The Lower Ruhr Valley Railway (German: Untere Ruhrtalbahn) is a former railway in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It was opened on 24 January 1876 by the Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company (Bergisch-Märkische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft, BME) along the Ruhr to the southwest of the city of Mülheim an der Ruhr and connects Mülheim-Styrum on the Witten/Dortmund–Oberhausen/Duisburg railway and Essen-Kettwig on the Ruhr Valley Railway.
| Lower Ruhr Valley Railway | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Overview | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Native name | Untere Ruhrtalbahn | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Line number | 2185 (Kettwig–Mülheim-Styrum) 85 (Ruhrbrücke junction–Mülheim West) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Locale | North Rhine-Westphalia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Service | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Route number | Most recently: 231a | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Technical | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Line length | 14.7 km (9.1 mi) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operating speed | 40 km/h (24.9 mph) (most recent maximum) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Passenger services edit
The first passenger services in 1876 ran from Kettwig over the Kettwig railway bridge and the Ruhr bridge in Mülheim to the Mülheim station of the BME,[2] which was later renamed as Mülheim (Ruhr) and is now Mülheim (Ruhr) West.[3] The passenger service was moved in 1909 to Styrum[4] because the connecting curve to Mülheim BME was upgraded for the expansion of Friedrich Wilhelms-Hütte steel works and Mülheim (Ruhr) West station was in the way. At the end of World War II, the two Ruhr bridges were destroyed.[2] Consequently, passenger services from Mülheim had to stop short of the Ruhr bridge at Kettwig and later a station was built there called Kettwig Stausee ("Kettwig reservoir", below the current S-Bahn station of the same name) as a terminus.[5] In Mülheim, the passenger service was diverted over the Broich connecting curve to Speldorf. After the re-establishment of the Mülheim bridge in 1954 both of the north-west end points (Styrum and Speldorf) were served until the abandonment of passenger services in 1968.[2]
History edit
- 24 January 1876: BME opened Kettwig–Styrum line
- 6 March 1876: freight traffic commenced between Kettwig and Styrum
- 15 March 1876: passenger services started between Kettwig Ruhrbrücke junction
- 1899: line duplicated between Kettwig and Broich
- 1909: line duplicated between Broich and Styrum
- 10 December 1909: passenger services started between Ruhrbrücke junction and Styrum
- 1945: Broich–Styrum bridge destroyed
- 10 April 1945: Kettwig–Kettwig Stausee bridge destroyed
- 1953: passenger service between Kettwig vor der Brücke and Kettwig Stausee restored
- 23 May 1954: single-track bridge restored for freight between Styrum and Broich
- 1 November 1955: Kettwig Reservoir Styrum converted from double-track main line in single-track branch line
- 1954/1955/1958: passenger service between Broich and Styrum was restored
- 26 May 1968: passenger service between Kettwig Stausee and Styrum abandoned
- 1 September 1968: freight operations between Kettwig Stausee and Saarn closed
- 10 October 1973: Broich–Styrum line closed
- 10 October 1973: Saarn–Broich line converted into a station track
- 1978: freight operations between Saarn and Broich closed
- 2 November 1981: Saarn–Broich line closed
- 3 February 1982: Saarn–Broich line dismantled.
- 1992: connecting line between Broich and Speldorf dismantled.
Notes edit
- ^ Eisenbahnatlas Deutschland (German railway atlas). Schweers + Wall. 2009. ISBN 978-3-89494-139-0.
- ^ a b c "Line 2185: Kettwig - Mülheim-Styrum". NRW Rail Archive (in German). André Joost. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
- ^ "Mülheim (Ruhr) West station operations". NRW Rail Archive (in German). André Joost. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
- ^ "Line 85: Ruhrbrücke Abzw - Mülheim BM". NRW Rail Archive (in German). André Joost. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
- ^ "Kettwig Stausee station operations". NRW Rail Archive (in German). André Joost. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
References edit
- Friedhelm Stöters (1993). Die Ruhrtalbahn von Kettwig nach Mülheim an der Ruhr (in German). Duisburg: self-published.
- Martin Menke (1999). Die Geschichte der Ruhrtalbahn von Mülheim (Styrum) über Broich-Saarn-Mintard nach Kettwig (in German) (3 ed.). Mülheim an der Ruhr: self-published by Eisenbahnfreunde.
External links edit
- Günter Voss. "Die Ruhrtalbahn in Kettwig" (in German). Retrieved 31 July 2013.
- "Die untere Ruhrtalbahn" (in German). Eisenbahnfreunden Mülheim an der Ruhr. Archived from the original on 29 October 2012. Retrieved 31 July 2013.