Tram Diedenhofen and Fentschtalbahn

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The former Diedenhofen (Thionville) tram and the Fentschtalbahn were approved by an imperial ordinance of October 17, 1911, when Lorraine was part of the German Empire, and put into operation by the Lothringische Eisenbahn-AG on May 8, 1912 .

City network and Fentschtalbahn

Diedenhofen with around 14,000 inhabitants was the center of the Lorraine steel industry and an important rail hub.

The network laid out in meter gauge included

This was opened on October 10, 1904 as a branch line of the steam-powered branch line Diedenhofen - Mondorf from the suburb of St. Franz to the city center and was extended on December 22, 1906 to the right bank of the Moselle to the main station Diedenhofen and on to Niederjeutz (Basse Yutz ). It was electrified in 1912.

  • the also electrified Fentschtalbahn; this supplemented the railway line from Diedenhofen to Algringen, which had been running in the valley since 1882, and offered a quarter-hour service all day.

This 17.7 km long suburban railway followed - mostly on public roads - up the Fentschtal, in which numerous ore mines were working. It led to Florange (Flörschingen), where the management and the railway depot were located, on via Hayange (Hayingen), Knutange (Kneuttingen) and Nilvange (Nilvingen) to Algrange (Algringen).

There were also two branch lines to the remote villages:

  • from Florange junction to Fameck (2.7 kilometers) and
  • from Knutange to Fontoy (Fentsch) (4.4 kilometers).

On February 4, 1914 (or later?) The branch line from Hayange to Neufchef , about two kilometers long, was added.

28 German-style railcars and 14 trailer cars were available for passenger transport. At the beginning of the First World War, rail operations were suspended for a few weeks, but then resumed to a limited extent.

After the First World War

After the First World War, Lorraine became French territory again. After a temporary administration, the Société d'Electricité et de Gaz de la Basse Moselle took over the management.

It is true that it increased the fleet of vehicles and transported around 6,800,000 travelers in 1932. But because of the single-track route and the poor condition of the roads, it had to be decided to thoroughly renew the railway or to shut it down.

Already on September 22nd, 1935 the city line Diedenhofen was given up. The remaining routes of the Fentschtalbahn were able to hold up until 1953 - probably also because of the Second World War.

literature

  • Jean Robert: Histoire des Transports dans les Villes de France. Self-published, Neuilly-sur-Seine 1974.
  • Walter Söhnlein: Trams in Diedenhofen and in the Fentschtal. In: Tram magazine. No. 26, Stuttgart, November 1977.
  • Henri Domengie, José Banaudo: Les petits trains de jadis. Volume 5: Est de la France. Editions du Cabri, Breil-sur-Roya 1995, ISBN 2-908816-36-9 ( Les Editions du Cabri 10).