Duisburg – Quakenbrück railway line

		Line from Oldenburg
	165.1	Quakenbrück
		formerly Kleinbahn Lingen – Berge – Quakenbrück
		Route to Osnabrück
	162.3	Vehs
	157.0	Nortrup
	147.8	Tapping
	138.6	Fürstenau
	134.1	Setup
	129.3	Freren
	123.1	Beesten
	115.4	Spelle
	113.4	to the port of Spelle-Venhaus (since 2015)
		Emsland route from Emden
		Route from Almelo (NL)
	(7.8)	Mountains of salt
	113.0	State border Lower Saxony / North Rhine-Westphalia
		Dortmund-Ems Canal
	109.6	Rheine RVM ( Anst )
	109.3	Rheine KLV ( Awanst )
	108.4	Altenrheine (old)
	107.8	Altenrheine (Anst)
		Tecklenburger Nordbahn to Osnabrück
		Ems
		Flyover structure
		(planned branch line from Salzbergen)
		Route from Ochtrup
	(0.0) 104.7	Rheine
		Route to Osnabrück
		Route to Münster
	99.9	Hauenhorst
	95.4	St. Arnold (formerly Neuenkirchen Land )
	91.1	Hollich
		Route from Enschede
		former railway line from Borken
	86.7	Steinfurt-Burgsteinfurt
		Route to Münster
	83.1	Veltrup
	77.2	Horstmar (Munster)
	71.1	Darfeld
		Baumberbahn from Münster
	65.4	Lutum (since 2011 Bf again)
	64.6	Lutum change of route
	59.9	Coesfeld school center
		Line from Enschede (NL)
	58.5	Coesfeld (Westf)
		Route to Dortmund
		former Baumberbahn to Empel-Rees
	52.1	Heubach
	45.9	Maria Veen
	40.4	Reken
	38.5	Reken- Klein Reken
	34.4	Lembeck (Hp + Bk, formerly Bf)
	30.7	Wulfen (Westf) (Hp + Bk, formerly Bf)
		Range from Borken
	24.7	Hervest-Dorsten, former Wesel – Haltern line
		VEW Dorsten siding (new 1972)
		former connection line from Dorsten CME
		Lippe and Wesel-Datteln Canal
	18.9	Dorsten ( Inselbahnhof , formerly RhE )
		Route to Gladbeck

	16.9	Kirchhellen
	12.1	Bottrop Delog / Detag
	10.1	Bottrop North
	9.5	Bottrop Nord (formerly Rh Bf)
		former Jacobi-Haniel colliery
	4.5	Oberhausen-Osterfeld Nord (formerly Rh Bf)
		former route Sterkrade ↔ Welver
		formerly Zechenbahn Zeche Osterfeld
	3.9	Oberhausen Cathedral (Bf for OLGA 1999 )
		Freight route Duisburg-Ruhrort-Bottrop Süd
		former route to Mülheim-Heißen
		Emscher
		Rhine-Herne Canal
	2.9	Oberhausen Gasometer (Hp only OLGA 1999 )
		Freight route from Bottrop Süd
	2.8	Oberhausen-Osterfeld junction
		Freight line from Osterfeld Süd
	1.5 14.2	Rolling mill (Abzw)
		from route from Dortmund
		Main line Wesel – Oberhausen
		from main line Wesel – Oberhausen
	11.9	Oberhausen West (formerly Rh Bf)
		Route to Duisburg-Meiderich Süd
		Duisburg-Ruhrort – Oberhausen line
		former route Duisburg-Ruhrort-Mülheim-Styrum
		Route to Duisburg-Ruhrort Hafenbf
	8.6	Ruhrtal (old)
		former route to Duisburg harbor
		Line from Duisburg-Ruhrort Hafenbf
	8.3	Ruhr Valley (Abzw)
		Dysentery
	7.4	Sigle (Abzw)
		Branch line to Duisburg harbor
		Freight routes to Duisburg-Wedau
		and to Duisburg-Hochfeld Süd
		Main line from Oberhausen
		Main route from Essen
	6.2	Duisburg-Duissern (Abzw)
	5.5	Duisburg Central Station
		Route to Duisburg-Wedau
		Route to Krefeld
		Main line to Düsseldorf

Swell:

The Duisburg – Quakenbrück railway is a former supraregional, but now partially disused railway line in Germany of the former Rheinische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft (RhE) from Duisburg in the western Ruhr area to Quakenbrück on the border with the former state of Oldenburg .

The line ran from Duisburg Central Station via Oberhausen West , Bottrop North, Dorsten , Coesfeld , Steinfurt and Rheine to Quakenbrück , where it was connected to the network of the Grand Ducal Oldenburg State Railways .

The majority of the railway line is closed today. The southern part to Bottrop is currently used as a pure freight route, the section between Dorsten and Coesfeld is still operated in local passenger traffic as timetable route 424, while the section between Rheine and Spelle is served by Regionalverkehr Münsterland (RVM) for goods traffic.

For a detailed description of the section between the Sigle branch and the rolling mill, see the Duisburg-Wedau-Bottrop Süd railway line .

history

The concession to build the 172.87 kilometer long railway line from Duisburg to Quakenbrück was granted to the Rheinische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft (RhE) on June 9th, 1873. The railway line was opened on July 1st, 1879 and thus entered into direct competition with the early one 1870s existing railway line Wanne-Eickel-Hamburg of the Cologne-Mindener Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft from the Ruhr area via Münster and Osnabrück to Bremen (section of the " Hamburg-Venloer Bahn ").

Routing

The straight route results from the competitive situation. In order to be competitive, the route had to cross the Münsterland and the area between Rheine and Quakenbrück as without major detours as possible and pass the ridge of the Teutoburg Forest to the west in order to reduce transport costs and times. This was intended to give the new connection an economic advantage over the competitor's route, which deviated eastward between Osnabrück and Diepholz in order to bypass the area of the then Oldenburg State Railways.

The Rheinische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft, on the other hand, brought about the connection to the route network of the Grand Ducal Oldenburg State Railways in Quakenbrück; this created a continuous connection to the Hanseatic city of Bremen as well as to Wilhelmshaven (since 1866 a naval port of the Prussian navy ). The Oldenburg State Railways had already opened the Oldenburg – Wilhelmshaven and Oldenburg – Bremen railway in 1866/1867 , and in 1875 the Oldenburg – Osnabrück railway was completed via Quakenbrück.

Reference projects

Before the Duisburg – Quakenbrück line was built, the Rheinische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft had already distinguished itself by building other competing lines:

With the construction of the Osterath – Dortmund Süd railway line , which partially ran parallel to the Duisburg – Dortmund railway line opened in 1847 by the Cologne-Minden Railway Company and the Witten / Dortmund – Oberhausen / Duisburg railway line operated by the Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company .

1863–65 with the construction of the Krefeld – Nijmegen railway line in competition with the Oberhausen – Arnheim railway line built by the Cologne-Mindener Railway Company in 1856 .

1879 with the construction of the Düsseldorf-Derendorf – Dortmund Süd railway line as a parallel to the Elberfeld – Dortmund railway operated by the Bergisch-Märkische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft.

Regional importance

In addition to its supra-regional function, the railway line also had regional importance. The section to Coesfeld connected the city of Rheine and with it the lines of the Royal Westphalian Railway Company with the railway network of the western Münsterland.

Connections to hard coal mines

In contrast to the Osterath – Dortmund Süd railway operated by the Rheinische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft, which served numerous coal mines with connecting railroads, the Duisburg – Quakenbrück railway had only a few connections to colliery railways. The Jacobi and Franz Haniel collieries in Oberhausen-Klosterhardt and the Osterfeld colliery were connected with a connection.

Branch line to Salzbergen

The plans for the route envisaged the construction of a 7.8 kilometer branch line from Rheine to Salzbergen, which was approved in 1878. With the connection to the Almelo – Salzbergen line , built in 1865, the Rheinische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft in Emsland wanted its own connection to the Dutch one Establish a railway network parallel to the route of the Hanoverian West Railway, which opened on June 23, 1856 (see also the Löhne – Rheine or Emsland line ).

nationalization

The construction work on the branch line, which was started in the same year, had to be stopped again on March 31, 1879 by a ministerial order due to "dispensability through nationalization".

Route north of Rheine, clearly recognizable the alignment for a planned second track, even telegraph poles are still standing

The railway connection from Duisburg via Rheine to Quakenbrück and Oldenburg is not of great economic importance compared to other railway lines in north-west Germany - such as the connections Ruhr area – Münster – Emden or Ruhr area – Münster – Bremen. This applies in particular to the Rheine– section. Quakenbrück.

Among other things, this is illustrated by the technical equipment of the line: in 1935, the Dorsten – Rheine section was one of the few lines operated by the Münster Railway Directorate, along with the Lünen – Gronau and Münster – Gronau lines, that were not yet equipped with electrical blocks. The route became of military importance during the First World War due to extensive coal transports from the Ruhr area to the naval port in Wilhelmshaven.

Destruction in World War II

After the nationalization, the passenger traffic between Osterfeld Nord and Duisburg main train station was already stopped and instead was tied to Oberhausen main station. In 1945, during the Second World War, all bridges over the Rhine-Herne Canal and the Emscher were blown up by the German Wehrmacht. As a result, passenger traffic was also stopped on this section, and freight traffic was later restored via a new bridge.

As a result of the complete destruction of the Rheine train station on October 5, 1944, the train service between Rheine and Quakenbrück had to be stopped. At that time, only two tracks were available for through traffic in Rheine station, and an emergency station even had to be set up north of the station in Eichenstrasse (Friedensplatz). It was not until the summer of 1945 that traffic on the Quakenbrück route could be resumed, but only between Spelle and Quakenbrück, as the Emsbrücke in Rheine (between the Rheiner "Hauptbahnhof" and the Altenrheiner Bahnhof) and the bridge over the Dortmund-Ems Canal between Altenrheine and Spelle had not yet been rebuilt.

Resumption of traffic

In November 1945, trains from Quakenbrück to Altenrheine could run again for the first time. From here, the Tecklenburger Nordbahn (formerly Kleinbahn between Piesberg (near Osnabrück) and Rheine) set up a shuttle service to Rheine-Stadtberg station and from there to the city center to the Hues-corner stop (Lingener Strasse / Emsstrasse) on the right bank of the Ems in order to temporarily maintain the connection from Quakenbrück to Rheine.

After the Second World War, the trains took a different route because of the destroyed bridges between Oberhausen and Dorsten, instead of Oberhausen West, Osterfeld Nord, Bottrop Nord and Kirchhellen (23.2 kilometers), all trains were via Oberhausen Hauptbahnhof, Bottrop Hauptbahnhof, Gladbeck West and Feldhausen to Dorsten (28 kilometers). Passenger traffic was only briefly resumed between Osterfeld-Nord and Dorsten and finally stopped in 1960.

In the summer of 1950, a pair of express trains ran for the first time after the war from Duisburg via Oberhausen, Rheine and Quakenbrück to Oldenburg, which ran on the Rheine-Quakenbrück section until the end of passenger traffic on May 31, 1969 and was later used between Duisburg and Rheine: 1950 as ET 487/488, 1960 and 1963/64 as E 829/830 with locomotive covering, from 1966 then again as a multiple unit with the class VT 24 .

Between Dorsten and Coesfeld, the German Federal Railroad used various types of train equipment; the series 515 battery-powered railcars and the 624 series diesel railcars were common .

The freight traffic from Oldenburg via Quakenbrück to Rheine was not of any national significance at the beginning of the 1950s. In Quakenbrück, an average of two train complexes were shunted for dispatch to Rheine (for comparison: in Emden Rbf an average of six trains were put together to Rheine). Until 1978, a pair of local freight trains ran between Rheine and Quakenbrück as scheduled. From 1978 onwards, only one pair of freight trains ran between Rheine and Fürstenau and between Rheine and Spelle with one transfer service to the Tecklenburger Nordbahn in Altenrheine.

Oberhausen State Garden Show

In 1999 the State Garden Show , or OLGA for short, took place in Oberhausen on the site of the former Osterfeld colliery . On this occasion, trains commuted from Oberhausen main station to the OLGA site. A train station was set up near the “Gartendom”, the former coal mixing hall. The trains ran with steam covering and were composed of historical rolling stock. The Oberhausen Gasometer stop was also set up along the route; it was only a few meters behind the Osterfeld junction on the railway line to Bottrop Nord. After the garden show ended at the end of October 1999, traffic to the stop and the terminal at OLGA-Park was stopped again.

See also: MüGa-Wiesel at a similar event.

Todays situation

on the left the bridge over the Rhine-Herne Canal, on the right the route to Essen-Frintrop , on the right in front Osterfeld Abzw , in front the Oberhausen Gasometer stop

Large parts of the railway line are now closed and largely dismantled, traffic only takes place on individual sections. Cycle paths have been built locally or are being planned.

Duisburg - Bottrop

Today the line is classified and electrified as part of the connections from Duisburg to Oberhausen-Osterfeld Süd and to Essen-Frintrop as the main line . The section from the branching point Oberhausen-Osterfeld at Gasometer Oberhausen to the junction Bottrop Delog / Detag other hand, was a single-track and non-electrified branch line, which shut down in August 2015 but has not been dismantled.

At the Gasometer, the individual routes are divided into the connecting curve to Osterfeld-Süd (west of the Gasometer with bridges over the Rhine-Herne Canal , the Emscher and the federal motorway 42 ), into the route to Osterfeld-Nord and Bottrop-Nord, which was closed in 2015 ( east of the gasometer, also with bridges over the Rhine-Herne Canal, the Emscher, the Autobahn 42 and the entrance tracks to the Osterfeld-Süd station, all bridges still exist) and in the line to Essen-Frintrop, which does not cross the canal, but leads along Centro Oberhausen in the direction of the former Essen-Frintrop freight station.

Until mid-2015, the single-track line to Bottrop Delog / Detag was used exclusively for freight traffic to the Pilkington flat glass plant , formerly Delog (Deutsche Libbey-Owens Gesellschaft) / Detag (Deutsche Tafelglas AG), which is already in the Gladbeck city area. The closure of this section was planned for a long time, was approved on July 13, 2015 and implemented on August 25, 2015. The section between Duisburg Central Station and the Sigle junction , which is also single-track , is rarely used.

Dorsten - Coesfeld

RB 45: The Coesfelder

Course book section (DB) :

424

Route length:

35 km

Top speed:

100 km / h

State (D):

North Rhine-Westphalia

Train run

35	Coesfeld (Westf)	RB
23	Maria Veen
17th	Reken
15th	Reken-Klein Reken
11	Lembeck
7th	Wulfen (Westf)
2	Hervest-Dorsten	RE , RB
0	Dorsten	RE, RB
	then RE 14 to Essen Hbf - Essen-Steele

RB 45 to Dorsten in Coesfeld

The Dorsten - Coesfeld section is now part of the DB regional network Münster-Ostwestfalen (MOW) based in Münster. Local traffic on the route is carried out by NordWestBahn on behalf of the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr and the Zweckverband Nahverkehr Westfalen-Lippe .

The regional train RB 45 Coesfeld - Essen-Steele with the line name “Der Coesfelder” runs every hour on the timetable route 424 . Outside the rush hour, the trains on the RB 45 line in Dorsten are winged with those of the RE 14 Borken - Essen-Steele line and run together to Essen from there. During rush hour, the RB 45 line continues to shuttle between Dorsten and Coesfeld, as the trains to Borken run in double traction due to the demand . Mainly Talent- type trains are used ; LINT 41 multiple units are rarely used on the rails.

In 2006 the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr (VRR) came up with plans to discontinue local rail passenger transport due to falling federal subsidies and low demand. In 2008, surveys on weekdays only showed cross-sectional demand of 500 travelers per day. Ultimately, the only thing that happened was a reduction to a two-hour service on Saturdays and the cancellation of a pair of trains in the mornings that were to be ordered again in the following years. Various measures to increase the attractiveness were implemented as part of the Regionale 2016 . An hourly train service was introduced every weekday and a passenger system was installed in Dorsten so that the RE 14 and RB 45 lines in Dorsten can be winged and there are also direct connections to Bottrop and Essen from the Coesfeld - Dorsten route. A crossing point was built in Reken and went into operation when the timetable changed in December 2019. As a result, the scheduled train crossing from Maria Veen was relocated six kilometers south to Reken and the formerly long waiting time at connections in Coesfeld was reduced by five minutes. In addition, the Klein Reken district has had its own stopping point since the same date. A platform was modernized in Maria Veen. The Dorsten - Coesfeld section will gradually be switched to the Coesfeld ESTW by the end of 2021 . A total of 32.6 million euros are to be invested in the modernization of stations and safety technology. In addition, the operating times have been extended until 11 p.m. and the tariff systems have been improved through new transitional regulations.

The operation of the RB 45 was originally to be re-awarded together with the RE 14 line with locally emission-free multiple units for the start of operations in December 2021. Before that, the vehicle procurement, hydrogen supply and maintenance of electric multiple units with energy supply via fuel cells should be outsourced separately. The Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr (VRR) did not receive any economic offers in the tender for the vehicle provision, so the procedure had to be broken off. As a result, the VRR combined the lines with others to form the Niederrhein-Münsterland network and put them out to tender again, whereby battery / overhead line vehicles were also permitted in the process. All of the bids received in the tender only contained battery / overhead line vehicles. Since nobody can foresee when the necessary charging points will be completed, flexible commissioning times between December 2025 and December 2028 were chosen.

Coesfeld - Rheine

Farewell trip on the Rheine-Coesfeld railway in 1984 at Rheine station

On the section between Coesfeld and Rheine, passenger traffic was discontinued on September 29, 1984, freight traffic on January 1, 1993. The line between Rheine and St. Arnold was also still passable as a station track. The direct track between Rheine and Hauenhorst, used for passenger traffic, was closed on May 31, 1986, while the slightly wider entrance to the freight yard was retained. From 1994 to 1998, the complete shutdown between Lutum and Rheine followed in several stages.

Between Coesfeld and Lutum, the Rheiner track is used by the Baumberbahn , the track of which has in turn been shut down and dismantled.

Before it was closed, the route was served by express trains from Düsseldorf or Duisburg to Rheine using class 624 diesel multiple units, and class 515 battery-powered railcars were used in local transport (e.g. between Oberhausen and Coesfeld).

On September 30, 2005, the dismantling of the section between Burgsteinfurt and St. Arnold was finally completed. On December 16, 2008, the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the Münsterland RadBahn took place at St. Arnold train station . This new railway cycle path , which has been passable from Lutum to Rheine since autumn 2012 , was officially opened on May 5, 2013. The RadBahn is connected to the existing cycle path network between Lutum and Coesfeld because the Baumberbahn trains continue to run on this route.

Rheine - Quakenbrück

Until the takeover by RVM

After passenger traffic on this section was stopped on May 31, 1969, freight traffic was initially retained.

Before the complete closure , the 23-kilometer section between Rheine and Freren was to be expanded to the Rheine-Freren railway test facility in order to test the limits of the wheel-rail system at speeds of up to 350 km / h. Construction work began in 1979 and was later canceled. Freight traffic between Spelle and Quakenbrück was stopped on January 1, 1996 and shut down on December 20, 1997.

Between Fürstenau and Nortrup and between Nortrup and Quakenbrück, the route was converted in 2004 for trolley trips. A handcar race was held on the track in Bippen as early as 2000. Such leisure tours are also currently offered.

North of Spelle, the dismantling of the line between the previous end of the line and the bypass road has started. The tracks were removed until shortly before the former Beesten station. (As of June 2012) On the embankment between the end of the line in Spelle and the former level crossing on the bypass road, a cycle / footpath was created.

In Fürstenau, the former freight station was partly built on with residential buildings, the level crossing over the federal highway 214 was removed as part of the road renovation in 2015.

The existing station buildings in Beesten, Freren and Fürstenau are used for other purposes.

Intermediate discussion about reactivation

In the meantime, the recommissioning as a freight relief route for the Oldenburg – Osnabrück railway line was under discussion . The considerations were initiated by the planned construction of the Y-route , which should improve the connections between Bremen, Hamburg and Hanover. Here the section was planned with the implementation of an alternative concept.

The expected increase in transport performance from the Wilhelmshaven direction due to the JadeWeserPort would also be processed via this. A re-commissioning could dispense with the double-track expansion between Oldenburg and Osnabrück.

In August 2013, the connection was examined for possible reactivation in a project by the state government of Lower Saxony . Bremen is particularly interested in this because it would relieve the Hanseatic city of some of the freight transport.

Operation in the remaining section by the RVM

In 2001, goods traffic on the Rheine-Spelle section was taken over by Regionalverkehr Münsterland (RVM).

Essentially sand, gravel and precast concrete parts for the Rekers concrete works in Spelle (around 8,000 truckloads per year) and agricultural machinery from the Bernard Krone machine factory in Spelle are transported.

In December 2015, a branch line to the Spelle-Venhaus port on the Dortmund-Ems Canal was put into operation in Spelle . The municipality of Spelle has invested 5.5 million euros in the 4.5-kilometer route to connect the loading point on the canal and various businesses such as a mixed feed plant belonging to the Bröring group of companies to the rail network. Diesel locomotives have also been serviced by Storm in Spelle since March 2015.

Picture gallery

A Waldorf daycare center is now located in the former Osterfeld Nord station building
The tracks between Oberhausen and Bottrop can only be driven slowly (40 km / h max)
In the area of Sterkrader Straße in Bottrop, the route runs in a deep cut
The former Bottrop Nord station building now houses a restaurant and a law firm
Coesfeld train station
Train station in Spelle (2008)
Route connection to the Tecklenburger Nordbahn in Altenrheine
View of the two sidings in Altenrheine, 2009
View of the route towards Spelle, 2009
RadBahn Münsterland near Hauenhorst