Saar route

Saarbrücken Hbf – Karthaus
Route number (DB) :	3230 3295 Bous – Völklingen rolling mills
Course book section (DB) :	685
Route length:	88.3 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Power system :	15 kV 16.7 Hz  ~
Top speed:	140 km / h
Dual track :	(continuous) three-pronged: Bous (Saar) –Völklingen rolling mills
Legend from Trier 81.6 Karthaus to Thionville and Luxembourg , Trier western route 80.4 Konz Kuag ( Awanst ) from Luxembourg and from Trier western line 79.2 Conc 74.8 Kanzem 72.2 Wiltingen (Saar) 143  m 69.0 Schoden - Ockfen 64.8 Saarburg Bz Trier 147  m 61.2 Serrig 54.9 Tabs 54.9 Hartsteinwerke J. Düro ( Awanst ) 51.3 State border Saarland - Rhineland-Palatinate 49.8 Saarholzbach 46.7 Mettlach 166  m Bundesstrasse 51 Mettlacher Tunnel (1195 m) 44.4 Besseringen (Hp & Üst ) Bundesstrasse 51 41.7 Merzig (Saar) industrial site ( Awanst ) 40.3 Merzig (Saar) city center 39.2 Merzig (Saar) 175  m from Losheim according to Waldwisse (until 1939) 35.9 Fremersdorf 31.9 Beckingen (Saar) 29.0 Dillingen (Saar) Katzenschwänz ( Awanst ) Niedtalbahn from Niedaltdorf 27.0 Dillingen (Saar) Prims from / to the Primstalbahn to Limbach 25.3 Dillingen (Saar) South ( Abzw ) Federal motorway 8 Bundesstrasse 51 23.5 Saarlouis Hbf Bundesstrasse 405 21.7 Saarlouis galvanizing plant Becker ( Awanst ) Connection route from the Duhamel pit 19.6 Ensdorf (Saar) Connection to the VSE steam power plant Connection to Griesborn pit Bundesstrasse 51 Connection to the Bous steelworks 16.1 Bous (Saar) to Hostenbach or Wadgassen 14.0 Völklingen Saarstahl rolling mill ( Anst ) 13.3 Völklingen rolling mills ( Abzw ) from Hostenbach and Wadgassen 10.7 Völklingen 192  m to Lebach Bundesstrasse 51 6.5 Luisenthal (Saar) 198  m 3.4 Burbach center 206  m from Saarbrücken von der Heydt 2.5 Saarbrücken-Burbach 204  m from / to Metz from / to Wemmetsweiler Bundesstrasse 268 0.0 Saarbrücken Central Station 208  m Nahe Valley Railway to Neunkirchen to Mannheim and Sarreguemines Swell:

Regional Express with double-decker coaches against the backdrop of the large quartzite quarry in the Saar valley near Taben-Rodt

Express train in the Saar valley near Mettlach

RE on the Saar route between Saarburg and Serrig

Double-decker train on the Saar line

SÜWEX vehicle at Serrig

The railway line between Saarbrücken and Karthaus is now called the Saar line (not to be confused with the Saarbahn ) .

She wears the timetable of Deutsche Bahn , the number 685. The section Saarbruecken - Saarhölzbach heard in regional transport for Transport Association SaarVV , the section between Taben-Rodt and Karthaus for Transport Association Region Trier (VRT).

course

Following down from Saarbrücken out of the Saar valley, the line was opened on December 16, 1858 to Merzig and on May 26, 1860 to Trier West on the left bank of the Moselle . The route itself stayed on the right bank of the Saar and followed its countless loops, which led to very tight radii. A total of 99 curves are counted. Only between Mettlach and Besseringen does a tunnel shorten the route over the Saar loop .

From Karthaus to Trier , trains use the Thionville – Trier line ("Upper Moselle Line"). From Trier, the railway lines were continued over the Eifel route or the Moselle route to Cologne or Koblenz . It was built by the Royal Saarbrücker Railway , one of the first railroads that belonged to the Prussian state and was operated by it.

history

Prussia

The task of this 88-kilometer stretch was to connect the economic areas of Trier, Mettlach (earthenware), Völklingen (iron smelting), Saarbrücken and the rest of the Saar area with the focus of the coal and steel industry in the Ruhr area and the North Sea ports .

Contemporary sources report a total length of 12.051 Prussian miles and planned construction costs of 5,600,000 thalers.

When the first railway arrived in Trier at the end of 1859 , it had to be pulled by horse and cart from Ponten over the mountain to Mettlach, as the tunnel was not yet completed at that time.

From the beginning, the Saar line had to cope with heavy goods traffic in addition to passenger traffic , which always required the use of the most powerful locomotives .

In 1895 the formation of the Prussian State Railways was completed. The Saarbrücken Railway now belonged to the Royal Railway Directorate Saarbrücken .

On November 4, 1918, there was an explosion and fire on a passenger train between Völklingen and Bous . 14 people died and 13 others were injured.

The end of the First World War brought drastic changes . The majority of the Saar Railway belonged to the newly created, under administration of the League of Nations standing Saar . The section south of Mettlach was operated by the Saarland Railways (SAAR), the northern section was operated by the newly created Deutsche Reichsbahn .

It was only when the Saar area was re-incorporated into the German Reich in 1935 that the entire line again belonged to the Saarbrücken Railway Directorate .

post war period

With the end of the Second World War in 1945, the Saar line was divided again in 1947. The section south of Saarhölzbach in the Saarland , which is under French influence, was operated by the Saarland Railways (EdS), the northern part initially by the Association of Southwest German Railways (SWDE), and from 1951 by the Deutsche Bundesbahn . The Trier Federal Railway Directorate was responsible here until 1972. With the integration of the Saarland into the federal territory, the route came under the complete care of the Federal Railroad. But it was only with the incorporation of the Saarland under customs law that the customs stay in Saarhölzbach ceased in 1959.

electrification

Despite the strong Montanunion freight traffic, the Saar route was not one of the first Deutsche Bundesbahn routes to be electrified. The first stage was Völklingen in 1962, later Saarhölzbach in 1972, a year later Trier was reached, so the route together with the Moselle route was completely under contact wire to Koblenz. The line is operated with the usual DB AC voltage of 15,000 volts at 16 2/3 Hertz. An electrification planned for the 1950s with the French industrial electricity system (25 kilovolt 50 Hz) did not take place with the integration of the Saar. For it was between France and Germany , the canalisation of the Moselle decided. That of the lower Saar only followed in the 1980s.

traffic

In addition to the heavy goods traffic with heavy ore trains from the North Sea ports to the Dillinger Hütte and the other iron and steel works in the Saarland, coal removal from the Saar mines dominated in earlier years. Today, in addition to the heavy ore trains, normal cargo trains of the combined transport operate.

Long-distance transport

In long-distance passenger rail transport , express trains from Saarbrücken ran for a long time either from Trier via the Eifel route via Gerolstein or the Moselle route and the left Rhine route via Koblenz to Cologne. Until electrification, the express trains were distributed fairly evenly on both routes. Only then does a clear preference for the Moselle route become apparent, as the Eifel route has not yet been electrified.

Although the inclusion in the Intercity network was repeatedly requested from 1971 onwards , there was only one City-D-Zug line (DC) with three pairs of trains via Koblenz and Cologne to Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof from 1973 , but these were discontinued as early as 1978 . In the 1980s, the D 802/803 (Saarbrücken - Trier - Koblenz - Cologne - Düsseldorf), which was made up of intercity cars of the second class and first class , offered intercity comfort, but without a dining car, but with train announcements .

With the introduction of the interregional network from 1988, the Saar line was integrated into this train system. From 1991 there were long-distance trains every two hours on the Saarbrücken - Koblenz - Cologne -  Münster  - Bremen  - Cuxhaven line (partly to Greifswald ). This was condensed by express trains between Koblenz and Saarbrücken every hour. It was not until 1994, when the rolling stock was completely converted to IR wagons, that the D-trains were converted into Interregios. From December 2002, however, they drove to Luxembourg , the Saar route has since been without long-distance traffic.

Local transport

Local rail transport has always played a major role on the Saar line, with the number of trains between Saarhölzbach and Saarbrücken being denser than the northern section to Trier. The CityBahn Saar operated on the Saar route as early as 1989 . It provided an hourly service between Saarhölzbach (partly from Trier) via Merzig, Saarlouis , Völklingen and Saarbrücken to Homburg (Saar) . These trains were strengthened by express trains running every two hours from Merzig via Saarbrücken to Kaiserslautern , which only stopped in Dillingen , Saarlouis , Völklingen and partly in Beckingen and Bous . With the introduction of the CityBahn, the Saarland local trains were equipped with bistro cars ( coffee kitchen ) from 1989, especially on the Saar route . However, these were quickly abolished due to a lack of profitability. In 1995 the CityBahnen were renamed to Stadt-Express and from 1998 to Regionalbahn (RB) and Regional-Express (RE).

In 1996, instead of the electrically hauled RE trains from Saarbrücken to Koblenz, it was planned to run those from Saarbrücken via Trier to Cologne with diesel tilting trains over the Eifelbahn. Technical problems thwarted this project, so that the RE line between Saarbrücken and Koblenz ( Mosel-Saar-Express ) with a connection in Trier to Cologne still exists. These trains, which run every two hours, were complemented by the RE 11 Trier - Saarbrücken - Homburg (- Kaiserslautern) on the Saar route every hour until December 2014.

Since the timetable change 2014/2015 December 2014, go to the Rheinland-Pfalz-clock 2,015 hourly regional express trains from Koblenz via Trier and Saarbrücken to Kaiserslautern and every two hours on to Mannheim, so that no switch is required here. These trains run under the “ SÜWEX ” brand , which is the abbreviation for “Südwestexpress”.

There is also the regional train line RB 71 from Trier Hauptbahnhof via Merzig (Saar) , Saarlouis, Saarbrücken Hauptbahnhof and St. Ingbert to Homburg (Saar) Hauptbahnhof . The hourly line runs with S-Bahn- like multiple units of the 425 and 426 series . At the 2014/2015 timetable change, this line was supplemented by line RB 70 in the (Trier–) Merzig – Kaiserslautern route, which also runs every hour. This results in a half-hourly service between Merzig and Homburg. In addition, there are repeater trains in the Trier – Saarburg section during rush hour on working days, so there is also a half-hourly service here.

vehicles

Locomotives of Prussian series were initially used on the Saar line, including the Prussian P 8 and the Prussian T 18 (the later series 38 and 78). In express train traffic it was the Prussian P 10 (later class 39) and standard locomotives of the class 01 . In freight all Prussian freight locomotives for use came in the time of the Reichsbahn also the heavy class 44 .

These types of locomotives remained after the Second World War. The 23 series was also used in local transport . Class 50 locomotives dominated the scene after the war.

When the line began to be dieselized, diesel locomotives such as the V 100 and V 160 series were the usual means of traction; from 1964 there were also railcars with vehicles of the VT 24 series .

With electrification, electric locomotives of the 110 series were used in express train traffic, the 140 and 151 series in freight and mining and the 141 series in local traffic in front of n-car push-pull trains, and later as city rail cars in green regional paint. The express trains and express trains on the Saar line were often hauled by multi-system locomotives of the 181.2 series. In 2002, the 141-hauled trains switched to the new class 425 and 426 railcars . Before the express trains to Koblenz, the class 143 electric locomotive from the GDR now dominates double-decker trains .

In addition to the 189 in front of heavy ore trains in double traction, the freight trains are often hauled by locomotives of the 185 series and occasionally 151.

With torpedo ladle cars between Dillingen and Völklingen and normal cargo trains, SBB locomotives were used on the route until February 28, 2010. In addition to the class Re 4/4 II, the class 185 almost identical bombardier locomotives 484.

The pig iron transports (also known as "soup trains" because of the hot, mostly liquid freight) between Dillingen and Völklingen have been contracted with SaarRail GmbH since 2011. Electric locomotives of the 139 and 185 series were used until March 2013 . From March 2013 to the end of 2018, BB 37000 were used in front of the soup trains. Today locomotives of the series 151 (151 161 & 151 165) from Saar Rail GmbH , which have recently undergone a major inspection, are in use.

DB Regio Südwest has been using vehicles of the 429.3 series ( Stadler Flirt 3 ) on the RE 1 line (Koblenz - Mannheim) since December 2014 under the name SÜWEX .

Since the timetable change on December 15, 2019, multiple units of the Coradia Continental type have also been used on the Saar route. The trial operation with passengers (as part of the scheduled traffic) had already taken place since October 14, 2019.

Due to the numerous arches, the route is often used for test drives.

literature

• Kurt Hoppstädter : The origin of the Saarland railways (=  publications of the Institute for Regional Studies of the Saarland . Volume 2 ). Saarbrücker Zeitung Verlag und Druckerei GmbH, 1961, ISSN  0537-801X , p. 97-109 .

Web links

Commons : Saar route  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• saarstrecke.de
• Pictures of the Saar route by Jörg Klawitter
• Description of the route section at Völklingen on Völklingen in transition

Individual evidence

1. ↑ DB Netze - Infrastructure Register
2. ↑ Railway Atlas Germany . 9th edition. Schweers + Wall, Aachen 2014, ISBN 978-3-89494-145-1 .
3. ^ Hoppstädter: The origin of the Saarland railways. 1961, p. 107 f.
4. ↑ Ludwig Stockert : Railway Accidents (New Series) - Another contribution to railway operations theory. Berlin 1920, no.299
5. ^ Hans Joachim Ritzau: Railway disasters in Germany. Splinters of German history. Volume 1: Splinters of German History. Zeit und Eisenbahn, Landsberg / Pürgen 1979, p. 72, names 18 dead and 14 injured.
6. ↑ Fast direct connections between the regions. (PDF) DB Regio Südwest, accessed on May 13, 2016 .  
7. ↑ New vehicles for the Saar RB electricity network, Lot 1: DB Regio Mitte starts test drives with passengers. In: Deutsche Bahn . October 11, 2019, accessed December 16, 2019 .