Privileged rail traffic

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As privileged transit traffic (PED) is railway Denoted as transit traffic through foreign territory is carried out, take place without customs or passport controls. Depending on the specific regulation, the PED can also serve to exchange traffic between the respective states. The legal term “ corridor traffic” used in Austria is largely comparable to the PED . However, in accordance with Section 18f (2) sentence 3 of the Austrian Working Hours Act, this only includes “train movements on cross-border routes that begin and end their journey on the infrastructure of the same member state and use the infrastructure of another member state without stopping there”.

General

Train destination sign for the “Transalpin” with reference to corridor traffic

Privileged transit traffic is normally regulated by the conclusion of a state treaty. This specifies, among other things, which traffic (people, freight) is subject to privileged transit traffic, which controls may be carried out, which costs are incurred and which legal provisions (e.g. on the level of VAT for food and drinks consumed in the dining car ) apply while driving through the transit country.

Through traffic across the territory of other countries may be necessary for various reasons. Due to the geographical situation, it was sometimes impossible or uneconomical to build a railway line without crossing borders, an example of this is the Ausserfernbahn . Part of a continuous rail link can also cross the territory of another state as a result of changes in state borders, such as the Zittau – Hagenwerder railway line .

Passengers, luggage and goods are handled in accordance with the regulations for inland traffic on the exit railway; the transit railway usually does not check tickets or the cargo. It only provides the route and, if necessary, the locomotives and train crew, and receives a lump sum for this.

Depending on the respective interstate relations between the two countries concerned and the volume of transport demand, the railroad trains run under different conditions. Sometimes the PED trains do not stop in the transit country , and getting on and off is often not allowed there. Sometimes the entrance doors of the passenger coaches used to be locked or lead-sealed, which is no longer permitted for security reasons. As a rule, there are no passport and customs controls for travelers in transit. Facilitating international travel such as the lifting of the visa requirement or the lifting of personal and customs controls mean that there are different forms of PED. Due to the abolition of border controls in the course of the implementation of the Schengen Agreement , most European corridor traffic has lost a large part of its special features compared to other rail traffic. Today the only peculiarity of a PED is often only the tariff details, as national and not international tariff regulations apply to these trains.

A special form of privileged transit traffic was the blocking car . This made it possible to move one or more passenger cars as through cars over routes of the other state without being subject to controls.

Development in individual countries

Germany

Until 1918

The first traffic of this type emerged in the middle of the 19th century as a result of the construction of corresponding cross-border routes. In 1869 a state treaty was signed for the construction of the Scheibe (today Mittelherwigsdorf) –Warnsdorf – Seifhennersdorf line between Saxony and Austria, which connected the Bohemian Warnsdorf station to the Saxon railway network. Operations began in 1871. The station itself remained the property of the Bohemian Northern Railway Company . The trains went from Eibau via Warnsdorf and Zittau to the Bohemian Reichenberg .

Ausserfern and Mittenwaldbahn

A reciprocal through traffic between Bavaria and Austria was set up on the Ausserfernbahn from 1913 between Steinach and Reutte. After the Scharnitz – Reutte line opened on May 20, 1913, the Bavarian State Railroad was able to travel from Kempten (Allgäu) via Reutte to Garmisch-Partenkirchen , while the Austrian railroad was able to travel from Innsbruck to Reutte. Here, the normal trains were given blocking wagons that were locked in Germany and in which no border controls took place. Since 1994 there have been no more through trains Innsbruck – Reutte. You have to change trains in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. The Austrian inland tariff is no longer valid on this connection, but the Tyrolean network tariff.

A state treaty was signed between Switzerland and the then Grand Duchy of Baden in 1852 to build the Upper Rhine Railway. This regulates the construction and operation of "Baden routes" on Swiss territory. As the question of who owns the train path is irrelevant with regard to the question of whether transit traffic is “privileged”, this connection is a case of PED.

The owned by Deutsche Bahn AG located Badische Bahnhof in Basel, however, is regarded as an extraterritorial area (hence among other things, is German Federal Police for the station in charge). In this respect, there is a short corridor between the German-Swiss border and the train station.

At the Schaffhausen station , a shared station, there was a German platform where it was possible to change trains “within Germany” without customs and passport control, for example for travelers between Stuttgart and Waldshut . The German rail tariff also applies to travelers who travel through Switzerland on the corridor train from Singen to Waldshut.

1918 to 1945

As a result of the demarcation of the borders as a result of the Treaty of Versailles , various privileged through traffic were set up through the Polish corridor . The handling was done by Polish locomotives and Polish staff. PED existed until 1936 on the following routes:

From 1936 only the routes via Groß Boschpol and Firchau were served. Even after the German occupation of Poland in 1939, trains could often only be left with permission. This regulation later only applied to trains that crossed the Wartheland . In large parts of Gdansk-West Prussia , this regulation no longer applied after the later eastward relocation of the police border , and direct trips from Pomerania to East Prussia and Danzig were no longer corridor trips after 1941.

Due to the assignment of North Schleswig to Denmark , the Hoyerschleuse ferry station for traffic to Sylt was on Danish territory. After passage was initially only permitted with a valid visa , from 1923 until the opening of Hindenburgdamm in 1927, corridor trains ran between Niebüll and Hoyerschleuse.

By occupying the Sudetenland after the Munich Agreement in 1938, the German Reich endeavored to establish a rail link between Berlin and Vienna on the shortest route that was not under the control of the Czechoslovak authorities. Therefore through traffic between Upper Silesia and Austria was set up. The demarcation between the German Reich and the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was not based on the existing railway lines. It was therefore necessary to set up further through traffic in the border area.

1945 to 1990

Neißetalbahn

After the end of the Second World War, the situation in the newly created triangle of GDR-Czechoslovakia-Poland was complicated . Here it was necessary to set up through traffic for direct trains from Zittau to Görlitz on the Zittau – Hagenwerder (Neißetalbahn) line on the section between Hirschfelde and Hagenwerder has been on Polish territory since the Oder-Neisse border was established . A special feature of the route is that since then the train station of the city of Ostritz has been on Polish territory. The PED agreement therefore provided for German trains to stop at the Krzewina Zgorzelecka station, which is still accessible from Ostritz today via a pedestrian bridge. The Polish section of the line in the Neisse Valley is also part of the Mikułowa – Bogatynia railway line . At Rosenthal the line crosses two Neisse bridges for 220 m of German territory, so trains from Görlitz to Zittau cross the border four times, and the Polish trains to and from Bogatynia pass it twice.

As a result of the division of Germany, the Deutsche Reichsbahn set up transit services for a short time in western Thuringia after 1945. This affected the Wartha – Gerstungen , Mühlhausen – Treffurt routes and the connection via the Ulstertal Railway to Vacha, which passed through western German territory on short sections . Conversely, the Deutsche Bundesbahn set up through passenger trains between Bebra and Heringen (Werra) , which turned heads in Gerstungen station east of the border , without being allowed to board or disembark there. In 1952, these services were discontinued as the border was beginning to be sealed off . While the routes to Treffurt and Vacha were completely closed and soon dismantled, the route via Gerstungen continued to serve as transit traffic . This crossed the inner-German border several times in its course from Eisenach via Gerstungen to Bebra , so that the Gerstungen station belonging to the GDR can only be reached from Eisenach via the federal territory and, conversely, the West German railway stations Herleshausen and Wommen only via GDR territory. Passenger traffic within the GDR no longer existed there since 1952, but freight traffic. After the construction of a connecting line , Gerstungen could again be reached directly from the GDR area from 1962. Until 1978, the Reichsbahn only ran one pair of freight trains via Herleshausen. On the part of the Federal Railroad, there was still freight traffic between Bebra and Heringen via Gerstungen with repeated interruptions. The line was not officially closed; in the German-German railway agreement that followed the basic agreement, mutual operating rights were laid down for all existing lines.

The transit trains between the Federal Republic of Germany and Berlin were not PED , because the traffic rights for rail traffic in West Berlin lay with the Deutsche Reichsbahn due to Allied regulations. The S-Bahn trains through the north-south tunnel in Berlin were a special case . Here travelers from West Berlin were the territory of East Berlin without controls traverse and transfer at Friedrichstrasse.

Since 1990

Free passage of the Vogtland Railway from Varnsdorf or Zittau to Liberec through Porajów (Poland)

The German reunification led to the end of all special regulations on the inner-German border. With the Schengen Agreement , passport and customs controls were no longer necessary for the remaining PED traffic on the German borders with Poland, the Czech Republic and Austria. There are only special regulations regarding collective bargaining and operational issues.

Czechoslovakia, Czech Republic, Slovakia

After 1945, through traffic between the ČSD and the DR was agreed to serve the Czech Plesná station on the Plauen – Cheb line . The trains ran from Cheb to Plesná and ran through a section of the DR at Schönberg.

Along the Varnsdorf – Großschönau – Zittau route and on to Liberec , PED existed for travelers from Czechoslovakia (later the Czech Republic) through German and for travelers between Seifhennersdorf and Großschönau across Czech territory. In addition, the Zittau – Liberec line has been running since 1945 in the area of ​​the municipality of Porajów (Großporitzsch) across Polish territory. The PED from ČSD and DR ran side by side and separately from each other, and since 1977 two pairs of alternating trains have been running between Zittau and Liberec. The trains in the PED did not stop in the other country. It was not until May 23, 1982 that the ČSD trains between Varnsdorf and Liberec received a traffic stop in Zittau. The border clearance took place on the platform entrance in Zittau. The traffic stop in Varnsdorf for the trains between Seifhennersdorf and Großschönau was only set up after 1990. With the end of border controls as a result of the accession of the three countries concerned to the Schengen Agreement and the separation of network and operation as a result of rail reforms and tenders, the PED agreements have lost their meaning. Travelers between Seifhennersdorf and Liberec still cross a state border four times.

Another such traffic with Poland is on the Hanušovice – Krnov line, where Polish territory and the Głuchołazy station (formerly Ziegenhals Hbf) are used between Mikulovice u Jeseníku and Jindřichov ve Slezsku . This PED was set up in 1888 (at that time between Austria and the German Reich) and resumed after 1945 after the area north of the border with Poland came. A special feature is that in Głuchołazy station all corridor trains had to stop to change direction , but entry and alighting of passengers was prohibited until 2006.

In Slovakia, on September 12, 1951, a PED was recorded across Hungarian territory from Lučenec to Veľký Krtíš . The coal and gravel pits around Veľký Krtíš and Malé Straciny could be developed most economically with a newly built stretch from Nógrádszakál in Hungary .

Poland

From 1938 onwards, after the occupation of the Olsa area by Poland, the Polish railroad had to set up through traffic on the Oderberg ( Polish : Bogumin ) - Rybnik route across German territory.

Further PEDs were necessary from 1945 on the eastern border on the Przemyśl - Zagórz route and the Malhowice - Krościenko route through the Soviet Union .

Austria

The break-up of Austria-Hungary and the cession of South Tyrol to Italy after the First World War made it necessary to set up PEDs on several routes.

Corridor through Yugoslavia (Slovenia)

From 1918 to 1945 and from 1952 to 1965 corridor trains ran on the Lavant Valley Railway and the Draut Valley Railway from Lavamünd via the then Yugoslavian , now Slovenian Dravograd to Bleiburg . The construction of the Jauntalbahn , which was completed in 1964 and runs exclusively through Carinthia , made transit traffic superfluous. The section of the Lavant Valley Railway between Lavamünd and Dravograd was dismantled after the line was closed.

Corridor through Hungary

Still valid are the PED contracts for Burgenlandbahn of Loipersbach im Burgenland on the Hungarian station of Sopron by German Kreutz .

Route between Innsbruck and Lienz through South Tyrol

Corridor through Italy

PED insisted on the Brennerbahn - Pustertalbahn - Drautalbahn route between Innsbruck and Lienz through the now Italian South Tyrol. Since the 2013/2014 timetable change, there has been no corridor train between Innsbruck and Lienz. Since then, passengers have been able to use either a continuous bus or normal rail transport with regular stops at Italian train stations.

Corridor through Germany

In order to speed up traffic from Vienna and Salzburg to Innsbruck, a new connection without passenger stops in Germany was established on May 28, 1967 on the route across the large German corner near Rosenheim . The trains had to change direction during a service stop in Rosenheim, where boarding and alighting were prohibited. To avoid this change of direction, a connecting curve was built in Rosenheim in 1982 at the expense of the Austrian Federal Railways . In addition, until 1994 there was a PED between Scharnitz and Ehrwald with headache in Garmisch-Partenkirchen , partly with continuous trains, partly with blocking wagons . Corridor traffic with class 4030 electric multiple units between Innsbruck and Reutte was discontinued in 1958.

France, Italy

There is privileged through traffic on the Tenda line between France and Italy. With the demarcation in this area changed several times in the past, the respective agreements changed.

Russia

There is corresponding through traffic through Lithuania and Belarus between the Russian exclave , Kaliningrad Oblast , and the destinations in the Russian heartland, Moscow , Saint Petersburg and Anapa . However, this is not a PED, as travelers, unless they are from EU countries, need Lithuanian transit visas.

Switzerland

In the ownership and operation of the Swiss Federal Railways located Eglisau-Neuhausen railway line has on German territory railway stations in Jestetten and Lottstetten , are subject to the Swiss rail fare. Passengers are allowed to get on and off them, but only in or out of the cars intended for them. Passengers passing through between Zurich and Schaffhausen in the other cars were spared passport and customs controls as PED travelers. With the Schengen Agreement, identity checks were no longer necessary, but Switzerland is not part of the European customs union. Therefore, customs controls are still possible for passengers boarding and disembarking in Germany.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Entire legal regulation for the Working Hours Act . Austrian Federal Chancellery: Legal Information System
  2. ↑ Thomas Mösl: "Europaregion Tirol - Südtirol / Alto Adige - Trentino" - Perspectives for transnational rail passenger transport in the Central Alpine Region, p. 4. (PDF) (No longer available online.) January 22, 2004, formerly in the original ; Retrieved November 27, 2011 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / homepage.uibk.ac.at  
  3. ^ Detlev Hagemann: »Corridor traffic: express trains between Innsbruck and Reutte. January 16, 2011, accessed November 27, 2011 .

literature

  • Erich Preuß : The privileged through traffic 1st part . In: Modellisenbahner . transpress, May 1988, ISSN  0026-7422 , pp. 12-13 .
  • Erich Preuß: The privileged through traffic 2nd part . In: Modellisenbahner . transpress, June 1988, ISSN  0026-7422 , p. 8-11 .
  • Erich Preuß: The privileged through traffic 3rd part . In: Modellisenbahner . transpress, July 1988, ISSN  0026-7422 , p. 7–8, 12 .
  • Peter Bock: D 1 Berlin - Königsberg. In transit through Gdansk and through the “Polish Corridor” . EK-Verlag, Freiburg 2012. ISBN 978-3-88255-737-4
  • Siegfried Bufe, Bernhard Schülein: Königsberg Express . Bufe-Fachbuch-Verlag, Egglham 2002, ISBN 3-922138-77-2