Main line 3 (Dortmund Stadtbahn)

Main route III (Dortmund)
Kampstrasse station, in the background a U43
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Power system :	Overhead line 750 V  =
Top speed:	70 km / h
Opening:	April 27, 2008
Lines:	U 43 U 44
Underground stations:	4 (trunk line) + 1 (other tunnels)
Trunk line
U 44 West further than main line I. Depot Dorstfeld Dorstfeld depot U 43 Wittener Strasse Ottostrasse Ofenstrasse Heinrichstrasse Unionstrasse Westentor turning system West gate U 43 Kampstrasse U 41 U 45 U 47 U 49 Operational line to main line II Reinoldikirche U 42 U 46 U 44 north U 43 east

The trunk line III is one of three trunk lines of the Stadtbahn in Dortmund . It runs from west to east. Light rail operations began on April 27, 2008, although the route was initially served by the previous N8C trams and now with low-floor light rail vehicles , which are considered trams in other cities.

history

Today's main route III essentially follows the course of the historic Hellweg . Corresponding to its importance for traffic, the inner-city section was one of the earliest established routes for local rail transport in Dortmund. Its story begins with the Dorstfeld - Funkenburg horse-drawn tram line that opened on August 13, 1881. At that time, trams were too expensive for the industrial workers to get to work; they mainly served the leisure needs of the well-off middle class. The destination stops at both ends of the route are indicative of this: in the west, A. Ziegler's establishment on the Dorstfelder Emscherbrücke, a large guest house with outdoor management and hall construction for parties, gatherings, music performances and the like, in the east the Funkenburg on Kaiserstraße with a similar one Offer.

The route led over the Rheinische Straße to the Westentor (then Körnerplatz), the Westen- and Ostenhellweg to the Ostentor and through the Kaiserstraße to the Funkenburg . It was operated from October 4, 1881 by the newly founded private Dortmunder Straßenbahn-AG for horse and steam operation , initially single-lane with a swerve. The increase in traffic soon forced a second track and electrification on March 1, 1894. As early as 1898, the route from Funkenburg to Körne was extended as a precondition for its later incorporation (1905). After two changes of name (1881 and 1890, German or General Local and Tram Company ), after the concession expired in 1906, the company became the property of the city under the name of Städtische Straßenbahn Dortmund .

Independently of this, the then Dortmund district founded the Dortmund district electric tram together with the AEG company . On August 26, 1906, the company opened from Körne to the specially set up depot Wickede, and on November 26 of the same year to Unna. Although the route in Körne was directly connected to the "urban" railway with the same gauge, the passengers had to change to other cars. In Asseln, Aplerbecker Straße, there was a connection to the meter-gauge Hörder Kreisbahn . The route via Aplerbeck to the Schwerter Wald had already been set up in 1902. In Aplerbeck it was possible to switch to the main line of the Hörder Kreisbahn (Aplerbeck - Hörde - Brünninghausen - Barop - Hombruch), which opened in 1898, and at the Schwerter Wald to Schwerte and Westhofen. The Asseln - Aplerbeck section was converted to bus services on May 10, 1934, the Aplerbeck - Schwerter Wald section was converted to standard gauge and closed on April 1, 1971.

In 1914, at the request of the district, both railway companies were merged under the name of Dortmunder Straßenbahn GmbH , and it was run continuously, but not the current main line, but from east and west to the main station. During the occupation of the Ruhr there was a border station in Brackel with passport and customs controls. When the tram traffic on Hellweg increasingly disrupted, one of the tracks (in east-west direction) was relocated to narrow northern parallel streets of Hellweg (Brüderweg and Erste or Vordere Kampstraße). The line to Unna was given the number 12, which was changed to 9 in 1941. The 9 lasted for decades, even after the VRR was founded on January 1, 1980 as "409". From June 2, 1985, the line number was changed to 403, which became the U43 with the introduction of the trunk line. As early as July 5, 1964 , however, the "9" no longer went to the main train station, but went through Kampstrasse to Dorstfeld or Marten, so this date can be considered the birthday of trunk line III .

After the end of the Second World War, the "9" was the first line to resume tram service, on June 2, 1945 between Unna-Massen and Wickede, and from July 22 to Ostentor. [6] After the war damage and during the expansion of the Brüderweg, the eastern Hellweg line from Ostentor was temporarily routed over the tracks of the abandoned ring line to the main station, i.e. over Weißenburger Strasse, Schwanenstrasse and the (old) Burgwall. In 1949 the city council decided to cut two approx. 30 m wide traffic aisles through the still largely destroyed city center: a north-south axis (Bornstrasse - Kuckelke - Kleppingstrasse - Ruhrallee) and an east-west axis (Hamburger Strasse - Brüderweg - Kampstraße - Rheinische Straße). He was able to build on earlier considerations from before and after 1933, including studies from 1929 (Architects Pinno and Grund) and 1938 (Hermann Jansen) to widen Brüderweg and Kampstraße and from 1939 to rebuild today's Kleppingstraße and another axis to the Nazi district center . Since there were only a few buildings in the way, the construction law of 1950 favored such planning, and because Dortmund was in comparatively good financial position as an industrial city ​​during the reconstruction period of the beginning economic miracle , the planning within the Wallring was completed by the mid-1950s and then naturally served also as important tram routes. As a latecomer to these axis plans, the route through the newly developed Hamburger Strasse was opened on August 19, 1964 and replaced the track route with the inner Kaiserstrasse.

July 31, 1965, the Wickede – Unna section was discontinued. Until the post-war period, Unna had a connection to the standard-gauge tram to Kamen and Werne , which was originally planned together with the Körne-Unna section, but was then built and operated independently.

As early as the development of the light rail network structure in the late 1960s, the planners were aware that the eastern branch of trunk line III in the districts of Körne , Wambel , Brackel , Asseln and Wickede as a light rail on a special track with elevated platforms was not on the historical one for reasons of space Road axis Hellweg could be guided. There were therefore considerations to give up the local tram route and to lead it partly through a tangential, above-ground new-build light rail line on the northern edge of this settlement band, as it was already available as a counterpart on the southern edge of the settlement with today's S4 S-Bahn. The route should swivel north out of Kaiserstrasse at the level of Lentstrasse and continue along Hannöversche Strasse and Brackeler Strasse (OW IIIa - L 663n) to Wickede. The approximate course of the route is indicated in the city map from 1972 as the planned road. In Wickede in particular, larger new development areas had emerged. Due to the size of the project, the realization was postponed until later and the idea has never been rehashed since then. However, the route could only have accommodated the passenger volume of today's U43 to a small extent.

The depot in Wickede was closed in 1974, the building is still used as a shopping market today (Rewe).

At the end of the 1970s it was decided to build a tunnel in the city center under the former route, but construction did not begin until 20 years later at the end of the 1990s. The tunnel was opened on April 27, 2008. With construction costs of 198.8 million € for the almost 3 km long route and the stops, the construction was comparatively cheap. It was built using the mining method (including excavators and pipe umbrella) in marlstone and sandy, gravelly and silty clays .

The tunnel starts on the western side behind the “Heinrichstraße” stop and then includes the “Unionstraße”, “Westentor”, “Kampstraße”, “Reinoldikirche” and “Ostentor” stops. Behind this, the U43 then drives out of the 2335 meter long tunnel to the surface. The U44 turns into a second 600-meter-long tunnel behind the “Reinoldikirche” stop and then comes to the surface before the next stop.

In 2007/2008, the section in Dortmund-Asseln was expanded to double tracks; after a delay of several years, construction began at the end of June 2020 for the section between Brackel and Asseln. The expansion in Asseln was carried out with continuous rail operation, only for the track changes, rail replacement services were used at short notice.

From April 3 to 13, 2017 and from March 4 to 23, 2018, a replacement rail service from Brackel to Wickede was set up due to track construction work; this is likely to have been the longest time without a tram in the east of Dortmund since 1945.

DSW21 has posted a historical film on Youtube that was released on the 50th anniversary of the route.

business

Lines

line	Line route (tunnel stations in bold) / notes	Cycle (Mon-Fri)
U 43	DO-Dorstfeld depot 1 - Wittener Straße - Ottostraße - Ofenstraße - Heinrichstraße - U  Unionstraße - U  Westentor 2 - U  Kampstraße - U  Reinoldikirche - U  Ostentor - Lippestraße - Funkenburg - Von-der-Tann-Straße - Berliner Straße - Am Zehnthof - Juchostraße - Rüschebrinkstraße - Pothecke - Knappschaftskrankenhaus - Oberdorfstraße - Brackel Church - Brackel Administrative Office - In den Börten 3 - Döringhoff - Businkstraße - Asseln , Aplerbecker Straße - Am Hagedorn - Ruckebierstraße - Zugstraße - Eichwaldstraße - Bockum Weg - Wickede Post - Dollersweg - DO-Wickede 4	10 min (1–2, 3–4) 4/6 min (2–3)
U 44	Dortmund , Walbertstraße / School Museum - DO-Marten Süd - Auf dem Brümmer - Poth - Dorstfeld depot - Wittener Straße - Ottostraße - Ofenstraße - Heinrichstraße - U  Unionstraße - U  Westentor 2 - U  Kampstraße - U  Reinoldikirche - Geschwister-Scholl-Straße - Enscheder Straße - Borsigplatz - Vincenzheim - Dortmund, Westfalenhütte	10 min

Before the heavy damage to the NGT8 series bogies, the U43 began and ended Monday to Friday from around 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and on Saturdays at the Pothecke stop instead of In den Börten.

vehicles

On the 3rd main line, type N light rail cars were used when it opened , which previously ran on the same route as a tram. In addition, new NGT8 trains were used for the first time at the opening . Since December 22, 2011, only NGT8 vehicles have been in service. Before the opening, however, there were plans to use additional B-cars on the new lines. In addition to the low-floor platforms, there were originally high-floor platforms at some underground stations (such as Reinoldikirche). According to the plans at the time, the Walbertstraße (Marten) - Dorstfeld depot, In den Börten (Brackel) - Wickede train station and Ostentor - Westfalenhütte were originally to be closed. In return, a mixed operation with N8C and B80C was planned. The high-floor platforms were dismantled before the tunnel opened.

In mid-2016, during the general inspection of the wagons, which is carried out every 8 years or every 500,000 kilometers, defects were found in 40% of the wagons. There was rust damage to the bogies, and the floor often sagged beyond the manufacturer's guaranteed amount. As a result, only 28 of 47 cars were still available. The 19 wagons affected had to be refurbished. The renovation was carried out in the depot in Dorstfeld, but the final acceptance took place at Bombardier in Siegen. The consequences were cancellations and unmanageable masses of commuters at peak times on the U43 route. The route was reinforced with buses at rush hour. The problems were resolved by mid-2017.

Accessibility

Many stops have low platforms , but many still have access from the roadway / sidewalk or only a flat platform.

U44 West

As a light rail line

U44 West
Marten Walbertstraße / School Museum U 44 DO-Marten Süd S 4 On the Brümmer Heyden-Rynsch-Strasse until 2008 Poth further than the main route (see above)

The relatively short route U44 West leads from Dorstfeld to Marten and runs on Heyden-Rynsch-Straße and Martener Straße. Shortly before the terminus, there is a connection to the Rhein-Ruhr S-Bahn at Marten Süd station , the terminus is near the Westphalian School Museum .

Tram as a predecessor

The western section of today's U44 (Dorstfeld - Marten) follows older tram lines that go back to routes operated by the electric tram company of the Dortmund district . The north-western subnetwork of today's Castrop-Rauxel had no operational connection to its routes north and east of Dortmund and reached with the sections Schwerin - Frohlinde - Kirchlinde - Marten - Dorstfeld and Marten - Lütgendortmund Bhf. (Today Germania) quite late, namely in 1911 in Dorstfeld (Emscher Bridge) the city network of the Dortmund city tram . The Castrop - Schwerin (1907), Ickern - Habinghorst - Castrop and Henrichenburg - Habinghorst (1910) sections had already gone into operation. In 1914, the district and city trams were merged under the name of Dortmunder Straßenbahn GmbH , and continuous lines Dortmund - Ickern and Dortmund - Lütgendortmund were created. There it was possible to switch to the meter-gauge network of the later Bochum-Gelsenkirchener Straßenbahnen AG (previously Bochum-Castroper tram , later Westphalian tram ). It was also possible to change to the later Bogestra network at Münsterplatz in Castrop in the direction of Gerthe - Bochum , there also to the only line of the Herne - Castrop-Rauxel tram to Herne , and in Henrichenburg to a line via Suderwich to Recklinghausen in the meter gauge network of later Vestische trams (previously Recklinghauser trams , later Vestische Kleinbahnen ). In the late 1950s and early 1960s, most of Dortmund's tram lines in this area were shut down in stages: on July 1, 1958 between Henrichenburg and Habinghorst, on May 1, 1960 Ickern - Habinghorst, on December 31, 1960 Habinghorst - Castrop , on July 1, 1962 Castrop - Kirchlinde and on December 1, 1963 Kirchlinde - Marten and Lütgendortmund - Marten. A new express tramway Huckarde - Kirchlinde - Bövinghausen was supposed to serve as a replacement, which is only speculated about until today.

U44 north

As a light rail line

U44 north
Scharnhorst, Springorumstraße until 1970 In the Ratsbusch until 1970 Wire works until 1970 Loop Kirchderner Strasse Kirchderner Strasse until 1984 Westfalenhütte U 44 Vincenzheim Borsigplatz Enscheder Strasse Geschwister-Scholl-Strasse further in the inner city tunnel (see above)

The U44 Nord route originally branching off at the Ostentor leads from Reinoldikirche in the tunnel to Geschwister-Scholl-Straße and then through Gronaustraße, the Oestermärsch to Borsigplatz . Then it follows the Oesterholzstraße to the former gate of the Westfalenhütte on the Hirtenstraße.

Between the “Geschwister-Scholl-Straße” and “Enscheder Straße” stops, overhead contact lines are occasionally damaged at an intersection. Due to a comparatively low bridge and the associated lower overhead contact line, many trucks tear it down when crossing the route. For this reason, among other things, the route to Borsigplatz is to be relocated to Weißenburger Strasse in the medium term.

Tram as a forerunner

On March 31 / April 16, 1898, the city of Dortmund obliged the general local and tram company to further expand the Dortmund network. That happened u. a. by building the route to the Westfalenhütte (Hoesch). The original route at its beginning north of the city center is not entirely clear, partly due to temporary construction works during the elevation of the station and its access routes, but also because maps and city plans were not and are not always exact: it is not uncommon for planned routes to be completed shown, and / or already completed were not drawn in immediately. Two route variants are shown on a map from 1901: starting immediately north of the then barred level crossing of Münsterstrasse at the Burgtor, then immediately turning right through Kapellenstrasse, which has now disappeared, along the Cöln-Mindener railway line, and secondly from the (old) castle wall along the Today's Leuthardstrasse (then also Kapellenstrasse) crossing the Cöln-Mindener Bahn. Before the tracks were raised and the tram to the Westfalenhütte was tackled, Kapellenstrasse ran at this point with a bridge over the lower-lying railway line, as can be seen from a city map from 1890. Both route variants on the map from 1901 then lead into a road that has also disappeared diagonally (at times Mühlenstraße, later Burgmundastraße) in the direction of Rolandplatz, further through Rolandstraße (in a different location than today) and the disappeared Papengarten via Oestermärschstraße, Borsigplatz and the Osterholzstrasse left to the final stop in Eberhardstrasse. On a later city map from 1905 only the second variant is (still) shown, on a third from 1910 both route variants are shown again, the former now starting from the now completed railway overpass. The possibly temporary lines towards Fredenbaum, Hoesch and Hafen in 1905 are described in a city guide as follows: a) Reinoldikirche line, Kapellenstrasse – Steinplatz, after Fredenbaum. b) Line Kuckelke – Kapellenstrasse – Burgmundastrasse – Rolandstrasse – Papengarten – Oestermärschstrasse to Eberhardstrasse (Hoesch). c) Line Steinplatz – Steinstrasse-Rossstrasse – Schützenstrasse to the harbor.

Around 1927 the route was extended through Springorumstrasse to Scharnhorst (confluence with Rüschebrinkstrasse). The first section between Burgtor and Rolandplatz was relocated to Heiligegartenstraße, starting at Steinplatz. From the beginning there were considerations about a further extension beyond Scharnhorst. This became more concrete after the Second World War, when the settlement of the new district of Alt-Scharnhorst and, from 1965, of Scharnhorst-Ost began north of the freight bypass railway with the so-called MSA settlement . The express tram planned in the 1960s via Scharnhorst to Grevel (and Lanstrop ) was then connected to the network via Kirchderne and the later trunk line II, U42 north.

On November 29, 1964, the Steinplatz - Oestermärsch section (corner of Gronaustraße) was shut down and replaced by a new line from Ostentor via Weißenburger Straße and Gronaustraße, because the area north of the Dortmund - Hamm railway line was still largely destroyed and unpopulated and in need of urban restructuring was waiting. Finally, on March 1, 1970, the route from Scharnhorst to the Kirchderner Strasse loop and in 1984 to the former gate of the Westfalenhütte was withdrawn because the passage through the factory site disrupted the Hoesch AG. There was also an older forerunner in the shape of the ring line for the Ostentor - Schwanenstrasse section on Weißenburger Strasse, which was not resumed after the war. During the renovation of the Brüderweg after the Second World War, this section was also used as a diversion route for the Hellweg lines, and was closed in 1954.

U43 east

As a light rail line

U43 east

further in the inner city tunnel (see above) Ostentor Lippestrasse Funkenburg Von-der-Tann-Str. Berlin street At the Zehnthof Juchostrasse Rüschebrinkstrasse Loop wambel Pothecke formerly Wambel Miners' Union Hospital Oberdorfstrasse Brackel, church Brackel, administrative office Brackel, In the Börten U 43 Brackel loop until 2012 Döringhoff Businkstrasse Woodlice, Aplerbecker Strasse On the hawthorn Ruckebierstrasse Zugstrasse Eichwaldstrasse Bock detour Wickede Post U 43 only trains ending here Dollersweg DO-Wickede U 43 S 4

The eastern route of the U43 follows the Westphalian Hellweg to Wickede , where there is a connection to the Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn . The route leads through Wambel , Brackel and Iseln . In Wambel there is a turning loop at the Pothecke , until September 24, 2012 there was also a turning loop in Brackel, In den Börten.

Tram as a forerunner

For more information on history, see the history section above.

gallery

• 

  Tram at the Heinrichstraße stop (main route)

• 

  Tram at the Westfalenhütte (U44 North)

• 

  Former stop Reinoldikirche on the surface

See also

• Rhein-Ruhr urban railway
• Dortmund light rail
• DSW21 (traffic)
• Main line 1 (Dortmund urban railway)
• Main line 2 (Dortmund Stadtbahn)
• Type B light rail car

literature

• Dieter Höltge: Trams and light rail vehicles in Germany. Volume 4 Ruhr area. EK-Verlag, Freiburg i. Br. 1994, ISBN 3-88255-334-0 .
• R. Schwandl, P. Lohkemper, C. Groneck: Rhein-Ruhr Stadtbahn Album 2: Gelsenkirchen, Herne, Bochum, Dortmund + Special Bielefeld. Robert Schwandl Verlag, Berlin 2006, ISBN 3-936573-08-5 .
• Hartwig, Dipl.-Ing. W .: 1906–1986: 80 years of the tram on Hellweg. Special page of the Ruhr-Nachrichten, Dortmund, August 26, 1986

Web links

• Website of the operating company DSW21
• Track plan of the light rail
• Information and network plans for the tram
• Stadtbahn Dortmund on Urbanrail

Individual evidence

1. ↑ History of Brüderweg and Kampstraße [1] , accessed on 29 March 2019
2. ^ Widening of Kleppingstraße 1952 , accessed on March 29, 2019
3. ↑ History of Brüderweg and Kampstraße , accessed on 29 March 2019
4. ↑ Plans for Kampstrasse and Brüderweg , accessed on March 31, 2019
5. ↑ Aufbaugesetz NRW [2] , accessed on March 30, 2019
6. ↑ City Map 1972 [3] , accessed on March 3, 2019
7. ↑ By Klaus Buske: The tunnels last 100 years without complaint. April 11, 2008, accessed on September 24, 2019 (German). 
8. ^ W&F Stadtbahn Dortmund Ostentor. Retrieved September 24, 2019 . 
9. ↑ Two-track expansion in Asseln. In: Drehscheibe-online.de. June 30, 2020, accessed July 19, 2020 . 
10. ↑ youtube.com
11. ↑ Corinna Schultz: U43 continues to run on the back burner. September 24, 2016, accessed on February 9, 2019 (German). 
12. ↑ Daniele Giustolisi: problems in the U43: This is the latest stage. In: Dortmund24. April 2, 2017, accessed on February 9, 2019 (German). 
13. ↑ Tram expansion plans 1965 [4] , accessed on March 26, 2019
14. ↑ DSW 21 (Ed.), A foray through 150 years of company history, in "publik", special edition for the company anniversary, edition 02, March 2007, page 6 [5] , accessed on August 19, 2019
15. ↑ Königliches Lithographisches Institut Berlin: Map of the area around Hohensyburg M 1: 60,000, Koeppensche Buchhandlung (Hans Hornung), Dortmund 1901, digitized version of the University and State Library of Münster [6] , accessed on August 19, 2019
16. ^ H. Gier, Plan der Stadt Dortmund, Verlag W. Crüwell, Dortmund 1890, digitized version of the University and State Library of Münster [7] , accessed on August 21, 2019
17. ^ Heinrich Lemberg, Latest Plan of the City of Dortmund, Dortmund, Verlag Krüger 1905 (digitized version of the University and State Library of Münster) [8] , accessed on August 17, 2019
18. ^ Heinrich Lemberg, Neuester Plan von Dortmund, Dortmund, Verlag Krüger 1910 (digitalisat Landkartenarchiv.de) [9] , accessed on August 17, 2019
19. ^ Heinrich Lemberg, Guide through Dortmund. With a city map and several illustrations. Fifteenth edition. Dortmund: Printing and publishing by CL Krüger, 1905. Page 31. Digitized version of the University and State Library of Münster. [10] , accessed August 27, 2019
20. ↑ Tram planning 1965 [11] , accessed on March 27, 2019
21. ↑ tramtracks.de: Brackel Loop  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.