Ettelbrück – Grevenmacher railway line

Ettelbrück – Grevenmacher
Reception building Diekirch (street side)
Route length:	59 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Power system :	25 kV, 50 Hz  ~
Maximum slope :	16  ‰
Minimum radius :	200 m
Legend from Luxembourg 0.0 Ettelbruck to Troisvierges Angry 4.1 00 Diekirch Narrow gauge railway to Vianden Angry 20 Gilsdorf 50 Bettendorf 7th0 Moestroff 90 Rice village 120 Wallendorf 160 Dillingen Narrow-gauge railway to Befort 18th0 Grundhof 21st0 Bollendorf 25th0 Weilerbach Narrow gauge railway to Luxembourg 270 Echternach 320 Steinheim 360 Rosport 380 Hinkel 420 Born 430 Moersdorf after Ehrang 490 Wasserbillig ( wedge station ) to Luxembourg 510 Mertert South Syr Mertert harbor 550 Grevenmacher

The Ettelbrück – Grevenmacher railway line (also known as the Sauertalbahn, Sauerstrecke, Sauerlinie, Luxembourgish Sauer Linn ) is now a largely disused railway line in Luxembourg . Only the Ettelbrück – Diekirch section and the connection to the Mertert Moselle port of the former 59 km long route are still in operation.

history

Ettelbrück reception building

The railway line was opened in four sections. The first section Ettelbrück – Diekirch was opened on November 16, 1862 together with the Luxembourg – Ettelbrück railway line by the Wilhelm-Luxemburg-Eisenbahngesellschaft .

The Prinz-Heinrich-Eisenbahngesellschaft received the concession for a railway line through the Sauer Valley in 1868/69 . The existing Ettelbrück – Diekirch line was to be given a second track, but in order to reduce expenses, the line in Diekirch was connected to the existing section. The extension was opened in two sections, from Diekirch to Echternach on October 20, 1872 and from Echternach to Wasserbillig on May 20, 1874.

The last 6 km long section Wasserbillig – Grevenmacher was opened on July 9, 1891 by the anonymous Luxemburgische Prinz-Heinrich-Eisenbahn- und Erzgrubengesellschaft , which received the concession of the first Prinz-Heinrich-Eisenbahngesellschaft in 1877 and since 1878 also the Ettelbrück – Diekirch section business.

After the Wehrmacht invaded Luxembourg in 1940, a temporary bridge was built near Steinheim to the Nims-Sauertal Railway on the other side of the river. At the end of the Second World War, the Ardennes offensive caused severe damage to buildings, tracks, bridges and communication links, more than ten reception buildings were badly damaged and numerous bridges were destroyed.

In May 1948, the simplified branch line service was introduced and the previous main line was downgraded to a branch line .

From May 23, 1954, passenger traffic on the Echternach – Grevenmacher section was carried out as a replacement rail service . The remaining freight traffic in this section was also shifted to the road in the early 1960s. Although both measures were initially only presented as an interim solution - according to official information, rail traffic should be resumed later - this was never implemented. Because of the poor condition of the line (the CFL had only carried out the most necessary maintenance measures for years), passenger and freight traffic on the Diekirch – Echternach section was temporarily suspended in 1964 and the line closed.

The electrification of the Wasserbillig – Hafen Mertert section was approved in 1978, and electrical train operations began on February 3, 1980. The construction work was carried out by CGE Alsthom . In 1988/89 the remaining Ettelbrück – Diekirch section was electrified together with the Luxembourg – Ettelbrück section.

business

Z 204 in Diekirch (1991)

Local transport takes place on the route in the form of regional express trains and regional trains every half hour. They are connected via the northern route to Luxembourg City and have the route Luxembourg – Mersch – Ettelbruck – Diekirch and vice versa.

literature

• Ed Federmeyer: Railways in Luxembourg - Volume 1 , Wolfgang Herdam Fotoverlag, Gernrode / Harz 2007

Web links

• www.rail.lu route Ettelbrück – Echternach – Grevenmacher (sour route)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Ed Federmeyer: Railways in Luxembourg - Volume 1 , p 213
2. ↑ ^{a b} Ed Federmeyer: Railways in Luxembourg - Volume 1 , page 75
3. ↑ www.rail.lu Route Ettelbrück – Echternach – Grevenmacher (Sauerstrecke) - title
4. ↑ Ed Federmeyer: Railways in Luxembourg - Volume 1 , page 73
5. ↑ Ed Federmeyer: Railways in Luxembourg - Volume 1 , p 74
6. ↑ Ed Federmeyer: Railways in Luxembourg - Volume 1 , page 143