Mönchengladbach tram
The Mönchengladbach tram originated from a horse-drawn tram that had been in operation since 1881 as a connection between Mönchengladbach (then still Gladbach) and Rheydt . From 1900 the network was electrified and expanded. In 1901 the business was divided between the cities of Munich-Gladbach and Rheydt. Apart from a short period between 1929 and 1933, the two companies remained separate until they were closed. The last route of the tram last operated by Stadtwerke Mönchengladbach was discontinued in 1969, the Rheydter tram ended its operation ten years earlier.
Horse tram
The first efforts of the two cities of Gladbach and Rheydt to create a connection between them go back to 1876. That year the councils of both cities decided to build a horse-drawn tram . An originally considered steam tram was turned down after numerous visits to existing railways. On February 10, 1881, the Berlin banker Ludwig Lübke received a concession from the city of Gladbach to build a connection. The city of Rheydt also agreed to this. Construction began on June 17th in Gladbach and on July 8th in Rheydt. The first trips were made from July 28th. The official start was August 10, 1881. However, the opening was planned for August 2. Since the two cities could not agree on a tariff, the district government first had to mediate between the two and find a compromise. The route was 5.2 kilometers long, began in Rheydt at the intersection of Odenkirchener Strasse and Limitenstrasse and led through Odenkirchener Strasse, Marienplatz, Friedrich-Ebert-Strasse, Rheydter Strasse, Dessauer Strasse, Viktoriastrasse and Berliner Platz, Lüpertzender Strasse, today's Bismarckplatz, Bismarckstrasse, Hindenburgstrasse, the Old Market and Sandradstrasse to Aachener Strasse in Gladbach.
The route was operated with a total of 14 wagons and 50 horses, which were in a depot in today's Rheydter Strasse 317. Driving was on weekdays between 7:20 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. and on weekends until 10:00 p.m. The tariff was 10, 15 and 20 pfennigs. In order to enable this cycle on the single-track route in the standard gauge , there were numerous passing points. The speed was limited to 5 km / h at intersections and 12 km / h were allowed on open roads.
Until 1882 Ludwig Lübke operated the railway on his own account, then he sold it to the German local and tram company from Dortmund . However, the two places refused to transfer the concession to the company and thus Ludwig Lübke remained as a contact person. When he died on February 10, 1883, he bequeathed the concession to his wife and children, through whom the connection between society and the cities now ran. Until July 2, 1894, the license went to the General Local and Tram Company, as the German Local and Tram Company was now called. The license also included the renewal of the route network and electrification by October 1, 1898.
In 1897, however, the two cities acquired the railway. Munich-Gladbach paid 228,000 gold marks and Rheydt 116,000 gold marks. The two cities operated the railway together until it was fully electrified and shared the costs and income in a ratio of 2: 1. The board of directors of the railway was, however, equal . It comprised both mayors and five city councilors each.
Electric tram
Electrification and network expansion
In order to electrify the horse-drawn tram, the two cities merged on February 7, 1899 with the two companies Max Schorch & Cie. (today Deutsche Continental Gasgesellschaft ) from Mönchengladbach and Siemens & Halske signed contracts that also included the establishment of two electricity plants . Construction work for the power plants began on March 16, 1899 and was completed on November 10, 1899 in Rheydt and on May 1, 1900 in Munich-Gladbach.
At the same time, plans were made to expand the network and tendered the following routes:
| city | route | Length in km |
|---|---|---|
| Munich-Gladbach | Old Market - Hardt | 6.76 |
| Hardt - Waldniel | 5.50 | |
| Lürrip - Bahnhofstrasse - Krefelder Strasse | 2.60 | |
| Old Market - Viersener Strasse | 0.30 | |
| Market - Regentenstrasse - Eicken - Hoven - Neuwerk Abbey | 5.10 | |
| Circuit | 3.15 | |
| Rheydt | Marienplatz - Rheydt train station | |
| Marienplatz - Mülfort - Odenkirchen | ||
| Morr - Marienplatz - Geneicken - Giesenkirchen |
After negotiations with the Siemens company, they came to the conclusion that the planned routes could not be operated profitably. Since a mixed operation with electric trams on the one hand and steam or accumulator-operated trains on the other hand did not make sense, it was decided to reduce the planning. What remained were the routes between the two places starting in Hardt via Waldhausen, Alter Markt, Wallstrasse, Regentenstrasse, Bahnhofstrasse, Lüpertzender Strasse, Rheydter Strasse, Rheydt, Mülfort to Odenkirchen and the route from Viersener Strasse over Markt, Krefelder Strasse to Eicken in Mönchengladbach and the route from Geneicken via Stresemannstraße to Morr in Rheydt.
On June 13, 1899, Siemens began work on expanding the network. At the same time, the horse-drawn railway network , which had been standard- gauge up to that point, began to be converted to meter gauge, which had considerable disadvantages for customers. It was hoped that the gauging would further improve the economy. The following routes were opened in 1900:
| Opening date | place | route | Route length |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 1, 1900 | Munich-Gladbach | Krefelder Strasse - Eickener Strasse | 0.77 km |
| June 3, 1900 | Munich-Gladbach | Old Market - Aachener Strasse - Brückenstrasse | 1.59 km |
| June 3, 1900 | Munich-Gladbach | Dahlener Strasse - Barbarossastrasse | 0.19 km |
| June 3, 1900 | Rheydt | Mülfort - Odenkirchen | 2.70 km |
| June 17, 1900 | Rheydt / Munich-Gladbach | Odenkirchen - Mönchengladbach main station | |
| July 7, 1900 | Rheydt | Dahlener Strasse - Stresemannstrasse - Geneicken station | 2.60 km |
| Aug 1, 1900 | Rheydt | Friedrich-Wilhelm-Strasse - Bahnhofstrasse - Rheydt station | 0.28 km |
| Aug 18, 1900 | Rheydt | Geneicken station - Damaschkestrasse | 2.60 km |
| Nov 6, 1900 | Rheydt | Waldhausen - Hardt |
On October 1, 1901, the joint operation was terminated by the city of Munich-Gladbach and the two municipalities operated the railways on their own. The following, color-coded lines were set up and operated jointly on September 30, 1901:
| line |
|---|
| M. Gladbach train station - Rheydt - Odenkirchen |
| M. Gladbach train station - Rheydt |
| Electricity works - Krefelder Straße - Markt - Barbarossaplatz |
| Eickener Strasse - Schwogenstrasse - Krefelder Strasse - Markt - Waldhausen |
Munich-Gladbach tram 1900–1928
After the separation, the following lines only operated in the urban area of Munich-Gladbach:
| line |
|---|
| Electricity station - market - Volksgarten |
| Eicken - Waldhausen - Hardt |
On February 1, 1901, luggage transport on the route to Hardt was introduced on a trial basis. Since this was hardly used by customers, the service was discontinued a short time later. The transport of mail on the route to Hardt, which began at the same time, lasted until 1929. After construction work had ceased for around a year and a half, new routes were opened again in 1902:
| Opening date | route | length |
|---|---|---|
| July 22, 1902 | Rheydter Strasse - Hofstrasse - Hardterbroich - Erzbergerstrasse - Volksgartenstrasse - Volksgarten | 2.40 km |
| Oct. 27, 1902 | Aachener Strasse - Geroplatz - Rheydter Strasse | 1.65 km |
| December 7, 1903 | Train station - Kaiser-Friedrich-Halle | 0.58 km |
| 19 Sep 1905 | Eickener Strasse - Schwogenstrasse - Konzenstrasse | 0.39 km |
| Feb. 27, 1908 | Hardt - Burgwaldniel | 5.15 km |
| Oct. 24, 1909 | Dahlener Strasse - Hittastrasse - Rheindahlener Strasse - welfare home | 3.45 km |
| Nov 27, 1909 | Welfare home - Rheindahlen | 3.15 km |
Thus, by 1910, a network had been built that comprised six lines, two of which were operated together with the city of Rheydt. On May 14, 1910, an existing gap in the network was closed by laying tracks between Königsplatz and Volksgartenstrasse through Erzbergerstrasse. This route was used by the yellow line, which now operated as a ring line through the city.
At that time, the first ideas came up to set up a network of high-speed rail lines in the Rhine-Ruhr region. Connections from Munich-Gladbach to Düsseldorf and Cologne were planned. The planned license was not granted, however, because the responsible ministry, at the insistence of the Prussian State Railway , which feared competition, refused it. Instead, two connections were made to Lürrip and Neuwerk. Both were opened on August 15, 1910 and were 1.68 kilometers (to Lürrip) and 3.76 kilometers (to Niersbrücke) long.
From October 28, 1913, the lines previously marked with colors were given additional numbers.
| line | route | colour |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kaiser-Friedrich-Halle - Odenkirchen | White |
| 2 | Kaiser-Friedrich-Halle - Rheydt | green |
| 3 | Eicken - Waldniel | red |
| 5 | Circular track | yellow |
| 7th | Neersen - Rheindahlen | violet |
| 9 | Lürrip - Viersen - Süchteln | blue |
| 11 | Viersen - Dülken | White |
With the beginning of the First World War , the tram in Munich-Gladbach also felt the restrictions. Male personnel were withdrawn to be replaced by women, and goods transport tasks were added. In the course of the war, two connections were made to the tracks of the state railway in Speick and in Krefelder Straße. Until the occupation by Belgian troops in 1919, six companies had been provided with sidings and twelve freight wagons and three trolleys had been procured.
As a result of the occupation and the provision of reparations through coal deliveries, there were more and more bottlenecks in electricity generation. So in 1919 the ring line and in 1920 several lines to the suburbs had to be set. In order to secure the supply of coal to the power plant, a 3.4 kilometer long track connection was established from the Schiefbahn towards Neuwerk. After this line had been electrified on June 13, 1919, passenger traffic could also be carried out on it. Since the Reichsbahn had forbidden the crossing of its tracks, the passengers had to change to a shuttle train in the direction of Krefeld at the level crossing . Since this was operated by the Mönchengladbach tram, there was then another transfer process in Schiefbahn to a line of the Krefeld tram . It was not until March 4, 1923 that the line could be used continuously. Since the Reichsbahn suffered from reprisals from the Belgian occupation, which had a negative impact on its train traffic and passenger numbers, it banned the crossing of its tracks again from October 20, 1923, as passengers increasingly switched to the tram. After the end of the ban on January 25, 1925, both transport companies decided to set up a continuous line that both companies operated.
Despite the restrictions caused by the aftermath of the war, great plans were still being worked on. For example, the Munich-Gladbach tram planned to work with the Aachen tram on a route from Aachen via Alsdorf , Würselen , Linnich , Lövenich , Erkelenz and Rheindahlen to Munich-Gladbach. Since material shortages delayed implementation, a bus line established itself there , which later prevented the construction of the line.
After some improvements to the carriages and the extension of three routes, the tram had a total of ten lines with a total length of 83.1 kilometers in 1928.
United urban train
As early as 1904, efforts were made to connect the cities of Dülken , Munich-Gladbach, Süchteln and Viersen with a joint tram. These communities finally founded the United Urban Railway, or VSB for short, in 1906. The city of Munich-Gladbach held 55 percent, Viersen 24 percent, Dülken 13 percent and Süchteln 8 percent of the company. The following routes were put into operation:
| Opening date | route | length |
|---|---|---|
| Oct. 30, 1906 | M. Gladbach Markt - Viersener Straße - Signpost - Viersen Augustaplatz - Dülken | 13.02 km |
| 21 Mar 1907 | Viersen Old Market - Süchteln | 3.72 km |
| 22 Mar 1907 | Viersen Hauptstraße - Viersen Hauptbahnhof | 0.30 km |
No further plans were implemented. Thanks to the clever arrangement of eleven passing points, the route between Viersen and Munich-Gladbach could be traveled at 10-minute intervals. The branches were driven on every 20 minutes on Sundays and 30 minutes on weekdays.
In the following years there were only maintenance measures for the wagon and track material. From May 15, 1939, the travel time between Viersen and Munich Gladbach was reduced from 40 to 30 minutes.
After the war, the single-track guidance in the side position led to the railway becoming less and less important. The city council of Viersen decided on January 14, 1955 to shut down the tram. On August 1, 1955, the last cars drove to Süchteln and Dülken and on September 6, 1959 the last train in the direction of Munich Gladbach.
City tram Gladbach-Rheydt
On September 1, 1929, the city of Rheydt was combined with the city of Munich-Gladbach to form the city of Gladbach-Rheydt . On the same day, the two tram companies were merged to form the Gladbach-Rheydt municipal tram. At the same time, the route network was given a uniform new numbering:
| line | course | Cycle in minutes | Travel time in minutes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kaiser-Friedrich-Halle - Rheydt Marienplatz - Odenkirchen | 15th | 39 |
| 2 | Kaiser-Friedrich-Halle - Rheydt Marienplatz | 5 (together with line 1) | 19th |
| 3 | Eicken - Poeth (- Waldniel) | 10/30 (/ 60) | 67 |
| 4th | Giesenkirchen - Rheydt (- Rheindahlen) | 15 (/ 30) | 47 |
| 5 | Circular track | 10 | 28 |
| 6th | Rheydt Marienplatz - Wickrathberg | 15/30 | 26th |
| 7th | (Neersen station -) E-Werk - Holt (- Rheindahlen) | 10 (/ 20) | 52 |
| 8th | M. Gladbach train station - Volksgarten | 30th | 10 |
| 9 | Lürrip - Water Tower (- Süchteln) | 10 (/ 20) | 68 |
| 10 | Water tower - wind mountain | 10/20 | 4th |
| 11 | Dülken - Viersen train station | 20th | 27 |
| 14th | M. Gladbach Hbf - Krefeld | 60 | 61 |
In 1930 the trams operated a network with a route length of 66.92 kilometers and covered around 5.6 million kilometers per year with 56 multiple units and 36 sidecars. In 1930, around 235,000 people lived in the catchment area and around 18.8 million passengers were carried.
The community between the two tram companies continued after the two cities separated on August 1, 1933. Until August 1, 1936, both companies were involved in a special purpose association that the railway ran. After that, they went their separate ways.
Stadtwerke Mönchengladbach 1936–1969
After the separation in 1936, the tram in what was then Munich Gladbach (the spelling Mönchengladbach has only been official since 1960) had the advantage over that in Rheydt of having a fairly well-developed network with numerous double-track sections and a modern fleet of vehicles. In 1943, despite interruptions due to the war, 42,876,394 people were transported, the all-time high in Munich Gladbach. On September 10 and 19, 1944, air raids destroyed large parts of the tram network and traffic had to be stopped. Passenger traffic could not be resumed until August 13, 1945, and at the end of 1946 59.2 of the 61.2 kilometers from the pre-war period were in operation again. The last section could be used again on June 1, 1949. In the post-war period, however, the wagons suffered a lot, as a number of wagons were robbed of their wooden superstructures because wood was in short supply. Numerous light bulbs were also missing due to theft. In order to replace the wagons lost in the war, the railway bought used wagons from Buurtspoorweg Maatschappij Utrecht .
On March 7, 1954, traffic between Krefeld and Munich Gladbach was stopped because the Deutsche Bundesbahn covered the route in just 30 minutes, while the tram took an hour. Round line 5 followed on March 21, 1955 and parts of line 3 on September 2.
In 1957, the public utilities procured six Duewag open-plan cars as bidirectional vehicles , which were added to the fleet with the numbers 25-30. In 1958 and 1959, nine six-axle Duewag articulated wagons GT6 followed, which were given the numbers 31-39 and were also bidirectional vehicles.
At the beginning of 1959 there were still seven lines:
| line | course | Travel time in minutes | Cycle in minutes | Route length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kaiser-Friedrich-Halle - Rheydt main station | 16 | 20th | 4,767 |
| 2 | (Eicken -) Am Buer - Rheydt main station | (22) 16 | 20th | 6.301 |
| 3 | Eicken - Beltinghoven | 24 | 20th | 6.565 |
| 7th | Am Buer - Geroplatz - Rheindahlen | 31 | 20th | 10.65 |
| 9 | (Racetrack) dam - Viersen | 44 | 20th | 9.197 |
| 10 | Neuwerk - Windberg | 18th | 20th | k. A. |
| 17th | Lürrip - Old Market - Holt (- Rheindahlen) | 24 (37) | 20th | 10,828 |
Line 9 was closed on September 6, 1959. After an expert opinion in 1960 proposed the complete replacement of the tram by the omnibus, all lines were gradually discontinued. Parts of line 7 and the entire line 17 were discontinued on January 15, 1961, line 10 on May 31, 1964 and line 3 on May 22, 1966. This went hand in hand with a significantly lower vehicle requirement, so that four Duewag open-plan cars in the same Year were sold to ASEAG for the Aachen tram . On October 5, 1968, the city of Rheydt's permission to operate lines 1 and 2 ended, so they were also discontinued and the remaining open-plan cars with numbers 26 and 30 and the first articulated cars were also sold to Aachen. The last part of line 7 followed on March 15, 1969 between Holt and Lürrip. The remaining articulated wagons were sold to other companies in the same year, so that wagons 31–35 were subsequently used in Aachen and wagons 36–39 in the Vestische trams .
Bus transport
After plans for an express tram from Munich-Gladbach to Düsseldorf could not be realized due to the difficult economic conditions after the First World War , the city of Munich-Gladbach founded the Rheinische Kraftwagenbetriebsgesellschaft together with the cities of Remscheid and Solingen in 1924 . In the year it was founded, the company started operating the Munich-Gladbach - Heinsberg line, and in the following year lines to Düsseldorf, Kempen and Roermond . In 1930, however, the company went bankrupt and the city took over the buses and the line concessions. In the 1930s, Munich Gladbach further expanded its bus network, and by 1936 the city's bus network was 177 kilometers long.
After bus operations were severely restricted during the war, the municipal utilities were able to operate all important lines again in 1946. The network was expanded further in the 1950s. In 1957, the Stadtwerke opened a new bus depot on Erftstrasse. By 1969 the bus finally took over all tram lines.
Since 1993, bus transport has been operated by the Mönchengladbach public utility and the successor company Niederrheinischeversorgung und Verkehr (NVV AG) or its subsidiary NVV mobile and actively under the brand name MöBus.
literature
- Hans Georg Nolden: The former tram in Mönchengladbach. A look back at the years 1881-1969 . In: Tram Magazine, Issue 84, May 1992, ISSN 0340-7071 , pp. 90-107
- Jürgen Lehmann: Tram in Mönchengladbach . Kenning Verlag, Nordhorn 1997, ISBN 3-927587-62-1 .
- Axel Ladleif, Wolfgang R. Reimann: With the tram through the economic miracle - A photo tour through Mönchengladbach, Rheydt and Viersen . DGEG Medien, Hövelhof 2014, ISBN 978-3-937189-80-2 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Hans Georg Nolden: The earlier tram in Mönchengladbach. A look back at the years 1881–1969 . In: Straßenbahn-Magazin, issue 84, May 1992, p. 103