Börde Railway

The Börde Railway (German: Bördebahn) is a single track (formerly double track), non-electrified branch line in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, running from Düren via Zülpich to Euskirchen. It is named after the Jülich-Zülpich Börde (a plain with fertile loess soil), which it runs through. Today, it is particularly important for freight transport. Every weekend, the Eifel-Bördebahn (RB 28) is operated as a volunteer-operated passenger train. The services is also scheduled to run during the week from 2018, running hourly from 2020.[3]

Düren–Euskirchen railway
Bördeexpress near Zülpich
Overview
Native nameBördebahn
Line number2585
LocaleNorth Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Service
Route number12474
Technical
Line length30.2 km (18.8 mi)
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Minimum radius500 m (1,600 ft)
Maximum incline1.25%
Route map
High-speed line from Aachen
Rur Valley Railway from Heimbach
0.0
 Düren
Rur Valley Railway to Jülich
former Erft Railway to Bedburg
former line to DKB transfer station
High-speed line to Cologne
Connecting curve from Neuss[1]
1.9
 Brückenstraße
(siding)
former line from DKB transfer station
former line from Nörvenich, Ringbahn
 Distelrath
(Bw of the Rur Valley railway)
former Düren District Railway to Zülpich
4.8
 Binsfeld
(request stop)
7.6
 Bubenheim
(former station, request stop)
9.1
 Jakobwüllesheim
(request stop)
13.0
 Vettweiß
(former station)
former Düren District Railway from Nörvenich
19.5
 Zülpich
former Düren District Railway to Embken
former Euskirchen District Railway
21.3
 Nemmenich
(request stop)
23.9
 Dürscheven
(most recently a siding)
27.3
 Elsig
(junction)
Start of new route since 1960
former connecting curve to Eifel Railway
28.5
 Euskirchen Ingridhütte
(siding)
Eifel Railway from Trier
End of new route since 1960
29.8
 Euskirchen
Eifel Railway to Cologne
Voreifel Railway to Bonn
Erft Valley Railway to Bad Münstereifel
Source: German railway atlas[2]

History

The Rhenish Railway Company (Rheinische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft, RhE) received a concession on 5 March 1856 for the construction and operation of a railway line between Düren and Schleiden. This route was required by the iron industry in the Eifel to transport ore and coal from the Inderevier and Wurm districts. On 6 October 1864, the Börde Railway was opened between Düren and Euskirchen. The steam locomotive Roer zog hauled seven carriages from Euskirchen to Düren.

In 1871, the section of the Eifel line from Euskirchen to Kall was opened. The Eifel line was then built past its original objective at Schleiden, although a branch line from Kall to Schleiden was not opened until 1884. In 1875, the Kalscheuren–Euskirchen section was completed. In 1880 the Euskirchen–Bonn line was opened. At the same time the Rhenish Railway Company was nationalised by the Kingdom of Prussia.

The level of traffic in 1905 is reflected in the number of tickets sold:

  • Bubenheim: 21 226 tickets,
  • Vettweiß: 37 883 tickets,
  • Zülpich: 60 532 tickets and
  • Dürscheven: 22 170 tickets.

The line was duplicated in the 1920s, during the French occupation. Dismantling of the line began in 1955, when the second track was removed between Bubenheim and Dürscheven. At that time only 18 trains ran in each direction each day. In 1964, it was proposed to electrify the Düren–Euskirchen–Bonn route to create a bypass of the major node of Cologne that could be operated electrically, but this was not realised.

Decline

On 27 May 1979 the Düren–Bonn line was converted into two separate lines for operations, Düren–Euskirchen and Euskirchen–Bonn, to reduce costs. At the same time, the Düren–Euskirchen line was converted into a branch line and a simplified system of train control (Zugleitbetrieb) was introduced. Deutsche Bundesbahn discontinued scheduled passenger operations on 27 May 1983. The first train for years ran on 6 July 1997 from Düren to Euskirchen.

Takeover by the Dürener Kreisbahn

On 19 December 2002 Dürener Kreisbahn (the transport operator owned by the city of Düren) acquired about 310,000 square metres of land, which comprises the railway track from Düren to Zülpich, from Deutsche Bahn, at a price of around € 860,000.

The Rurtalbahn GmbH, a subsidiary of Dürener Kreisbahn with its headquarters in Düren, operates freight trains on the section between Düren and the industrial siding of the KAPPA Zülpich-Papier company at Zülpich station.

There are continuing efforts to re-establish regular passenger services on the line. The Zülpich–Euskirchen section has been offered for sale but it has not been sold and is still owned by DB Netze. The track is no longer connected to DB’s tracks at Euskirchen station.

Notes
  1. Winand Perillieux; Hans J. Leven; Bernd Schwarz (1991). Eisenbahnen in Euskirchen. Zwischen Eifel, Börde und Ville (in German). Kenning Verlag. ISBN 3-927587-00-1.
  2. Eisenbahnatlas Deutschland (German railway atlas). Schweers + Wall. 2009. ISBN 978-3-89494-139-0.
  3. "Ab Ende 2020 Stündlich von Euskirchen nach Düren – Bördebahn soll täglich fahren". Kölnische Rundschau (in German). 1 December 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
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