Niedtalbahn

Dillingen – Bouzonville
Route number (DB) :	3212
Route number (SNCF) :	176,000
Course book section (DB) :	DB 687 DB 265d (1964) DR 267e (1944)
Route length:	20 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Top speed:	80 km / h
Legend from Saarbrücken 20.3 Dillingen (Saar) to Trier Saar A 8 15.3 Siersburg (formerly: Büren-Itzbach) 10.9 Hemmersdorf (formerly: Kerprich-Hemmersdorf) Niedaltdorf tunnel 180 m, removed 8.7 Niedaltdorf (new: 1936?) 7.7 State border Germany - France 7.5 Guerstling (Gerstlingen) 3.3 Filstroff (Filsdorf) Borny tunnel 212 m Bouzonville Tunnel 215 m from Béning 0.0 Bouzonville (Busendorf) to Thionville

The Niedtalbahn is a regional train line between Dillingen and Niedaltdorf . Until the Second World War , it was part of a strategic main line that led from Dillingen to Bouzonville (Busendorf) and on to Metz .

route

The railway runs after the crossing of the Saar to Bouzonville in the wide valley of the Nied . The Saar Bridge was replaced by a modern steel arch bridge in July 1987 when the Saar was expanded to become a major shipping route . Shortly thereafter, the route disappears into a deep cut in a foothill of the Hoesberg until shortly before the Siersburg stop . Shortly before the Hemmersdorf train station , the route runs through a deep cut. The Niedaltdorf tunnel with a length of 180 meters was once located here . The tunnel was slit open in 1948 while the second track was being dismantled. After Niedaltdorf , the route crosses the valley of the Ihner Bach on a steel bridge , then after crossing the German-French border it reaches Guerstling station . Shortly before merging with the Béning line, the line runs through two tunnels, after which it finally reaches Bouzonville station .

history

Bridge from Dillingen (Saar) to Siersburg

The line was built between 1897 and 1901 by the Reichseisenbahnen in Alsace-Lorraine as a double-track main line and put into operation on July 1, 1901 between Dillingen and Busendorf (Bouzonville). The extension was opened in 1908, so that the trains now ran through to Metz. During the First World War , the route was used to transport troops. It was the decisive route for the deployment of the western army and for this purpose had a connecting curve from the Saardamm to the Saar route in the direction of Beckingen . The connecting curve that is recorded on old maps was dismantled again around 1920. After the First World War, the German-French border crossed this route between the Kerprich-Hemmersdorf and Gerstlingen stations , but there was still passenger traffic between Dillingen and Bouzonville. After the reintegration of the Saar area into the German Reich on March 1, 1935, the Deutsche Reichsbahn took over the section of the line located in Germany and set up a stop in Niedaltdorf where the trains from Dillingen ended; Trains to Bouzonville began in Hemmersdorf. During the Second World War there was again continuous traffic from Dillingen to Metz.

On October 7, 1944, an American bomber association destroyed the railway bridge over the Saar near Dillingen in order to prevent supplies to the western front. Passenger traffic between Bouzonville and Niedaltdorf was stopped after the end of the Second World War in 1945. In 1948 the line was converted to single-track operation due to the destruction of the war. At the end of the 1970s, Siersburg train station was dismantled to become a stop. Passenger between Dillingen and Niedaltdorf was deposited with the German Federal Railroad first with locomotives of the series 78 in Wendezugdienst with indirect control (Hagenuk device), and thereafter, inter alia, with Uerdinger rail buses , as well as diesel engines of the 212 series before turning trains performed.

The liquid iron transports (“soup trains”) that ran between the Dillinger Hütte and Lorraine steelworks were of particular importance .

During the steam locomotive era, primarily class 50 locomotives were used. After the dieselization, it was the class 290 locomotives that were regularly to be found in front of freight trains on the Niedtalbahn. In exceptional cases, machines from other series such as the DB 218 were seen in front of freight trains, as is documented in photos.

In 2010, Martin Silvanus , Mayor of Rehlingen-Siersburg , worked with Lorraine politicians to revitalize the route and continue it to Luxembourg . The discontinuation of through freight traffic for the 2013/2014 timetable change on December 13, 2013 raised fears that it was a first step towards discontinuing all traffic. The local councils of Niedaltdorf and Guerstling passed a resolution to maintain local rail passenger transport on the line. The Wochenspiegel reported on February 17, 2014 that, even after freight traffic has ceased, the prospect of continuous traffic to Luxembourg is considered to be important in the municipalities. The route was originally intended to be closed, but the corresponding procedure was canceled in 2019, which means that the route will be preserved for the time being.

As part of the reorganization of the transport development plan for the Saarland, an analysis of the economic benefits of reactivating local rail transport between Niedaltdorf and Bouzonville was carried out. In the study, only a cost-benefit factor of 0.2 was determined, which means that the project does not make economic sense and cannot be funded by public funds. At least one cost-benefit factor with the value 1 is required to implement the project. The report of the Saarland Ministry of Transport is criticized by the Verkehrsclub Deutschland because it only takes into account passenger traffic, but leaves out the possible and already requested freight traffic.

traffic

In order to adapt the route to future requirements, a total of 7.5 kilometers of track were completely renewed by DB Netz AG from July 28 to August 19, 2007 . The old wooden sleepers were replaced by modern concrete sleepers. The cost of the renovation was around 3.6 million euros.

Local transport

In local traffic , the route has been served hourly by class 642 multiple units since March 2019 . Previously, the provider DB Regio used vehicles from the 628 series on the route . The low platforms along the route do not allow barrier-free boarding. Transports are also repeatedly canceled.

Since 1998, Bouzonville has also been served by special trains to the “Good Friday Market” on Good Friday . The two partner municipalities Bouzonville and Siersburg have been trying since then to resume regular cross-border traffic. In 2015, a “small railway summit” took place in Siersburg, where the prospects for the Niedtalbahn were discussed with representatives from Saarland and Lorraine. The relevant resolution of the municipalities of Bouzonville and Rehlingen-Siersburg is supported by the CDU Dillingen (Saar). In the spring, however, all traffic on the route was stopped due to a staff shortage alleged by Deutsche Bahn AG.

Freight transport

After the freight traffic had steadily declined, only a few freight trains were driven daily between Dillingen and Bouzonville after the turn of the millennium . French diesel locomotives of the series BB 61000 of the SNCF were used until spring 2013 . Since the timetable change for European railways in December 2013, freight traffic on the route that has since been closed to train journeys on the French side has been suspended. Until then, two pairs of trains could still be observed on working days from the Dillinger Hütte to Dunkirk or in the opposite direction with class 77 locomotives from the French leasing company Akiem , a subsidiary of SNCF Geodis . Efforts are being made, however, to run the lime trains, which Europorte drives with type DE 18 machines from Vossloh in double traction, over the Niedtalbahn, for which training trips were already carried out in 2018. However, the SNCF refuses to send a dispatcher to Bouzonville to set the routes necessary for the train journey, so that the trains have to take a detour to the destination Dillinger Hütte until further notice via Forbach and Saarbrücken. The Saarland state parliament dealt with this fact and other potentials for shifting freight traffic to rail through the Niedtal in its session on June 13, 2018.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Röll: Encyclopedia of the Railway System
2. ↑ Drehscheibe-online.de
3. ↑ Drehscheibe-online.de
4. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
5. ^ Saarbrücker Zeitung, April 14, 2010 ( Memento from September 8, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
6. ↑ SOL reported on February 12, 2014
7. ↑ Wochenspiegel on February 17, 2014
8. ↑ Stop for shutdowns in DER SPIEGEL No. 50/2019, page 67
9. ↑ Pages 18-22 Ministry for Economic Affairs, Labor, Energy and Transport, VEP ÖPNV Saarland, concept for the strategic further development of local public transport in Saarland, state press conference, December 3rd, 2019
10. ^ Saarländischer Rundfunk: Discussion about the Niedtalbahn. February 3, 2020, accessed July 14, 2020 . 
11. ↑ More travel comfort on the Niedtalbahn. Ministry of Economy, Labor, Energy and Transport, March 12, 2019, accessed January 27, 2020 . 
12. ↑ LOK Report - Saarland: Problems for rollator users or wheelchair users on the Niedtalbahn. Retrieved July 27, 2019 . 
13. ^ Saarländischer Rundfunk: Failures on the Niedtalbahn. October 5, 2019, accessed July 27, 2019 . 
14. ↑ Wochenspiegel on June 15, 2015
15. ^ Resolution on the Niedtalbahn: CDU Dillingen for reactivation of the line. Retrieved July 27, 2019 . 
16. ↑ Niedtalbahn crisis: Rehlinger has to insist on adherence to the contract. In: saarnews. Retrieved on July 14, 2020 (German). 
17. ↑ OMSIJakob LP: Training trips with Europorte DE18 (4185 006) on the Niedtalbahn. May 26, 2018, accessed July 27, 2019 . 
18. ↑ Plenary Protocol 16/16 of the Saarland Landtag. June 13, 2018, accessed July 27, 2019 . 

Web links

Commons : Niedtalbahn  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Course book from 1944
• Image of the cut in the former Niedaltdorf tunnel
• Picture gallery of the Niedtalbahn by Jörg Klawitter
• Gerhild Krebs: Dillingen-Bouzonville-Metz railway line