Rheydt tram
The Rheydt tram , like the Mönchengladbach tram, emerged from a horse-drawn tram that was operated as a connection between Mönchengladbach and Rheydt since 1881. The network, which has been electrically operated since 1900, was divided between the two cities in 1901. Apart from a short period between 1929 and 1933, the two companies remained separate until they were closed. From 1952 Rheydt began to replace its tram with the Rheydt trolleybus . The last route of the tram was discontinued in 1959, but trams from the neighboring town of Mönchengladbach continued to Rheydt until 1968. In 1969 Mönchengladbach also completely stopped its tram operations. Rheydt finally ended the era of electrically operated local transport in the twin cities in 1973 with the discontinuation of the trolleybus.
Horse tram
The first efforts of the two cities Mönchengladbach , then still Munich-Gladbach (written: M. 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 Munich-Gladbach to build a connection. The city of Rheydt also agreed to this. Construction began on June 17th in Mönchengladbach 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 , Bismarckplatz , Bismarckstraße , Hindenburgstraße , Alten Markt and Sandradstraße to Aachener Straße in Mönchengladbach.
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. Mönchengladbach 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 the railway was, however, evenly occupied. It comprised both mayors and five city councilors each.
Electric tram
Until the turn of the century
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 Mönchengladbach.
At the same time, plans were made to expand the network and tendered the following routes:
| city | route | Length in km |
|---|---|---|
| Mönchengladbach | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st of May | Mönchengladbach | Krefelder Strasse - Eickener Strasse | 0.77 km |
| 3rd of June | Mönchengladbach | Old Market - Aachener Strasse - Brückenstrasse | 1.59 km |
| 3rd of June | Mönchengladbach | Dahlener Strasse - Barbarossastrasse | 0.19 km |
| 3rd of June | Rheydt | Mülfort - Odenkirchen | 2.70 km |
| 17th of June | Rheydt / Mönchengladbach | Odenkirchen - Mönchengladbach main station | |
| 7th of July | Rheydt | Dahlener Strasse - Stresemannstrasse - Geneicken station | 2.60 km |
| August 1st | Rheydt | Friedrich-Wilhelm-Strasse - Bahnhofstrasse - Rheydt station | 0.28 km |
| 18th of August | Rheydt | Geneicken station - Damaschkestrasse | 2.60 km |
| November 6th | Rheydt | Waldhausen - Hardt |
On October 1, 1901, the joint operation was terminated by the city of Mönchengladbach 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 |
|---|
| Mönchengladbach train station - Rheydt - Odenkirchen |
| Mönchengladbach train station - Rheydt |
| Electricity works - Krefelder Straße - Markt - Barbarossaplatz |
| Eickener Strasse - Schwogenstrasse - Krefelder Strasse - Markt - Waldhausen |
Rheydt tram 1900–1928
The tram in Rheydt made some route extensions after separating from Mönchengladbach.
| Opening date | route | length |
|---|---|---|
| March 26, 1905 | Morr - gene sleeves | - km |
| September 1, 1905 | Residual shrub - Wickrath | 2.8 km |
| November 3, 1905 | Genhülsen - Rheindahlen | 3.4 km |
| March 24, 1907 | Wickrath - Wickrathberg | 2.3 km |
Starting on October 28, 1913, the trams in Rheydt and Mönchengladbach were given a uniform numbering system. All lines in Rheydt were given an even number and the lines in Mönchengladbach were given odd numbers.
In 1928 the tram in Rheydt was part of the newly founded Niederrheinische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft AG. At their instigation, a regular-gauge tram network was to be built between the cities of Grevenbroich , Neuss and Rheydt . On September 28, 1928, the new company received the concession for these routes. The plan was to start construction on October 1, 1929, but this date was repeatedly postponed because the necessary financial resources were not available. So the concession finally expired and the railway was never built.
City tram Gladbach-Rheydt
On September 1, 1929, the city of Rheydt was incorporated into the city of Mönchengladbach. 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 | Mönchengladbach 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 | Mönchengladbach main station - 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.
Rheydt tram 1936–1959
As a result of the separation and retirement of numerous cars in 1929, the tram in Rheydt had almost only cars from the turn of the century. In order to keep the business going, one of the hired vehicles from Mönchengladbach. In addition, some used vehicles were procured. These obsolete wagons were used on the Rheydt network until the Second World War . Traffic was completely idle between the occupation by the Allies on March 1, 1945 and July 1945. Only then did the network gradually start operating again. Still, the age of the fleet had to be paid tribute to. So traffic was still between March 6th and 17th, 1947. On January 22nd, 1951, due to the poor condition of the tracks, the first compulsory closure of the last 300 m of the line to Rheindahlen took place.
In February 1951 the city council of Rheydt decided to introduce the trolleybus . With the exception of the joint route to Mönchengladbach, the remaining tram routes should be phased out. The first line to hit was on May 17, 1952, line 4 on the remaining section between Rheindahlen and Marienplatz. On June 22, 1952 and October 3, both branches of line 6 were discontinued. The last remaining route of the Rheydt tram to Odenkirchen was part of shared line 1 with Mönchengladbach. Stadtwerke Rheydt ceased operations on line 1 between Marienplatz and Odenkirchen on January 31, 1959, and at the same time the use of Rheydt trams on the remaining section of the joint line ended. Some of the newer vehicles could still be sold as used vehicles, for example to the Aachen tram , the rest was scrapped.
Lines 1 and 2 from Mönchengladbach operated with Mönchengladbach vehicles until October 5, 1968 to Rheydt.
literature
- Jürgen Lehmann: Tram and trolleybus in Rheydt . Kenning Verlag, Nordhorn 1991, ISBN 3-927587-01-X .
- 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 .