Railways of the Saarland
The Saarland Railways ( EdS ) were the " State Railways " of the Saarland from 1951 to 1956.
history
Starting position
After the complete occupation of the German Reich as a result of the Second World War in the summer of 1945, the network of the Deutsche Reichsbahn was divided along the borders of the occupation zones. The Reichsbahndirektion Saarbrücken, which had existed since March 1, 1935, was now in the French zone of occupation and, in accordance with an order of the military government of January 8, 1946, was subordinated to the "Higher Directorate of the German Railways of the French-occupied Zone" in Speyer together with the Reichsbahndirektion Mainz and Karlsruhe . In the designation valid from August 1, 1946 as " Railway Directorate", the term "Reichsbahn", which was used in all other occupation zones, was clearly avoided.
The Saar Railway becomes independent
When the Saar Protectorate was spun off from the French-occupied zone, it also got its own railway. The previous district of Saarbrücken was divided up:
- The part lying in the area of the Governor de la Sarre formed the "Saarland Railways" (SEB) with the Saarbrücken Railway Directorate from April 1, 1947.
- The northern part was separated as the Trier Railway Directorate, which as well as
- the routes lying east of the boundary that the railway management Mainz were slammed, the Détachement d'occupation des Chemins de fer Français (DOCF) under stood.
Railways of the Saarland
On March 3, 1950, the governments of France and Saarland reached an agreement as the basis for what is now known as the “Saarland Railways” (EdS). In this railway convention, which came into force on January 5, 1951, it was regulated that the state government made the existing routes, vehicles and structures available to the EdS as well as their maintenance and the necessary funds. The Minister of Transport supervised the railway administration.
The twelve-person board of directors formed the head of the company, which made all the important decisions. Half of it was made up of German and French members. A director acted as managing director.
The rail network comprised 534 kilometers of railway lines . Not part of the EdS network was the section of the Thionville – Trier railway line in Saarland, which was an island operation in Saarland between the boundary of Nennig in the north and the French state border near Perl in the south , i.e. it had no rail connection to the rest of the EdS network. It was therefore operated by the Société nationale des chemins de fer français (SNCF). The EdS route network had a very heavy traffic. Rush hour traffic was the main focus of passenger traffic. In freight transport, coal, ore and iron were the most important goods.
As in other parts of Germany, extensive war damage had to be repaired before the modernization of rail operations could begin.
After the Saarland joined the Federal Republic of Germany on January 1, 1957, the EdS became part of the Deutsche Bundesbahn as the Saarbrücken Federal Railway Directorate .
Rolling material
For the reference date December 31, 1945, a stock of 593 locomotives is given. In this number there could still have been a large number of machines from other departments or machines had to be taken out of service because of irreparability. For April 1, 1947, the number of the Saarland Railways was estimated at 342, which were divided as follows:
model series | Duration | of which "A" until 1957 |
Remarks |
---|---|---|---|
38 10-40 | 50 | ||
42 | 21st | 2 | including 1 conversion to a heating locomotive |
50 | 80 | 2 | |
52 | 14th | 1 | |
55 25-56 | 12 | 12 | 2 of which were converted into heating locomotives |
56 2-8 | 8th | 8th | including 1 conversion to a heating locomotive |
57 10-40 | 80 | 18th | 3420 was also taken out of service, but was still included in the handover list from January 1, 1957 |
78 0-5 | 32 | ||
86 | 14th | ||
91 3-18 | 7th | 7th | |
92 2-3 | 3 | 3 | |
92 5-10 | 10 | 3 | |
93 5-12 | 10 |
The poor condition of the vehicles after the end of the war can be seen from the high number of retired vehicles within ten years. The number of locomotives at the time the Saarland was reclassified and thus the inventory to the German Federal Railroad was still 287 locomotives.
Ten diesel locomotives of the V 45 series (largely identical to the SNCF Y 9100 ), built by SACM in Grafenstaden, and 15 rail buses with trailer type VT 95 from the Lüttgens wagon factory were procured .
literature
- Peter Arthur Schymanietz: The organization of the German railways 1835-1975. Eisenbahn-Kurier, Freiburg 1977, ISBN 3-88255-822-9
- Richard Berg: Farewell to the EdS - the railways of the Saarland. in a special issue of the magazine "Die Schiene", Saarbrücken, January 1957
- Gerhard Groß, Hansjürgen Wenzel: The railway in Saarland. Eisenbahn-Kurier Special 86, Freiburg im Br. 2007
Individual evidence
- ^ Kurt Harrer: Eisenbahnen an der Saar, alba-Verlag Düsseldorf 1984, ISBN 387094210X , p. 147ff