Bördebahn
The Bördebahn is a single-track (formerly double-track), non-electrified branch line (formerly the main line ) in the Rhineland , which runs from Düren via Zülpich to Euskirchen . The name is derived from the Zülpicher Börde . Today it is of particular importance for freight traffic. The Eifel-Bördebahn ( RB 28 ) runs six pairs of journeys per day on weekdays and four pairs on weekends.
history
Construction and commissioning
The Rhenish Railway Company was awarded the concession for the construction and operation of the full railway Düren on March 5, 1856 - Schleiden. This route was required by the iron and steel industry in the Eifel in order to be able to sell ore and bring in coal from the Inderevier and Wurmrevier . On October 6, 1864, the Düren - Euskirchen Bördebahn was inaugurated. The Roer steam locomotive pulled seven passenger cars from Euskirchen to Düren.
In 1871 the section of the Eifel route from Euskirchen to Kall was opened. The Eifel route, which was built further, then passed the Schleiden that was originally targeted . In 1875 the Kalscheuren - Euskirchen section was completed. In 1880 the Euskirchen - Bonn line was put into operation, parallel to the nationalization of the Rhenish Railway Company by the Kingdom of Prussia .
The traffic volume at that time is reflected in the number of tickets sold in 1905 :
- Bubenheim 21,226 cards,
- Vettweiß 37,883 cards,
- Zülpich 60,532 cards and
- Dürscheven 22,170 cards.
As part of the West Deployment Plan , the Bördebahn was also upgraded for the unloading of the troops by 1913. So was u. a. the Vettweiß train station was expanded to eight tracks and a loading ramp was also built here to unload the train columns and heavy equipment. For the unloading of the fencing troops in the open, the unloading points were connected to the road network with macadam roads . When deploying for the advance through Belgium, the X. Reserve Corps was unloaded in the Vettweiß-Zülpich area in mid-August 1914.
In the 1920s, the French crew expanded the line to two tracks, and in 1955 dismantling began: the second track between Bubenheim and Dürscheven was removed again. At that time, only 18 trains per day ran in each direction. In 1964 the idea came up to electrify the Düren - Euskirchen - Bonn connection in order to obtain an electrically navigable bypass of the Cologne hub, but this was never realized.
Line closure
For economic reasons, the connection Düren - Bonn Hbf was divided into the lines Düren - Euskirchen and Euskirchen - Bonn Hbf on May 27, 1979. At the same time, the Düren - Euskirchen line was converted into a branch line and train control operations were introduced. The scheduled passenger train service of the Deutsche Bundesbahn was stopped on May 27, 1983 with the local train 7844 Euskirchen - Düren. For the first time in years, a special train rolled back from Düren to Euskirchen on July 6, 1997. But in 1998 the Distelrath –Zülpich section was closed.
reactivation
Reactivation steps
On December 19, 2002, Düren Kreisbahn bought the 310,000 square meter track system from Düren to Zülpich from Deutsche Bahn for around 860,000 euros.
The Rurtalbahn GmbH has been the operator of the section between Düren and the industrial siding of the company Smurfit Kappa Zülpich Papier in the Zülpich station since it was founded in 2003 . Several times a week, coke trains are driven from Düren to the Kappa company.
As a result, passenger traffic took place temporarily on Sundays and public holidays in the summer months up to and including October. There was a connection between Düren and Euskirchen every three hours with modern regional sprinters of the Rurtalbahn; Trips in historical railcars were also planned. The objective of the Sunday trips was not to operate a museum railway, but to reactivate the local rail transport. These trips were special trips of the IG Rurtalbahn and not included in the AVV or VRS tariff, but they were the cornerstone of today's Eifel-Bördebahn .
The Zülpich - Euskirchen section was still for sale. The closure of the route is no longer up for discussion because the relief character of the Voreifelbahn and Bördebahn in freight traffic for the Bonn - Cologne - Aachen route has been recognized and a route security agreement has been concluded.
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In September 2006 the line experienced a brief revival. With a special school train from Zülpich, which was provided with a trip via Düren, almost 1000 people were transported with a train of considerable length. The local high school started from platform 2 of the Zülpich train station on a special trip Zülpich - St. Goar and back. The train was pulled by diesel locomotives of the 218 series in double traction.
In 2007, following another announcement of the closure by DB Netz for the Zülpich - Euskirchen section, special trips were made on the entire route. The Bördebahn-IG Rurtalbahn working group was able to carry out all special tourist trips as planned. For the first time in over 20 years, a continuous train on the Düren - Zülpich - Euskirchen - Bonn Hbf and back ran on October 3, 2007, running between Euskirchen and Bonn Hbf as a through train without intermediate stops. On December 1st and 15th, 2007 the continuous connection Euskirchen - Zülpich - Düren - Aachen Hbf was offered.
In December 2007, the entire route was given the new course book number 12474. After 2007, the entry in the course book and the redrawing of the route in the route map to the course book. In June 2008, the Bürgerbahn sponsoring association was founded. With the help of the neighboring municipalities, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the transport company and volunteers, the Bördeexpress is operated according to the principles of a citizen's bus (Bürgerbahn) .
For August 30 and 31, 2008, the Bördebahn-IG Rurtalbahn e. V. together with the city of Zülpich as the customer, can reactivate the railway line for two days. On both days, trains ran every hour to Euskirchen and every two hours to Düren - twice on Sundays as express trains to Aachen main station. As part of the EuRegionale 2008 , a model company was made possible for a possible reactivation for the 2014 State Garden Show .
In 2010 the railcars of the Bördeexpress (type RegioSprinter) ran every 14 days, on Sundays every four hours between Düren and Euskirchen. Since the 2011 timetable year, every Sunday in the summer season (May to October) runs every four hours. These trips could also be used with tickets from AVV and VRS. Bicycles and dogs were carried free of charge. The Bördeexpress has therefore also been listed in the VRS rail network plan since December 2011 .
An appraisal from 2011 came to the conclusion that with an hourly local transport service with two diesel multiple units and a refurbishment of the infrastructure, around 5,000 passengers per day would be expected on the line. 75% of the expected passengers are already using the existing bus service. The one-time investment costs for upgrading the infrastructure were estimated at almost 19 million euros. The annual operating costs were estimated at 4.3 million euros, of which almost 40% would be covered by the fare. Despite the expected high demand, the Rhineland Transport Association (NVR) currently sees no financial leeway to be able to bear the annual operating costs.
The Nemmenich stop was shut down by DB Station & Service in May 2012 and could no longer be served by the Bördeexpress. This stop was technically renewed by the citizens' associations and reopened in July 2013 under the management of the city of Zülpich.
For the 2014 State Garden Show, the Eifel-Börde-Express ran every hour between Zülpich and Euskirchen on all Sundays and public holidays during the event period from April 16 to October 12. The timetable offer, which was expanded compared to previous years, was used by over 10,000 passengers.
The Bördeexpress ran every three hours between Euskirchen and Düren from Easter 2015 until the end of the year. The journey time was about an hour. NRW, VRS and Euregiotickets were recognized, as well as AVV tickets for the Düren - Vettweiß section. Bicycles were carried free of charge. RegioSprinter are used in a purely second-class configuration. Until 2015 there was also a separate house tariff.
The operators noticed that the route was also heavily used by regular passengers. The fact that the journeys were integrated into the DB Sales timetable information and could be used with regular tickets, B. Travelers from Aachen to the Eifel avoid the more expensive detour via the heavily used Cologne hub.
Reactivation plan
Starting operation
Since December 13, 2015, the line has been called the RB 28 Eifel-Bördebahn and is an official transport service ordered by the Rhineland Local Transport Association. As the first major step towards reactivation, this deviates from the original more touristy concept of the citizens' associations and is referred to as the start-up operation .
At the beginning of 2018, the volunteer helpers of the IG Rurtalbahn stopped their support because employees of the Rurtalbahn GmbH continued operations. From November 16, 2017 to February 16, 2018, DB Netz again put the section between Euskirchen and Zülpich without the stations up for sale. On April 23, 2018, the Düren district holding company bought the Zülpich – Euskirchen section together with the northern area of Düren station. On the first of the following month, this railway infrastructure section became the property of Rurtalbahn GmbH.
Already at the start of operations, funds for upgrading the level crossings through technical safety measures, renewing track construction and upgrading the stops along the route in the amount of 4.9 million euros were promised by the NVR . In March 2018, the NVR announced that the planned date for the subsequent timetable expansion in the run-up to the timetable change in December 2018 could not be kept. The reason for this is that a necessary electronic interlocking in Distelrath will only be completed in May 2019 and coordination with DB Netz is required for integration into the Düren station. In addition, the technical safeguarding of a level crossing in Euskirchen-Elsig was required for the operating stage, for the installation of which a plan approval procedure had to be carried out. A plan approval procedure could only be initiated after the decommissioning procedure for the Zülpich – Euskirchen section had been issued when an operating license was available.
A regional shuttle of the Rurtalbahn commuted four times on the route on weekends and public holidays all year round. VRS tariff, AVV tariff and NRW tariff tickets were recognized.
Pre-run operation
After starting operation was originally the timetable change in December 2018, the forward operation start of the addition on weekdays provides three trips in each direction. The date was then postponed by a year to the timetable change in December 2019. On December 15, 2019, operations began with six trips every two hours, Monday to Friday, with a gap in the morning and four trips every three hours on the weekend. During the lead time, the existing bus lines are to be better interlinked with the railway and the lines 98 and SB98, which are currently running parallel to the Bördebahn, are to be partially relocated to the railway. Through expansion measures, the travel time is to be reduced from currently around one hour in the final stage to around 35 minutes.
| line | Line course | Tact |
|---|---|---|
| RB 28 |
Eifel-Bördebahn : Euskirchen - Nemmenich - Zülpich - Vettweiß - Vettweiß-Jakobwüllesheim - Nörvenich-Rommelsheim - Nörvenich-Binsfeld - Düren Status: timetable change December 2019 |
120 min (weekdays) 180 min (weekends and holidays) |
Full operation
The last stage of the planned reactivation is the so-called full operation , which should begin in 2022 at the earliest after the complete expansion of the line. From then on, a continuous hourly cycle will be introduced. To this end, further stops to be built in Distelrath, Zülpich-Ülpenich , Zülpich-Dürscheven , Euskirchen-Elsig , as well as Euskirchen West on Georgstraße and possibly even in Euskirchen on Kommerner Straße, are to be built, some of which are still to be built during or at the start of the preliminary operations . As part of this operating stage at Euskirchen station, a new platform is to be built by DB Station & Service on track 46 , which is then to be leased by the Rurtalbahn. As a result of this measure, the Bördebahn no longer has to cross the two tracks on the line to Trier during normal operation and can be completely decoupled from the rest of the operations at Euskirchen station. The total investment volume is 15.5 million euros.
Route description
The route runs through flat, sparsely populated and agricultural land of the Jülich-Zülpicher Börde . There are therefore no noteworthy engineering structures. There are reception buildings in the (former) Unterwegshalt Bubenheim, Vettweiß, Zülpich, Dürscheven and Euskirchen.
Dueren train station
Düren and its island station have been connected to the railway network via the Aachen - Düren - Cologne line since September 6, 1841 . Several railway lines are linked at the Düren train station: There are connections to the Aachen - Cologne route , as well as to the Rurtalbahn (RB 21) between Düren train station and Linnich or Heimbach . Furthermore, the Bördebahn in the direction of Euskirchen is used regularly for passenger traffic on weekends and for freight traffic to Zülpich . The access to the workshop of the Rurtalbahn in Distelrath runs from the neighboring junction at Düren station .
On the north side of the station, the Rurtalbahn has a few freight tracks. This is where all freight traffic in the Düren station is handled. The Düren island station is the start of the Bördebahn line. Until the Bördebahn ceased operations in 1983, the train always left track 17.
Blockstelle Distelrath
In Distelrath , the Posten 1 block point was at distance kilometers 1.8. In the meantime, this was used as a meeting place for the IG Rurtalbahn , until the signal box in Zülpich was moved into in 2007. Distelrath itself never had its own stopping point on the Bördebahn, but is to be given a stopping point in the event that the route is reactivated in local rail passenger transport (SPNV).
The transport company Dürener Kreisbahn, founded in 1908, has had its headquarters in Distelrath (formerly for trams , today for buses and railroad vehicles). The company is located on Kölner Landstraße and can be reached from Düren station via the Bördebahn tracks. The depot for the 17 regional sprinters and the diesel locomotives called Sally, Josy and Chantal used in freight transport , as well as other types of locomotives, are also located on the site .
Binsfeld stop
The Bördebahn runs on the outskirts of Binsfeld . Since July 30, 2006, Binsfeld has had a stop on the railway line for the first time in its history. It is located at km 5.3, was applied for by the IG Rurtalbahn and then built. The breakpoint was improvised and therefore kept very simple. It was a heap of basalt with a board as a platform edge and a sign saying Binsfeld without its own shelter. In the immediate vicinity there is a station guard's house out of order. A new platform was built for the preliminary operation from December 2019 as part of the reactivation of the route.
Rommelsheim stop
Since the timetable change at the end of 2019, the newly built Rommelsheim stop has replaced the Bubenheim stop, which was just under a kilometer away.
Bubenheim stop
Bubenheim station was set up in 1880 on the Bördebahn at km 7.6. In the 1970s, the tanks from the armored barracks in Düren (today Automeile) were loaded onto railway wagons via transportable ramps. This meant that journeys through the city center to the concrete loading ramp at Düren station were no longer necessary and traffic obstructions from the tank columns were avoided. The station building has not been used for rail operations since 1982. The upper floor in the entrance building was then rented as an apartment. Until it was demolished in 2014, the building was owned by the Buir-Bliesheimer Agrargenossenschaft.
In 1988 the second track between Düren and Bubenheim was dismantled. In the area of today's stopping point, the second track is still partially available, but is no longer connected to the main track. Next to the station was the Bubenheimer Spieleland stop , where the Bördebahn passenger trains stopped between 2010 and 2019.
Jakobwüllesheim stop
The place Jakobwüllesheim has had a breakpoint (km 9.06) on the Bördebahn since 1955. It is a bit outside of the village. This stop was a few hundred meters further in the direction of Vettweiß at post 6. It was used to secure the railroad crossing there with barriers by the personnel present. The stop was repaired in 2013 together with the Nemmenich stop and modernized by 2019.
Vettweiß stop
The Bördebahn crosses the municipality of Vettweiß from north to south . The stop is located at kilometer 12.96 and was put into operation in 1864 when the line was opened. In the northern area of the station there is still a beet loading ramp, the only relic of earlier freight traffic. The associated loading track has been removed. The reception building was sold, renovated and is used privately. There is still a piece of track in the garden of the building.
Zülpich train station
The Zülpich station was built in 1864 by the Rheinische-Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft and, in addition to the station for the Bördebahn, also had connections for the Düren and Euskirchen district railways from 1908, as the transfer station was located there between 1908 and 1962. In 1959 the EKB ceased operations in Zülpich, followed by the DKB in 1963. Passenger traffic was stopped on May 27, 1983 with the closure of the Bördebahn.
From 1996 to 2002 the operation was carried out exclusively by the Deutsche Bahn, then the Bergisch-Märkische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft (EBM) operated the freight traffic from Zülpich to Euskirchen until 2006. In addition, the Smurfit Kappa Zülpich paper mill has been supplied with lignite by Rurtalbahn GmbH since 2003 . This contract for the supply of coal brings an annual volume of 38,000 tons of lignite to the tracks between Düren and Zülpich. Therefore, new switch connections had to be created for the operation of the Kappa company.
After the cessation of passenger traffic, it became quiet in Zülpich station. The station building has been preserved alongside the rented storage shed. The signal box Zf has been renovated and has been used by IG Rurtalbahn since 2007. Since 2006, trains of the citizens' railway from the Bördeexpress have stopped again at the Zülpich station on weekends, where the platform has meanwhile been renewed.
Nemmenich stop
The Nemmenich halt was built in 1955 at km 21.26 directly on the western outskirts of Nemmenich and is located on the small Heerfahrt path . Wooden sleepers and rails were used to erect the 90-meter-long edge of the platform, and there was also a bus shelter here at the beginning .
The Nemmenich stop was surprisingly shut down by DB Station & Service in May 2012 . The Bördeexpress was also no longer allowed to stop. The background was a profitability analysis and the poor structural condition of the stop. The city of Zülpich then took over the breakpoint and made it possible to restore it, which was also attempted by the citizens' associations pro Bördebahn. The existing platform was demolished and replaced by a new construction made of concrete, and two lanterns and external speakers were installed. The stop was reopened on July 20, 2013 and was available for transport to the State Garden Show .
Immediately on the Nemmenich platform is barrier post 12, a small brick building that is still used today as part of the Bördeexpress.
Zülpich-Ülpenich stop
As part of the reactivation of the route, a new stop with a platform is to be built in Ülpenich by 2022 . The place Ülpenich will then also be connected to the Bördebahn.
Dürscheven train station
Until the closure of the railway line in 1983, Dürscheven had its own station, which was built in 1880 at route kilometer 23.873. The renovated reception building of Dürscheven train station is privately owned and still has the station sign. Due to its private ownership, the Bördeexpress stop is currently no longer served. At the former train station, the earlier double-track expansion of the Bördebahn can still be seen, a bridge still has a track remnant from the second track. In the area of the station there was also a connection to the agricultural trade opposite the station, which is no longer used. The junction and the overgrown track remains are still there today.
One plan in the route reactivation is the construction of a new stop in Dürscheven around the year 2022. This will be located outside the premises of the privately owned old train station.
Elsig stop
The place Elsig never had a break point, even though the route runs directly through the town. At route kilometers 27.27 there was a gatekeeper's house for a level crossing. Elsig used to function as a junction because a connection to the Eifel route to Trier branched off there. The line between Elsig and the Euenheim junction on the Eifel line existed from 1923–1924 and 1942–1949, although it was closed in 1945. It was used exclusively in freight transport.
In 1960 the route between Elsig and Euskirchen was changed. The route followed the earlier course of the connecting curve in a southerly direction, and then swung onto the Eifel route via the Ingridhütte, which was given a siding at an alternative junction . This junction is at km 28.7, but is unused.
With the reactivation of local rail transport in December 2019, it was planned to set up a new stop in Elsig on the eastern edge of the town. However, the construction of the breakpoint has been postponed to 2020.
Euskirchen station
Euskirchen station is the terminus of the Bördebahn with a 29.816 kilometer route. It was put into operation together with the line in 1864. Since the Eifel route was not opened until 1871, the Bördebahn was initially the only rail connection into the Eifel, and when the route continued in the direction of Mechernich, people always had to turn their heads in Euskirchen . Later, the trains of the Bördebahn drove to track 47 until it was closed; the Eifel-Bördebahn now stops at track 4.
As part of the reactivation of the route, up to two new stops are to be built in Euskirchen by 2022 , namely on Kommerner Straße (optional) and Georgstraße.
literature
- Bernd Franco Hoffmann: Disused railway lines in the Rhineland . Sutton-Verlag, Erfurt 2014, ISBN 978-3-95400-396-9 .
Web links
NRWbahnArchive by André Joost:
- Description of route 2585 (Düren - Euskirchen)
- Description of connection route 45 (Elsig - Euenheim)
further evidence:
- History of the Bördebahn
- IG Rurtalbahn eV
- AVV line map RB 28
- http://www.radiorur.de/rur/rr/1465624/news/kreis_dueren
Individual evidence
- ^ Winand Perillieux, Hans J. Leven, Bernd Schwarz: Railways in Euskirchen . Between the Eifel, Börde and Ville. Kenning Verlag, 1991, ISBN 3-927587-00-1 .
- ↑ DB Netze - Infrastructure Register
- ↑ Railway Atlas Germany . 9th edition. Schweers + Wall, Aachen 2014, ISBN 978-3-89494-145-1 .
- ↑ Rail network conditions of use of the Rurtalbahn GmbH - special section (SNB-BT). (PDF; 73 KiB) Archived from the original on October 18, 2014 ; Retrieved August 24, 2012 .
- ↑ Achim Konejung: The Rhineland and the First World War . 2nd Edition. Regionalia Verlag, 2013, ISBN 978-3-939722-90-8 , pp. 34 ff .
- ^ Martin Krauss: Development of the Railway Infrastructure 1997/98 . In: Bahn-Report . Issue 2, February 1999, p. 4–7 (here: page 6) .
- ↑ BördeExpress timetable. IG Rurtalbahn e. V., Bürgerbahn e. V., archived from the original on April 6, 2013 ; Retrieved November 7, 2012 .
- ↑ Tariff regulations for the Eifel-BördeExpress. IG Rurtalbahn e. V., Bürgerbahn e. V., archived from the original on June 11, 2009 ; Retrieved November 7, 2012 .
- ↑ draft resolution 2-19-13-2.5. In: Citizen Information System of the NVR. Local transport association Rhineland , November 22, 2013, accessed on August 31, 2018 .
- ↑ The Eifel-BördeExpress. Archived from the original on May 5, 2014 ; Retrieved May 5, 2014 .
- ↑ Bördeexpress is well received . In: Aachener Zeitung . September 26, 2014, p. 20 ( igrurtalbahn.de [PDF; 155 kB ; accessed on August 31, 2018]).
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento from April 6, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) boerdeexpress.de, timetable 2015
- ↑ Sven Steinke: BördeExpress starts the new season. In: Zughalt.de. April 2, 2015, accessed April 15, 2015 .
- ↑ Local rail transport annual timetable 2016. (pdf) In: NVR, 3rd meeting of the main committee. November 26, 2015, accessed November 25, 2015 .
- ↑ Announcement of the Zülpich – Euskirchen section. (PDF) In: fahrweg.dbnetze.com. DB Netz AG, archived from the original on January 10, 2018 ; accessed on June 14, 2020 .
- ^ Purchase of the Zülpich Euskirchen line
- ↑ a b Local Transport Association Rhineland, 18th Association Assembly, March 9, 2018
- ↑ http://www.igrurtalbahn.de/index.html
- ↑ The new Bördebahn as a plus point for Nörvenich. In: Aachener Zeitung . January 22, 2018, accessed January 23, 2018 .
- ↑ http://www.igrurtalbahn.de/index.html
- ↑ a b c d e Tom Steinicke: Route between Euskirchen and Düren: By the end of 2021, the RB28 should run every hour again. In: Kölnische Rundschau. November 4, 2018, accessed April 27, 2019 .
- ↑ Sebastian Petermann: The Eifel-Bördebahn is in start-up operation - full reactivation is targeted from 2020. November 30, 2016, accessed December 2, 2016 .
- ↑ Tom Steinicke: From the end of 2020 every hour from Euskirchen to Düren - Bördebahn should run daily. In: Kölnische Rundschau. December 1, 2016, accessed December 2, 2016 .
- ↑ Eifel-Bördebahn reactivated . In: railway magazine . No. 3 , 2020, p. 26 .
- ↑ https://www.wochenspiegellive.de/eifel/kreis-euskirchen/euskirchen/artikel/naechster-halt-elsig-53362/
- ↑ a b Eifelbahnen working group (publisher): 150 years of the Eifel-Bördebahn Düren – Zülpich – Euskirchen. Anniversary celebration , Bad Münstereifel 2014.
- ↑ Next stop - Elsig. July 18, 2018, accessed March 10, 2020 .
- ↑ Start of daily operations on the Bördebahn. Aachen Transport Association , December 16, 2019, accessed on March 10, 2020 .