Neuss–Viersen railway
Encyclopedia
North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with four of the country's ten largest cities. The state was formed in 1946 as a merger of the northern Rhineland and Westphalia, both formerly part of Prussia. Its capital is Düsseldorf. The state is currently run by a coalition of the...
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The Neuss-Viersen railway is a mostly disused railway line in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with four of the country's ten largest cities. The state was formed in 1946 as a merger of the northern Rhineland and Westphalia, both formerly part of Prussia. Its capital is Düsseldorf. The state is currently run by a coalition of the...
. It formerly ran from Neuss
Neuss Hauptbahnhof
is the central railway station and Hauptbahnhof for the German city of Neuss.-History:Neuss station was opened in 1853, along with the line from Aachen. A rail connection to Cologne followed in 1855. In 1875/76, the second station building was built. The current station building was opened at the...
via Kaarst
Kaarst
Kaarst is a town in the district Rhein-Kreis Neuss, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.- Geography :Kaarst is located west of the city Neuss and east of Mönchengladbach .- Division of the town :Kaarst consists of 5 subdivisions...
and Neersen to Viersen
Viersen station
Viersen station is a station in the city of Viersen in the west of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.-History:The first Viersen station was opened on 5 October 1849 by the Aachen-Düsseldorf-Ruhrort Railway Company as part of its Ruhrort–Gladbach line near Alte Bruchstraße.On 4 March 1850,...
, but now ends in Kaarst.
Most of the line still in operation is a single track and non-electrified branch line. A shorter section, however, is operated as part of the Duisburg-Ruhrort–Mönchengladbach line and is a two-track, electrified mainline railway.
History
The Rhenish Railway CompanyRhenish Railway Company
The Rhenish Railway Company was along with the Cologne-Minden Railway Company and the Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company one of the railway companies that in the mid-19th century built the first railways in the Ruhr and large parts of today's North Rhine-Westphalia.-Foundation :The...
built a line from its Lower Left Rhine Railway at Neuss station
Neuss Hauptbahnhof
is the central railway station and Hauptbahnhof for the German city of Neuss.-History:Neuss station was opened in 1853, along with the line from Aachen. A rail connection to Cologne followed in 1855. In 1875/76, the second station building was built. The current station building was opened at the...
to Viersen largely parallel with the Mönchengladbach–Düsseldorf and the Duisburg-Ruhrort–Mönchengladbach lines of the Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company (Bergisch-Märkische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft, BME), which had taken over the Aachen-Düsseldorf-Ruhrort Railway Company
Aachen-Düsseldorf-Ruhrort Railway Company
The Aachen-Düsseldorf-Ruhrort Railway Company was a German railway company founded in 1850 and taken over by the Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company in 1862...
(Königliche Direction der Aachen-Düsseldorf-Ruhrorter Eisenbahn), which built the Duisburg-Ruhrort–Mönchengladbach line. On 15 November 1877, the section from Neuss to Neersen was completed on the same day as the Krefeld–Rheydt line. The remaining section to Viersen RhE station
Viersen station
Viersen station is a station in the city of Viersen in the west of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.-History:The first Viersen station was opened on 5 October 1849 by the Aachen-Düsseldorf-Ruhrort Railway Company as part of its Ruhrort–Gladbach line near Alte Bruchstraße.On 4 March 1850,...
was opened on 1 November, 1878.
Economic importance
As with many of the RhE’s other projects, the route was built as directly as possible in order to provide a shorter travel time than the already established lines in order to gain market share. Only limited traffic was attracted to the new line, especially passenger traffic, because the line did not connect with Mönchengladbach BME station (now Mönchengladbach HauptbahnhofMönchengladbach Hauptbahnhof
is a railway station in the city of Mönchengladbach in western Germany.-Overview:The station is the largest railway station in the city and, along with Rheydt Hbf, one of the two Hauptbahnhof stations in Mönchengladbach...
), which was very important for rail traffic. The low passenger traffic, in particular, meant that the line could not be operated economically, even after the opening of a connecting line between the Krefeld–Rheydt line at Mönchengladbach-Neuwerk and Mönchengladbach Hauptbahnhof in 1909. Passenger services were closed from Kaarst on 29 September 1968 and freight operations ended in 1984.
Integration of lines
Since the opening of the Rhenish station in 1878 in Viersen, the RhE and BME stations were near each other. For the first few years after the nationalisation of the two railway companies nothing changed, then in 1887 passenger operations were moved from the RhE station to the BME station.30 years later, all passenger operations at the Viersen station were moved back to the location of the former Rhenish station, after the former straight line of the BME route between Mönchengladbach and Viersen was abandoned in favour of a new curved route built further east. This connected to the former Rhine route between Viersen RhE station and Neersen at the 4.6 km mark. The line from this point to Viersen station is still a two-track main line and has been electrified since 1964.
Current operations
The section between Neuss Hauptbahnhof and Kaarster SeeKaarster See station
Kaarster See station is located in the town of Kaarst in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia on the remaining part of the Neuss–Viersen railway, opened by the Rhenish Railway Company on 15 November 1877...
is operated by Regiobahn GmbH
Regiobahn GmbH
The Regiobahn is a German railway company founded in 1992 which operates the line S28 of the Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn between Kaarst and Mettmann....
as line S 28 of the Rhein-Ruhr S-Bahn
Rhein-Ruhr S-Bahn
The Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn is a polycentric S-Bahn network covering the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Region in the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. This includes most of the Ruhr , the Berg cities of Wuppertal and Solingen and parts of the Rhineland...
using Bombardier Talent diesel multiple units. From the terminus at Kaarster See to the former junction with the rerouting of the line in 1917 between Mönchengladbach and Viersen the line is completely closed and mostly dismantled. The Nordkanal bike path was built on part of the disused section. The section that is still in operation is owned by Regiobahn.
Future
Currently there are plans to reactivate the former line and extend S-Bahn services to Neersen. In addition, there are plans and ideas for two different versions:
- Complete reactivation of the line and the extension of line S 28 via Neersen to Viersen and VenloVenlo railway stationVenlo is the railway station for the city of Venlo in the province of Limburg, The Netherlands. It is situated on the Maastricht–Venlo railway, the Viersen–Venlo railway, the Venlo–Eindhoven railway and the Nijmegen–Venlo railway....
. A planning report on this project was supported by the Rhein-Maas-Nord EuroregionEuroregionIn European politics, the term Euroregion usually refers to a transnational co-operation structure between two contiguous territories located in different European countries. Euroregions represent a specific type of cross-border region.-Scope:...
with a grant of € 34,000.
- Reconstruction of the section of the former Krefeld–Rheydt line between Neersen and Mönchengladbach-Neuwerk and restoring the line from there to Mönchengladbach Hauptbahnhof.
Furthermore, the feasibility of a station at Neuss Nord or Neuss Morgensternheide between Neuss Hauptbahnhof and Kaarst IKEA is being examined.