NRW Express
The NRW-Express is a regional express line in the local traffic of North Rhine-Westphalia from Aachen via Cologne , Düsseldorf , Essen , Dortmund to Hamm with the line number RE 1 . The line is operated as local rail passenger transport by Abellio Rail NRW and DB Regio . Abellio Rail NRW takes over 4 and DB Regio 5 of the 9 circulations.
It is one of the busiest lines in Germany (approx. 110,000 people per day, mainly commuters and students on the Rhine-Ruhr railroad ).
history
Today's NRW-Express replaced existing express train connections (and in some cases also express trains ) on the individual route sections after the regionalization of local transport in Germany . Several long-distance stations , such as Düsseldorf-Benrath or Wattenscheid , were then downgraded to regional train stations. The NRW-Express was initially called the Regional Schnellbahn (RSB 1), then the StadtExpress (SE 1) and later the Regional Express (RE 1). Along with this classification, the name was also given to the line.
Initially, trains with class 110 locomotives and six - partially modernized - n-wagons ran on the Aachen – Bielefeld line . If necessary, the trains were also reinforced by additional cars. From the mid-1990s, trains were made up of non-air-conditioned double-decker cars and class 111 locomotives . Shortly thereafter, control cars were also delivered so that push-pull train operations could be introduced. From 1998 onwards, air-conditioned double-decker cars could also be observed, but it was only after the Expo 2000 that all trains of the NRW-Express could be fitted with new, air-conditioned cars approved for 160 km / h. The covering was now mostly done with locomotives of the 145 series , which had been equipped with a local transport package for the Expo use. Up to this point in time it was only possible to reach 160 km / h with the 111 series covered.
The more powerful three-phase locomotives had good experiences during the Expo 2000 in Hanover , so that they were hoping for improved timetable stability through better acceleration from their use in front of the NRW Express. At the same time, a 160 km / h local transport variant of the 145 series was ordered as the 146 series , which arrived from autumn 2001 and was first used on the NRW Express.
The RE 1 drove with very attractive travel times on an overhaul-free route between long-distance trains through North Rhine-Westphalia and had good connections to Hanover in Bielefeld , which means that the train was also heavily frequented on weekends by long-distance travelers as part of the so-called weekend ticket racing route to Berlin and Hamburg . This attractiveness became a problem as the trains were often overcrowded. An extension of the trains to include additional cars, however, failed at the time of the single-story cars because the platforms were too short and now, since the introduction of the double-deck cars, because of the shortage of vehicles and the longer travel times caused by the higher weight (only during fewer timetable periods was a circuit made up of six double-deck cars). Due to the high occupancy, the times of stay are often insufficient, so that there were and will be delays. Delayed long-distance trains also had and still have a strong influence on the punctuality of the NRW-Express. The situation was aggravated several times when DB Regio tried to change the timetable to save a train set by shortening the turnaround time in Bielefeld from 70 to 10 minutes, so that delays were then fully transferred to the opposite train. These attempts were always given up after a few weeks at the latest.
With the timetable change in December 2002, the train route from Bielefeld to Hamm was shortened. For the connection to Bielefeld it is possible to change to the Ems-Börde-Bahn (RB 69) in Hamm . Since then, the NRW-Express has stopped on the last section from Dortmund no longer only in Kamen, but every two hours at all five stations on the route. By shortening the train route, punctuality should be significantly improved. A continuous connection from the Rhineland and the Ruhr area via Bielefeld to Minden has existed since then with the then newly created Westfalen-Express (RE 6), which has been known as the " Rhein-Weser-Express " since 2016 .
For the 2006 FIFA World Cup one was World Cup RE1 set up as a special amplifier line, which in the period 14:00 to 2:30 a.m. of Dusseldorf via Duisburg , Essen and Dortmund to Hamm drove.
On July 31, 2006, there was an attempted bomb attack on the NRW-Express, which failed due to a technical error in the construction of the bombs.
Since the timetable change in December 2010, the train has run every two hours via Hamm to Paderborn . In addition, it only stopped in the daytime peripheral locations in Dortmund-Scharnhorst , Dortmund-Kurl , Kamen-Methler and Nordbögge . The first early train to Paderborn also served all stops on the way between Hamm and Paderborn.
The successive introduction of a sixth car in every train run since March was completed in September 2011. This increased the number of seats available from 602 to 735 per train.
As part of the planning for the Rhein-Ruhr-Express , the NRW-Express was tendered for the timetable change in December 2016 in a sub-network as part of the preliminary operation of the RRX . The route of the RE 1 was shortened to the Aachen – Hamm section as early as December 2016. The Hamm – Paderborn section is served by the RE 11 line, which is advertised at the same time . As part of the so-called RRX interim award, the services were provided from December 2016 to the commissioning of the RRX vehicles of the Siemens Desiro HC type in June 2020 by DB Regio. With the timetable change on June 14, 2020, the RRX tender winner Abellio Rail NRW should completely take over the operation. However, DB Regio continues to use the previous vehicles, as Abellio had to suspend staff training due to the COVID-19 pandemic .
Train run
The NRW Express runs every hour between Aachen and Hamm. He uses a total of four railway lines :
- the Dortmund – Hamm (formerly CME ) railway line (together with all regional and long-distance trains),
- the Ruhr route Dortmund – Duisburg (formerly BME ) continuously (long-distance tracks, together with all regional and long-distance trains),
- the Cologne – Duisburg (formerly CME ) railway line (long-distance tracks , see note below),
- the Aachen – Cologne (formerly RhE ) railway line (together with all regional and long-distance trains).
On the four to six-track section between Duisburg and Düsseldorf, the NRW-Express uses the long-distance tracks continuously, as does the Rhein-Express (RE 5). In contrast, the Rhein-Haard-Express (RE 2), the Rhein-Emscher-Express (RE 3), the Rhein-Weser-Express (RE 6), the Rhein-Hellweg-Express (RE 11) and the Rhein-IJssel operate -Express (RE 19) sections of the S-Bahn tracks or - if available - the so-called local tracks.
Before that, the NRW-Express used two other railway lines:
- until 2002 the Hamm – Minden (formerly CME ) railway between Bielefeld and Hamm (together with all regional and long-distance trains) and
- from 2002 to 2016 the Hamm – Warburg (formerly KWE ) railway line between Paderborn and Hamm every two hours (together with all regional and long-distance trains).
Link to other traffic
The NRW-Express is closely linked to other local rail passenger transport offers . A large section of it runs parallel to S-Bahn lines. In addition, more regional express lines are available every hour along its route:
- between Essen and Düsseldorf by the Rhein-Haard-Express (RE 2),
- between Hamm and Dortmund and between Duisburg and Düsseldorf by the Rhein-Emscher-Express (RE 3),
- between Duisburg and Cologne by the Rhein-Express (RE 5),
- between Hamm and Düsseldorf by the Rhein-Weser-Express (RE 6) and the Rhein-Hellweg-Express (RE 11),
- between Cologne and Aachen by the Rhein-Sieg-Express (RE 9),
- between Bochum and Essen by the Ruhr-Sieg-Express (RE 16),
- between Duisburg and Düsseldorf by the Rhein-IJssel-Express (RE 19),
- between Essen and Duisburg by the Niers-Haard-Express (RE 42).
In addition, during rush hour traffic between Aachen and Cologne Messe / Deutz , amplifiers run five minutes before the regular train to counteract overcrowding by commuters.
In Aachen, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Duisburg, Essen, Dortmund and Hamm, the NRW-Express is linked to the rest of the regional and local transport network in North Rhine-Westphalia. It also ensures direct connections to long-distance rail passenger transport there .
Transport authority
All three North Rhine-Westphalian authorities are involved in the order for the NRW-Express: the Rhineland Local Transport Association (NVR), the Rhine-Ruhr Transport Association (VRR) and the Westphalia-Lippe Local Transport Association (NWL).
Rates
On his train route he crosses four tariff zones: the Aachener Verkehrsverbund (AVV), the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Sieg (VRS), the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr (VRR) and the Westfalentarif (WT). The NRW tariff and the DB tariff as well as the VRS tariff for journeys between the VRS and AVV areas apply across the network.
Rolling stock
The push-pull trains consist of five to six double-decker cars , mostly with an electric locomotive of the series 146 for speeds are covered up to 160 km / h. If a class 146 locomotive fails, a class 111 locomotive is used as a replacement .
Since June 14, 2020, there has been a mixed operation with the new Desiro HC in RRX design by Abellio and the locomotive hauled shuttle trains of Deutsche Bahn . From December 2020, Abellio is to take over the operation of the line with the Desiro HC in full.
reliability
In 2015, the trains of the NRW-Express had an average delay of 4.4 minutes per journey. This makes it, after the Rhein-Express (RE 5), the regional express line with the second highest average delay in the area of the Rhineland local transport association . In 2014 the average delay was 3.85 minutes and in 2012 it was 3.2 minutes per trip.
future
Abellio is to continuously take over full operation upon completion of the train driver training groups. From the timetable change in December 2020, Abellio will operate the line alone.
Web links
- Description of the NRW-Express in the NRWbahnarchiv by André Joost
- NRW-Express at Openstreetmap
Individual evidence
- ↑ From December 11th: New regional express concept prepares the way for the Rhein-Ruhr-Express , press release from December 2nd, 2016 on nvr.de.
- ↑ ted.europa.eu ( Memento from February 3, 2014 in the web archive archive.today )
- ↑ RRX interim award goes to DB Regio NRW. In: nvr.de. Zweckverband Nahverkehr Rheinland, April 11, 2014, accessed on April 11, 2014 .
- ↑ Abellio does not have enough staff to take over RE1 completely - Bahn helps out. In: RP Online . May 30, 2020, accessed June 3, 2020 .
- ↑ Punctuality in SPNV 2015. (PDF) Zweckverband Nahverkehr Rheinland, accessed on April 8, 2016 .
- ↑ Quality report SPNV 2014. (PDF) Zweckverband Nahverkehr Rheinland, accessed on October 1, 2015 .
- ↑ Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr AöR: Quality report SPNV in the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr for 2012, p. 8 and p. 26
- ↑ Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr AöR, progress report, item 5: RE 1 starts operations, May 15, 2020