Lebach – Völklingen railway line

Lebach – Völklingen
Reactivated Walpershofen station, today Walpershofen Mitte.
Route number (DB) :	3291
Course book section (DB) :	635 235a (1935) 265e (1944)
Route length:	22 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Power system :	750 V  =
Legend Primstalbahn from Primsweiler 0.0 Lebach Primstalbahn to Wemmetsweiler 1.3 Lebach south 2.4 Landsweiler North 3.3 Landsweiler Süd (from 2014) Spitzeich tunnel (476 m) 5.8 Eiweiler (until 1985) 6.0 Eiweiler north Eiweiler Viaduct over the Köllerbach 6.6 Eiweiler 7.5 Heusweiler Kirschhof A 8 8.1 Heusweiler In the Hommersbach 9.2 Heusweiler market B 268 9.4 Heusweiler (until 1985) 9.6 Heusweiler school center Köllerbach 10.3 Walpershofen Mühlenstrasse L 136 4.6 Dilsburg mine (until 1931) L 136 0.0 10.8 Walpershofen Mitte (from 1936) Saarbahn to Saarbrücken (since 2011) 12.5 Etzenhofen 14.1 Köllerbach (formerly: Kölln (Saar)) Köllerbach 16.5 Püttlingen (Saar) L 136 former route from Püttlingen Grube 19.9 Völklingen-Heidstock (from 1936) Heidstock tunnel (192 m, from 1914) Saar line from Saarbrücken (former flyover structure ) 22.0 Völklingen Saar route to Saarlouis

The Lebach – Völklingen railway is a single-track branch line that originally ran from Lebach to Völklingen . Due to the fact that it led through the Köllertal , it is also called the Köllertalbahn . Today the 10.8 km long northern section is part of the Saarbahn and is used by light rail vehicles. For this purpose, the line between Lebach and Walpershofen Mitte is electrified with 750 volts DC. The southern section between Walpershofen Mitte and Völklingen has been dismantled.

history

Towards the end of the 19th century , the places in the Köllertal became more and more residential areas for the iron and steel workers and miners employed in the Saar district. While the workers initially covered the long distances to their workplaces on foot, the desire arose to open up the Köllertal by rail as well.

South end of the line, situation 1911 to 1914, before the construction of the Heidstock tunnel.

After several petitions and petitions, the construction of the Köllertalbahn was approved by the Prussian King by law number 25 on June 15, 1906. In 1909 the construction work began, which was mainly carried out by Croatian and Italian foreign workers. At its southern end, the new railway did not have its connection to the Saar line directly at Völklingen station . Instead, it was connected to the railway line from the Püttlinger Grube Viktoria to Völklingen, which had existed since 1872, about two kilometers beforehand, in the area of ​​the later Heidstock stop .

South end of the line, situation from 1914, after the construction of the Heidstock tunnel.

The entire route was inaugurated on October 1, 1911. At the same time, a "mine connection railway" to the Dilsburg mine was built from Etzenhofen. On November 16, 1911, the first coal train left the mine. The mine railway initially ran from Etzenhofen parallel to the track of the Köllertal Railway through Walpershofen; The main line and the railway to the Dilsburg mine then diverged in a y-shape about 250 m north of the later Walpershofen stop.

As early as 1914, the Völklingen area was realigned. The section taken over by the Püttlinger mine railway, which crossed the later federal highway 51 at the edge of the Völklingen stand via a level crossing, was abandoned. A few hundred meters east of the old one, the new route crossed under the higher road through the newly built Heidstock tunnel. Immediately afterwards, it crossed the Saar line over a bridge and then flowed into the southern part of the Völklingen train station.

During the First World War , the route served, among other things, military purposes. After the war, there were initial thoughts of abandoning the line, especially after the Dilsburg mine was closed in 1931 due to the global economic crisis. After the Saar area was reintegrated into the German Reich in 1935, the Köllertalbahn was again used more frequently. Up to 28 pairs of trains and up to 8,000 people a day used the route in 1936.

The parallel track through Walpershofen was dismantled during this time, Walpershofen was given a stop, and the branch line, which was still in operation despite the mine closure, was connected directly to the main line with a switch.

After the Second World War , the line could only be put back into operation along its entire length in 1947, after the provisional restoration of the Eiweiler Viaduct. Due to the coal and steel crisis in the 1970s , the number of passengers continuously declined. On September 27, 1985, the last regular passenger train ran on the route. In 1986, at the instigation of the Köllertalbahn working group, a special trip was carried out for the 75th anniversary of the Köllertalbahn. The Völklingen – Etzenhofen section was then shut down and dismantled. From Lebach there was little freight traffic to Etzenhofen to supply some industrial companies . On July 18, 1993 there were farewell trips on the remaining route. The route was then shut down and completely dismantled.

The old train station in Püttlingen was placed under monument protection in 1989 as a traffic- historical building. After conversion and restoration, it has been used for cultural purposes since 1993.

reactivation

In 2011, the section between Walpershofen / Etzenhofen and Heusweiler Markt , and on October 5, 2014, the entire route from Walpershofen / Etzenhofen to Lebach was put back into operation for the Saarbahn .

The line was electrified with 750 volts DC . The electrification was carried out in the area of ​​the Lebach train station and on to Jabach in such a way that a switch to 15 kV AC voltage is possible if the route to Illingen is later electrified.

The trains run every quarter of an hour to Heusweiler Markt during the day and every half hour from there to Lebach. During rush hour, the trains continue to run on the Primstalbahn to Lebach-Jabach.

literature

• Karl-Heinz Janson: The Etzenhofen - Walpershofen - Dilsburg mine railway. in: Verein Jahrbuch Walpershofen eV (Ed.): Yearbook Walpershofen 2008. 5th year (published in 2009), pp. 82–85
• Karl-Heinz Janson: 75 years of the Köllertalbahn, series of publications by the local history association, Heusweiler 1986.
• Karl-Heinz Janson: 100 Years of the Köllertal Railway, Sutton-Verlag 2010.

Web links

• Literature about the Köllertalbahn in the Saarland bibliography
• Hans-Joachim Kühn: On the history of the Köllertalbahn
• Course book from 1944
• Püttlingen cultural station
• Images of the tunnel portals
• Farewell trip Völklingen - Lebach on September 29, 1985
• Description of the route on Völklingen-im-Wandel.de

Individual evidence

1. ^ Janson, The Etzenhofen - Walpershofen - Dilsburg mine railway. P. 83.
2. ↑ cf. Janson, The Etzenhofen - Walpershofen - Dilsburg mine railway. P. 83.
3. ^ Chronology of the Völklingen train station , accessed on February 13, 2012.
4. ↑ cf. Janson, The Etzenhofen – Walpershofen – Dilsburg mine railway. P. 84.