Aachen–Mönchengladbach Railway
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The Aachen–Mönchengladbach railway is a main line in the
German state The Federal Republic of Germany is a federation and consists of sixteen partly sovereign ''states''. Of the sixteen states, thirteen are so-called area-states ('Flächenländer'); in these, below the level of the state government, there is a ...
of
North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...
. It is an important link between the
Ruhr The Ruhr ( ; , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr Area, sometimes Ruhr District, Ruhr Region, or Ruhr Valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 1,160/km2 and a populati ...
and Belgium for freight trains and is served by regional passenger trains. The line was built by the Aachen-Düsseldorf-Ruhrort Railway Company and is one of the oldest lines in Germany, which was opened between 1852 and 1854.


Route

The line begins in
Aachen Hauptbahnhof Aachen Hauptbahnhof (German for Aachen main station) is the most important railway station for the city of Aachen, in the far west of Germany near the Dutch and Belgian border. It is the largest of the four currently active Aachen stations, and ...
, where it connects with the line from Liège, Belgium and with the line to Cologne. Shortly later is the
Aachen Schanz station Aachen Schanz station is a railway station in Aachen, Germany on the railway line Aachen–Mönchengladbach. The station is located at the western end of the inner city, and is the station with the shortest walking distance to the historic cente ...
, opened in 2004. On the approach to
Aachen West station Aachen West station is a railway station in Aachen Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germ ...
is the junction with the Montzen Railway, which is exclusively used for freight trains to and from Belgium. The track runs on a high embankment through western Aachen and then through a deep cutting, which used to be the location of Richterich station, but is now a crossover only. In Richterich station there used to junction with the so-called Millions line (''Millionen linie'') to
Simpelveld Simpelveld (; ) is a municipality and a town in the southeastern Netherlands. It is part of the municipal cooperative unit Parkstad Limburg. Simpelveld is part of the ''Mergelland'', named after the presence of chalk (mergel), hill country popu ...
in the Netherlands. The line runs to Kohlscheid station, which is at the top of the Kohlscheid ramp.
Bank engine A bank engine (United Kingdom/Australia) (colloquially a banker), banking engine, helper engine or pusher engine (North America) is a railway locomotive that temporarily assists a train that requires additional power or traction to climb a grad ...
s were once needed to push heavy trains towards Aachen up the steep grade from Herzogenrath to Kohlscheid. It was also the starting point for the now almost completely dismantled Stolberg–Kohlscheid line to Würselen. In Herzogenrath there are junctions with the Stolberg–Herzogenrath line and the line to Heerlen in the Netherlands, which is served by the cross-border operator,
euregiobahn Euregiobahn is a system of regional trains (RB 20) in the combined area of the ''AVV (Aachener Verkehrverbund)'' at the Aachen (district), Düren (district) operated by DB Regio NRW. History The historical predecessors of ''Euregiobahn'' wer ...
. There is also a connection in Herzogenrath to the
Saint-Gobain Compagnie de Saint-Gobain S.A. () is a French multinational corporation, founded in 1665 in Paris as the Manufacture royale de glaces de miroirs, and today headquartered on the outskirts of Paris, at La Défense and in Courbevoie. Originally a ...
glass factory. The line runs through Übach-Palenberg halt and
Geilenkirchen station Geilenkirchen station is in Geilenkirchen in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia on the Aachen–Mönchengladbach railway. It is the only railway station in the town of Geilenkirchen. It provided an interchange between the mainline railway ...
, which once connected to the metre-gauge
Geilenkirchen District Railway Geilenkirchen (, Ripuarian: ) is a town in the district Heinsberg, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated near the border with the Netherlands, on the river Wurm, approx. 15 km (9.3 mi) north-east of Heerlen and 20 km ...
to Tüddern and Alsdorf. Currently, the standard gauge rail link of the power company, ''WestEnergie und Verkehr GmbH'' is the only remnant of the district railway era. The terrain becomes flat in
Lindern Lindern (; ) is a municipality in the district of Cloppenburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 20 km west of Cloppenburg Cloppenburg (; ; ) is a town in Lower Saxony, in north-western Germany, capital of Cloppenburg ...
, where there is a connection with the
branch line A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Branch lines may serve one or more industries, or a city or town not located ...
to the city of
Heinsberg Heinsberg (; ) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the seat of the district Heinsberg. It is situated near the border with the Netherlands, on the river Wurm, approx. 20 km north-east of Sittard and 30 km south-west ...
. The Lindern–Brachelen–Baal section of the line is on a high embankment across the low plain of the
Rur Rur or RUR may refer to: * Rur (river), a tributary of the Meuse, mostly in Germany * '' R.U.R.'', a 1920 Czech sci-fi play by Karel Čapek * Russian ruble, a currency (pre-1998 ISO 4217 code: RUR) * Ohaw, or rur, a Japanese soup dish * Rur., a ...
river, which is crossed by a concrete bridge. The next junction is at
Baal Baal (), or Baʻal, was a title and honorific meaning 'owner' or 'lord Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power (social and political), power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The ...
, which between 1911 and 1980 was a “tower station” (''Turmbahnhof''), that is a two-level station, where the now largely closed Jülich–Dalheim line crossed on the lower level, while the platforms of the Aachen–Mönchengladbach line were on the upper level. After Baal station the line crosses the largely rural country known as the ''
Erkelenz Erkelenz (, ) is a town in the Rhineland in western Germany that lies southwest of Mönchengladbach on the northern edge of the Cologne Lowland, halfway between the Lower Rhine region and the Lower Meuse. It is a medium-sized town (over 44,000) ...
er Börde'' ( Westphalian for "fertile lowlands"). In the former Rheydt freight yard, the now closed Krefeld–Rheydt line and the current Moenchengladbach freight bypass branch off. The latter allows freight trains to avoid the busy section between
Rheydt Hauptbahnhof Rheydt Hauptbahnhof is a railway station in Mönchengladbach, Germany. Mönchengladbach is the only city in Germany that has two stations called Hauptbahnhof, due to the merger of the city of Rheydt into Mönchengladbach in the late 1970s. Rhey ...
and
Mönchengladbach Hauptbahnhof Mönchengladbach Hauptbahnhof (German for ''Mönchengladbach main station'') 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, on ...
and run to Viersen-Helenabrunn station on the Mönchengladbach–Duisburg line. There is also a parking area for trains running to the Siemens test and validation centre at
Wegberg Wegberg (; ) is the northernmost town in the district of Heinsberg (district), Heinsberg in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Wegberg is situated between Mönchengladbach in the northeast and Erkelenz in the southeast; the town of Rhein ...
-Wildenrath. Between the freight yard and Rheydt Hauptbahnhof, the
Iron Rhine The Iron Rhine or Steel Rhine (; ) is a partially operational freight rail corridor connecting the port of Antwerp (Belgium) and Mönchengladbach (Germany) by way of Neerpelt and the Dutch towns of Weert and Roermond. The Treaty of London be ...
from
Wegberg Wegberg (; ) is the northernmost town in the district of Heinsberg (district), Heinsberg in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Wegberg is situated between Mönchengladbach in the northeast and Erkelenz in the southeast; the town of Rhein ...
runs as a single track, parallel with the Aachen–Mönchengladbach line. The lines from Cologne and Wegberg end in Rheydt Hauptbahnhof. The combination of these lines in Rheydt leads to dense traffic of the last section of the line to Mönchengladbach Hauptbahnhof. From there lines run to Duisburg and to Düsseldorf.


History

The planning for the construction of the route was initially carried out by the Aachen-Neuß-Düsseldorf Railway Company (), which on 21 August 1846 was granted a concession by the
Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...
n government for the construction of the Aachen–Neuss–Düsseldorf-Oberkassel line. The company got into financial difficulties as construction started. At the same time the Ruhrort-Crefeld District Gladbach Railway Company (''Ruhrort–Crefeld−Kreis Gladbach Eisenbahngesellschaft'') also became unfinancial. At their own request both companies were taken over in 1850 as the Royal Division of the Aachen-Düsseldorf-Ruhrort Railway Company (''Königliche Direction der Aachen-Düsseldorf-Ruhrorter Eisenbahn''), although this was also a limited company. The route was opened in the following sections: The ''Aachen-Düsseldorf-Ruhrort Railway Company'' was the operator of the line from 1854 until 31 December 1865. On 1 January 1866 the company’s assets were taken by the
Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company The Bergisch-Markisch Railway Company (, 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 together with the Cologne-Minden Railway (''Cöln-Min ...
(''Bergisch-Märkische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft'', BME), which was mainly owned by the Prussian government.


New route in Aachen

Originally, the line began at Aachen Marschierthor station, near the Marschiertor gate. This is now the location of a rail depot established in 1905 when the Aachen Hauptbahnhof was built to replace the former ''Aachen
Rhenish The Rhineland ( ; ; ; ) is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section. It is the main industrial heartland of Germany because of its many factories, and it has historic ties to the Holy Roman Empir ...
Station'' and the Marschierthor station. In 1910, Aachen Templerbend station was demolished and replaced by Aachen West station on a relocated section of track. The old line through Templerbend station ran through western Aachen from the current junction with the Montzen Railway to the northeast directly to the former Richterich station.


Modernisation in 2007

In 2007 the track between Übach-Palenberg and Rheydt Hauptbahnhof was connected to an
electronic interlocking In railway signalling, an interlocking is an arrangement of signal apparatus that prevents conflicting movements through an arrangement of tracks such as junction (rail), junctions or crossings. In North America, a set of signalling appliances a ...
at Grevenbroich. In 2006 and 2007, new ''Ks'' signals replaced the last semaphore signals on the track in Lindern station and between Herrath and Rheydt Hauptbahnhof. The stations at Wickrath, Übach-Palenberg and Erkelenz were renovated. In 2007, a new electronic interlocking was installed in Aachen Hauptbahnhof and the old colour light signals were also replaced by ''Ks'' signals.


Current operations

Regional services on the line are operated by
DB Regio DB Regio AG () is a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn which operates regional and commuter train services in Germany. It is a 100% subsidiary of the Deutsche Bahn Group and therefore part of the DB Regio business segment, which also includes DB Regionn ...
NRW. The hourly '' Wupper-Express'' (RE 4)
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 a top speed of and an average speed of about as it calls at fewer stations than ''R ...
service and the hourly ''Rhein-Niers-Bahn'' (RB 33)
Regionalbahn The ''Regionalbahn'' (; lit. Regional train; abbreviated ''RB'') is a train categories in Europe, type of Regional rail, local passenger train (stopping train) in Germany. It is similar to the Regionalzug (R) and Regio (Swiss railway train), R ...
service run on the line. The Regionalbahn service stops at all stations, while the Regional-Express stops at all stops except Kohlscheid, Brachelen, Herrath and Wickrath. From Mönchengladbach these trains continue on two different routes (RB 33 via the Duisburg-Ruhrort–Mönchengladbach line to Duisburg and RE 4 via the Mönchengladbach–Düsseldorf line to
Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...
,
Wuppertal Wuppertal (; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany, with a population of 355,000. Wuppertal is the seventh-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and List of cities in Germany by population, 17th-largest in Germany. It ...
,
Hagen Hagen () is a city in the States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany, on the southeastern edge of the Ruhr area, 15 km south of Dortmund, where the rivers Lenne and Volme meet the Ruhr (river), Ruhr. In 2023, the ...
and
Dortmund Dortmund (; ; ) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the List of cities in Germany by population, ninth-largest city in Germany. With a population of 614,495 inhabitants, it is the largest city ...
). It is served by
Intercity InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the train categories in Europe, classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to InterRegio, regional train, r ...
services twice a week running between Aachen and
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
, stopping at Mönchengladbach, Rheydt, Herzogenrath and Aachen. In freight transport, the line is currently used as an alternative to the
Iron Rhine The Iron Rhine or Steel Rhine (; ) is a partially operational freight rail corridor connecting the port of Antwerp (Belgium) and Mönchengladbach (Germany) by way of Neerpelt and the Dutch towns of Weert and Roermond. The Treaty of London be ...
. Trains running from Belgium via the Montzen Railway to the Ruhr run on the Aachen–Mönchengladbach line from Aachen West station at least as far as Rheydt freight yard. They continue either via the Mönchengladbach freight rail bypass or via Mönchengladbach Hbf to Duisburg.


References


External links

* trecken/2550.htm Description of line 2550in NRW railway archive of André Joost {{DEFAULTSORT:Aachen-Monchengladbach railway Railway lines in North Rhine-Westphalia Aachen Railway lines opened in 1852 1852 establishments in Prussia 1852 establishments in the German Confederation Buildings and structures in Aachen (district) Buildings and structures in Heinsberg (district) Buildings and structures in Mönchengladbach