Car train service Niebüll – Westerland

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DB Sylt Shuttle towards Westerland at the end of Hindenburgdamm in Morsum / Sylt
A DB Sylt shuttle drives through Morsum station

The car train Niebüll-Westerland is a Autotransportzugangebot in the district of North Friesland in Schleswig-Holstein . The trains run between Niebüll and Westerland on the island of Sylt via the Hindenburgdamm . Unlike the car train , it only covers a short distance of 39 kilometers. Taking the DB Autozug is the only way to get directly to Sylt by motor vehicle from mainland Germany.

The operators are DB Fernverkehr AG under the “Sylt Shuttle” brand and the Railroad Development Corporation , which started regular operations on October 18, 2016 with its subsidiary RDC Germany under the “ Autozug Sylt ” brand as the second car transport provider.

Systems and vehicles

A look over the DB Autozug while driving

Since there is no regular public road connection from the mainland to the island of Sylt, shuttle trains transport the vehicles on the last section of the march from Niebüll over the Hindenburgdamm to Westerland. This route is 39 kilometers long and two long sections (mainland: Niebüll – Lehnshallig – Klanxbüll and Sylt: Morsum – Keitum – Tinnum) only have a single track. Two-way traffic is only possible in the area of ​​the two railway stations named in the middle. The journey time, including loading and unloading, is approximately 45 minutes.

An alternative to rail transport is the ferry connection between List on Sylt and Havneby with the Rømø-Sylt line .

Sylt Shuttle

"Sylt Shuttle" logo

The vehicles are loaded onto specially designed car transport vehicles (so-called “Westerland units”). Cars may have a height of up to 1.65 m at the bottom and up to 2.70 m at the top. While double-decker cars are used for car transport , trucks , buses and cars with roof structures and a total height of over 2.70 m are loaded onto flat cars. The maximum overall height is 4.05 m. During the passage, the driver and passengers remain seated in the vehicles.

For the transport of motorcycles and motorcyclists, five special Bomd 277 motorcycles were built in the Neumünster repair shop in 2001. These special wagons were converted from former BDms 276 half-luggage wagons and offer space for 32 passengers and eight motorcycles. Since the 2016 timetable, the motorcycle cars are no longer used. Instead, motorbikes are transported on flat cars, while the drivers are transported in a Sprinter- branded car transporter.

As a rule, the car trains were pulled by locomotives of the DB class 218 , often because of the strong winds and the high air resistance of the car train cars with two machines. Class 215.9 locomotives were also used between 2003 and 2008 . This series was created in 2003 and 2004 in the Bremen-Sebaldsbrück repair shop through conversions from the BR 215. The double traction of the locomotives of the series 218 has been replaced by new locomotives of the series 245 (245 021-027) since the end of 2015 .

The company maintains its car transport wagons, the “Westerland units” and flat wagons as well as the series 218 and 245 diesel locomotives in a workshop built at Niebüll station. The former maintenance facility in Husum had been transferred to the Nord-Ostsee-Bahn .

AUTO TRAIN Sylt

Car transporter with the "AUTOZUG Sylt" logo

On October 18, 2016, RDC Germany initially started regular operations with a restricted service in addition to the service offered by Deutsche Bahn. The start of operations was originally planned for December 2015. Initially, type Res and Sps flat wagons will be used. A new type of ramp trolley enables larger cars to be loaded via the upper loading ramp.

For the purpose of expanding transport operations to larger vehicles from July 23, 2019, RDC Autozug Sylt previously rented 36 new Snps type transport vehicles from the Bulgarian wagon manufacturer Traktsia from European Rail Rent . In September 2019, 14 of these were already in operation. These had been equipped on site in the workshop of the North German Railway Company in Niebüll for the company's own use.

history

After the Second World War , motor vehicles to Sylt were initially loaded onto flat wagons via head ramps , which had originally been used for loading cattle. As early as 1950, 20,000 vehicles were transported over the Hindenburgdamm. In 1958 up to ten car trains drove daily. Now the number of journeys increased every year, so that in 1959 a siding had to be built on the dam to allow encounters on the still single-track connection. In 1961 the crossing track in Keitum was also extended to its current length of around 630 m. Soon the one-story trains could no longer cope with the onslaught and the loading stations in Niebüll and Westerland received double-decker systems in 1964. In the Husum depot, the Laees 549 double-decker wagons were converted for the special conditions of the Hindenburgdamm, and in 1968 new loading facilities were built for these two- decker trains. In 1970, 261,000, in 1980 already 533,000 and in 1986 even 641,000 vehicles were transported. In 1972 more crossing tracks were built at Emmelsbüll and Morsum .

A new phase in Niebüll brought a new loading system on the east side of the station with large storage space and direct access from federal highway 5 , which freed the bottleneck at the level crossing in Gather Landstrasse from the access traffic for car loading. In addition, new records were set in the transport figures every year, especially at Easter. With the “Westerland units”, newly built trains with Laasek's 555 carriages were acquired in 1989 . Older cars are still maintained for seasonal reinforcements.

In 2003, the Connex subsidiary Nord-Ostsee-Bahn failed to set up a shuttle service after DB Autozug had not granted access to the loading terminals. The flat wagons intended for traffic were returned. After the DB had not allocated any train paths that could be reasonably expected from Connex's point of view for a corresponding registration for the 2004 annual timetable either, Connex turned to the Federal Railway Authority with a complaint . In October 2003, this prohibited Deutsche Bahn from exercising grandfather rights in the construction of the route. On June 21, 2005, the Cologne Administrative Court confirmed Deutsche Bahn's view of grandfather rights and the preference for regular traffic, such as regular traffic, in four urgent proceedings .

In mid-January 2011, the Münster Higher Administrative Court decided that DB Autozug had to publish conditions under which other rail companies could also use the car loading stations. The Federal Network Agency and the Cologne Administrative Court had previously expressed this opinion . In the last instance, the Federal Administrative Court confirmed this on January 8, 2015.

At the end of September 2013, DB AutoZug was dissolved and merged with its parent company, DB Fernverkehr . Since then, the Sylt shuttle has been operating under the name "DB Fernverkehr AG - Inselverkehr Sylt".

On October 6, 2014, the Railroad Development Corporation Germany (RDCD), a subsidiary of the US railroad company RDC , applied to take over the connection for the timetable change in December 2015 with almost 50 percent more departures. Due to a decision by the Federal Network Agency, contrary to the original intention of RDC, only eleven trips were awarded in a fixed framework contract. This was won by RDC Germany for the period from December 2015 to December 2025. Further framework agreements were awarded to DB Fernverkehr for Intercity (6) and nah.sh for local rail transport. The other car train routes are reassigned every year.

Diesel multiple unit Kampen of the "Sylt Shuttle plus"

Since, according to procurement law, routes with longer distances and consequently higher charges are to be preferred, DB Fernverkehr registered extended routes for the 2016 annual timetable from the previous endpoint Niebüll to Bredstedt and in the outskirts of the day to Hamburg-Altona . The concept of operations marketed as "SyltShuttle plus" offer includes since then, a diesel multiple units of class 628 to be coupled to the rear end of the car train. The car train continues to end in Niebüll, while the railcar is extended to Bredstedt and once a day to Hamburg-Altona (as a transfer to the Hamburg-Eidelstedt depot ). The "Sylt Shuttle plus" was also the topic of the satirical program " extra 3 " because of the extremely modest number of passengers . According to information from Deutsche Bahn, 1.5 passengers use this connection per trip.

DB Netz awarded RDC Deutschland five additional train paths compared to the framework agreement, around 70 going to DB Fernverkehr. As a result, there should be two operators from March 2016, the number of trips would have almost doubled.

Incidents

  • In 1993 a pickup truck and trailer were blown by a flat car of the car train. The inmates were slightly injured.
  • On September 3, 2009, there was a fatal accident on Hindenburgdamm when a gust of wind (eight to nine winds ) blew a truck loaded with Styrofoam off a flat car of the moving car train. The driver was thrown out and died at the scene of the accident. The regional court of Flensburg sentenced a train attendant to a fine of 3750 euros. The judges considered it proven that the driver was responsible for the accident because he had not properly lashed the truck. Even before the accident in September 2009, there was a discussion about safety on Hindenburgdamm. A working group was set up to develop a new emergency concept. This emergency concept was presented in December 2011 by the North Friesland district .
  • On July 15, 2012, a two-year-old boy fell from a mobile home on a flat car of the auto train and suffered life-threatening injuries. Against this background, the discussion about the safety of the car transport vehicles used flared up again. On February 4, 2013, the German Federal Police advised Deutsche Bahn to introduce seatbelt compulsory in car trains.

Web links

Commons : Autozug Sylt  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Rail competitor: First RDC car train leaves Sylt , NDR, October 18, 2016, accessed on October 19, 2016
  2. ↑ https://www.syltshuttle.de/syltshuttle-de/anreise/pkw.html
  3. ↑ Sylt Shuttle Tariff - Conditions and Prices ( Memento from January 20, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ↑ https://www.syltshuttle.de/syltshuttle-de/anreise/lkw/ueberfahrt.html
  5. ↑ Eisenbahn-Kurier (Ed.): Class 225 ( Memento of the original from September 29, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.v160.de archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
    Eisenbahn-Kurier (Ed.): Class 215 - sub-series 215.9 ( Memento of the original from February 1, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.v160.de archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .
    Arbeitsgemeinschaft Drehscheibe e. V. (Ed.): Turntable . Issue 211 November 2008. Cologne October 4, 2008, ISSN  0934-2230 , p. 32.
  6. ^ Deutsche Bahn: Traxx ME ordered for Sylt-Shuttle. In: eurailpress.de. June 10, 2014, accessed November 29, 2015 .
  7. ↑ Deutsche Bahn orders seven TRAXX multi-engine diesel locomotives for the Sylt shuttle. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014 ; Retrieved November 29, 2015 (press release).
  8. ^ Rail competitor: First RDC car train leaves Sylt , NDR, October 18, 2016, accessed on October 19, 2016
  9. ^ In: Eisenbahn-Revue International , Issue 10/2019, ISSN  1421-2811 , p. 507
  10. ↑ http://www.maerklinist.de/pages/original/hindenburgdamm/hindenburgdamm.htm
  11. ↑ Hans Bock: The March Railway . Verlag Boyens & Co., Heide 1989, ISBN 3-8042-0458-9
  12. ↑ Notification No Connex-Sylt-Shuttle . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International , issue 7/2003, ISSN  1421-2811 , p. 297
  13. ^ Message from EBA complains about train path allocation . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International , issue 12/2003, ISSN  1421-2811 , p. 528
  14. ↑ Message DB AG wins process for train path allocation . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International , Issue 8–9 / 2005, p. 360
  15. ^ Railway monopoly to Sylt falls . In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , No. 11, January 14, 2011, p. 18
  16. ↑ BVerwG 6 B 35.14. Federal Administrative Court, January 8, 2015, accessed on November 29, 2015 .
  17. ↑ Pierre Boom: Syltshuttle: New operator brings itself into play. In: Sylter Rundschau. November 29, 2015, accessed October 9, 2014 .
  18. ↑ Series 628: The tin toy as a mold rider . In: turntable . No. 265 , August 2015, p. 26 .
  19. ↑ Real madness: Sylt Shuttle Plus ndr.de/fernsehen
  20. ↑ North Friesland's “Ghost Train”: Numbers for the “Sylt Shuttle plus”: Only 1.5 passengers per trip
  21. ^ Friederike Reussner: Sylt Shuttle: Victory for Deutsche Bahn. In: Sylter Rundschau. July 10, 2015, accessed July 13, 2015 .
  22. ↑ Pierre Boom: SyltShuttle conflict delayed train schedule. August 20, 2015, accessed November 29, 2015 .
  23. ↑ Sylt: trucks blown off the car train. sh: z , September 4, 2009, accessed November 29, 2015 .
  24. ↑ New deployment concept for the Hindenburgdamm. Schleswig-Holsteinischer Zeitungsverlag, December 13, 2011, accessed on November 29, 2015 .
  25. ↑ Stephanie Lamprecht: Serious accident: Boy (2) falls from the Sylt shuttle - father jumps after it. In: Hamburger Morgenpost. July 15, 2012, accessed November 29, 2015 .
  26. ^ Günter Schellhase: Sylt-Shuttle: Everyone should buckle up. In: Kiel News. February 4, 2013, accessed November 29, 2015 .