Kleve tram
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| Basic information | |
| Country | Germany |
| city | Kleve |
| opening | October 1, 1911 |
| Shutdown | March 31, 1962 |
| operator | Klever Tram GmbH |
| Infrastructure | |
| Route length | 29.3 |
| Formerly the largest route |
31.67 km (1927) |
| Gauge | 1435 mm ( standard gauge ) |
| Depots | 1 |
| business | |
| Line length | 32.7 |
| Clock in the peak hours | 20 min |
| Clock in the SVZ | 60 min |
| vehicles | 11 railcars , 5 sidecars |
| statistics | |
| Reference year | 1951 |
| Passengers | 1.364 million |
| Mileage | 0.411 million km per year |
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The Kleve tram was a standard gauge electric tram in the Lower Rhine city of Kleve ( Cleve until 1935 ). The railway, opened in 1911, connected Kleve with the surrounding communities. From the former royal seat there were routes to Bedburg-Hau and Materborn , to Wyler on the Dutch border with a connection to the Nijmegen tram and via Kellen to the Rhine near Emmerich . There was a ferry connection to the Wesel – Rees – Emmerich railway . The operator of the tram and the ferry was Klever Straßenbahn GmbH , a subsidiary of RWE ; from 1936 the company was under the control of the RWE subsidiary Rheinisch-Westfälische Straßen- und Kleinbahnen (RWSK).
history
In 1896 there were plans for a small train from Kleve to Emmerich for the first time. Ten years later, the project came back on the scene. The AEG was won over for the implementation after its chairman Walther Rathenau visited the city of Kleve. Three years later, the RWE agreed to enter into the existing agreements instead of the AEG and to build the railway. At that time, RWE acquired several concessions for the construction of trams in the districts of Geldern , Kempen , Kleve , Moers and Rees . The energy supplier wanted to use this route to connect the Lower Rhine to the power grid and at the same time generate a minimum sales volume. On June 19, the Düsseldorf Regional Council granted RWE the concession to build and operate a standard-gauge railway from Kleve to Nijmegen and to the Rhine dike near Emmerich for passenger and general cargo traffic for 60 years. The RWE founded Klever Straßenbahn GmbH as a subsidiary to manage operations. The company's share capital was initially 500,000 marks and was later increased to 1.5 million marks.
The first section of the railway from Kleve station to the Rhine was opened on October 1, 1911. The route led from Bahnhofsplatz to Emmericher Strasse, where the Cologne - Krefeld - Kleve - Nijmegen state railway crossed. There was a siding behind the level crossing , as the trains were only allowed to cross the railway line to move out and in; Passengers had to pass the crossing on foot. The route continued via Kellen and Warbeyen to the banks of the Rhine, where there was a connection to the steam ferry to Emmerich. The trains ran every half hour from 6:40 a.m., every 20 minutes from 7:40 a.m. and every hour from 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
A year later, on December 1, 1912, the opening of the second section towards the Dutch border followed. It led along Minoritenstrasse, Kavarinerstrasse and Tiergartenstrasse out of Kleve and on to the villages of Donsbrüggen , Nütterden , Kranenburg , Frasselt and Wyler to Beek . There it ended at the border where the passengers could change to the tram to Nijmegen , which ended in sight . For strategic military reasons, the Nijmegen tram was not built in standard gauge (1435 mm), but in Cape gauge (1067 mm). At Nütterden, the railway crossed the state railway line Kleve - Nijmegen on an overpass parallel to the level crossing of the Landstrasse. The route was served between 6:00 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. every 40 minutes with an amplifier run between 6:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m. From 3:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., trains ran every 20 minutes and continued every hour until 10:00 p.m.
After the First World War , the railway was extended through the city center from Kleve to Hau . On August 15, 1920, the section from Kleve station to Hau, Am Weißen Tor went into operation. On November 9, 1920, the extension to Bedburg-Hau station followed . The construction of the line began in 1913, the opening was then delayed due to the outbreak of war. It was operated by the Emmericher line, which was extended to a length of 14.5 kilometers. Due to inflation , the company had to thin out operations, so that in the early 1920s both lines often only ran 60 or 90 minutes apart. In 1927 the company's investment capital was 2,245,893 Reichsmarks . Income in the 1927 financial year amounted to 529,265 Reichsmarks, of which 87,687 Reichsmarks came from the ferry service. 45 of the 50 employees of the Klever Straßenbahn Gesellschaft were active in rail services. In 1931 the company introduced one-man cars on the route from Weißes Tor to Bedburg-Hau station. As early as 1913, the management had been allowed to manned only the sidecars with conductors on the Beeker route. The scheme was later extended to the other routes.
| year | Tw | Bw | Route length (in km) |
Vehicle km (in thousands) |
bef. Pers. (in thousands) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1912 | 20th | 12 | |||
| 1920 | 16 | 12 | |||
| 1927 | 16 | 12 | 31.67 | 456 | 544 |
| 1936 | 15th | 12 | 31.67 | 1,400 | |
| 1951 | 11 | 5 | 29.3 | 411 | 1,364 |
| 1959 | 9 | 5 | 29.3 | 1,850 |
Operations on Beeker Strasse ceased when Operation Market Garden began on September 17, 1944. Until the Allied Rhine crossing on March 23, 1945, the fighting spread to the rest of the rail catchment area. The Bedburg-Hau Bahnhof - Oberstadt section was the first line to go back into operation on October 17, 1946. Since neither the depot in Briener Straße nor the wagon hall in Beek were accessible, the wagons had to be parked outdoors. From 1948 the trams went back to the banks of the Rhine and thus also to the depot, from 1949 the line via Kranenburg was open again. Due to border changes, the western end of the Beeker route including the town of Beek fell to the Netherlands on April 23, 1949. The end point of the train was shifted to the existing Poen stop in the village of Wyler . The section was dismantled after its closure and the rails were used to build a 1.4 km long connection from the Lindenallee junction through Hoffmannallee to Materborn . The single-track route did not have any switches and was therefore used by solo railcars. After the start of the Materborn line, the network consisted of three lines:
| course | Travel time | length | Tact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kleve train station - Donsbrüggen - Nütterden - Frasselt - Kranenburg - Wyler | 43 min | 14.1 km | 90 min |
| Ferry Emmerich - Warbeyen - Kellen - Kleve train station - junction Lindenallee - Hau - Bedburg-Hau train station | 48 min | 14.5 km | 60 min |
| Kellen - Kleve train station - Lindenallee junction - Materborn | 23 min | 4.8 km | 30/60 min |
From 1952, a bus ran regularly between Nijmegen and Kleve . This led to the discontinuation of the tram in Nijmegen and the surrounding areas in 1955. As a result, the continued operation of the Klever tram was also called into question, since in addition to the competition from the omnibus and the automobile, the routes and vehicles urgently needed modernization. Starting in the 1960s, therefore, the individual lines were converted to bus operation. It all started with the route via Kranenburg to Wyler on January 24, 1960. On October 17, 1960, the route from Kellen to the Rhine ferry was changed. The last routes from Kellen via Kleve and to Materborn and Bedburg-Hau followed on March 31, 1962. The bus service was then taken over by the district of Moerser Verkehrs- und utilities .
vehicles
| number | Construction year | Manufacturer (mech.) |
Manufacturer (el.) |
Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Railcar | ||||
| 1-10 | 1911 | Uerdingen | AEG | Tw 1, 3–4: 1916 after Wahn Tw 1, 3–4; 1961/62 retired Tw 2: 1916 to Wahn Tw 2, 1962 to Siegburg Tw 18 II , 1963 retired Tw 5: 1947 with Tw 13 used for Tw 18 II , in 1954 retired Tw 6: 1934 retired Tw 7: 1947 in Tw 19 II , 1962 retired Tw 8: War loss Tw 9-10: 1954 retired |
| 11-20 | 1912 | Uerdingen | AEG | Tw 11: Loss of war, chassis 1947 to Monheim for Tw 5 II Tw 12, 14–16: 1961/62 retired Tw 13: 1947 with Tw 5 used for Tw 18 II , 1954 retired Tw 17: Construction and equipment wagons, retired in 1962 Tw 18–20: Loss of war, chassis used in 1949 for Tw 21–23 |
| 11 II | 1947 | Herbrand | AEG | 1947 conversion ex Bw 32, retired in 1961 |
| 21-23 | 1949 | West car | AEG |
Superstructure car on chassis of the 18–20 line, 1962 to Duisburg 21–23 line, from 1966 1021–1023 line size 21: 1967 22 line: 1962 to Duisburg, 1997 to the Schwerter Museum Tram, scrapped in 2002 23 line: 1972 service |
| 51 | 1909 | Uerdingen | AEG | ATw , 1921 ex Mettmann 12, retired in 1962 |
| sidecar | ||||
| 31-42 | 1912 | Herbrand | - | Bw 31: decommissioned in 1961, Bw 32: 1947 conversion to Tw 11 II, Bw 33, 34, 38, 40: Loss of war Bw 35, 36: 1946 in Bw 32 II , 33 II ; Retired in 1962 others retired in 1954 |
| 34 II -36 II | 1950 | Uerdingen | - | Bw 34 II , 36 II : 1962 to Wesel Bw 34, 36; 1966 decommissioned Bw 35: 1962 to Duisburg Bw 664, 1966 in Bw 2664, decommissioned 1970 |
In the opening year, the Klever tram fleet comprised ten two-axle railcars (No. 1–10) and was supplemented in 1912 by a further ten identical railcars (No. 11–20). Waggonfabrik Uerdingen was responsible for the mechanical part of the railcars , the electrical equipment was supplied by AEG . The vehicles had closed entry platforms , the car body each had four side windows. A lantern roof provided ventilation . Also in 1912 the company received eleven largely identical trailer cars (No. 31-42) from the Herbrand wagon factory in Cologne-Ehrenfeld . During the First World War, the railway had to hand over four railcars to the Wahner Tram , which remained there after the end of the war. For operating rides a stand from the 1920s work railcars of the county Mettmanner tram available.
One railcar was retired in 1934, another five railcars and four sidecars were recorded as war losses. While Tw 8 was completely destroyed, parts of Tw 5 and 13 were used to rebuild as Tw 18 II . The chassis of the Tw 18-20 received new bodies and the numbers 21-23. The chassis of Tw 11 was sold by Klever Tram to the Kleinbahn Langenfeld – Monheim – Hitdorf , where it was used to build Tw 5 II .
Due to the high number of passengers on hamster trips in the post-war period, the Klever tram rented two motor coaches and two trailer cars from the Rheinische Bahngesellschaft in 1947/48 . The vehicles belonged to the district of Mettmanner tram until 1937. In 1950 the fleet was expanded to include three KSW sidecars .
As a result of reduced transport services, including the establishment of the parallel bus line Nijmegen - Kleve, a large part of the vehicles could be withdrawn from 1954. The remaining wagons were decommissioned with the gradual decommissioning. Two KSW sidecars went to the Wesel – Rees – Emmerich railway in 1962 , where they operated until they were discontinued in 1966. The remaining KSW sidecar and three superstructure railcars came to the Duisburger Verkehrsgesellschaft in 1962 , which decommissioned the vehicles by 1980 at the latest. Railcar 23 came to the Schwerter Museum Tram in 1997 and was scrapped after its bankruptcy in 2002. It was the last remaining vehicle on the Klever tram.
Depots and depots
Klever Straßenbahn GmbH had a depot in Kleve and a car shed in Beek to accommodate their vehicles. The depot was located on Briener Straße and could be reached via a short operating route from the Emmericher route. The property covered an area of 10,913 square meters, of which 3,236 square meters were built on. The carriage hall comprised two stands with four tracks each. The building was preserved after the railway was shut down and is managed by various retail chains , among others . The facility has been a listed building since 1998.
For the long outer branch of the Beeker route, there was a small wagon hall at the western end point. It was in operation until the branch was abandoned in 1944/49 and then served as a shed.
See also
Remarks
- ↑ The spelling Kleve is used throughout the article .
- ↑ today's federal highway 9 .
literature
- Dieter Höltge, Michael Kochems: Trams and light rail vehicles in Germany. Volume 9: Lower Rhine without Duisburg . EK-Verlag, Freiburg im Breisgau 2004, ISBN 3-88255-390-1 .
- Ludger Kenning, Evert Heusinkveld: The tram in Kleve . Kenning, Nordhorn 2012, ISBN 978-3-933613-97-4 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c D. Nellessen: Kleve tram depot becomes a monument. Retrieved October 16, 2015 .
- ↑ a b c d e f g h Dieter Höltge, Michael Kochems: Tram and light rail in Germany. Volume 9: Lower Rhine without Duisburg . EK-Verlag, Freiburg im Breisgau 2004, ISBN 3-88255-390-1 , p. 142-150 .
- ↑ a b c d e Wolfgang R. Reimann , Eckehard Frenz: Die Bahnen des RWE. An economic and technical-historical representation . Energy industry and technology publishing company, Graefelfing 1975, p. 37-40 .
- ↑ The other tram lines. In: RP Digital. August 4, 2012, accessed October 16, 2015 .
- ↑ a b c Dieter Höltge, Michael Kochems: Tram and light rail in Germany. Volume 9: Lower Rhine without Duisburg . EK-Verlag, Freiburg im Breisgau 2004, ISBN 3-88255-390-1 , p. 152 .
- ↑ Glorious times of the "electric". In: RP Digital. August 4, 2012, accessed October 16, 2015 .
- ↑ a b Wilfried Roth: Photo of the Month November 2004. In: Strassenbahn Duisburg. Retrieved October 7, 2015 .
- ↑ a b c Dieter Höltge, Michael Kochems: Tram and light rail in Germany. Volume 9: Lower Rhine without Duisburg . EK-Verlag, Freiburg im Breisgau 2004, ISBN 3-88255-390-1 , p. 150 .
- ↑ Wolfgang R. Reimann: From the chronicle of the Mettmann trams . Verlag B. Neddermeyer, Berlin 1998, ISBN 3-933254-03-5 , p. 100 .