District of Mettmann tram

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Car 9, memorial in Mettmann
Car 27 came to the Strausberger Eisenbahn (new no. 16) in 1940 and was preserved there as a historic vehicle

The Kreis Mettmanner Straßenbahn GmbH is a former tram in the area of ​​the Kreis Mettmann . It received its license on December 18, 1908 and operated a regular-gauge tram until April 1, 1937 . The railway was owned by RWE until March 3, 1910 . It was only on this day that the actual Kreis Mettmanner Straßenbahn GmbH was founded. On April 1, 1937, it was bought by the Rheinische Bahngesellschaft AG .

history

In order to improve traffic relations in the Mettmann district, a contract to build a small train Vohwinkel - Dornap - Mettmann with the Continentalen Gesellschaft für electrical enterprises , a subsidiary of Elektrizitäts AG founded in 1894, was signed in the mid-1890s . After the latter had withdrawn from the contract for economic reasons, the history of the Mettmann tram began in 1906 when RWE wanted to lay a power supply cable between the headquarters in Essen and the Müngsten electricity company. The district seized the opportunity and combined the concession to build this line with the requirement to build a tram between Mettmann and Dornap , including a branch to Wülfrath . RWE agreed to manufacture the train. On December 18, 1908, it received a 75-year concession. It was decided to use the standard gauge to enable a connection in Düsseldorf and to be able to transport goods on the routes if necessary. The following route openings were made:

Opening date
route
Route length
July 19, 1909 Vohwinkel - Dornap - Mettmann 8.612 km
July 19, 1909 Dornap - Wuelfrath 4.518 km
September 6, 1909 Wülfrath - Schlupkothen 1,799 km
December 16, 1909 Mettmann - Hubbelrath  
December 16, 1909 Schlupkothen - Tönisheide 4.576 km
March 13, 1910 Hubbelrath - Ludenberg 10.740 km (including the route to Mettmann)
    30.245 km

Four lines were operated on the network:

route
Vohwinkel - Mettmann 35 minutes
Mettmann - Ludenberg 30 minutes
Vohwinkel - Wuelfrath 30 minutes
Wülfrath - Tönisheide 15 minutes

In Ludenberg (stop 'Auf der Hardt') there was a possibility to change to the Gerresheim-Schadowplatz tram built by the Union-Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft . Plans to carry out the Mettmann lines to downtown Düsseldorf were discarded because the Reichsbahndirektion Wuppertal did not allow Mettmann trams to cross the former railway line in Grafenberg.

On March 3, 1910, the actual Kreis Mettmanner Straßenbahn GmbH was founded. The tram, which until then had been owned by RWE, became their property. RWE was again the sole owner of the company. However, the district acquired half of the shares in the same year. The company's managing director was Wilhelm August von Tippelskirch . In October 1925 he reached an agreement with the city of Düsseldorf and Rheinbahn AG for a route to Düsseldorf. The planned line from Mettmann via Hubbelrath , Ludenberg , Wehrhahn , Schadowstraße , Schadowplatz , Elberfelder Straße and Hindenburgwall to Graf-Adolf-Platz as well as the return route via Oststraße to Wehrhahn should go into operation on December 1, 1925. This project was thwarted by the Reichsbahn . The tram was so successful and had already stolen so many customers from the Reichsbahn that they tried in this way to prevent even greater competition.

According to the original agreements, the Mettmann - Wülfrath line should have been built as early as 1916. After the war and inflation, the municipalities of the district at RWE first had to urgently insist on the contractual obligations and agree to a reduction of the taxes on the fare income before planning began according to an agreement of November 24, 1926. The line was opened on June 6, 1928 and ran outside of the localities on a generously laid-out, 50 m parallel to the road, which ran straight for a length of 2.4 km.

Opening date
route
Route length
June 6, 1928 Mettmann - Wuelfrath 5.7 km
route
Travel time
Mettmann - Wuelfrath 20 minutes

In 1929 and 1930 a relocation in the Schlupkothen area took place. A new quarry was built there and the railway, along with the road on which it ran, was moved west. Line numbers were also introduced that year. From then on, three lines ran:

number
route
1 On the Hardt - Mettmann - Dornap - Vohwinkel
2 On the Hardt - Mettmann - Tönisheide
3 Vohwinkel - Dornap - Wülfrath

On December 9, 1936 , the Auf der Hardt - Hubbelrath - Mettmann section of line 1 was closed. Since the railway had not been profitable for a long time and RWE had to contribute six-figure sums, it tried to sell the railway. On March 27, 1937 , Rheinische Bahngesellschaft AG signed a contract to take over the railway and took it over on April 1, 1937 . Operations on the Wülfrath - Mettmann and Wülfrath - Tönisheide routes were discontinued on May 14, 1938 and replaced by a continuous bus service. On December 7, 1939, the Rheinbahn and Wuppertaler Bahnen AG signed an agreement on the sale of the Wieden - Wülfrath route, which was operated by the Wuppertaler Bahnen on January 1, 1940 until it was closed on May 31, 1952.

trolleybus

From August 26, 1930, Kreis Mettmanner Straßenbahn GmbH also operated the Mettmann – Gruiten catenary bus , which was the first modern trolley bus in Germany. Operations on this line were also transferred to Rheinische Bahngesellschaft AG in 1937.

literature