Bielefeld – Hameln railway line
Bielefeld – Hameln | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Route number (DB) : | 2984 (Bielefeld – Lage) 2983 (Lage – Hameln) |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Course book section (DB) : | 404 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Route length: | 71.7 km | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Gauge : | 1435 mm ( standard gauge ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Top speed: | 80 km / h | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The Bielefeld – Hameln railway line , also known regionally as the Begatalbahn , Lippische Nebenbahn or Lager Bahn , is a single-track branch line that originally connected the cities of Bielefeld and Hameln via Lage (Lippe) .
The range is from Bielefeld to location (only) part of the DB - regional network Münster-Ostwestfalen (MOW), headquartered in Münster . The Lemgo - Barntrup section has become the property of Verkehrsbetriebe Extertal-Extertalbahn GmbH in order to secure the connection of the Extertalbahn to the Deutsche Bahn network .
history
History and construction of the railway line
The first plans for the route were made at the beginning of the 1880s. At the beginning of the 1890s, the Prussian state and the Principality of Lippe agreed on the financing. After the Prussian State Railroad had opened the connection between the Cöln-Mindener Eisenbahn in Herford and the Hanover-Altenbekener Bahn in Himmighausen near Altenbeken via Lage in 1895 and urban planning problems in Lemgo had been solved, the first section on Lippian territory from Can be put into operation after Lemgo via Hörstmar . The longer section followed on November 2, 1896, from Lemgo via Dörentrup to Barntrup. Almost exactly one year later, on October 30, 1897, the last section from Barntrup via Aerzen to Hameln was officially opened.
The railway was built and operated by the Prussian side. The structurally most difficult structures were the 316 meter long Klüttunnel and the Weser Bridge in Hameln . The next extension of the Lippe branch line was only made on October 1, 1903, now in the opposite direction from Lage to Oerlinghausen station (in Asemissen , now part of Leopoldshöhe ). Exactly one year later, the line reached its final stage with the completion of the last section from Oerlinghausen (Asemissen) to Bielefeld. Continuous operation from Hameln to Bielefeld was now possible.
Development until 1949
When the end-to-end connection was established, the neighboring towns experienced a slight economic boom and travel became much easier for the people. However, industrialization took place only slowly, so that there was no large volume of goods in the first few years. Only after the formation of a few cooperatives and the settlement of wood processing companies did freight traffic increase further.
Little is known about the impact of World War I on the route. In 1920 the state railways of the federal states were transferred to the Deutsche Reichsbahn , which took over the operation of the line from the Prussian state railway .
From 1927 in Barntrup there was a connection to the newly built Extertalbahn , which was extended as a private railway from Barntrup via Bösingfeld to Rinteln until 1929 .
During the Second World War there was an increase in transport volumes due to the war. Towards the end of the war, major rail hubs were increasingly attacked by the Allies. These attacks on the route included air strikes on the Hamelin and Bielefeld train stations and the Lage train station as well as an air attack on a railcar near Aerzen . The blow up of the Weser Bridge in Hameln-Klüt by German pioneers on April 5, 1945 had the greatest impact. The reconstruction of the heavily damaged bridge began in October 1945 with the consent of the British. Only on December 19, 1949 could the bridge be opened to traffic again. That was how long the trains ended at the Hameln-Klüt stop.
Development of the line from 1945 to the renovation in 1995
The electrification of the Begatalbahn was prevented in 1975 by Lemgo interventions on a political level. The Federal Railroad only wanted to equip the Lage – Bielefeld section with contact wire; the section to Hameln, which was in deficit in the mid-1970s, would have been decoupled in the long term. That would have meant that Lemgo would have lost its rail connection. On September 27, 1980, passenger traffic to Hameln was actually stopped, as was goods traffic between Hameln and Klein Berkel. Freight traffic between Klein Berkel and Aerzen ended on May 31, 1985. The route between Hameln and Aerzen was gradually dismantled by autumn 1985. The section to Aerzen was preserved for freight traffic until 1994, then the dismantling took place here too, so that today the line can only be used as far as Barntrup. After that, only commodity trains and museum trains of the Lippe state railway drove eastwards via Lemgo.
In contrast, in the mid-1980s, on the Lemgo – Bielefeld section, a test schedule with diesel multiple units VT 624 based on today's model was introduced, which led to the long-awaited increases in passenger numbers.
With the rail reform in 1994, the number of the course book route 204 was renumbered 404.
Development of the route since 1995
In 1995 and 1996, during the school holidays, all sections of the route between Bielefeld Ost and Lemgo were gradually refurbished and expanded for a maximum speed of 80 km / h. The Ehlenbruch and Helpup stations have been converted into unoccupied stops , so that the Oerlinghausen – Lage section is now reaching its capacity limit due to the condensed timetable. The Oerlinghausen train station received an electronic signal box, at the same time the track plan was changed so that crossing trains both come to a stop on track 1, which is now divided into two sections. The part of the platform in the direction of Bielefeld is also the bus stop for city buses to Oerlinghausen-Südstadt and regional buses .
Since then, Hillegossen station has been remote-controlled from Oerlinghausen station. The Oldentrup stop has been reopened. The Bielefeld Ost train station and the subsequent section to Bielefeld main train station , which is still accessible at 60 km / h today , remained untouched .
With the renovation, vehicle use in passenger transport was switched from the 624 series to the 628 series . However, this had to be partially reversed a few years later due to the increased number of passengers, so that Lemgo could also be reached again by vehicles of the 624 series. In the meantime, due to the circulation , a railcar 614 made it to the line with few services .
In 1998, as part of the first stage of the NRW integral cycle timetable, the RE 82 "Der Leineweber" line was introduced in addition to the hourly Bielefeld – Lemgo service as a replacement for the discontinued RE Bad Bentheim - Altenbeken , which today runs every hour (Münster–) Bielefeld - Detmold (- Altenbeken) and offers connections to long-distance traffic at both ends. The main vehicles used were railcars 624, which were initially supported by railcars 628 and later by those of the 640 and 643 series . The offer has been expanded step by step from an original two-hour service with additional intermediate trains Bielefeld – Detmold, so that now there is a half-hourly service on the Bielefeld – Lage section due to overlapping; Additional special trips or freight trips are therefore no longer possible during the day. At that time, freight traffic was limited to seasonal grain trains from Rinteln Süd via Barntrup-Lemgo-Lage-Herford to, among other places, Brake (Unterweser).
In 2001 the Barntrup – Lemgo section including the Lemgo train station was transferred from Deutsche Bahn to the Extertal transport company (VBE). The intention to shut down the railway, which had been loud again and again, had been put to a halt. However, the VBE did not make any concrete efforts to reactivate this section, which is basically only possible as far as Barntrup from an economic point of view due to the considerable demolitions and partial de-dedication. On the contrary, storm damage that occurred after the transfer was no longer repaired, there was no more maintenance, and the entire facility east of Lemgo was now fallow. Around the same time, the term “Begatalbahn” was also created for this section of the route, which follows the trend of naming railway lines after rivers or mountains running parallel to them. The reason for the name search was the adaptation to the name of the VBE main line, the Extertalbahn . Since the Bega is the river with the longest parallel course, the name was changed relatively quickly.
After tendering for local transport services on the RB 73 Bielefeld – Lemgo by the Verkehrsverbund OstWestfalenLippe , the Eurobahn took over the services in mid-2000 with Talent multiple units. Mondays to Saturdays the line was operated as "Der Lipperländer" every hour with an intersection in Oerlinghausen, and every two hours on Sundays. The transport contract was awarded to eurobahn as part of a second invitation to tender for a further three years until 2013.
Then, in addition to all other diesel routes around Bielefeld , the RE 82 “Der Leineweber” (Bielefeld – Lage– Detmold - Altenbeken ) was awarded to a new operator after a tender or free award. Since December 2003, the NordWestBahn has also been serving this line with mostly three-part Talent multiple units .
In Bielefeld, the RE 82 was connected to the RB | 67 “ Der Warendorfer ” to Münster and the RB 73 to the RB 71 “ Ravensberger Bahn ” to Herford - Bünde - Rahden .
The follow-up tender for the “OWL diesel network” for the period 2013 to 2025 was again won by the Eurobahn, which now also provides the transport services for the RE 82 line.
It was not until 2005 that the long-cherished plans could be implemented as part of an initial expansion stage. With financial support from the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the city of Lemgo and on behalf of the OstWestfalen-Lippe transport association , the reactivation of a 1.1 kilometer section from Lemgo train station to Lemgo-Lüttfeld was tackled at the end of September 2005. This completely new stopping point serves the Innovation Campus Lemgo with the Ostwestfalen-Lippe University , the research facilities, the vocational schools and the Lipperlandhalle . At the same time, modifications to the Lemgo train station were carried out to modernize the security technology. Lemgo train station is now remote controlled from the VBE headquarters in Bösingfeld . On the section to Barntrup, which was not used as planned, a museum train service was set up in part by volunteers and members of the Lippe state railway (see also section: “Museum traffic”).
The Lemgo – Lemgo-Lüttfeld section was officially inaugurated on July 28, 2007; Since then, all RB 73 trains have been running from Bielefeld to Lemgo-Lüttfeld. With the renovation, the usable track lengths in Lemgo were also reduced, so that freight traffic will only be possible under difficult conditions in the future.
In March 2011, work began on the last stage of renovation at Lemgo station. The renovation work includes building a new bridge, closing a level crossing and the associated route relocation at the western entrance to the station.
At the beginning of April 2013, the line between Barntrup and Lemgo was closed due to damage to the permanent way.
The electronic central interlocking (ESTW-Z) Lage went into operation on January 25, 2013 . Since then, it has controlled the Quelle, Halle and Steinhagen stations on the Brackwede - Osnabrück line. The Rheda-Wiedenbrück - Münster and Brackwede - Paderborn routes will also be activated in the near future. The Bielefeld - Lemgo and Herford - Himmighausen and Bünde - Rahden routes will only be added in the medium term.
The modernization of the Lage (Lippe) traffic station began in mid-2014. In May, extensive preparatory work was carried out around the station, and platform 2 has been closed since June 1, 2014, so that the new construction of the platform, a pedestrian underpass and the renovation of the platform roof can begin here. By August 2016, a bus / rail connection point (ZOB) was built next to the platform systems to be modernized.
Vehicles used
The steam locomotive covering the line that has prevailed since the line was opened continued to dominate after the war into the 1970s. In the early years it was still the Prussian T 3 that was used to transport trains, but the more powerful T 9.3 had to be used as early as 1910 . After the First World War , the T 14 and later the class 86 standard locomotive also appeared. In the 1930s, the Prussian G 10, a steam locomotive with a tender, was used on the line and remained in service until around 1954. It was used in front of freight trains and, occasionally, in front of passenger trains. After the Second World War, the Prussian T 18 ran the route from 1948 to 1953, but was replaced by the T 14.1 from 1953 to 1961 . From 1949 to 1963 the Prussian P 8 was also in operation on the Begatalbahn. The end of the steam age in the mid-1970s was the class 50 , which was basically the multi-purpose locomotive for passenger and freight trains on the Deutsche Bundesbahn. The DB class 23 also drove on this route from 1969 to 1972. In exceptional cases, for example when transporting military goods trains with tanks or with special goods trains for a complete circus, the heavy class 44 could also be encountered.
From the early 1960s diesel locomotives were the Bw Bielefeld of the V 100 series used. They took over the tasks of the steam locomotives between Bielefeld and Lemgo. At this time, freight trains were also driven with a Wehrmacht diesel locomotive of the V 36 series , from 1968/69 also with locomotives of the DB series V 90 and from 1973 with those of the DB series V 160 . The DB class 218 was occasionally used in front of military trains.
There were already railcars on the route at times of low traffic. Wittfeld accumulator railcars were used by the Hameln depot as early as 1912 . At the time of the Reichsbahn, the railcars only drove to Lage (Lippe) . After the Second World War, the Federal Railroad modernized the railcars, increased their range and used them as ETA 177/178 and 180 on the entire route to Bielefeld. They were replaced from 1961 by the newly built battery-powered railcars of the ETA 150 series , which were able to last until 1980. In bad weather conditions, such as heavy snowfall, the railcars were often pulled by class 211/212 diesel locomotives.
In 1964, diesel multiple units of the DB class VT 24 appeared. They drove the Barntrup – Bielefeld section and on to Münster. In 1979 the TEE class 601 multiple unit also drove on the route as part of special missions . The DB class 628 was also used before privatization . Today the Eurobahn runs the RB 73 "Der Lipperländer" line from Bielefeld to Lemgo-Lüttfeld and the RE 82 "Der Leineweber" line runs the section from Lage (Lippe) to Bielefeld with the Bombardier Talent .
Current transport offer
(As of December 2013)
The railway is between Bielefeld and Lemgo-Lüttfeld hourly from the regional train - line 73 "The Lipper countries" served. In addition, the regional express line 82 "Der Leineweber" (Bielefeld – Lage– Detmold - Altenbeken ) runs. This creates a 30-minute cycle between Lage and Bielefeld Hbf. The intersection is in Oerlinghausen.
Local rail passenger transport is carried out on both lines by the Eurobahn . Be used talent -Dieseltriebwagen, mostly the acquired in 2000 VT 2.01 - 07. The average speed of the RB 73 is 46 km / h.
Museum traffic
The Landeseisenbahn Lippe e. V. has been able to restore the leased section between Barntrup and Dörentrup for regular train operations since 2007. There was a lot of work to do. For example, it was necessary to cut back more vegetation, erect new signal systems and repair several level crossings. Since May 30, 2009, the museum trains of the LEL from Bösingfeld via Barntrup in the direction of Dörentrup have been running on certain days from the Extertalbahn . Museum traffic is to be expanded in the direction of Lemgo by 2011.
In addition, the “Youth under Steam” project was started in 2009 at the Farmbeck stop. The aim of this project is to design a mobile “youth wagon” that will later be used to carry out mobile youth work throughout Lippe.
Future planning
Planning for a reactivation between Lemgo and Barntrup
As early as the early 1980s, shortly after passenger traffic between Hameln and Lemgo was discontinued, there were initial ideas to use the entire route again in local rail transport. In Hameln in particular, the proposal for a use of the tram similar to that of the city rail came up. These plans were quickly rejected. This would have been an optimal development of the southwestern urban area of Hameln, because in the meantime two larger shopping centers with unfavorable transport connections have been located in the immediate vicinity of the former Klein Berkel train station . From today's perspective, however, reactivation as far as Hameln is very unlikely, as the route from the state border is de-dedicated and partially built over.
While the new Lemgo-Lüttfeld stop has been in operation since 2007, decades after the partial closure, the Pro Bahn passenger association was busy reactivating passenger traffic and Landeseisenbahn Lippe e. V. (LEL) with the use as a museum railway between Barntrup and Lemgo. In order to better represent the common interests, both associations founded the Pro-Begatalbahn initiative in 2008 .
In addition, since 2007 volunteers from the local population and the LEL have freed the overgrown stretch from Lemgo from vegetation and made it passable again. Since May 30, 2009, regular train journeys between Barntrup and Dörentrup have been possible again. As a result, on August 23, 2009, a modern Eurobahn railcar was able to commute between Barntrup and Dörentrup for advertising purposes for the first time.
Although on June 24, 2010 the VVOWL decided at its association assembly to actively promote reactivation to Barntrup and to be included in the Westphalia-wide local transport plan , it was announced on November 4, 2010 that this intention had failed for the time being. The reason was mainly forecast costs that the neighboring communities could not bear. A decision was to be taken in November 2010 as to whether and how the line could be retained for later reactivation in the future.
An expert opinion has shown that reactivation in the Lemgo-Lüttfeld-Barntrup section makes economic sense. In a standardized assessment, the expert determined a benefit / cost factor of 1.56. With a continuous connection with the RB 73 line to Bielefeld, 1,400 passengers per day are forecast in this section. The line speed will be increased to 80 km / h and four stations will be set up.
Electrification of the Bielefeld-Ost - Lage (Lippe) section
For some time now, DB Netz AG has been planning to electrify the line from Bielefeld-Ost to Lage (Lippe). This means that freight trains from Bielefeld to Altenbeken could also be hauled by electric locomotives.
Today's use of the disused section of the route
Footpath and bike path
Within Klein Berkel , between Groß Berkel , Aerzen , Reher and Grießem, the route can be used on foot or by bike . In the center of Aerzen, however, this is not possible due to the demolition of the railway embankment, there you have to use roads.
The path itself is gravel and is partially provided with information boards about previous use. There are still a few kilometers between Aerzen and Grießem, and at the Selxen stop, the platform edges are still on the former platform plateau. Some of the cabling for level crossings can still be found.
In the Aerzen area, the cycle path is known as the Bahnweg warehouse .
Further use
The sections of the route that have not previously been used as footpaths or cycle paths are either fallow or have been built on. However, the Weser Bridge, the Klüttunnel and the Barntrup-Sonneborn section are particularly striking .
The Weser Bridge was largely complete until 2008, but it was decided to demolish the overland structures in the Hamelin port area in order to be able to better market the adjacent properties. It is uncertain whether the rest of the bridge has a future as a pedestrian or cycle path due to the high repair costs.
The Klüttunnel still exists today, but with its half-walled tunnel portals it serves as a shelter for rare bat species.
While the superstructure in the Lower Saxony area has been completely trackless since 2006, the North Rhine-Westphalian section of the line between Barntrup - Sonneborn was under a route maintenance plan until a few years ago. In the meantime, however, the route maintenance plan no longer exists, and current plans by Deutsche Bahn since the beginning of November 2010 have meant that this remaining route was also completely dismantled by February 2011.
Criticism of the route management
There was strong criticism from experts of the partial closure of the line between Lemgo and Hameln by the then Deutsche Bundesbahn from 1980 . Especially in passenger transport, the number of trains on offer has been deliberately reduced over the years and traffic has been shifted to the road. Furthermore, passenger counts were carried out during the summer holidays and thus when the occupancy rate was lower.
For outsiders, however, the Hamelin Weser Bridge may be the most amazing thing: Although the Weser Bridge was closed to passenger traffic due to structural damage, armored trains continued to travel after the closure.
The neighboring municipalities are also accused of not having done enough to maintain the route. In Hameln and Aerzen, so-called "bottlenecks" quickly emerged, which could only be removed by closing the railway line.
In Aerzen these "bottlenecks" consisted of two very narrow and flat railroad overpasses which obstructed road traffic (especially truck traffic). After a similar railway overpass was renewed and enlarged in the neighboring town of Reher in 1976, local politics demanded the same for the overpasses in Aerzen. Since the railway line was only used occasionally at that time, the new construction was not carried out, but the railway was shut down and the bridges demolished.
It looked similar in Hameln. There the intersection at Fort Luise was the "eye of the needle". Bundesstrasse 1 and Bundesstrasse 83 meet at this intersection . In the immediate vicinity of the crossroads there was a cut in the railway, over which the overpass of Bundesstraße 1 ran. After several serious traffic accidents at the intersection, an expansion of the intersection area was requested. This meant that the overpass would have had to be widened considerably or the railway cut would have had to be filled in. The latter finally took place after the railway operations had ceased.
Picture gallery
Groß Berkel station building , around 1980
Oerlinghausen station building
Former track of the Begatalbahn in Hamelin train station (track 1)
Closed north-east portal of the Klüttunnel
V100 01 of the Ilmebahn during the transfer of the youth wagon for the project "Youth under steam"
literature
- Garrelt Riepelmeier, Ingrid and Werner Schütte: The railway in Lippe. DGEG Medien, Hövelhof 2005, ISBN 3-937189-17-3 .
- Werner Menninghaus: 100 years of the railway in Lippe. 2nd edition, Uhle & Kleimann, Lübbecke 1982, ISBN 3-922657-15-X .
- Wolfgang Halle: A railway line through Lippe. Self-published, 2nd edition 2008.
Web links
NRWbahnarchiv by André Joost:
- Description of route 2983 : Location - Sonneborn
- Description of route 2984 : Lage - Bielefeld
further evidence:
Individual evidence
- ↑ DB Netze - Infrastructure Register
- ↑ Railway Atlas Germany . 9th edition. Schweers + Wall, Aachen 2014, ISBN 978-3-89494-145-1 .
- ↑ a b c Article about the history of the Begatalbahn at Landeseisenbahn Lippe e. V. (accessed on November 17, 2009)
- ↑ Construction drawings of the tunnel and the Weser bridge (accessed on November 17, 2009)
- ↑ Article about the air attack on a railcar at Aerzen (accessed on December 23, 2009)
- ↑ Article about the bridge and the Klüt stop (accessed on November 17, 2009)
- ↑ eisenbahn-magazin 6/2013, p. 20
- ↑ Lippische Landeszeitung: Ten kilometers are only one stage - museum traffic on the Begatalbahn between Barntrup and Dörentrup opened. Edition of June 2, 2009.
- ^ Steeds of steel move through the Begatal , Lippische Landeszeitung, May 30, 2009
- ↑ The youth project "Youth under steam"
- ↑ Pro-Begatalbahn initiative
- ↑ VVOWL campaigns for route reactivation . In: Eisenbahnjournal Zughalt.de, June 26, 2010
- ↑ Begatalbahn travels to Aus Lippische Landeszeitung
- ↑ http://www.nwl-info.de/service/nwl-nahverkehrsplan.pdf NWL Nahverkehrsplan - S. 134f.
- ↑ Information page about the cycle path on the former railway line between Groß Berkel-Grießem
- ↑ Diploma thesis on alternative use of the Weser Bridge ( Memento from October 1, 2005 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Pictures of the Klüttunnel, the Klüt stop and the Weser bridge ( memento of the original from January 17, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed on November 17, 2009)
- ↑ The train doesn't even go to nowhere. Rails are removed and scrapped. In: LZ.de. Lippischer Zeitungsverlag Giesdorf GmbH & Co. KG, November 12, 2010, accessed on October 12, 2013 .