Cologne-Mülheim – Lindlar railway line

		Main line from Cologne-Deutz
		Cologne-Deutz bypass route
		Freight line from Troisdorf
	0.0	Cologne-Mülheim
		Route to Düsseldorf , route to Wuppertal
	1.9	Höhenhaus (Abzw)
		Freight route to Düsseldorf
	3.2	Cologne-Holweide
	5.7	Cologne-Dellbrück
	7.7	Duckterath
	8.3	Gronau (Abzw, 1912–1960)
		(western curve 1912–1960)
	9.5	Bergisch Gladbach (PV until 1912 or since 1950,
		until 1968/9 Bergisch Gladbach city center)
	10.8	Bergisch Gladbach (old) (1912–1965)
	11.8	Bensberg City ( Anst )
		to the BGE logistics center ( zinc hut )
		Tram line 1 Cologne – Bensberg
	13.8	up to here tracks partially preserved
	14.1	Bensberg
		Munitionsbahn Königsforst
	17.6	Forsbach
		Aggertal Railway from Cologne-Kalk
	23.1	Rösrath
	24.7	Hope valley
		Aggertalbahn to Overath
	25.2	Hope valley (until 1910)
	26.9	Lehmbach
	29.5	Below Eschbach
	31.0	Immekeppel
	33.5	Obersteeg
	37.0	Georghausen
	38.7	Hommerich
	42.1	Linde (Bz Cologne)
	46.6	Lindlar

Swell:

The Cologne-Mülheim – Lindlar railway line , also known locally as the Sülztalbahn , is a former 45 km long railway line from Cologne-Mülheim via Bergisch Gladbach , Bensberg , Rösrath , Hoffnungsthal and Immekeppel to Lindlar .

The first construction phase from Mülheim am Rhein to Bergisch Gladbach was put into operation on December 15, 1868, the end point in Lindlar was reached on December 16, 1912. Passenger traffic beyond Bergisch Gladbach ceased on September 29, 1965, and goods traffic on May 22, 1966.

The line between Bergisch Gladbach and Cologne-Mülheim was electrified on June 1, 1975, there today the S-Bahn line 11 runs to the Düsseldorf Airport Terminal station . A non-electrified rail connection to the Zinkhütte industrial park currently still exists for freight traffic. The section between Rösrath and Hoffnungsthal is now part of the Cologne-Kalk-Overath railway line .

The route is in parts still preserved or recognizable and has been partially expanded as a cycle path. There are also several bridge structures.

The time and circumstances of the origin of the names Sülztalbahn or Sülztal-Express are unclear, but the railway line, which was previously important for the residents of the villages it reached, is still popular under this name today.

history

Section Cologne-Mülheim - Bensberg

Initial plans in 1863 assumed the construction of a line from Mülheim am Rhein to Bergisch Gladbach and on to Wipperfürth . However, by December 1, 1868, only the section to Bergisch Gladbach was realized. The line was built and operated by the Bergisch-Märkische Eisenbahngesellschaft (BME). The BME train station in Mülheim with the route to Elberfeld and the one to Bergisch Gladbach, like the train station of the Cologne-Mindener Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft (CME, route to Duisburg ), was not far from today's Wiener Platz . In 1880 (CME) and 1882 (BME) the two private railway companies were nationalized. In 1909 a new common station was opened for all railway lines at the current location, the Cologne-Mülheim station .

In 1870 the line to Bensberg was extended. This section was a double-track railway line . Trains beyond Bergisch Gladbach first had to change direction at Bergisch Gladbach station .

In 1912, a compound curve before was railhead Bergisch Gladbach created. In addition, a second station was built in Gronau as a purely passenger station, now a through station. Since then, passenger trains have been running from Mülheim directly over the new curve to the new station and on to Bensberg. The terminus in the city center, where there were also several sidings in the surrounding factories, was from now on only served by freight trains.

After the opening of the new, converted terminal station, now Bergisch Gladbach Stadtmitte , in 1950, passenger trains again passed through today's station, which now had a new reception building. The connecting curve was subsequently no longer used and was finally dismantled in the early 1960s.

The terminus station was thus until 1912 and since September 1965 has been the only passenger station in Bergisch Gladbach. Passenger trains stopped at both stations until 1965, in Bergisch Gladbach Stadtmitte (old and current terminus) and Bergisch Gladbach (south of the Gleisdreieck in Gronau).

Passenger train traffic between Bergisch Gladbach and Bensberg was stopped on September 29, 1965, which also ended the service life of the southern station in Gronau. Its entrance building was preserved and has been used by the Business School since 1996 .

Today's track end at kilometer 13.8, just before the former Bensberg train station

Railway line Bensberg, Saaler Strasse

In 1974/75 the Sülztalbahn was electrified for the S-Bahn S 11 , but not all tracks in Bergisch Gladbach station . In addition, the second track removed after the war was rebuilt between Cologne-Mülheim and Cologne-Dellbrück.

Between Bergisch Gladbach and Bensberg, the construction of a high- speed rail bus connection from Bergisch Gladbach to Bensberg was planned on the unused subgrade of the former second track from 1983 to solve the traffic problems and relieve the roads. From Bensberg the track bus should have continued as a "normal" bus. The plans, which were already very concrete in 1986, were discontinued in the summer of 1990 after cost increases of 1.4 million DM; the route has been unused since then. The last only sporadic freight traffic between Bergisch Gladbach and Bensberg was finally stopped shortly before, on May 27, 1989.

In 2008 the rail connection of the Zanders paper mill got a new level crossing at the roundabout next to the S-Bahn station ("Driescher Kreisel"); the railway line runs right through the roundabout, which is secured with 23 light signals, 14 barrier systems and eight loudspeakers.

About halfway between the Bergisch Gladbach train station and Bensberg is the rail connection to the loading and connecting tracks of the BGE logistics center in the Zinkhütte industrial park. The branch point was expanded in 2007 and the track towards the zinc hut was laid through; it counted as the station track of the Bergisch Gladbach station. The track itself is still with interruptions as far as Bensberg immediately before Kölner Straße.

The line to the Zinkhütte industrial park was rebuilt in 1999 with state funding and operated by Bergisch-Gladbacher Eisenbahn Güterverkehr GmbH (BGE); The shareholders were the city of Bergisch Gladbach, the Zanders GmbH paper factory, the P&O shipping company and the Häfen und Güterverkehr Köln AG (HGK). Until December 20, 2012 there were weekly trips to the container terminal of the BGE logistics center. Since then, due to the small quantities of goods left by the only user, the Zanders paper factory, no more freight trains have rolled to the container terminal. The delivery of cellulose with block trains directly to the plant has since been discontinued. Only the coal for the in-house power plant still came irregularly with block trains (self-unloading wagons) in small quantities by train to the Gladbach plant. The trains operated by DB Cargo Deutschland were driven by a class 290/291 diesel locomotive .

The BGE, from which all shareholders with the exception of the Zanders GmbH paper mill had withdrawn, finally sold the track to the food manufacturer Krüger & Co. KG , which has no interest in the siding and wants to build on the site differently. Therefore, at the end of February 2017, the entire sidings were dismantled.

Tannenbergstrasse signal box

The Tannenbergstrasse signal box in Bergisch Gladbach is located between the two branches at the entrance to the station. It is still in operation with its original technology from 1911. On April 1, 2014 it was entered under no. 172 in the list of architectural monuments in Bergisch Gladbach .

Section Bensberg - Immekeppel

The first attempts to build a railway through the Sülztal initially failed in 1873, and the responsible ministry refused to build a new line. In 1883 there were again plans to build a narrow-gauge ( meter-gauge ) railway from Kalk via Rath , Rösrath and Volberg to Immekeppel. The project ultimately failed because the funding of the estimated 830,000 marks was rejected by the Ministry of Public Works in Berlin.

Above all the company Gebrüder Reusch in Hopesthal, which at that time produced special sheet metal and the company of Altenberg , which u. a. There was an ore mine operating on Lüderich near Hoffnungsthal, and they were very interested in a connection to the railway network.

The route from Bensberg via Forsbach and Rösrath to Hoffnungsthal was opened in 1890. The line from Hoffnungsthal to Immekeppel was released in 1891. It was a single-track railway line.

In 1937 a secret track branch was planned behind the Bensberg train station. Freight trains were supposed to transport ammunition to Ostheim Air Base. An approximately three kilometer long track with a reloading station was completed near the Rennweg . The railway line parallel to federal motorway 4 is still clearly visible today .

Section Immekeppel - Lindlar

Map section 1958 Course of the Sülztalbahn, Mittelsteeg to shortly before Linde

The quarries and mining companies based in Lindlar as well as the file factories were particularly interested in continuing the route to Lindlar, as the goods had to be brought either to Engelskirchen station or to Kaiserau on the narrow-gauge Leppetalbahn .

In 1897 the council of the municipality of Lindlar formed a committee that dealt with the subject of railways. It was considered urgent to connect Lindlar to the railway that was moved to Immekeppel in 1890. However, all efforts of the community to continue this route to Lindlar were initially unsuccessful. The minister suggested building a private railway. A connection of Lindlar to the Leppetalbahn was also under discussion.

Only in 1906 was a standard gauge railway from Immekeppel to Lindlar approved by the government, so that construction could begin in 1909 and the line opened in 1912. The planning provided for four stations: Obersteeg , Tüschen, Linde (at 51 ° 0'57.37 "N, 7 ° 19'27.54" E) and Lindlar (at 51 ° 1'26.85 "N, 7 ° 22'3.20" E) . Objections were raised only after the approval, for example the parish of Süng (Kapellensüng) requested the relocation of the Lindlar train station to the Sülztal or a train station in Klefhaus was requested from an ore mine in Dürscheid. Neither was realized. A discussion also flared up about the naming of the Tüschen train station. In 1911 the name Hommerich was finally determined. The Immekeppel – Hommerich section was opened to traffic in January 1912, and the route from Hommerich to Lindlar was officially opened on December 9, 1912.

Railway viaduct of the Sülztalbahn near Linde -Bruch (Lindlar) at 51 ° 0 ′ 59.5 ″ N , 7 ° 19 ′ 47.3 ″ E before the renovation

Even before the First World War it was planned to continue the railway line via Hartegasse , Frielingsdorf and Dohrgaul to Wipperfürth. However, this plan was never carried out due to the outbreak of the First World War. In 1927 the plan for the Lindlar – Wipperfürth railway line was finally dropped in favor of the Bergisch Gladbach – Wipperfürth line, but this line was never realized either. The Lindlar station was the terminus , which is increasingly lost its importance and finally, together with the distance from the station Hoffnungsthal was shut down.

As early as the end of the 1950s there were rumors of closure, and the railway responded to the protest by the Lindlar municipal administration against the closure by setting up a bus line along the route. The last passenger train ran in 1960, and freight traffic between Hoffnungsthal and Lindlar continued until 1966. In the same year, the section was then dismantled.

After the route was demolished, the Federal Railroad paid additional costs for its safety, maintenance or demolition by donating the bridge structures to the municipalities.

The entire Immekeppel-Lindlar route has a not insignificant gradient for the railway construction at the time and for the shortness of the line. The section between Linde and Lindlar has the steepest gradient on the Sülztal line, which is why a second locomotive often had to be used uphill.

Timetables

The timetable from 1894 provided for the following services:

Immekeppel off	6:26	9:26	12:17	-	16:43	20:07
Exit Bensberg	7:18	10:15	13:13	14:35	17:35	21:12
Exit Bergisch Gladbach	7:33	10:29	13:28	14:50	17:50	21:32
Deutz on	8:06	11:00	14:00	15:21	18:22	22:12

and in the opposite direction

Deutz exits	8:30	12:20	15:26	18:09 x	20:07	23:47 x
x only to Bensberg

In 1910 the Cologne-Kalk-Overath line was opened. Now there were two travel options from Rösrath to Cologne, one on the previous route, i.e. via Bensberg, Bergisch Gladbach and Mülheim, or on the direct route via Heumar to Cologne-Kalk.

After the Sülztalbahn was extended to Lindlar in 1912, some of the trains only ran from Lindlar to Hopesthal. There was a connection to Cologne-Deutz via Kalk.

Draft timetable from 1912:

Exit Lindlar

5:36

8:16

11:49

17:20

20:26

and in the opposite direction

Immekeppel off

9:16

11:39

13:50

16:22

20:28

business

The route from Cologne-Mülheim to Bergisch Gladbach is operated every working day every 20 minutes and on weekends every half hour from the S-Bahn line S 11 with modern class 423 multiple units .

The section between Rösrath and Hoffnungsthal has been part of the Aggertalbahn since the closure of the Sülztalbahn from Bergisch Gladbach to Lindlar and is used by the Oberbergische Bahn .

The route from Bergisch Gladbach train station in the direction of Bensberg is still there as far as the Zinkhütte industrial park. The beginning of the line to Bensberg is still used for shunting during the transfer trips to the M-Real Zanders paper mill, in order to supply the in-house power plant with small amounts of coal in block trains with self-unloading wagons.

Condition of the decommissioned part

Stone with a bronze plaque in memory of the former Forsbach train station

Class 50 3680 in Linde station

The part of the railway embankment between Bergisch Gladbach and Bensberg that is no longer in operation is overgrown today. The tracks are about 13.8 km. The former station area in Bensberg can hardly be recognized as such. The area is used as a parking lot and commercial area. There is no longer a railway building.

In the following Königsforst there is now a hiking trail for the most part on the embankment. The Forsbach station can be seen only by some remnants of the platforms. A memorial plaque was set up there showing the former station building.

The route then continues as a walk to Rösrath. There it joins the Aggertalbahn after a short asphalt stretch .

The Sülztalbahn then leaves the Aggertalbahn directly behind the Hoffnungsthal station , where the route up to and including Untereschbach can hardly be seen. The part behind Hope Valley, which formerly ran parallel to Bergische Landstrasse, is now over-tarred and serves as a footpath. The embankment then begins again shortly after Lehmbach, where it runs through a forest at some distance from the road and is heavily overgrown. This piece ends in Unterauel, where the railway embankment to Untereschbach was removed. In Untereschbach, too, nothing can be seen of the Sülztalbahn. The station building had to give way to the construction of the motorway bridge decades ago, and the route is over-tarred.

Only shortly after the former level crossing at kilometer 30 does a recognizable part begin again, which runs between the current residential areas Am Auelterberg , Zum Sülzufer and Oberauel . The building materials company based there uses sleepers of the Sülztalbahn to delimit the property. The former Schmitzbüchel level crossing, just before the Immekeppel train station, no longer exists. The adjoining station area, on the other hand, can still be seen very well. The station building has been preserved and is in good condition, the former track field is only partially built over. Here, too, sleepers of the Sülztalbahn were used as a fence.

This is followed by the former level crossing at Lindlarer Straße, which can no longer be seen. Since the route in Immekeppel was not built directly through the village, but instead runs through a curve behind the village, the embankment has been completely preserved here. There are still a few milestones and the foundation of the entry signal to Immekeppel station. The embankment was partially overgrown, but was most recently cut free and can now be used as a walk.

The bridge over the street Haus Thal at the end of the Immekeppeler railway embankment no longer exists. On the other hand, the embankment is still in very good condition. The route is accessible to the former Obersteeg train station. The gravel bed is partly present as well as various foundations and milestones. The Obersteeg station area still owns almost all of the railway buildings and is used privately today.

Bridge over the Sülztalbahn at km 35.2

Between Obersteeg and kilometer 35 there is an area that has hardly changed since the rails were dismantled. In some places the ballast bed is still completely intact and looks as if the tracks were only dismantled a few years ago. A large number of foundations and milestones have also been preserved here. Shortly before the valley bridge in Bilstein there is also a well-preserved bridge over the route cut. The directly following viaduct, however, only partially exists. While the southern arch of the bridge has been preserved, the northern arch and the steel middle section were removed a few years ago.

In the further course the route between kilometers 35 and 36 is clearly recognizable in the forest, but partly overgrown. Milestones and foundations can also be found in these now difficult to access areas. After kilometer 36, however, the route has been dismantled in favor of a golf course and only begins again after the former Georghausen stop , which can no longer be seen today.

The reception building at the next Hommerich train station has been preserved and is used privately. The track field and ancillary buildings have, however, been removed and built over in favor of industrial facilities. In the further course, however, the route leads again clearly to a preserved bridge over the Sülz. From here the embankment runs parallel to Sülztalstraße to Linde.

Until it was expanded as a cycle path in 2012, the gravel bed was in almost unchanged condition here too. Since then, the route has been paved from this section in the direction of Linde. As the area around Linde train station is now privately owned, the former track field is fenced in here. For this reason, a larger section of the railway embankment was removed so that the newly created cycle path slopes gently down to the level of the Sülztalstraße.

Fully preserved gravel bed behind Hommerich

On the section between Linde train station and the viaduct in Linde-Bruch, there were still signals and a few hundred meters of rails until the beginning of 2008. The former owner of the station (Hermann Haeck) planned a museum railway in island operation years ago , but this was not implemented for reasons of cost and approval. The tracks were then also dismantled. A small remnant is still in front of and on the site of the former Linde station, where the owner had a class 50 locomotive parked. In order to raise the bike path back to the level of the old route, part of the embankment was also removed here. The viaduct was extensively renovated and asphalted in 2011.

After crossing the viaduct, the cycle path on the old route climbs steadily to Lindlar. The numerous bridges and culverts on this section have also been renovated. The route ends in Lindlar at the level of Lindenallee and from here it is difficult to make out in the townscape. It runs in an arc parallel to today's streets Lindenallee , Auf dem Heidchen and Am Bahndamm . This is where the former train station begins, which is now owned by a forwarding company. There is now a loading station on the former track system, but the station building itself is still well preserved and has retained its original charm. The old water tower still stands near the train station. After restoration work, it is in better condition today than it was when it was in operation.

Today's plans and processes

In the 2015 target network of the Rhein-Sieg transport association , the Cologne-Dellbrück-Bergisch Gladbach section, which is currently single-track, is planned to be double-tracked again and thus achieve a 10-minute cycle during rush hour. Also under discussion was an extension of the S-Bahn line to the rear of Bergisch Gladbach, such as Bensberg . The planning was abandoned because of the cost issue.

For years there have been controversial plans in the population and in politics for the railway embankment in Bensberg to use it for the route of a motorway slip road with connection to the federal motorway 4 . Implementation of this plan now seems rather unlikely.

In May 2010, work began on building an asphalt bike and hiking trail on the route between Hommerich and Lindlar. The trail was completed in 2012 and opened on May 5, 2013. For this project, the viaduct in Linde and three other bridges along the way had to be completely renovated.

Picture gallery

Viaduct near Linde after renovation in 2011
Lindlar railway station 2012
Obersteeg station 2010
Immekeppel station 2009
Linde station 2008
View over Untereschbach to the Lüderich in 1892, on the left the Sülztalbahn
The last Sülzbrücke near Hommerich in its original condition in 2013

literature

Gerhard Peterhänsel: train to train . The railways in the Sülztal and Aggertal - a regional historical investigation. In: Series of publications of the history association Rösrath eV Volume 15 , no. 1 . Rösrath 1986, ISBN 978-3-922413-65-3 .
Sascha Koch, Horst Kowalski and others: Railways in Oberberg and the history of the Dieringhausen depot . Galunder Verlag, Nümbrecht 2005, ISBN 3-89909-050-0 .
Bernd Franco Hoffmann: The Sülztalbahn . History and stories of the Cologne-Bergisch Gladbach-Rösrath-Untereschbach-Immekeppel-Lindlar route. In: Series of publications of the history association Rösrath eV Volume 42 , 2012, ISBN 978-3-922413-65-3 .
Bernd Franco Hoffmann: Disused railway lines in the Bergisches Land . Sutton-Verlag, Erfurt 2013, ISBN 978-3-95400-147-7 .

Web links

Commons : Sülztalbahn - collection of images, videos and audio files

NRWbahnArchive by André Joost:

Description of route 2663 : Cologne-Mülheim - Bergisch Gladbach
Description of route 2682 : Gronau Abzw - Lindlar (formerly also 2663)

further evidence:

Individual evidence

↑ DB Netze - Infrastructure Register

↑ Railway Atlas Germany . 9th edition. Schweers + Wall, Aachen 2014, ISBN 978-3-89494-145-1 .

↑ Gerhard Peterhänsel: train to train . The railways in the Sülztal and Aggertal - a regional historical investigation. In: Series of publications of the history association Rösrath eV Volume 15 , no. 6 . Rösrath 1986, ISBN 978-3-922413-65-3 , p. 210 .

↑ The zinc hut freight terminal ( memento of the original from January 20, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed January 28, 2013.

↑ History Association Rösrath ( Memento of the original dated November 24, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed September 28, 2014. @1@ 2

↑ Bahn-Report 4/2017, p. 54.

↑ Matthias Niewels and Roland U. Neumann: A dead track in the city center. In: Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger. December 21, 2012, accessed December 21, 2015 .

↑ Bahn-Report 4/2017, p. 54.

↑ Silke Cameron, Enzio Fehre: In the footsteps of the munitions railway Bensberg - Königsforst . In: Home between Sülz and Dhünn . Issue 12, 2005, pp. 53 .

^ The route to Wipperfürth fell victim to the war, accessed on November 3, 2014

↑ Bahnflächen-Entwicklungsgesellschaft NRW mbH ( Memento of the original dated November 3, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved November 3, 2014

↑ The railway in Oberbergischen - updates , accessed on November 3, 2014

↑ Matthias Niewels: embankment project shelved. In: Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger. September 22, 2014, accessed December 11, 2017 .

↑ Groundbreaking ceremony in Brückerhof for the cycle path from Lindlar to Hommerich , accessed on November 3, 2014

↑ Cycling and walking in the footsteps of the "Ahlen Isenbahn" in the valley of the Lindlarer Sülz , accessed on November 3, 2014

[1] See also: Bensberg-Gladbacher Zinkhütte # Equipment

[2] DB Netze - Infrastructure Register

[3] Railway Atlas Germany . 9th edition. Schweers + Wall, Aachen 2014, ISBN 978-3-89494-145-1 .

[peterhansel-210-4] Gerhard Peterhänsel: train to train . The railways in the Sülztal and Aggertal - a regional historical investigation. In: Series of publications of the history association Rösrath eV Volume 15 , no. 6 . Rösrath 1986, ISBN 978-3-922413-65-3 , p. 210 .

[5] The zinc hut freight terminal ( memento of the original from January 20, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed January 28, 2013. @1@ 2