocklemünd / Mengenich and was shut down in the early 1970s and then mostly scrapped.
Pulheim train station
Pulheim has been connected to the Rheydt – Cologne-Ehrenfeld line via its own train station at kilometer point 11.5 since 1898. The reception building of the station is still present. In the reception building, the dispatcher interlocking in Pf was in operation until 2007, when ESTW technology was introduced.
In 2005 the station area was completely rebuilt and modernized. The previously existing central platform was dismantled after the two side platforms were completed. A new park-and-ride car park was built south of the reception building . The station is also equipped with a bicycle parking garage, bicycle boxes, waiting shelters and ticket machines. The complete renovation work, which also took urban planning aspects into account, dragged on from 1997 to 2005.
At the level of Widdersdorfer street outside the station Pulheim is a 3.8-kilometer-long railway siding for the substation Brauweiler of RWE . It is only used to transport transformers. In the area of the connecting track to the line there is a short pull-out track in an easterly direction.
Stommeln train station
The station building of the train station (today the stop ) Stommeln (km 15.4), which was in operation from 1898 to 1972, is still there today and is used commercially as a café. At the southern end of the platform there has been a single-storey building since 1972, in which the ticket office is still open today. In addition to ticket sales, there was also the dispatcher interlocking Sf in this building, which lost its tasks with the introduction of ESTW technology in 2007. The Stommeln train station is also equipped with two side platforms, ticket machines and waiting shelters. There are a few park-and-ride parking spaces on the way to the first reception building.
The Stommeln freight and loading station was closed at the end of the 1950s. Today there are still some remains of rails and buildings with loading ramps on the site of a hardware store. Mainly steel parts that were manufactured in the neighboring town of Pulheim in the former rolling mill were loaded at the freight station.
Rommerskirchen station
The Rommerskirchen train station is at 20.1 km. The reception building of the Rommerskirchen train station is still there today and is used commercially. A central platform is available for travelers, which is equipped with shelters and ticket machines. At the end of 2008 / beginning of 2009 the park-and-ride car park next to the reception building was expanded. Until the introduction of ESTW technology in 2007, Rommerskirchen had the Rof dispatcher interlocking, which stood in a T-shape above the two main tracks. In November 2008, this now redundant signal box was demolished.
At times there were connections to a scrap shop and an agricultural cooperative south of the main line. In addition to the two main tracks, there are two bypass tracks in Rommerskirchen. A freight train line branches off here to Niederaussem to the RWE Power mine station there , which is part of the Strategic Railway Embankment . This route used to lead from Rommerskirchen to Mödrath and was closed in the course of the Frechen opencast mine . The last passenger traffic between Rommerskirchen and Niederaussem was carried out on May 23, 1971.
Since then, the track has only served as a connection between the Rheinbraun and the Deutsche Bahn line . Lime powder trains run daily between the Flandersbach Rhine lime works in Wülfrath and Niederaussem for the flue gas desulphurisation systems of the power plants. In this context, there was the company Dampfpilze am Rhein in February 2008: the transport of a lime flour train with a steam locomotive. Occasionally it comes to transportation of transformers for the connected power plants.
Oekoven station
The former Oekoven railway station (km 24.2) has not been in operation as such for decades. Passenger traffic in the station was given up on September 24, 1965, goods traffic followed ten years later, on August 30, 1975. The former station building is still there today and serves as a home for an animal shelter. Oekoven had several signal boxes in the course of its existence: From 1913 to 1942 the signal boxes Ko (Oob) existed in the reception building and Owt on the route. They were demolished in 1942 and replaced by the two signal boxes Oof and Ow. These were in operation until 1982. Ow was demolished afterwards, Oof still exists.
In the station, a connecting line to the Neurath union's open-cast lignite mine branched off , via which coal trains were departed. The Neurath trade union also took care of the passenger traffic, which was actively used by the workers when the mine was in operation. There is a public light rail system in Oekoven. The Oekoven Feldbahnmuseum has been located on the former station grounds south of the line since 1976 .
Erftwerk station
In the Erftwerk station (km 27.6) between 1915 and the middle of 1965 passenger traffic was carried out. The station was probably more important in freight traffic. From here, companies north of the route, in the area of Nordstrasse, and south of the route, the aluminum works were served. The connection to the aluminum works is still there today: it is a passing track for the northern track. The former Ef interlocking still exists today, but has not been in operation since the ESTW technology was commissioned in 2007.
Grevenbroich station
Grevenbroich station was built in 1869 at the 34.3 kilometer of the Düren – Neuss line and forms the junction with the Rheydt – Cologne-Ehrenfeld line. It is served by the lines RB 38 (Erft-Bahn), RE 8 ( Rhein-Erft-Express ) and RB 27 (Rhein-Erft-Bahn) and offers transport connections to the neighboring cities of Düsseldorf and Cologne every half hour during the day and at least every hour Mönchengladbach .
The first station building at Grevenbroich station was demolished after the Second World War because of considerable war damage and replaced in 1959 by a new station building that still exists today. In addition to the station building, there are two covered central platforms available to passengers, on which tracks 1 to 4 are closed. Furthermore, the station has a bypass to the west of the platforms, a remnant of the former freight station. This has been torn down in recent years, so that there is nothing left except the track. Only a large fallow area gives an idea of the former extent. With the commissioning of the ESTW Grevenbroich for the Rheydt – Cologne-Ehrenfeld route in 2007, the Gnf and Gs signal boxes became superfluous, but the buildings are still there.
Gubberath station
From 1889 to the beginning of the 1960s, the small Gubberath station existed on the line at km 35.4. Many in the village of Gubberath were employed by the Reichsbahn and thus got their wages and salaries. On the other hand, he created for many workers, both for the population Gieraths and Gubberaths and beyond for from elsewhere in the former rural community Bedburdyck the possibility of their jobs towards Rheydt and Monchengladbach and in the opposite direction Grevenbroich - Neuss to reach. Those who had another way came by bike.
Although the railway represented a fast connection for the conditions at the time, it was usually a little more leisurely. The best example was the so-called rag collectors train. This drove regularly in the morning at around 7:30 a.m. and, in addition to the 10 freight cars, also had a passenger car. The employees who started work at 8:00 am drove with this. At that time the station master was responsible for the departure of the trains.
The Gubberath train station was very busy: most of the passengers drove to work in the morning and came back home in the late afternoon and evening hours. The handling of goods was also not insignificant. This is how express goods arrived and were also sent from here. Bulk goods arrived in wagons, e.g. B. Cattle transports, briquettes and 20-ton wagons arrived and were driven away by the coal dealers in horse-drawn vehicles. Potatoes and especially sugar beets were also loaded, which had to be approached by horse-drawn vehicles and shoveled into the wagons with the large beet fork. But with the advent of bus connections and the rapid increase in car traffic, the number of passengers declined, so that in 1964 the station had to be shut down and demolished.
Juchen train station
The Jüchen station is on the Rheydt – Cologne-Ehrenfeld railway line at 38.7 km with a station building erected in 1889. The reception building is now privately owned.
The train station, which has now been degraded to a stop, is equipped with two side platforms with ticket machines and shelters. There is a small park-and-ride car park next to the former reception building.
Hochneukirch station
In 1873, Hochneukirch (at that time still Neukirchen, today to Jüchen ) was given a rail link on the eastern edge of the village, which further stimulated the emerging textile industry. The train station (at kilometer 41.5) is connected to the town center by Bahnhofstrasse. Here the Mönchengladbach – Stolberg railway met with the Rheydt – Cologne-Ehrenfeld railway, which then extended together on the route to the Rheydt-Odenkirchen station.
The reception building is still preserved today and has contained the Hf signal box since 1964. This signal box was given up when the ESTW technology was introduced in 2007. The central platform is equipped with a bus shelter and a ticket machine. To the south of the reception building, the former goods shed is still preserved today. In 1967 the bridge had to be raised by 60 centimeters and lined because the line was electrified with overhead lines. The old railway bridge was demolished in 1988 and replaced by a new reinforced concrete bridge. On May 30, 1980, passenger traffic on the line to Stolberg was stopped and the tracks on the line to Jülich were dismantled. In 1987 goods traffic followed. The station field is now a parking lot.
Rheydt-Odenkirchen train station
The first station building in Odenkirchen , located at kilometer 46.4, was built in 1870. After the building was badly damaged in World War II, the two-storey building was then dismantled into a single-storey low-rise. In 1962, the Odenkirchen station was renamed Rheydt- Odenkirchen. Odenkirchen's train station, which used to be quite extensive, has been severely dismantled in recent decades. Apart from three tracks, nothing is left of the former freight facility with eight main tracks. Only the wooden central platform remained.
The station is equipped with ticket machines in the area of the former reception building. The former signal box Of was housed in the reception building from 1965 to 2007. With the introduction of ESTW technology in 2007, the interlocking was no longer required. The station building was demolished in spring 2012, and P + R parking spaces were created in its place.
The last three kilometers of the route from Odenkirchen to Rheydt Hauptbahnhof are only single-track. This is remarkable insofar as this section was never expanded to double tracks, although the line was otherwise double tracked along its entire length.
Rheydt Central Station
Rheydt Hauptbahnhof and Rheydt Güterbahnhof are both on the Aachen – Mönchengladbach railway line and the Iron Rhine , which begins at the Hauptbahnhof and runs parallel to the line to Aachen as far as the freight yard. The railway line to Cologne-Ehrenfeld also begins at Rheydt main station (km 49.4).
The reception building of Rheydt main station, which dates from the 1950s, is still preserved today and houses a few shops in addition to ticket sales. A central platform is available for travelers next to the house platform. Another platform on platform 4 is used to transfer passengers to the Mönchengladbach football stadium, and a bus stop for the shuttle service has been created at the rear of the platform. The station is served every hour by the Rhein-Niers-Bahn (RB 33) in the direction of Duisburg and Aachen, the Wupper-Express (RE 4) in the direction of Dortmund and Aachen, the Rhein-Erft-Express (RE 8) in the direction of Mönchengladbach and Koblenz and the Schwalm-Nette-Bahn (RB 34) between Mönchengladbach and Dalheim . It is also served by the Rhein-Erft-Bahn (RB 27) from Mönchengladbach via Cologne to Koblenz.
Rheydt freight yard is only used to park freight trains and trains for the Wegberg-Wildenrath test center . It has shrunk considerably over time. In addition to the extensive freight facilities, the station had its own depot until 1975 with four signal boxes, which have since been demolished. The freight station is connected to the Aachen – Mönchengladbach line, the Iron Rhine and, in the northern area, to today's Mönchengladbach freight bypass towards Viersen-Helenabrunn, which arose from the former Krefeld – Rheydt line . Another line used to connect Rheydt Gbf with Rheydt-Odenkirchen. It ran from Odenkirchen initially parallel to the line to Rheydt main station and after crossing the lines to the main station it finally threaded through a flyover in the northern part of the freight station between the line to Krefeld and the Iron Rhine.
After the decline in freight traffic and the decrease in importance of the Rheydt freight station, the Wildenrath test center of Siemens brought new life to the freight station. After 1997, a secure parking area was set up here for vehicles that were to be transferred to the test center or that came from there and waited for their onward journey. This storage area has been preserved to this day.
business
The route is served every hour by the regional express RE 8 (Rhein-Erft-Express) with electric multiple units of the type Alstom Coradia Continental and by the regional train RB 27 (Rhein-Erft-Bahn) with electric multiple units of the 425 series .
Web links
NRWbahnarchiv by André Joost:
- Description of line 2611 (Cologne-Ehrenfeld Gbf ↔ Rheydt)
- Description of line 2612 (Cologne-Ehrenfeld Gbf ↔ Cologne-Ehrenfeld Westkopf)
- Description of route 2613 (Cologne-Ehrenfeld Pbf ↔ Cologne-Ehrenfeld Gbf)
Individual evidence
- ↑ DB Netze - Infrastructure Register
- ↑ Railway Atlas Germany . 9th edition. Schweers + Wall, Aachen 2014, ISBN 978-3-89494-145-1 .
- ↑ Lothar Esser: 950 years Gierath - Gubberath Accessed on March 22, 2016 (PDF; 311 kB)
- ^ Rheinische Post of October 3, 2011: Resolution to Ramsauer
- ↑ BMVI - Evaluation of the railway expansion projects of the potential demand. Retrieved February 20, 2019 .
- ↑ www.deutschebahn.com: Tracks in service facilities Retrieved on February 9, 2011 (PDF; 251 kB)
- ^ Station Cologne-Müngersdorf Technologiepark ( Memento from September 23, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Stop plan Cologne-Müngersdorf Technologiepark. (PDF) Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Sieg, accessed on October 17, 2018 .
- ^ Odenkirchen station gives way to Park & Ride space RP Online, accessed on May 8, 2012
- ↑ Timetable RB 34. In: www.vrr.de. Retrieved January 22, 2018 (German).