Sittard–Herzogenrath railway

The Sittard–Herzogenrath railway is a railway line running from Sittard in the Netherlands to Herzogenrath in Germany, passing through Heerlen. The line was opened in 1896.

Sittard–Herzogenrath railway
Overview
StatusOperational
LocaleGermany and the Netherlands
Termini
Service
Operator(s)Nederlandse Spoorwegen, Arriva
History
Opened1896
Technical
Line length29 km (18 mi)
Number of tracksdouble track (Sittard–Landgraaf)
single track (Landgraaf–Herzogenrath)
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification1.5 kV DC (Sittard–border NL/D)
15 kV/16.7 Hz AC (border NL/D–Herzogenrath)
Operating speed100 kilometres per hour (62 mph) (Sittard–Landgraaf)
80 kilometres per hour (50 mph) (Landgraaf–Herzogenrath)
Route map

 Line from Roermond
0.0
 Sittard
 Line to Maastricht
4.0
 Geleen Oost
7.2
 Spaubeek
9.1
 Schinnen
11.9
 Nuth
15.0
 Hoensbroek
 from Maastricht
18.6
 Heerlen
19.8
 Heerlen de Kissel
21.8
 Landgraaf
 to Kerkrade
24.5
 Eygelshoven Markt
27.3
 Netherlands / Germany
 Line from Mönchengladbach
28.7
 Herzogenrath
 Line to Aachen

History

The line was nationalized in 1899. In World War II, cross-border passenger traffic was stopped on the line. In 1992, the first passenger trains began running on the line at 2-hour intervals as a City Express from Aachen to Heerlen. As the first real stage of the transnational regional rail system Euregiobahn in June 2001, the connection from Aachen to Heerlen via Herzogenrath was introduced. The train ran hourly from Heerlen to Stolberg.

Present

April 2014 marked the start of the electrification of the single-track railway from Landgraaf to Herzogenrath, which was completed at the end of 2018. On 27 January 2019 Arriva started a direct service between Aachen, Heerlen and Maastricht.[1] Plans to extend this service from Maastricht to Liège (Belgium) have been delayed to 2022 or later.[2]

The following train services on this track:

  • Intercity IC 3500: Amsterdam Schiphol – Utrecht – Eindhoven – Heerlen
  • Sneltrein RE 18: Aachen – Heerlen – Maastricht
  • Stoptrein RS15: Sittard – Heerlen – Kerkrade

Stations

The main interchange stations on the Sittard–Herzogenrath railway are:

  • Station Sittard (2006)
    Station Sittard (2006)
  • Station Heerlen (2006)
    Station Heerlen (2006)
  • Station Heerlen De Kissel (2008)
    Station Heerlen De Kissel (2008)
  • Station Landgraaf the right track direction Herzogenrath, left track direction Kerkrade. (2006)
    Station Landgraaf the right track direction Herzogenrath, left track direction Kerkrade. (2006)
  • Station Eygelshoven Markt (2011)
    Station Eygelshoven Markt (2011)
  • Bahnhof Herzogenrath (2012)
    Bahnhof Herzogenrath (2012)

References
  1. "Drielandentrein rijdt, maar voorlopig wel als tweelandentrein". NOS (in Dutch). 2019-01-27. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
  2. "Drielandentrein in 2019 zeker niet meer door naar België". De Limburger (in Dutch). 2019-01-31. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
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