Rheinbahn (company)

This article describes today's local transport company Rheinbahn AG, which previously operated as Rheinische Bahngesellschaft AG , not to be confused with the historical Rheinische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft ; further meanings of the term can be found under Rheinbahn .

Rheinbahn AG
Basic information
Company headquarters	Dusseldorf
Web presence	www.rheinbahn.de
Reference year	2017
owner	5% City of Düsseldorf 95% Holding of the State Capital Düsseldorf GmbH
founding	March 25, 1896
Board	Klaus Klar (chairman) Susanne Momberg Michael Richarz
Transport network	VRR
Employee	3.010
sales	263.2 million euros ▲ +5.0 million euros compared to 2016
Lines
Gauge	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
tram	7th
Light rail	11
bus	114
number of vehicles
Tram cars	99, of which: 48 NF 6 15 NF 8 36 NF 10
Light rail car	209, of which: 102 B80 31 GT8SU 76 NF8U
Omnibuses	429, of which: 190 NF articulated buses 227 NF standard buses
other vehicles	11 Past railcar 5 Historical sidecar 2 driving school car 1 snowplough 1 grinding rail car 1 Salzstreubeiwagen 1 Gleistransportbeiwagen
statistics
Passengers	224.7 million in 2017 ▲ +1.3 million (0.6%) compared to 2016
Mileage	42,822 thousand kilometers (Tkm), of which: Light rail 8,281 thousand km Tram 4,973 thousand km Bus 29,568 thousand kilometers
Stops	1,671, of which Light rail: 120 (including 23 underground) Tram: 127 Bus: 1.424
Catchment area	570 km²
Residents in the catchment area	1.05 million
Operating facilities
Depots	5 of them 3 for rail and bus ( Heerdt , Lierenfeld depot Benrath ) 2 for bus (Mettmann, Tiefenbroich)
Other operating facilities	1,061 passenger shelters in Düsseldorf
Track length	346.4 km

The Rheinbahn AG (until 2005 Rheinische Bahngesellschaft AG ) is a transport company founded in 1896 with headquarters in Düsseldorf , which belongs to the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr (VRR) and almost all light rail , tram and bus lines for local public transport in the cities of Düsseldorf and Meerbusch as well as in large parts of the Mettmann district . The backbone is a 346-kilometer rail network that extends to Neuss , Krefeld , Duisburg and Ratingen , with eleven light rail and seven tram lines, some of which run underground, and 114 bus routes. 737 vehicles transport around 745,000 passengers every working day between 1,671 stops in a catchment area of ​​570 square kilometers with over a million inhabitants, which is why the Rheinbahn is the fifth largest local transport company in Germany and the largest in the VRR.

history

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founding

The Rheinische Bahngesellschaft AG was founded on March 25, 1896 by the Düsseldorf entrepreneurs Heinrich Lueg , Franz Haniel junior , August Bagel and Friedrich Vohwinkel . The management was entrusted to the former Lord Mayor of Solingen Friedrich Haumann .

Electric power plant for the Düsseldorf-Krefeld small railway on Hansaallee (1898)

The rapid rise of the railway company was linked to the dynamic development of the Düsseldorf economic area. From the beginning of the 19th century until 1870 the population of the city of Düsseldorf quadrupled. The predominantly agricultural areas on the left bank of the Rhine offered space for further urban growth. Therefore brought Lueg, Haniel, bagel and Vohwinkel together with the Assistant Secretary and later Düsseldorf Mayor Wilhelm Marx the proposal in the Council of the city of Dusseldorf one, the right bank of the city center and the left bank of Local Authorities on 5 February 1896 Heerdt , Upper and Lower Kassel fixed by a To connect the Rhine bridge in place of the previous ship bridge and, by building a railway line to Krefeld , to interweave other cities and communities on the left bank of the Rhine with Düsseldorf. The Düsseldorf city council supported the bridge and railway project and accepted it in March 1896. On February 26, 1896, the Prussian Ministry of Commerce had already approved the construction and operation of the small railway and the construction of the bridge. The city of Düsseldorf itself did not participate in the financing of these projects. For that reason alone, the railway company also engaged in project development and urban development by targeting linksrheinischem area Land purchased for 30 penny per square meter, they opened up and later as building plots sold for 30 marks per square again. In this way, the construction of the railway and bridges could be financed and the building activity between 1906 and 1914 resulted in Oberkassel in its present structure and shape.

After the opening of the Oberkasseler Bridge on November 12, 1898, the first electric rapid transit railway in Europe to connect cities was put into operation on December 15 of the same year between Rheinstrasse in Krefeld and Ratinger Tor in Düsseldorf . The Rheinische Bahngesellschaft erected the first administration building with an electric power plant in 1898 on Hansaallee. Smaller administrative offices were in the "Villa New York" on Ratinger Strasse and in Jacobigasse (location of today's Malkasten Park). With the leasing of the city's Düsseldorf tram to the Rheinische Bahngesellschaft AG, the Rheinbahn head office was able to move into the building of the former Hartoch department store Am Wehrhahn 34-36 (opposite Cantadorstrasse) after a renovation in 1921 .

The takeover of power by the National Socialists at the Rheinbahn ran just like the city administration, the theaters and schools. General director Karl Fritzen was urged to resign. In November 1933 the city resident Otto Liederley was appointed the new head of the Rheinische Bahngesellschaft. With the so-called Nuremberg Race Laws from 1937 onwards, all Rheinbahners were asked to provide evidence of Aryan status. At the end of 1937, the flight captain Rudolf Bieber, loyal to the line, became general director of the Rheinbahn.

See also : K-Bahn  and history of the Düsseldorf tram

The 1950s and 1960s

In the 1950s, the number of passengers carried decreased significantly due to the increase in private transport. However, as in many other cities, the tram network was not shut down. The Rheinbahn reacted by not only reducing the number of staff , but also discontinuing the reinforcement lines that were put into operation between 1935 and 1938, thinning the other urban lines from 10 to 12 minutes during the day, and reducing the route network.

Ship operation until 1993

The ship operation of the Rheinbahn since 1898 gained in importance after the end of the war from 1945 due to the ferry traffic that replaced the destroyed bridges. This operation, most recently on behalf of the city of Düsseldorf, was discontinued in 1993 because the city was no longer willing to bear the deficits in the millions. The four existing ships were sold to the Küffner company, which also took over staff and riser systems from the Rheinbahn and continued the ferry service to Kaiserswerth until 2012 without subsidies.

Regional traffic

Through its participation in trans regio Deutsche Regionalbahn GmbH , Rheinbahn was also active in the regional transport business for some time.

On June 30, 2011, however, the Supervisory Board decided to sell the shares in Trans Regio in the amount of 24.9% to EuRailCo GmbH, a subsidiary of the French company Transdev GmbH . According to its own statement, Rheinbahn took this step because it would like to use the option of direct award in the course of the new EU Regulation 1370/2007 . Within the scope of this regulation, activities outside of the classic service area are not provided.

Timetable change 2016

The biggest timetable change in the history of the Rheinbahn took place on February 21, 2016. The main reason was the commissioning of the Wehrhahn line with the new light rail lines U71, U72, U73 and U83. In this context, the tram network was almost completely reorganized, because with line 709, only one tram line kept its course. Lines 703, 712, 713 and 719 were dropped entirely or were replaced by the new light rail lines. The new line 705, which runs on Berliner Allee , replaced Line 715. The route of all other tram lines except for line 709 and bus lines 723, 725, 732 and 736 has also been changed. The planned simultaneous commissioning of the new tram line between Rath S and the ISS Dome and the associated extension of line 701 was delayed by almost two years and did not take place until January 7, 2018.

Companies

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The head office has been located in the Lierenfelder Straße 42 building in 40231 Düsseldorf in the immediate vicinity of the Lierenfeld depot since 2017 .

Holdings

Rheinbahn AG holds at least 20 percent of the capital of the following companies:

• 100 percent travel service Maaßen GmbH in Düsseldorf
• Rhein-Bus Verkehrsbetrieb GmbH in Düsseldorf to 49 percent; further shareholder: Transdev GmbH
• 25 percent of ELBA Omnibusreisen GmbH in Düsseldorf; other shareholders: Stadtwerke Solingen , Wuppertaler Stadtwerke and Stadtwerke Remscheid
• DWG Wohnen GmbH to 24.9 percent

Trivia

A company-related mood song was created for the Düsseldorf Carnival in 2010 with the help of some employees .

Due to a missing clause in the employment contracts, the company has to pay 37 employees their salaries for the rest of their lives.

Rail transport

tram

→ Main article : Düsseldorf tram

The history of the Düsseldorf tram began in 1876 when the first horse-drawn tram ran through the city. The Rheinbahn did not yet operate the urban tram network, which was electrified between 1896 and 1900, but instead started operating Europe's first city-connecting electric rapid transit railway on December 15, 1898, between Krefeld and the Ratinger Tor in Düsseldorf - later referred to as the K-Bahn . This route was supplemented in 1901 by branch routes to Uerdingen (1911 to Moers ) and to Neuss as well as a connecting route from Neuss through Büderich to the Forsthaus Meer. From September 26, 1911, the Rheinbahn also leased and operated the Benrath tram network with lines from Benrath to Oberbilk , Vohwinkel and Ohligs . Only since September 15, 1920 has the Rheinbahn operated all tram and later also light rail lines in Düsseldorf and the surrounding area.

In the 1950s, the number of passengers carried decreased significantly due to the increase in private transport. However, unlike in many other cities, the number of lines was not reduced or even the operation of the tram completely stopped. Between 1914 and 1988 there were always 14 to 17 lines in the urban area on which trams ran outside of rush hour . Only after the opening of the inner city tunnel were tram lines gradually replaced by light rail lines. That is why there have only been seven tram lines in Düsseldorf since the Wehrhahn line went into operation in February 2016. Since 2012, only low-floor trams have been used in regular service.

Originally, all city trams ran at least every 10 minutes during the entire operating time. For the reasons mentioned above, the changeover to a 12-minute cycle took place, which was completed on August 1, 1960 but was reversed around two decades later. On the other hand, the Rheinbahn has retained the 20-minute intervals from 8 p.m. that were introduced a year later. Only all trams will run every 10 minutes from August 29, 2018 at least until 9 p.m. In the 1990s, the Rheinbahn also had to reduce its range of Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays because the city of Düsseldorf had to reduce its subsidies due to a budget emergency. Initially, a 15-minute cycle was used throughout the day. In the course of time, the cycle was better matched to the actual demand and further differentiated. That is why today the trams only run every 20 minutes on Saturday mornings until around 9 a.m., but every 10 minutes during shop opening hours on the lines that are mainly used for shopping in the city center and every 30 minutes on Sundays and public holidays in the mornings and in the morning every 20 minutes.

Light rail

→ Main article : Düsseldorf light rail

The Rheinbahn operates 11 light rail lines in Düsseldorf, some of which run underground. The subway construction began in the mid-1970s. The first tunnel under the Hofgarten and Kaiserstrasse and Fischerstrasse including two underground stations went into operation in 1981. In 1988, all urban and tram traffic between the old town and the main train station was moved underground. The four-track inner city tunnel with the subway stations Heinrich-Heine-Allee , Steinstraße / Königsallee , Oststraße and Düsseldorf Hbf was opened. In 1993 it was extended east of the main train station in the direction of Eller with two underground stations and in 2002 under Oberbilk with three underground stations. The tunnel between the Wehrhahn and Bilk S-Bahn stations and 6 other underground stations have been in operation since February 21, 2016 . The four tram lines of the so-called Wehrhahn Line run through it .

See also : List of Düsseldorf light rail lines

vehicles

• 

  Low-floor car "NF6" (2114) of the Rheinbahn, Düsseldorf, one of the first low-floor cars to be used by passengers

• 

  Low-floor tram of the Rheinbahn type NF10

• 

  NF8U low-floor light rail car; Vehicles of this type have been coupled to the newly built Wehrhahn line "rear-to-rear" since the beginning of 2017.

Bus transport

The Rheinbahn has also been using public buses since 1924 . In addition to the city ​​bus lines, which supplemented the Düsseldorf tram network and almost always ran within the city, there were long-distance lines that made connections between Düsseldorf and other cities or ran within the Mettmann district . The latter were set up in particular to replace the discontinued long-distance tram lines. Their operation is comparable to today's regional bus services . With the introduction of the VRR tariff in 1980, this division of the bus network ceased to exist. Later, the bus routes were again differentiated according to brands , which each meet certain criteria and are also described separately in the following sections.

Metrobus

Three Metrobus lines have been running on Rheinbahn since August 29, 2018. They run every 20 minutes from Monday to Friday from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. and on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. and only stop at the most important stops. Thus, they enable shorter travel times between main nodes. The routing of the lines offers new additional network connections, creates fast cross-connections between the light rail and trams and at the same time relieves the most frequented bus routes. In order to guarantee punctuality, 23 measures to accelerate - such as setting up bus lanes or improving traffic lights - were carried out.

Express bus

Originally, express bus lines were supposed to connect cities with each other in a short travel time if this is not possible with rail-bound express transport (RegionalExpress, regional train, S-Bahn or light rail). Express buses therefore use motorways and motorways and stop at greater intervals than city bus routes. Many lines now only run within one city. The first express bus line that started from Düsseldorf led via Kaarst to Viersen , but was operated by BVR Busverkehr Rheinland GmbH . The Rheinbahn now also operates six express bus routes on its own, which operate in or start out in Düsseldorf. The Rheinbahn is involved in the operation of two further lines that connect Heiligenhaus and Velbert with Essen and Mettmann with Wuppertal.

City bus

The following table describes the Rheinbahn city ​​buses . Lines running in the area of the Mettmann district also have a function of connecting cities.

Local bus

Local bus lines run within the cities of Hilden , Erkrath , Haan , Mettmann , Heiligenhaus and Ratingen

Night traffic

NachtExpress lines in Düsseldorf ("NE" is in front of the line numbers) and DiscoLinien in the Mettmann district ("DL" is in front of the line numbers) operate at a fixed frequency on the nights from Friday to Saturday, Saturday to Sunday and a public holiday. On the remaining nights, night buses run one to four times depending on the line and direction of travel.

Special bus lines

See also

• Düsseldorf light rail
• Rhein-Ruhr urban railway
• Line D eV

literature

• Dieter Höltge: Trams and light rail vehicles in Germany Volume 4: Ruhr area from Dortmund to Duisburg. EK-Verlag, Freiburg 1994, ISBN 3-88255-334-0 .
• State capital Düsseldorf, Office for Traffic Management: Local Transport Plan 2002–2007. Publication, Düsseldorf 2003.
• Hans G. Nolden: The Düsseldorf tram. GeraMond Verlag, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-932785-02-9 .
• Axel Schild, Dieter Waltking: The Rheinbahn urban transport in and around Düsseldorf. alba, Düsseldorf 1996, ISBN 3-87094-355-6 .
• Richard Jacobi, Dieter Zeh: The history of the Düsseldorf tram From the horse tram to the light rail. EK-Verlag, Freiburg 1995, ISBN 3-88255-401-0 .
• Volkmar Grobe: Stadtbahn Düsseldorf - From the beginnings of track-guided traffic to the city-connecting rapid transit system. EK-Verlag, Freiburg 2008, ISBN 978-3-88255-848-7 .

Web links

Commons : Rheinbahn (company)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Official website of the Rheinbahn
• Official website of the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr
• Line map Düsseldorf (PDF; 2.5 MB)
• Barrier-free route map Düsseldorf (PDF; 2.4 MB)
• Early documents and newspaper articles on the Rheinbahn in the 20th Century press kit of the ZBW - Leibniz Information Center for Economics .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Annual report 2017
2. ↑ Overview of figures as of December 31, 2017
3. ↑ Company. Retrieved August 11, 2019 . 
4. ↑ ^{a b} Rheinbahn history 1896
5. ↑ ^{a b} Rheinbahn history 1898
6. ↑ Ratingerstraße 50 (E. Scheidt, GA, Wwe., Villa New York), Rheinische Bahngesellschaft, in address book for the municipality of Düsseldorf 1910 , p. 274 uni-duesseldorf.de
7. ↑ November 17, 1933 Appointment of the city councilor Liederley as the new head of the Rheinische Bahngesellschaft. General Director Fritzen leaves office. , at duesseldorf.de, accessed on April 27, 2020
8. ^ Rheinbahn history 1930-1945
9. ↑ 1945: Dusseldorf divided city again - ferry traffic of the Rheinbahn. Rheinbahn AG, accessed on March 5, 2014 . 
10. ↑ Lars Wallerang: The long way to a profitable fleet. In: wz newsline. Westdeutsche Zeitung, January 5, 2014, accessed March 5, 2014 . 
11. ↑ Rheinbahn press release of June 30, 2011 ( Memento of the original from July 1, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
12. ↑ Düsseldorf route network valid from: 07.01.2018
13. ↑ Website : Participations
14. ↑ Carnival. I'm driving through Düsseldorf with the Stroßebahn ... In: rheinbahn.de . Rheinbahn AG, 2010, accessed on March 5, 2019 (with the option to download an mp3 file of the song.). 
15. ↑ Mega mishap: The company has to pay 37 employees wages for the rest of their lives. April 9, 2019, accessed April 9, 2019 . 
16. ↑ Rheinbahn press release from January 10th, 2018: Metrobuses are starting