Trier western route

Trier western route
Route number (DB) :	3140 Ehrang – Igel 3141 Ehrang – Biewer
Course book section (DB) :	last: 627, 263g (before 1970)
Route length:	19 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Route class :	D4
Power system :	15 kV 16.7 Hz  ~
Top speed:	90 km / h
Dual track :	continuous
Legend Moselle route from Koblenz Eifel route from Gerolstein 0.0 Honor Moselle route to Trier Hbf Mäusheckerweg Junction Biewer 3.0 3.3 Biewer B 53 5.8 Pallia Kölner Straße / Martinerfeld (full barrier) K1 / Eurener-Str. 7.7 Trier West from the Trier repair shop Connection of the French army Eisenbahnstraße (half barrier) 10.5 Trier-yours Zeppelinweg (call barrier) to the industrial area Trier-Euren 13.6 Zewen (district of Trier) Kantstrasse (half barrier) Dirt road (call barrier) B 49 14.2 to the Konzer Moselle Bridge formerly von der Hindenburgbrücke (1912–1945) 15.6 Hedgehog B49 17.9 Hedgehog West formerly Nims-Sauertalbahn to Bitburg (until 1969) 19.2 Hedgehog border sour Route to Luxembourg

As Trier West Railway is a nineteen-kilometer railway line from Trier-Ehrang about Trier West to the state border in Igel referred. The fourteen-kilometer, double-track, electrified section between Ehrang and the Konz Moselle Bridge forms a bypass for the Trier Hauptbahnhof railway junction .

The line was built between 1860 and 1870 and has been used exclusively for freight traffic between Ehrang and Igel since 1983 . From December 2021 at the earliest, the route is to be used by two new regional train lines between Wittlich and Luxembourg and Trier-Hafenstraße and Konz and Saarburg.

history

In 1856 the state of Prussia decided to build a railway line between Saarbrücken and Trier and Luxembourg . There were military considerations in favor of this , since the garrison in Trier and the Prussian federal fortress in Luxembourg were connected to the Palatinate Ludwig Railway, which was opened in 1849 ; there were also economic reasons for the construction, because international rail traffic was not to run on the French line Metz – Thionville – Luxemburg , which was under construction . It was also intended to create new sales channels for the Saarland coal mining industry , the Dillinger Hütte and the Boch stoneware factory in Mettlach .

Construction of the Saar line began on June 25, 1856. The first section to Merzig was opened on December 16, 1858, the remainder to Trier on May 25, 1860. Initially, an express train, three passenger trains and two freight trains ran between Trier and Saarbrücken every day. 15 months later, on August 29, 1861, the remaining section between the Konzer Moselle Bridge and the city of Luxembourg was finally opened. The total cost was around 5.6 million thalers .

For military reasons, the state of Prussia forced the private Rheinische Eisenbahngesellschaft to build a railway line from Kall to Trier through the Eifel by 1864 . The last section of the Eifel route between Gerolstein and Trier was opened on June 15, 1871. This completed the later western Trier line.

With the construction of the Moselle route between Koblenz and Trier, which opened on May 15, 1879, however, it lost most of the passenger traffic. This led from Ehrang near Pfalzel over the Moselle to the new Trier main station and then on to Konz-Karthaus, where there was a connection to the routes to Saarbrücken, Metz and Luxembourg.

French troops leave Trier-West in June 1930

The last section of the Trier western line, the Ehrang – Biewer freight train track, was opened to traffic on October 1, 1925. It was built in the course of the construction of the now disused Ehrang marshalling yard and the associated Ehrang depot . An overpass was built at Biewer station, on which the Ehrang directional track crossed the double-track freight train line.

During the Second World War , the line was only slightly damaged in two places and in 1945 it was again open to traffic.

Ore train in Trier-Pallien in 1994

A delivery freight train in 1997 in Trier-West

After the war, the passenger train route was partially dismantled on a track, the overpass in Biewer removed and replaced by a crossover switch. In 1966, 13 pairs of local trains ran between Igel and Trier-West, of which only four went through to Ehrang. Pallien and Biewer were no longer served from 1966. Passenger traffic began to decline in the early 1970s. Initially, the passenger trains were discontinued later in the evening and on the weekends and replaced by rail buses. The remaining trains that were still running were increasingly faced with "competition" from rail buses running in parallel, which ultimately led to an ever greater thinning out of the train services. In 1983 passenger traffic was discontinued after only a single train per day (" alibi train ") had operated for two years . In 1983 around 40 freight trains ran on the route every working day. After the cessation of passenger traffic in 1983, the overhead line was dismantled on the Ehrang – Biewer passenger trainer and the technical safety of the Mäusheckerweg level crossing (half barrier with flashing lights) was removed.

At the end of the 1980s, the increasing relocation of freight trains began on the partly parallel Saar and Moselle routes . This limited the operating times of the western line.

In the 1990s, the line was only used for service trips to the Euren industrial area, which means that the section from the industrial area Euren junction via Zewen in the direction of Igel was without scheduled train traffic. It was intended to rebuild the line on a track and remove the entire overhead line. The remaining track should be operated as an industrial connection in order to serve your industrial area. For this reason, the closure of the entire western route was requested. The closure was approved on November 14, 1997, but never completed. At the end of the 1990s, the points of the former passenger train ice in Ehrang and Biewer were removed and the line was reopened for through freight traffic.

In the meantime, the route is again being used intensively for through freight traffic, depending on the load on the Saar and Moselle routes. The industrial track in the Euren / Zewen industrial area is served from Monday to Friday at lunchtime by a handover that runs regularly from Ehrang via Trier West and Euren. Further trains, e.g. B. Wine deliveries to the Sektkellerei Schloss Wachenheim run if necessary.

At a meeting of Transport Ministers Claude Wiseler and Peter Ramsauer on October 7, 2011, it was announced that the line between Igel station and Igel West will be expanded to double track again at a cost of 19.6 million euros. The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg contributed eight million euros of this. In May 2014, the bridge between the Igel exit, in the direction of Luxembourg and Löwener Mühle, serves as a bridge over the federal highway 49 over the railway line, demolished and rebuilt in an expanded form. The expansion of this 1.8-kilometer-long bottleneck was completed by December 2014, which enabled the top speed to be increased to 90 km / h and an hourly service between Trier and Luxembourg. Because of the lawsuit of a resident, the second track between Igel and Wasserbillig did not go into operation with the timetable change, but only in January 2015.

Reactivation of passenger traffic

Disused part between Trier-Ehrang and Trier-Biewer

Efforts have been made since 1992 to reactivate the route for passenger traffic. To achieve this, the Verkehrsclub Deutschland carried out special trips in 1996, 2008 and 2009.

The regional rail transport association North of Rhineland-Palatinate decided in 2008 that the route should be reactivated, primarily to take account of the increased volume of traffic in the region. For this purpose, the current planning provides for two new regional train lines, each running hourly, which are to run between Wittlich and Luxembourg or the new stop at Hafenstrasse and Konz (partly Saarburg).

Funding, especially the construction of a total of four breakpoints, is primarily provided by the state. The Kaiser-Wilhelm-Brücke, Westbahnhof, Euren and Zewen stops are to be built by December 2018. A second expansion stage provides for three more stops: Biewer, Pallien (at the height of the current level crossing) and at the exhibition center . The reactivation should take place in 2020. The draft and approval planning should be completed by September 2016 so that the plan approval procedure can then be initiated. In this process, which will take two years, authorities, rescue services and environmental protection associations, residents and citizens can submit their objections so that they can be taken into account in the planning. This also makes it possible to take noise protection measures. In November 2019 it was announced that the first passenger trains would not be running on the western route before the end of 2024.

The operating concept strives for an approximately half-hourly service on the western route on weekdays with two alternating RB lines. One of them is to be connected to the Dommeldange train station in Luxembourg via the Kirchberg-Pfaffenthal stop, which was opened in 2017 , in order to offer commuters a direct connection to the Kirchberg plateau , the location of many banks and European institutions.

line	route	Tact
RB 83	Wittlich - Trier Hafenstraße - Trier Westbahnhof - Wasserbillig - Luxembourg - Luxembourg Kirchberg-Pfaffenthal - Dommeldange	60 min (Mon-Sat)
RB 84	Trier Hafenstrasse - Trier Westbahnhof - Konz - Saarburg	60 min (Mon-Sun)

On October 22, 2018, the planning approval procedure for the Trier western line was opened by the Rhineland-Palatinate State Mobility Agency .

Route

The western route between Trier-Biewer and Trier-Pallien

The route began at Ehrang station and after three kilometers it reached Biewer. This part is no longer passable today. Today Biewer can be reached from Ehrang via the Ehrang freight yard and the Ehrang – Biewer freight train track. As far as the former Pallien stop (km 5.8), the route leads along the left bank of the Moselle, past the sandstone cliffs of the Joster and Fichtenberg, which are up to 80 meters high. Then the Moselle valley widens again and the route leads via Trier West (km 7.7), Euren to Zewen.

Until the end of the 1990s there was still a French army siding between Trier West and Euren. The industrial track branches off between Euren and Zewen to the Trier-Euren industrial area , which belongs to the city of Trier. It is around 4.1 kilometers long and serves primarily as a connection between the Japan Tobacco International plant and the Schloss Wachenheim sparkling wine cellar .

While the track at Zewen is up to 1.5 kilometers away from the Moselle, the line between Zewen and Igel cuts through the Heidenberg, where the Moselle is only 200 meters away. On the Zewen side (left bank of the Moselle) the route continues to Igel - Wasserbillig (L), where after crossing the Luxembourg border on the bridge over the Sauer near Wasserbilligerbrück, the Wasserbillig-Luxembourg route connects to the local train station . On the Konzer side, however, the line splits at Kreuz Konz into the connection to Karthaus / Trier Hauptbahnhof , to Konz / Saarbrücken and to Oberbillig / Metz (F) .

The western route also formed the extension of the Nims-Sauertalbahn from Bitburg-Erdorf via Bitburg and Irrel to Igel to Trier West. The branch of the Sauertal route was at the level of the Löwener Mühle (Igel West, between Wasserbillig and Igel) until it was dismantled at the end of the 1960s.

Operating points

Although today all train stations and stops except Igel are located in the area of ​​the city of Trier, they later bore their designation of origin from the time when the districts did not yet belong to Trier (Ehrang is the last remaining train station today). Pallien was incorporated in 1912, Euren and Biewer in 1930, Ehrang and Zewen in 1969. Only the Trier train station to the left of the Moselle / Trier West always had Trier in its name.

Honor

→ Main article : Ehrang train station

Ehrang train station was opened in 1870.

Biewer

Biewer originally owned a two-story station building (because of the transfer of the Ehranger track over the freight train route). The platform for the Ehrang direction track could be reached via stairs from Biewer. After the overpass was torn down, the train station was also rebuilt. Now only a small bus shelter at the edge of the platform served as a train station. Because of this little house, the station got its name "Bud" (for Bude), which is common in Biewer. In 2008 only remains of the platform can be guessed under the vegetation. Around 1963 Biewer ceased operations.

Pallia

Machine shed in Trier-Pallien from the 1860s

Nothing is left of the former Pallien stop. It was located a little north of the Kaiser Wilhelm Bridge, which was built in 1913, and consisted of a platform on the Zewen track and a platform between the tracks. The former station restaurant was preserved, easily recognizable as the only half-timbered building. Operation was discontinued around 1961.

Trier left the Moselle / Trier West

Trier-West station in 1994

→ Main article : Trier West train station

The first Trier train station is no longer preserved. The building was south of today's platform. The reason for the construction at this point was, on the one hand, the planned connection to the Eifel route. On the other hand, there were extensive barracks in the immediate vicinity of the train station until 1919, which were used as social housing after the end of the First World War and the demilitarization of the Rhineland . Between 1878 and 1903 the station was called "Trier links der Mosel (Trier ldM)", while today's main station was called "Trier rechts der Mosel (Trier rdM)". In 1905 the station was renamed "Trier West". The building still preserved today dates from 1914/16. The old station was still used by the railway as an office building and was demolished after the Second World War.

The platform on Ehrang directional track is still there, the one on Zewen directional track has been removed. The signal box attached to the station is still occupied, the station itself was sold and converted into accommodation for homeless men, the "Benedikt-Labre-Haus". The extensive track system was dismantled in the spring of 2013 except for the two main tracks and a siding.

Until 1986, this was the Trier freight yard and the access to the Trier repair shop, which was also closed in 1986 . To the north and south of the station there are still some railway buildings from the 1850s to 1870s, some of which are under monument protection.

Yours

Former siding of the French army in Euren

The Euren stop is at the level crossing on Eisenbahnstraße at the end of Trier-Euren. The platform on the direction track Zewen was removed here shortly after the cessation of passenger traffic due to dilapidation to a few meters. The platform on the direction Trier West is still completely in place, but it has grown over. Originally yours had a small station / gatekeeper building. This was located directly on the Zewen platform, but was torn down after the automatic half-barrier system went into operation in the early 1970s.

Zewen (district of Trier)

Special train in Zewen in 1996

The Zewen stop (Kr. Trier) is the only one that is still almost completely intact, with two outer platforms and a concrete bus shelter on the direction platform Trier West, only the platform lighting was removed immediately after passenger traffic had ceased. The entire facility is in relatively good condition and could be put back into operation without major investments. Since the breakpoint is in the center of the village, clearing / cleaning measures take place regularly. The entrances to the two outer platforms are closed for security reasons. The former station building is still there, but is privately owned and housed a jewelry store until December 24, 2015. Until the early 1970s, Zewen station was occupied and had an outer and a central platform. In Zewen, there was a loading track at the location of today's Igel directional platform. With the commissioning of the signal box in Trier West, from which the entire route is now monitored, and the commissioning of the automatic half-barrier system, the staff was withdrawn.

Web links

Commons : Trier West Line  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

literature

• Kandler, Udo: Railways in the Moselle valley I . In: Eisenbahn-Journal . Special edition 2, 1990, ISSN  0720-051X .
• Kandler, Udo: Railways in the Moselle Valley II . In: Eisenbahn-Journal . Special edition 8, 1991, ISBN 3-922404-26-X .
• Kreckler, Martin; Kreckler, Wolfgang: Railway in Ehrang . Interface between the Saar, Eifel and Moselle railways. EK-Verlag, Freiburg 2008, ISBN 978-3-88255-709-1 .
• Schnitzius, Sebastian: Development of the railway in the Trier area . Ed .: Deutsche Bundesbahn. Trier 1984.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Heribert Waschbüsch: Luxemburg-Trier every hour from the end of 2014. Volksfreund-Druckerei Nikolaus Koch GmbH, accessed on March 20, 2015 . 
2. ↑ Harald Jansen: New bridge for the railway, long detours for commuters. In: Trierischer Volksfreund. Volksfreund-Druckerei Nikolaus Koch GmbH, accessed on January 22, 2012 . 
3. ^ Expansion of the railway line between Trier and Luxembourg by 2015. In: Trierischer Volksfreund. Volksfreund-Druckerei Nikolaus Koch GmbH, accessed on July 10, 2012 . 
4. ↑ Bahn is allowed to start double-track operation at Igel. In: regioportal24.de. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015 ; accessed on January 2, 2015 . 
5. ^ Rail transport - West route project. Five new regional train stops planned by 2018. City of Trier, accessed on July 25, 2014 . 
6. ↑ The interests of the citizens of Trier are taken into account when reactivating the western route on volksfreund.de
7. ^ Rainer Neubert: Rail traffic: Everyone wants the Trier western line, but only with quiet trains. Retrieved February 28, 2020 . 
8. ↑ Trier; Structural changes to the western Trier line for local rail passenger transport. State Office Mobility Rhineland-Palatinate, October 22, 2018, accessed on December 5, 2018 .