Esch – Athus railway line
| Esch-Athus | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Class 250 railcars in Esch-sur-Alzette, 1988
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| Gauge : | 1435 mm ( standard gauge ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Power system : | 25 kV, 50 Hz ~ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Esch – Athus railway (also known as the Erzgruben Railway ) is a railway line in Belgium and Luxembourg . A short connecting curve also leads to Longwy in France .
history
As early as the 1860s, several companies tried to obtain the concession for a route from Bettembourg via Esch and Pétange to Athus / Longwy, as this route opened up the most important iron ore deposits in Luxembourg. However, it was not until 1869 that the Chemins de fer Prince Henri (PH) received a corresponding concession, as they wanted to build other railway lines in addition to this connection.
The Esch – Pétingen section was opened in August 1871, the extension to Athus in December 1874. Although the planum was prepared for two tracks, only one track was laid first. The planned extension from Esch to Bettemburg did not materialize at the time.
The line was taken over in 1877 by the anonymous Luxembourgish Prince Heinrich Railway and Ore Mine Company .
After the Franco-Prussian War , from 1871 onwards, Luxembourg only had a border with France about 10 km long . All rail transport had to be carried out either via the Belgian Athus or the German Metz. But it was not until 1884 that a corresponding state treaty was passed for the construction of a direct connection. In June 1886 the short stretch towards Longwy was opened. From 1888 international express trains ran on this connecting curve.
In 1956 it was decided to electrify the line, and electric train traffic began in May 1961.
The CFL runs the route between Esch and Pétange under route number 6f. West of Pétange, the three cross-border mainline tracks are listed separately:
- Direction Athus and further to Arlon (Belgium) under 6y
- Direction Aubange and on to Virton (Belgium) under 6g
- Direction Mont-Saint-Mairie and on to Longwy (France) under 6h
literature
- Ed Federmeyer: Railways in Luxembourg - Volume 1 , Wolfgang Herdam Fotoverlag, Gernrode 2007, ISBN 978-3-933178-21-3
Web links
- www.rail.lu Route Esch – Pétange – Rodingen – Athus / Longwy
Individual evidence
- ↑ Names of the stops according to this list
- ↑ Ed Federmeyer: The railways in Luxembourg - Volume 1 , p 370
- ↑ Ed Federmeyer: The railways in Luxembourg - Volume 1 , page 370 f.
- ↑ Reference lists of the route network on the website of the Department of Transport at the Luxembourg Ministry for Sustainable Development and Infrastructure (English, French)