Neuss – Viersen railway line

Neuss-Viersen
Kaarster See train station
Route number (DB) :	2530 (Neuss - Neersen) 2511 (Neersen - Viersen)
Course book section (DB) :	450.28 (Neuss - Kaarst)
Route length:	22 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Top speed:	110 km / h
Dual track :	-
Legend Left Lower Rhine route from Krefeld Line from Düsseldorf (former route via Neusser Weyhe) former route from Düsseldorf 0.0 Neuss main station Left Lower Rhine route to Cologne Route to Mönchengladbach 2.1 Weissenberg Neuss Johanna Etienne Hospital (planned) (former route via Neusser Weyhe) A 57 4.4 IKEA Kaarst (formerly Holzbüttgen) 5.4 Kaarst Mitte / Holzbüttgen (formerly Kaarst Erftstr.) 6.2 Kaarster train station 7.1 Kaarster lake 11.7 Inclined path former route from Krefeld 15.3 0.0 Neersen former route to Mönchengladbach 4.6 Line from Mönchengladbach Viersen Gbf 6.5 Viersen Pbf (formerly Viersen RhE) former route from Mönchengladbach Viersen BME Route to Venlo Route to Duisburg Swell:

The Neuss – Viersen railway is a largely disused railway line in North Rhine-Westphalia . It formerly led from Neuss Hbf via Kaarst and Neersen to Viersen , since 1968 it has ended in Kaarst.

The larger section that is still in operation is now a single-track, non-electrified branch line . The shorter section, however, is now counted as part of the Duisburg-Ruhrort-Mönchengladbach railway line and is a double-track main line with overhead lines .

history

Construction of the route in the 19th century

Starting from its Neuss train station on the left-hand Lower Rhine route , the Rheinische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft (RhE) built its own route towards Viersen, largely parallel to the Mönchengladbach – Düsseldorf and Duisburg-Ruhrort – Mönchengladbach lines of the Bergisch-Märkische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft (BME), which runs this from the royal management of the Aachen-Düsseldorf-Ruhrorter railway .

The section from Neuss to Neersen was opened on November 15, 1877, on the same day as the Krefeld – Rheydt line . The rest of the section to Viersen RhE did not follow until just under a year later on November 1, 1878.

Most of the route leads along the north canal .

Economic importance in the first half of the 20th century

As with other projects, the RhE intended to take market share from the already established routes through the straightest possible route and thus shorter travel times. Since the route via Kaarst and Neersen did not go to the city of Mönchengladbach , the largest town in the region with its Mönchengladbach BME train station (now Mönchengladbach Hauptbahnhof ), which is very important in terms of traffic, the response to the new route remained cautious, especially among travelers.

The operation of the line was not economical; this remained so when the connecting curve from Mönchengladbach-Neuwerk to the main train station was opened in 1909 when the Krefeld – Rheydt railway was relocated . Passenger traffic from Kaarst ceased on September 29, 1968, goods traffic followed at the end of 1984.

Conversions

Originally, the route from Holzbüttgen continued in a straight line along today's Neusser Weyhe street over the Weißenberg district , where the Weissenberg stop was located on Venloer Strasse. Only after today's Römerstraße did a right turn and the line reached the Neuss train station from the north. In 1901, this section was replaced by the current route further south along the north canal and the route of the Mönchengladbach – Düsseldorf railway line , which leads from the south to Neuss station.

In Viersen, there have been two train stations in the immediate vicinity since the Rheinischer Bahnhof was opened in 1878. In 1880 both railway companies were nationalized and in 1887 passenger traffic was relocated from the Rheinischen to the Bergisch-Märkischen Bahnhof. 30 years later, the entire Viersen station was relocated back to the location of the former Rhenish station after the Bergisch-Märkische route, which previously ran in a straight line between Mönchengladbach and Viersen, had been abandoned in favor of a new route built further east. This meets the former Rheinische Trasse at the eastern end of Viersen station at 4.6 km, which is now in operation in this section as a double-track main line that has been electrified since 1964.

Restart of the Neuss – Kaarst section

In 1998, Regiobahn GmbH took over the Neuss – Kaarst section from Deutsche Bahn . The S 28 line of the Rhein-Ruhr S-Bahn runs between Neuss main station and Kaarster See . From the final stop to the confluence of the changed route from Mönchengladbach to Viersen, the railway line is completely shut down and for the most part dismantled. The North Canal Cycle Route was built on part of this section .

Until January 7, 2003, there was an express bus line (SB 86) running between Kaarst and Viersen , which took around 40 minutes for the route. Today the train bus line 094 runs between Kaarst and Viersen , which serves the route Viersen  - Neersen  - Schiefbahn  - Kaarster See , similar to the course of the old railway line.

See also : List of cycle paths on disused railway lines

future

Electrification and expansion

The electrification of the route sections in operation is planned by 2021. Then new electric multiple units will be used on the route. Due to a changed entry height, the tracks in the stations have to be raised by 20 cm, the entry height will in future be 76 cm instead of the previous 96 cm. In the area of ​​the Konrad-Adenauer-Ring overpass in Neuss, however, the track position must be lowered in order to enable the overhead contact line to pass through. The feed of the traction current is to take place via the existing infrastructure of Deutsche Bahn in the Neuss Hbf substation.

In addition, a section of the line between Neuss and Kaarst is to be expanded to double tracks by 2021. This is the section between route kilometers 2.4 + 20 (level crossing Geulenstraße, Neuss) and route kilometers 3.9 + 80 ( IKEA Kaarst station ). For this purpose, the bridge over the North Canal, built in 1813 and upgraded for rail traffic in 1873, has to be replaced by a new double-track structure. The demolition and new construction is planned for summer 2020. In addition, the level crossing on the street An der Gümpgesbrücke in Kaarst has to be rebuilt.

The costs for electrification and the expansion of the line amount to around 12.4 million euros (as of 2018).

Route extension and new stop in Neuss

There are plans to extend the S 28 line, and the former line to Neersen is to be reactivated. In addition, there are plans or considerations for two different variants:

1. Complete reactivation of the route over which the S 28 would be extended via Neersen to Viersen and Venlo. The Euregio Rhein-Maas-Nord approved a grant of 34,000 euros for a planning report on this project .
2. Reconstruction of the section of the former Krefeld – Rheydt railway line between Neersen and Mönchengladbach-Neuwerk as well as the demolished connecting line from Mönchengladbach-Neuwerk to Mönchengladbach Hbf and connecting the line via Neersen to Mönchengladbach.

Furthermore, it was checked whether a stop in Neuss Nord or Neuss Morgensternsheide or Neuss Johanna-Etienne-Krankenhaus could be implemented between Neuss Hauptbahnhof and IKEA Kaarst.

In December 2016, the district administrator and the mayor of the Viersen district announced that they would continue to work for the expansion of the S 28 regional railway line. In February 2020 it became known that the city of Mönchengladbach, which had previously refused to extend the railway line, is now “cautiously positive” about it.

Web links

NRWbahnarchiv by André Joost:

• Description of route 2530 : Neuss - Neersen
• Description of route 2511 : Neersen - Viersen

Further evidence:

• Circle-Line project studio for the planned extension of the regional railway. (PDF; 5.91 MiB) (No longer available online.) Formerly in the original ; Retrieved May 5, 2016 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Stadtwerke still believe in the Morgensternsheide stop. Press release. City of Neuss, October 21, 2015, accessed on June 15, 2019 . 
2. ↑ DB Netze - Infrastructure Register
3. ↑ Railway Atlas Germany . 9th edition. Schweers + Wall, Aachen 2014, ISBN 978-3-89494-145-1 .
4. ↑ The former course book routes in the Viersen district. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on October 9, 2015 ; accessed on December 15, 2015 . 
5. ↑ Alexander Matheisen: Railway construction in Neuss and the surrounding area from the middle of the 19th century to the First World War and its influence on the regional economy and urban development. (PDF) Retrieved December 15, 2015 (thesis). 
6. ^ Martin Krauss: Development of the Railway Infrastructure 1997/98 . In: Bahn-Report . tape 2 , 1999, p. 4-7 .
7. ↑ www.niederrheinbus.de
8. ↑ Christoph Kleinau: Neuss: Regiobahn does not need an emergency stop. In: Neuss-Grevenbroicher newspaper. March 3, 2020, accessed March 3, 2020 . 
9. ^ Christian Heidrich and Ludger Peters: Round table in the castle for the Regio-Bahn. In: Rheinische Post. May 5, 2014, p. C1 (Grenzland-Kurier) , accessed on August 28, 2018 . 
10. ↑ Dieter Weber: S-Bahn should go through gardens. In: Rheinische Post. May 27, 2009. Retrieved August 28, 2018 . 
11. ↑ District of Viersen: INTERREG-A projects "Regiobahn"
12. ↑ Feasibility study of extension S28 to Venlo
13. ↑ Ludger Baten: Regiobahn should also stop at the Etienne. In: Neuss-Grevenbroicher newspaper. May 25, 2013. Retrieved August 28, 2018 . 
14. ^ Neuss: Rail offer. In: neuss.de. Retrieved December 15, 2015 . 
15. ↑ Mayors want the expansion of the S 28. In: Rheinische Post online. Retrieved September 18, 2017 . 
16. ↑ Regiobahn has to come. District of Viersen, December 13, 2016, accessed on September 18, 2017 (press release). 
17. ↑ Martin Röse: City rethinks attitude to the S 28 extension. In: Westdeutsche Zeitung. February 20, 2020, accessed February 20, 2020 .