Oberhausen–Arnhem railway

Oberhausen–Arnhem railway
Oberhausen–Arnhem railway
	1.5 kV DC (Arnhem – Zevenaar Section) ; 25 kV/50 Hz (Zevenaar – Emmerich) ; 15 kV/16.7 Hz (Emmerich – Oberhausen) ; overhead catenary
Operating speed	160 km/h (99 mph) (maximum)
Route map
	Legend
	Source: German railway atlas

The Oberhausen–Arnhem railway (also known in German as the Hollandstrecke, meaning "Holland line") is a two-track, electrified main line railway running close to the lower

Arnhem and forms part of the line between the Ruhr and Amsterdam. The line was opened by the Cologne-Minden Railway Company in 1856 and is one of the oldest lines in Germany

.

It branches in Oberhausen from the Duisburg–Dortmund line, a section of the Cologne-Minden trunk line and connects in Arnhem with the Rhine Railway to Amsterdam. The line is of high importance for international traffic, both for long-distance passenger services and for freight traffic and is listed as a priority project of the Trans-European Networks.

History

Bridge near Westervoort, Netherlands over the IJssel, 1904

The first plans to build a railway line on the Lower Rhine emerged in the 1830s. At that time the Amsterdam business community began to think about how they could expand trade with Germany. Plans were developed and the president of the Prussian administration in Cologne, Daniel Heinrich Delius, gave his conditional support for them. The Dutch government subsequently instructed its chief engineer for public works, Bernard Herman Goudriaan to develop a route for the line.^[2]

As a result, it was proposed the new railway would run from Amsterdam via

broad gauge of 1945 mm.^[2]

During the following years several proposals were submitted and rejected until on 18 July 1851 the two governments signed the "Prussian-Dutch agreement for the construction of the Oberhausen–Wesel–Emmerich–Arnhem railway". On 30 December 1852, the Cologne-Minden Railway Company (Cöln-Mindener Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft, CME) was granted a concession to build the line on condition that construction was completed within three years.[2]

The final route of the line was eventually approved by the Prussian Minister of Trade, Commerce and Public Works on 4 May 1854. This allowed the CME to commence the construction of the 61 km-long line from its Oberhausen station on its trunk line to Emmerich. Construction could also start on the 12 km section to the border and on to Arnhem, because the NRS had converted its line from Amsterdam to Arnhem to standard gauge in 1855.^[2]

Following a construction period of two years, the Oberhausen-Dinslaken section was opened on 1 July 1856 and the entire double-track line was put into operation on 20 October 1856. On the first day, four passenger trains and a freight train ran on the line. In 1859, 300 passengers, 34 tonnes of freight and 10 head of cattle were carried each day.^[2]

Wesel originally had a basic station suitable for its military role, which was replaced 25 years later by a half-timbered building.^[2]

Wesel junction

By the end of the

Bocholt Railway (also owned by the CME) and the Boxtel Railway also opened to Wesel. In 1912 the line to Oberhausen via Walsum was opened. Trains to Venlo and Boxtel ran over the almost two kilometre-long Wesel Railway Bridge

on the Rhine, built between 1872 and 1874.

Reconstruction after the Second World War

After the

Second World War bridges over the Rhine–Herne Canal, the Emscher river in Oberhausen, the Wesel–Datteln Canal and the Lippe in Wesel that had been destroyed during the war were restored with temporary repairs. As early as 15 November 1945 the tracks between Oberhausen and Arnhem were restored. Operations within the Netherlands were quickly restored. The destroyed Wesel Railway Bridge over the Rhine was not rebuilt, ending operations on the lines to Boxtel and Venlo. The largely destroyed station buildings on the line were rebuilt between 1952 and 1956.^[2]

Electrification of the line

In 1964/66, the whole two-track main line was electrified. Voltages change between the German 15 kV / 16.7 Hz AC and the Dutch 1.5 kV DC system in Emmerich station. The different electrifical systems, along with the different

Electric multiple units that can operate on the systems of both countries were first developed in 2001 and approved for operation in 2007.^[2]

Development of long-distance rail services

The Amsterdam-Cologne D-trains (D-Zug, that is luxury express trains), then stopping in Emmerich,

Frankfurt am Main

. At the same time, the two remaining EuroCity trains were also replaced by electric multiple units. After that the only long-distance train stopping in Emmerich and Wesel was a night train, and since December 2005 it only stops in Emmerich.

Completion of the new "Betuweroute"

In the Netherlands the Betuweroute was put into normal operations on 16 June 2007. The new freight route connects the port of Rotterdam with the Ruhr and southern Germany. It joins the existing line in Zevenaar.

Future Investments

In July 2013, the German federal government, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Deutsche Bahn and other parties signed a €1.5bn funding agreement to upgrade the 73 km Emmerich-Oberhausen segment. Improvements include laying a third track to remove bottlenecks, removal of level crossings, renewal of electrical equipment, installation of ETCS and building of noise attenuating walls.^[3]

Services

City Night Line sleeping car

The Oberhausen–Arnhem railway is served every two hours each day by long-distance passenger services operated by ICE International trains on the

Frankfurt (Main) Hbf / Basel SBB

route.

The following services run hourly:

Koblenz

–Cologne–Duisburg–Wesel,

Regional-Express RE 19 (Rhein-IJssel-Express): Düsseldorf–Emmerich-Arnhem,
Monday to Friday, RB 35 (Mönchengladbach–Duisburg–Wesel.^[4]

These services each run twice per hour on the Dutch section between
Arnhem and Zevenaar
:

a local train between Arnhem and Winterswijk, operated by Arriva,

a local train on weekdays only between Arnhem and Doetinchem, operated by Hermes under the brand name Breng.

In Wesel services on the Oberhausen-Arnhem line connect with RB 32 (Der Bocholter) services on the
Bocholt Railway
.
Regional passenger services on the German section are operated by
push-pull trains composed of five double-deck carriages hauled by a DB class 146
electric locomotives at speeds of up to 160 km/h.
Abellio Rail NRW started its operation in December 2016 and now is operating the services on the RE 19, RB 32 and RB 35 lines. There are 21 trainsets type Stadler FLIRT in the grey Abellio livery which are being used on these lines.^[4]
Passenger services on the Dutch section were operated by
Syntus
until the end of 2012, after that by Arriva and Breng.
Cross-border regional passenger services didn't operate between 2006 and 2017. Previously regional services operated between Emmerich and Arnhem (RB 34, Der Arnheimer). From 6 April 2017, Abellio service RE 19 was extended from Emmerich to Arnhem.
In addition to passenger traffic, the line has a very high volume of freight traffic.

Usage (2005)

The utilisation of the line in 2005—following the introduction of a regular interval timetable in 1998, the increase of long-distance and regional passenger services at the end of 2002 and the increase of freight transport—amounted to six to eight trains per hour in each direction. In each working day there were 104 units of regional passenger trains, 16 long-distance trains and 60 freight trains, each way.

References

ISBN 978-3-89494-139-0
.

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h "Die Hollandstrecke am unteren Niederrhein" (in German). PRO BAHN Regionalverband Niederrhein e.V. Archived from the original on 3 July 2009. Retrieved 28 October 2010.

^ "Funding for €1·5bn Emmerich – Oberhausen upgrade signed". Railway Gazette. July 24, 2013. Retrieved August 2, 2013.

^ ^a ^b "Abellio übernimmt Fahrten der RB 33 und RB 35 im Vorlaufbetrieb von DB Regio NRW | Abellio Deutschland". www.abellio.de (in German). Retrieved 2017-01-28.

External links

Description of line 2270 in the NRW railways archive of André Joost

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Oberhausen–Arnhem_railway&oldid=1193207810"

[Eisenbahnatlas-1] ISBN 978-3-89494-139-0
.

[PROBAHN-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h "Die Hollandstrecke am unteren Niederrhein" (in German). PRO BAHN Regionalverband Niederrhein e.V. Archived from the original on 3 July 2009. Retrieved 28 October 2010.

[3] "Funding for €1·5bn Emmerich – Oberhausen upgrade signed". Railway Gazette. July 24, 2013. Retrieved August 2, 2013.

[:0-4] "Abellio übernimmt Fahrten der RB 33 und RB 35 im Vorlaufbetrieb von DB Regio NRW | Abellio Deutschland". www.abellio.de (in German). Retrieved 2017-01-28.

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