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The West Rhine railway (German: ''Linke Rheinstrecke'', literally 'left (bank of the) Rhine route') is a famously picturesque, double-track
electrified railway A railway electrification system supplies electric power to railway trains and trams without an on-board prime mover or local fuel supply. Electric railways use either electric locomotives (hauling passengers or freight in separate cars), ele ...
line running for 185 km from Cologne via
Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr ...
, Koblenz, and Bingen to Mainz. It is situated close to the western (left) bank of the river Rhine and mostly aligned to allow 160 km/h operation between Cologne and Koblenz and between Bingen and Mainz. Line speed between Koblenz and Bingen is restricted by the meandering nature of the
Rhine Gorge The Rhine Gorge is a popular name for the Upper Middle Rhine Valley, a 65 km section of the Rhine between Koblenz and Rüdesheim in the states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse in Germany. It was added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage ...
, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.


History

The first section of the line opened on 15 February 1844, by the Bonn–Cologne Railway Company (''Bonn-Cölner Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft'') between the former station of Cologne St. Pantaleon Cologne and Bonn. It was extended on 21 January 1856, south to
Rolandseck station Rolandseck station in Rolandseck near Remagen, Germany, built from 1856 to 1858, is considered an important part of the cultural heritage of the Rhineland and a significant early Germany railway building. It is the northernmost railway station on ...
and in 1859 north to the
Cologne central station 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 ...
. After the takeover by the
Rhenish Railway Company The Rhenish Railway Company ( 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 mid-19th century ...
(''Rheinische Eisenbahn Gesellschaft'', RhE) on 1 January 1857 the line was extended in 1858 through Remagen and Andernach and crossed the Moselle to Koblenz via the Moselle railway bridge, opened on 11 November 1858. The particularly beautiful section of the line between Koblenz and Bingerbrück (now called Bingen Hbf), which runs close to the river through this winding section of the Rhine Valley was opened on 15 December 1859. Bingerbrück station was at the time on the border of the Kingdom of
Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...
and the Grand Duchy of Hesse. Here it connected with the Rhine-Main line of the
Hessian Ludwig Railway The Hessian Ludwig Railway (German: ''Hessische Ludwigsbahn'') or HLB with its network of 697 kilometres of railway was one of the largest privately owned railway companies in Germany. Early history The Hessian Ludwig Railway was a product of ...
(''Hessische Ludwigsbahn''), opened on 17 October 1859, from Mainz and the Nahe Valley Railway to Saarbrücken. In Koblenz, the
Pfaffendorf Bridge The Pfaffendorf Bridge (german: Pfaffendorfer Brücke) is the oldest bridge over the Rhine at Koblenz, in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It carries federal highway B 49 over the Rhine, and connects central Koblenz with the suburbs of ...
over the Rhine was completed in 1864 to connect to the Right Rhine line to
Niederlahnstein Niederlahnstein is a part of the city of Lahnstein in Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany. Description and history Niederlahnstein is situated on the right bank of the Rhine. In 1905, it had a population of 4,351 people. By 1939, this had grown to 6,81 ...
and Wiesbaden. With the construction of the Horchheim Bridge south of Koblenz, opened in 1879, and the Urmitz Bridge north of Koblenz, opened in 1918, this bridge was progressively given over to pedestrian, vehicular and, eventually, tram traffic and the last train used it at the outbreak of World War I in August 1914. From 1861 the Nassau State Railways established a
train ferry A train ferry is a ship (ferry) designed to carry railway vehicles. Typically, one level of the ship is fitted with railway tracks, and the vessel has a door at the front and/or rear to give access to the wharves. In the United States, train f ...
between Bingen and
Rüdesheim am Rhein Rüdesheim am Rhein is a German winemaking town in the Rhine Gorge, and part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site in this region. It lies in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis district in the '' Regierungsbezirk'' of Darmstadt, Hessen. Known as Rüdesheim, it ...
; this was converted to a passenger ferry in 1900. From 1870 to 1914 another
train ferry A train ferry is a ship (ferry) designed to carry railway vehicles. Typically, one level of the ship is fitted with railway tracks, and the vessel has a door at the front and/or rear to give access to the wharves. In the United States, train f ...
operated between Bonn and Oberkassel to transfer trains between the West Rhine line and the East Rhine railway. During the First World War three strategic Rhine crossings were built at the request of the German generals in order to bring troops and war materials to the
Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers * Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a maj ...
. The Bingen–Rüdesheim ferry was replaced by the
Hindenburg Bridge The Hindenburg Bridge (german: Hindenburgbrücke) was a railway bridge over the Rhine between Rüdesheim in the German state of Hesse and Bingen-Kempten state of Rhineland-Palatinate, named in 1918 after Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg, later ...
, built between 1913 and 1915 and connecting the East Rhine line with the West Rhine railway and the Nahe Valley Railway. From 1916 to 1918, the Neuwied–Koblenz line, including the Crown Prince Wilhelm Bridge, was built between Urmitz and Neuwied-
Engers Engers is a district of Neuwied on the right banks of the river Rhine in Germany located next to Koblenz in Rhineland-Palatinate. Engers has 5,367 inhabitants. It is highwater-endangered by its direct contact with the river Rhine. City history ...
. The Ludendorff Bridge between
Erpel Erpel is a municipality in the district of Neuwied, in Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about ...
and Remagen was built from 1916 to 1919. It connected the East and West Rhine railway lines and the strategically important
Ahr Valley Railway The Ahr Valley Railway (german: Ahrtalbahn), Remagen–Ahrbrück, is currently a 29 km-long, partly single-track and non-electrified branch line, which runs through the Ahr valley from Remagen via Ahrweiler and Dernau to Ahrbrück in the German ...
. The Hindenburg, Ludendorff and Kronprinz-Wilhelm Bridges were destroyed in World War II. Only the Crown Prince Wilhelm Bridge was rebuilt, as the Urmitz bridge, in 1954. The line was electrified in 1959.


Current operations

Until the opening of the Cologne-Frankfurt high-speed rail line, the line was one of the busiest in Germany. The fastest trains connecting the Rhineland and southern Germany ran on the line. The importance of the line for long distance travel has diminished since the opening of the high-speed line. The line is now generally used by one
InterCity InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to regional, local, or commuter trains) generally call at m ...
or Intercity-Express service (stopping at Bonn, Koblenz and Mainz) each hour, one
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 ...
train each hour (the '' Rhein-Express'' to Koblenz Hauptbahnhof and one RegionalBahn (stopping) train each hour in each direction, as well as by many freight trains. Before the opening of the high-speed line, freight trains were largely restricted to the Right Rhine line, but with the increased availability of train paths on the Left Rhine line many of them are now routed over it.


Notes


References

* * Also and . * {{coord, 50, 21, 40, N, 7, 35, 25, E, region:DE-RP_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title Railway lines in North Rhine-Westphalia Railway lines in Rhineland-Palatinate Railway lines opened in 1844 1844 establishments in Prussia