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The Rhein-Münsterland-Express (RE 7) is a
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 in the German state 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 ...
(NRW). The hourly service initially runs to the south east from
Krefeld Krefeld ( , ; ), also spelled Crefeld until 1925 (though the spelling was still being used in British papers throughout the Second World War), is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany. It is located northwest of Düsseldorf, its c ...
via
Neuss Neuss (; written ''Neuß'' until 1968; ; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is on the west bank of the Rhine opposite Düsseldorf. Neuss is the largest city within the Rhein-Kreis Neuss district. It is primarily known for its ...
to
Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...
and then turns to run to the northeast via
Solingen Solingen (; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, 25 km east of Düsseldorf along the northern edge of the Bergisches Land, south of the Ruhr. After Wuppertal, it is the second-largest city in the Bergisches Land, and a member of ...
,
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 ...
to
Münster Münster (; ) is an independent city#Germany, independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a ...
. Every two hours it continues to
Rheine Rheine () is a city in the district of Steinfurt (district), Steinfurt in Westphalia, Germany. It is the largest city in the district and the location of Rheine Air Base. Geography Rheine is on the river Ems (river), Ems, about north of Münster ...
.


History

Today's RE 7 is the successor to the former ''StädteExpress'' line SE from
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 Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants. Aachen is locat ...
via Cologne and Wuppertal to Munster. From 1998, under the original version of North Rhine-Westphalia’s integrated timetable (ITF 1), the service ran between
Düren Düren (; Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: Düre) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, between Aachen and Cologne, on the river Rur (river), Rur. History Roman era The area of Düren was part of Gallia Belgica, more specifically the ter ...
and Munster. With the introduction of ITF 2 in December 2002, the line was extended at both ends to Aachen and to Rheine. Since the
Rhein-Sieg-Express The Rhein-Sieg-Express is a Regional-Express service in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate running from Aachen Hauptbahnhof, Aachen via Düren station, Düren, Köln Hauptbahnhof, Cologne, Troisdorf, Siegburg/Bonn ...
(RE 9) often ran late under the new timetable, in June 2003, the RE 7 exchanged its section on the left (west) bank of the
Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...
with the RE 9's left bank route and has since then run to Krefeld. This eliminates a level crossing of rail tracks in Cologne and avoids conflicts between the two services. The short turn around times available for the RE 7 in Krefeld then led to significant delays on the RE 7. To stabilise the timetable, in 2006 locomotives on the line were changed from class 111 to class 112 and the Rhein-Münsterland-Express since then has runs every two hours to Münster. These changes eventually led to normal on-time running. The Zweckverband SPNV Münsterland (Münsterland rail transport association) is planning, however, to extend hourly services to Rheine. As part of the second stage of modernisation at Rheine station, one of the two disused platforms are to be reactivated, which would make available six platform tracks instead of four. The train could therefore operate without platform conflicts with
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 on the Emsland line. In return,
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 ...
RB 68 services would be discontinued. The line is operated every hour. Long sections of RE 7 runs parallel to
Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn The Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn () is a polycentric S-bahn network covering the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Region in the German federated state of North Rhine-Westphalia. This includes most of the Ruhr (and cities such as Dortmund, Duisburg and Essen), the B ...
lines and it has some of the character of a fast S-Bahn service and is perceived by the passengers accordingly. It was 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 until 2015. Since December 2015, it has been operated by
National Express Mobico Group, formerly National Express Group, is a British multinational public transport company with headquarters in Birmingham, England. Domestically it currently operates bus and coach services under brands including National Express. Th ...
.


Route

The Rhein-Münsterland-Express runs on the following railway lines: # Rheine–Münster line (full length) # Münster–Hamm line (full length) # Hamm–Hagen line (full length) # Dortmund–Wuppertal line (from
Hagen Hauptbahnhof Hagen Hauptbahnhof is a railway station serving the city of Hagen in western Germany. It is an important rail hub for the southeastern Ruhr area, offering regional and long distance connections. The station was opened in 1848 as part of the Berg ...
) # Wuppertal-Düsseldorf line (to Linden/Gruiten junction) # Gruiten–Köln-Deutz line (to Köln-Mülheim) # Duisburg– Köln-Deutz line (from Cologne-Mülheim) # Hohenzollern Bridge # Cologne–Krefeld line (entire length)


Rail operations

Since December 2015, the service has been operated by
National Express Mobico Group, formerly National Express Group, is a British multinational public transport company with headquarters in Birmingham, England. Domestically it currently operates bus and coach services under brands including National Express. Th ...
with Bombardier Talent 2s.National Express launches first Bombardier Talent 2 train
''Railway Technology'' 3 December 2014 It was previously 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 with
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 vi ...
s, each composed of four double-deck carriages hauled by class 112 locomotives.


Notes


See also

* List of regional rail lines in North Rhine-Westphalia *
List of scheduled railway routes in Germany NB: The scheduled routes given here are based primarily on the timetable of the Deutsche Bahn dated 9 December 2007.In addition the list of routes (see external links) reflects those of the German Regional Railway (''Deutsche Regionaleisenbahn'') ...


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rhein-Munsterland-Express Rail services in North Rhine-Westphalia