The Viersen–Venlo railway is a railway line running from
Viersen
Viersen (; li, Veeëse) is the capital of the district of Viersen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
Geography
Viersen is situated approximately 8 km north-west of Mönchengladbach, 15 km south-west of Krefeld and 20 km east o ...
in Germany to
Venlo
Venlo () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southeastern Netherlands, close to the border with Germany. It is situated in the province of Limburg (Netherland ...
in the Netherlands. The line was opened in 1866 by the
Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company
The Bergisch-Markisch Railway Company (german: Bergisch-Märkische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft, BME), also referred to as the Berg-Mark Railway Company or, more rarely, as the Bergisch-Markische Railway Company, was a German railway company that togethe ...
. Formerly used by international passenger trains between
The Hague
The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...
and
Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...
, it is now only used by the
Maas-Wupper-Express
The Maas-Wupper-Express (RE 13) is a Regional-Express service in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), running from the Dutch border town of Venlo to Hamm in Westphalia.
Route
Together with the Wupper-Express (RE 4) and Rhine-Ruhr S-B ...
service from Venlo to
Hamm
Hamm (, Latin: ''Hammona'') is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northeastern part of the Ruhr area. As of 2016 its population was 179,397. The city is situated between the A1 motorway and A2 motorway. Hamm railwa ...
via
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...
and
Hagen
Hagen () is the Largest cities in Germany, 41st-largest List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany. The municipality is located in the States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located on the south eastern edge of the R ...
. It is also an important link for freight transport.
History
The line was built by the Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company (german: Bergisch-Märkische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft, BME), following its acquisition of the
Duisburg-Ruhrort–Mönchengladbach railway
The Duisburg-Ruhrort–Mönchengladbach railway is a historically significant, but now partly abandoned line in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The line was built by the Ruhrort-Crefeld District Gladbach Railway Company (german: Ruhr ...
as part of its takeover of the
Aachen-Düsseldorf-Ruhrort Railway Company on 1 January 1866.
The first section from Viersen to
Kaldenkirchen
Kaldenkirchen ( li, Kaldekerke) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany, situated close to the Dutch border at Venlo. It is part of the municipality of Nettetal.
History
The earliest reference to “Caldenkirken” appears in a document ...
was opened on 29 January 1866 and this was followed by the opening of the second section from Kaldenkirchen to Venlo on 29 October 1866.
In parallel with the building of this line, the
Rhenish Railway Company
The Rhenish Railway Company (German language, German: ''Rheinische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft'', RhE) was along with the Cologne-Minden Railway Company (CME) and the Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company (BME) one of the railway companies that in the m ...
(''Rheinische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft'', RHE) built
its own line from
Kempen via Kaldenkirchen to Venlo, which it opened on 23 December 1867.
The route was previously used by international long-distance traffic, including some “D-trains” (
D-Züge: long-distance expresses) to
Hoek van Holland Haven (Hook of Holland Harbour) and the
Rheingold.
Current situation
Since the closing of the main line to Kempen, the Rhenish track between Kaldenkirchen and Venlo has served as the second track of the Viersen–Venlo line. Between Dülken and Kaldenkirchen the line is single track only along a length of about 13 km. The installation of overhead electrification was completed on the full length of the line on 22 May 1968.
Operations
Today the only regular passenger services that operates on the line is
Regional-Express
In Germany, Luxembourg and Austria, the Regional-Express (RE, or in Austria: REX) is a type of regional train. It is similar to a semi-fast train, with average speed at about 70–90 km/h (top speed often 160 km/h) as it calls at f ...
service RE 13 (Maas-Wupper-Express ) and a pair of trains operating as the
Rhein-Erft-Express
The Rhein-Erft-Express is a Regional-Express service in the German states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate. It is numbered as line RE 8 and connects the cities of Mönchengladbach, Cologne, Bonn and Koblenz with each other and th ...
(RE 8) on the Kaldenkirchen–
Köln Messe/Deutz
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 million ...
line, which stop at every station of the route. The Maas-Wupper-Express has been operated hourly since 13 December 2009 by
Eurobahn
Eurobahn is a railway operator in Germany, established in 1998. It operates regional train services in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with cross-border services including Lower Saxony and the Netherlands.
Initially a joint venture between K ...
. This subsidiary of
Keolis
Keolis is a multinational transportation company that operates public transport systems. The company manages bus, rapid transit, tram, coach networks, rental bikes, car parks, water taxi, cable car, trolleybus and funicular services.
Based ...
contracted to operate the RE 13 for 16 years with modern
Stadler FLIRT electrical multiple units. Previously it had been operated by
DB Regio
DB Regio AG is a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn which operates regional and commuter train services in Germany. DB Regio AG, headquartered in Frankfurt am Main. It is a 100% subsidiary of the Deutsche Bahn Group and there part of the DB Regio bus ...
NRW with locomotive-hauled
push–pull train
Push–pull is a configuration for locomotive-hauled trains, allowing them to be driven from either end of the train, whether having a locomotive at each end or not.
A push–pull train has a locomotive at one end of the train, connected via ...
s consisting of
class 111 locomotives and five n-coaches (refurbished
Silberling
Silberling is the colloquial name for the n-coaches of the Deutsche Bundesbahn, a type of regional Passenger car (rail), passenger coach of which more than 5,000 units were built from 1958 to 1981. Nearly all of the coaches have undergone exten ...
carriages). Due to lack of approvals for the operation of the FLIRT sets from the German and Dutch regulatory authorities, services initially continued to be operated by locomotive-hauled push-pull trains between Mönchengladbach and Venlo. Meanwhile, the FLIRT sets ran only to Kaldenkirchen and were supplemented by a short shuttle of class 111 series with three n-coaches to Venlo. Since the end of July 2010 until further notice, Eurobahn has operated four carriage FLIRT sets between Venlo and Monchengladbach and five carriage FLIRT sets between Monchengladbach and Hamm.
The route is also used by many freight trains between Germany and the Netherlands and Belgium.
Stations
The main interchange stations on the Viersen–Venlo railway are:
*
Viersen
Viersen (; li, Veeëse) is the capital of the district of Viersen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
Geography
Viersen is situated approximately 8 km north-west of Mönchengladbach, 15 km south-west of Krefeld and 20 km east o ...
: to
Mönchengladbach
Mönchengladbach (, li, Jlabbach ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located west of the Rhine, halfway between Düsseldorf and the Dutch border.
Geography Municipal subdivisions
Since 2009, the territory of Mönchengladbac ...
,
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...
and
Duisburg
Duisburg () is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine and the Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruhr Region, Duisburg is the 5th largest city in Nor ...
*
Venlo
Venlo () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southeastern Netherlands, close to the border with Germany. It is situated in the province of Limburg (Netherland ...
: to
Roermond
Roermond (; li, Remunj or ) is a city, municipality, and diocese in the Limburg province of the Netherlands. Roermond is a historically important town on the lower Roer on the east bank of the river Meuse. It received town rights in 1231. Roer ...
,
Maastricht
Maastricht ( , , ; li, Mestreech ; french: Maestricht ; es, Mastrique ) is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the ...
,
Eindhoven
Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022,[Nijmegen
Nijmegen (;; Spanish and it, Nimega. Nijmeegs: ''Nimwèège'' ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and tenth largest of the Netherlands as a whole, located on the Waal river close to the German border. It is about 6 ...]
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Viersen-Venlo railway
Railway lines in the Netherlands
Railway lines in North Rhine-Westphalia
Railway lines opened in 1866
Railway lines in Limburg (Netherlands)
Transport in Venlo