Oberhausen – Wesel railway line

This article describes the Oberhausen – Wesel railway line via Duisburg-Walsum. For the main railway line running parallel from Oberhausen to Wesel via Oberhausen-Sterkrade, Dinslaken and Voerde (Lower Rhine), see the line from Oberhausen to Arnhem .

Oberhausen Hbf - Walsum - Wesel
Course of the Oberhausen - Wesel railway line
Route number (DB) :	2271
Route length:	29.8 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Route class :	D4
Top speed:	EOBN – EWLS: 80 km / h EWLS – ESPN: 50 km / h
Train control :	PZB 90
Dual track :	No
state	North Rhine-Westphalia
course
Legend by Emmerich from Bocholt from Venlo Wesel to Obrighoven (siding) 28.9 Wesel (Hamborner Bf, Bft) lip to Dinslaken Wesel-Datteln Canal Emmelsum circular railway and port railway to the circular railway and port railway Emmelsum 25.0 Spellen (Lower Rhine) (from 1985) 24.0 Spellen (Lower Rhine) (until 1985) 20.8 Voerde (Nrh) wages 18.4 Möllen (Lower Rhine) former Steag power plant Emscher 13.2 Walsum to the Walsum mine connection railway Walsum mine connection railway Oberhausen – Walsum Südhafen railway line   - HOAG route Little Emscher 10.8 Duisburg-Hamborn Provinzialstrasse A 59 Schwelgern – Lohberg colliery railway 8.5 Duisburg-Marxloh 7.8 Duisburg-Hamborn to Duisburg-Neumühl A 3 Duisburg-Ruhrort-Dortmund 3.8 Oberhausen-Buschhausen A 42 from Dinslaken 1.4 Oberhausen central station Obn (Bft) Rhine-Herne Canal to Oberhausen West Oberhausen West – Oberhausen-Osterfeld Oberhausen West – Bottrop South Oberhausen West-Essen-Altenessen from and to Oberhausen Hbf Obo from Oberhausen West -0.1 Oberhausen Hbf to Duisburg-Ruhrort to Mülheim-Styrum to Duisburg

The Oberhausen - Wesel railway, also known as the Walsumbahn , was put into operation in 1912, and construction began in 1908. The line was built as a north-south relief from the main Wesel  - Dinslaken  - Oberhausen line. Because of its proximity to the Rhine , the railway line was designed as an elevated railway, using, among other things, the excavation of the Rhine-Herne Canal , which is currently under construction .

history

In June 1906, the Ministry of Public Works commissioned the Royal Railway Directorate in Essen to draw up a plan for the Oberhausen  - Hamborn  - Walsum  - Wesel line by September 1, 1906 . The line should be laid out as a single-track main line , but the double-track expansion should already be taken into account. The route should improve the supply of the garrison town of Wesel, connect the growing town of Hamborn to the railway network and open up the newly developed coal mines. In addition, a relief of the main line Oberhausen - Dinslaken - Wesel was planned. The route was originally intended to merge into the main route near Möllen , but was led via Spellen at the instigation of the Spellen pastor . On May 29, 1907, the law to build the line was announced. In Wesel, due to lack of space, the line could not be inserted into the existing station and was therefore given a separate platform with a reception building, the so-called Hamborner station.

Hamborn station building, before 1945

Since the railway was designed as an elevated railway for reasons of flood protection , a total of around three million tons of earth had to be moved. Half of this could be obtained from the excavation of the Rhine-Herne Canal , which is currently under construction, which reduced the construction time by two years. Other material came from the Osterfeld colliery and the Gutehoffnungshütte in Sterkrade , among others . The use of wash mountains meant that the embankment was damaged by inflammation of the material. Foreign workers were mainly used in the construction. The state police inspection took place on October 3, 1912, and on October 14, 1912 the ceremonial opening took place with a special trip from Oberhausen to Wesel and back. Scheduled operations began the following day. The third track between the Obn junction and Oberhausen Hauptbahnhof went into operation on November 1, 1913.

After the end of the First World War , traffic on the Walsumbahn was interrupted several times. Passenger traffic was stopped between November 5 and November 16, 1919 in order to use the existing capacities for coal and potato transports. In the spring of 1920, the line was the scene of the battle against the Ruhr , so traffic was severely restricted between March 19 and April 3, 1920 and was completely stopped in the following week until April 10, 1920. In the first time after the restart, tickets were only issued in urgent cases. On January 11, 1923, Belgian troops occupied the Ruhr area and, after the passive resistance of the German railway workers, took over the operation on their own on the line up to shortly before Wesel. 1924 was Regiebetrieb set and the management back to Founded in 1920, German Reichsbahn passed. On July 15, 1926, Möllen station was converted into a stop, and the Reichsbahn decommissioned the two signal boxes.

In 1930 the bridge over the Wesel-Datteln Canal was built north of Spellen . The bridge was blown up by German pioneers on March 24, 1945 . A reconstruction was planned until the 1960s, the Federal Railway Directorate (BD) Essen closed the Spellen - Wesel section only on March 19, 1969. Also in March 1945, the railway bridge over what is now the Kleine Emscher was blown up and the route between Walsum and Hamborn was interrupted. While Hamborn station could still be reached from Oberhausen, the Walsum - Spellen section was connected to Sterkrade station via a private siding and the Gutehoffnungshütte works network. From May 5, 1948, freight trains returned to the Hamborn - Walsum section, and passenger trains from May 9, 1948.

From 1963 to 1983 Walsum was the northern terminus for passenger trains, 2016

On May 14, 1950, the Deutsche Bundesbahn downgraded the Walsum - Spellen section to a branch line and introduced train control operations on the section . The dispatcher in Walsum also performed the task of train conductor on the route. The signal box Sp in Spellen went out of service at the same time. The main railway section Oberhausen - Walsum was equipped with Indusi around the same time . On December 13, 1957, general cargo traffic in Möllen and Spellen was stopped.

Abutment for the main line Spellen - Wesel on Böskenstraße, behind it the overpass of the circular railway and port railway Emmelsum, 2018

On May 29, 1959, construction began on the Dinslaken district railway , which, as an industrial trunk line, was supposed to connect the companies located on the south bank of the Wesel-Datteln Canal to the railway. After a year of construction, the line was opened on May 30, 1960. For the construction, the line track dismantled in 1945 between kilometer 24.0 and kilometer 25.0 was rebuilt as a branch line, at kilometer 25.0 the line merged into the siding. The construction of the BP Hünxe refinery was decisive for the construction of the main track . On May 25, 1963, the German Federal Railroad stopped passenger, express and freight traffic on the Walsum - Spellen section. The Möllen stop was therefore inoperable for the next five years. Instead of passenger trains, rail buses were used between Wesel and Spellen, as had been the case since 1945 . On October 1, 1968, the Federal Railroad stopped express transport on the route.

With the decision made in 1968 to build the Voerde power station , STEAG expanded the Möllen plant into an alternative connection point for the delivery of hard coal . The first train arrived on August 18, 1970. In 1985 a second underground bunker went into operation for unloading. At the same time, the Moe relay interlocking went into operation, replacing the previously existing key system . The remaining passenger traffic between Oberhausen Hbf and Walsum was stopped on May 28, 1983. In the same year the mechanical signal boxes in Oberhausen -Buschhausen were taken out of service and the station was connected as a remote control area to the Ohf relay signal box in Oberhausen Hauptbahnhof. At around the same time, BP shut down the Ruhr refinery in Hünxe .

The remaining freight traffic concentrated on operating several connections, including the Grillo-Werke (Duisburg-Hamborn), Walsum colliery , Duisburg-Walsum power plant , Haindl Papier (Walsum), Voerde (Möllen) power plant and the connections to the Dinslaken and des port Emmelsum (Spellen). After the shutdown of the Walsum colliery in 2008 and the Voerde power station in March 2017, the daily train volume fell to less than 20 journeys. In 2010, Deutsche Bahn considered using the Walsumbahn between Oberhausen and Wesel as an alternative to expanding the Betuweroute . This project was not carried out. The city of Dinslaken declined the project with reference to the increasing rail noise. At the beginning of December 2017, the line between Oberhausen-Buschhausen (exclusively) and Spellen was connected to an electronic signal box . The operating devices are located in the Oberhausen West train station . The still existing mechanical signal boxes in Duisburg-Hamborn and Walsum went out of operation when the ESTW was activated.

The stations in Oberhausen-Buschhausen, Duisburg-Hamborn, Walsum, Möllen and Spellen, which have existed since 1912, are still in operation after the passenger traffic was discontinued in 1963 and 1983. Spellen station was converted into a junction in 1985 . Since the activation of the ESTW, the operating point has been run as a train station again. The reception buildings are still there and are mostly used privately. The imposing reception building of the Duisburg-Hamborn train station houses a café , among other things , and the reception hall is used for wedding celebrations.

future

On January 17, 2020, representatives of the cities of Duisburg and Oberhausen as well as the Wesel district and the VRR signed a declaration of intent to examine the resumption of the Walsumbahn. Likewise, on July 31, 2020, the mayors of the municipalities of Wesel and Voerde, together with representatives from Pro Bahn, called for the line to be reactivated.

traffic

passenger traffic

According to the last peace timetable from May 1914 , eight pairs of passenger trains drove daily between Oberhausen Hbf and Wesel , while eight other pairs of trains commuted between Oberhausen Hbf and Hamborn . As a result of the post-war confusion, the offer decreased in 1920 to three train pairs between Oberhausen and Wesel and five train pairs between Oberhausen and Hamborn. On October 3, 1937, the line was included in the Ruhr express traffic and the offer was expanded to 34 trains between Oberhausen and Wesel and a further 18 trains between Oberhausen and Hamborn. Only combustion railcars are said to have been used. In the summer of 1939 there were 17 pairs of trains on the entire route and the same number of pairs of trains to Hamborn.

After the Second World War, the passenger trains ended in Spellen because the bridge over the Wesel-Datteln Canal was blown up. The stops at Voerde (Nrh) -Lhnen (1947), Duisburg-Hamborn Provinzialstraße (1948) and Duisburg-Marxloh (1967) went into operation. At the same time put the German Federal Railroad combustion railcars VT 95 series instead of a steam trains, from the 1960s came Akkumulatortriebwagen the ETA Series 150 are used. After the expansion of coal traffic to Möllen, the train service was reduced to two pairs of trains from 1976 onwards. Apart from occasional special trips, there is no longer any passenger traffic.

In 2004 there was an expert opinion by the passenger association Pro Bahn to review the profitability of reactivating passenger transport. The main reasons listed were the extremely poor connection between the north of Duisburg and the local rail transport and the resulting unacceptable travel times. The structural feasibility is given by the existing use of freight traffic, only platforms would have to be rebuilt. The investment costs would remain within reasonable limits compared to other reactivations. However, the passenger potential is not sufficient. Reactivation was therefore not recommended. In addition to this opinion, there were petitions regarding the resumption of passenger traffic.

In October 2019, the go-ahead was given for the creation of a further feasibility study regarding a reactivation of the local rail transport on the part of the VRR , so that passenger trains could run on the route again by 2025. So far, this initiative has met with a largely positive response from the population and the cities along the route.

Freight transport

An empty train passed from Möllen (Lower Rhine) to Oberhausen West, 2016

Mainly run coal transportation to power plant Walsum and the circular path and port railway Emmelsum the port Emmelsum where several industrial ports on the Rhine and the Wesel-Datteln Canal exist. For the paper manufacturer Sappi , one or two pairs of trains are driven between the port of Emmelsum and the paper mill in Gratkorn , Austria . In Duisburg-Hamborn, the Grillo-Werke purchase their dangerous goods by rail. The connection to the pulp mill of Norske Skog (previously Haindl Papier) was closed in April 2016. Until it was closed at the end of March 2017, the Voerde power plant was supplied with imported coal on the route , and train journeys made up around three quarters of the total volume of goods on the route.

literature

Heinrich Wuwer: 100 years of Hochbahn. The railway line Oberhausen - Hamborn - Walsum - Möllen - Spellen - Wesel . Ed .: Heimatverein Voerde. Voerde 2013.

Web links

• Route information 2271 - Oberhausen - Spellen - Wesel

Remarks

1. ↑ today Bft Oberhausen Hbf Obn
2. ↑ since 1949: Oberhausen-Sterkrade
3. ↑ since 1995: Kreisbahn and Hafenbahn Emmelsum
4. ↑ to 1949: Sterkrade-Buschhausen
5. ↑ to 1949: Hamborn

Individual evidence

1. ^ Heinrich Wuwer: 100 years of elevated railway. The railway line Oberhausen - Hamborn - Walsum - Möllen - Spellen - Wesel . Ed .: Heimatverein Voerde. Voerde 2013, p. 7-9 .
2. ↑ ^{a b} Heinrich Wuwer: 100 years of elevated railway. The railway line Oberhausen - Hamborn - Walsum - Möllen - Spellen - Wesel . Ed .: Heimatverein Voerde. Voerde 2013, p. 9-11 .
3. ^ Heinrich Wuwer: 100 years of elevated railway. The railway line Oberhausen - Hamborn - Walsum - Möllen - Spellen - Wesel . Ed .: Heimatverein Voerde. Voerde 2013, p. 75-77 .
4. ^ Rolf Swoboda: Venlo Railway. Haltern - Wesel - Venlo . VBN Verlag B. Neddermeyer, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-941712-04-1 , p. 99-105 .
5. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Heinrich Wuwer: 100 years of the elevated railway. The railway line Oberhausen - Hamborn - Walsum - Möllen - Spellen - Wesel . Ed .: Heimatverein Voerde. Voerde 2013, p. 15-21 .
6. ^ ^{A b} André Joost: Route archive 2271 - Oberhausen - Spellen - Wesel. In: NRWvbahnarchiv. Retrieved July 30, 2017 . 
7. ↑ ^{a b} Heinrich Wuwer: 100 years of elevated railway. The railway line Oberhausen - Hamborn - Walsum - Möllen - Spellen - Wesel . Ed .: Heimatverein Voerde. Voerde 2013, p. 11-14 .
8. ↑ ^{a b c d} Heinrich Wuwer: 100 years of the elevated railway. The railway line Oberhausen - Hamborn - Walsum - Möllen - Spellen - Wesel . Ed .: Heimatverein Voerde. Voerde 2013, p. 61-69 .
9. ↑ ^{a b c} Heinrich Wuwer: 100 years of elevated railway. The railway line Oberhausen - Hamborn - Walsum - Möllen - Spellen - Wesel . Ed .: Heimatverein Voerde. Voerde 2013, p. 27-30 .
10. ↑ ^{a b c} Heinrich Wuwer: 100 years of elevated railway. The railway line Oberhausen - Hamborn - Walsum - Möllen - Spellen - Wesel . Ed .: Heimatverein Voerde. Voerde 2013, p. 70-75 .
11. ^ Heinrich Wuwer: 100 years of elevated railway. The railway line Oberhausen - Hamborn - Walsum - Möllen - Spellen - Wesel . Ed .: Heimatverein Voerde. Voerde 2013, p. 78 .
12. ^ Heinrich Wuwer: 100 years of elevated railway. The railway line Oberhausen - Hamborn - Walsum - Möllen - Spellen - Wesel . Ed .: Heimatverein Voerde. Voerde 2013, p. 22-23 .
13. ^ ^{A b} André Joost: Operational Office Archive Oberhausen-Buschhausen. In: NRWvbahnarchiv. Retrieved July 30, 2017 . 
14. ^ Heinrich Wuwer: 100 years of elevated railway. The railway line Oberhausen - Hamborn - Walsum - Möllen - Spellen - Wesel . Ed .: Heimatverein Voerde. Voerde 2013, p. 79-84 .
15. ^ Heinrich Wuwer: 100 years of elevated railway. The railway line Oberhausen - Hamborn - Walsum - Möllen - Spellen - Wesel . Ed .: Heimatverein Voerde. Voerde 2013, p. 34-44 .
16. ^ Heinrich Wuwer: 100 years of elevated railway. The railway line Oberhausen - Hamborn - Walsum - Möllen - Spellen - Wesel . Ed .: Heimatverein Voerde. Voerde 2013, p. 45-60 .
17. ^ Heinrich Wuwer: 100 years of elevated railway. The railway line Oberhausen - Hamborn - Walsum - Möllen - Spellen - Wesel . Ed .: Heimatverein Voerde. Voerde 2013, p. 84-87 .
18. ^ Heinrich Wuwer: 100 years of elevated railway. The railway line Oberhausen - Hamborn - Walsum - Möllen - Spellen - Wesel . Ed .: Heimatverein Voerde. Voerde 2013, p. 87-94 .
19. ↑ Markus Peters: More freight trains on the double-track Betuwe line. In: derwesten.de. October 24, 2010. Retrieved October 25, 2010 . 
20. ↑ City of Dinslaken (Ed.): Statement by the city of Dinslaken on the plan approval procedure according to § 18 General Railway Act (AEG) for the ABS 46/2 border D / NL - Emmerich - Oberhausen regarding the three-track expansion and the removal of level crossings on route 2270 in plan approval section 1.3 Dinslaken . S. 12–13 ( dinslaken.de [PDF]).
21. ^ André Joost: Duisburg-Hamborn Operational Offices Archive. In: NRWvbahnarchiv. Retrieved July 30, 2017 . 
22. ^ André Joost: Operating Offices Archive Walsum. In: NRWvbahnarchiv. Retrieved July 30, 2017 . 
23. ^ André Joost: Operational Office Archive Möllen (Lower Rhine). In: NRWvbahnarchiv. Retrieved July 30, 2017 . 
24. ↑ André Joost: Operating Offices Archive Spellen (Lower Rhine). In: NRWvbahnarchiv. Retrieved July 30, 2017 . 
25. ^ Heinrich Wuwer: 100 years of elevated railway. The railway line Oberhausen - Hamborn - Walsum - Möllen - Spellen - Wesel . Ed .: Heimatverein Voerde. Voerde 2013, p. 101-103 .
26. ↑ Willi Mohrs: No train has stopped at Hamborn station for a long time. In: derwesten.de. November 8, 2013, accessed July 30, 2017 . 
27. ↑ Jörg Weißmann: “Bahnhof Hamborn” and the Open Monument Day 2015. In: lokalkompass.de. October 5, 2015, accessed July 30, 2017 . 
28. ↑ Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr AöR, progress report, item 4: Feasibility study Walsum-Bahn, May 15, 2020
29. ↑ RP ONLINE: The goal is reactivation: the region makes steam for the Walsum railway. Retrieved August 1, 2020 . 
30. ↑ Hendschels Telegraph . Table 13 May 12, 1914 ( online [accessed August 1, 2017]).
31. ↑ ^{a b} Heinrich Wuwer: 100 years of elevated railway. The railway line Oberhausen - Hamborn - Walsum - Möllen - Spellen - Wesel . Ed .: Heimatverein Voerde. Voerde 2013, p. 96-99 .
32. ^ Deutsche Reichsbahn (Ed.): Kursbuch . Table 211a. May 15, 1939 ( online [accessed August 1, 2017]).
33. ^ Heinrich Wuwer: 100 years of elevated railway. The railway line Oberhausen - Hamborn - Walsum - Möllen - Spellen - Wesel . Ed .: Heimatverein Voerde. Voerde 2013, p. 69 .
34. ↑ André Joost: Voerde (Nrh) -Lhnen Operational Office Archive. In: NRWvbahnarchiv. Retrieved July 30, 2017 . 
35. ^ Heinrich Wuwer: 100 years of elevated railway. The railway line Oberhausen - Hamborn - Walsum - Möllen - Spellen - Wesel . Ed .: Heimatverein Voerde. Voerde 2013, p. 45 .
36. ^ André Joost: Duisburg-Hamborn offices archive, Provinzialstrasse. In: NRWvbahnarchiv. Retrieved July 30, 2017 . 
37. ^ Heinrich Wuwer: 100 years of elevated railway. The railway line Oberhausen - Hamborn - Walsum - Möllen - Spellen - Wesel . Ed .: Heimatverein Voerde. Voerde 2013, p. 44 .
38. ^ André Joost: Duisburg-Marxloh Operational Office Archive. In: NRWvbahnarchiv. Retrieved July 30, 2017 . 
39. ↑ Special trip 2017. Accessed on November 20, 2019 . 
40. ↑ Yumpu.com: expert opinion-walsumbahn-short version-template-city-duisburg-. Retrieved November 20, 2019 . 
41. ^ Lothar Ebbers: Passenger traffic on the Walsumbahn - not like that . In: Pro Bahn (ed.): Ruhrschiene . No. 3 , 2004, p. 4–5 ( online [PDF; accessed August 1, 2017]).
42. ↑ Petition to reactivate the railway line. Retrieved November 20, 2019 . 
43. ↑ Feasibility study reactivation. Retrieved November 20, 2019 . 
44. ^ Response from the city of Voerde. Retrieved November 20, 2019 .