Gelsenkirchen-Bismarck–Winterswijk railway

Winterswijk–Gelsenkirchen-Bismarck
Route number:423
Line length:59
Track gauge:1435
Maximum speed:100
German states: North Rhine-Westphalia
Dutch Province: Gelderland
Operating points and lines[1]
Legend
Line from Zutphen
44.0 Winterswijk
44.5 Line to Zevenaar
44.8 Former Line to Bocholt
50.4
52.3
Netherlands / Germany border
50.1 Burlo
44.5 B 70
Former Baumberge Railway from Bocholt
Former North Railway from Ahaus-Burgsteinfurt
42.3 Borken (Westf)
siding
37.0 Marbeck-Heiden
29.8 Rhade
A 31
25.3 Deuten
25.2 Dorsten-Deuten Weseler Straße (B 58)
Line from Coesfeld
20.5 Hervest-Dorstenformer Wesel–Haltern line
VEW Dorsten siding (built in 1972)
Former connecting line from Dorsten CME
Lippe and Wesel–Datteln Canal
18.9 Dorsten(formerly RhE)
Former line to Bottrop Nord (RhE)
16.6 Tönisholte
14.1 Bottrop-Feldhausen
11.2 Gladbeck-Zweckel
10.9 Zweckel (junction)
Connecting line to Gladbeck West
Rheinbaben–Scholven line of RBH Logistics
Gladbeck West–Gelsenkirchen-Buer Nord line
9.4 Gladbeck Ost
5.1 Gelsenkirchen-Buer Süd
4.9 GE-Beckhausen Horster Str. (Bogestra)
Freight line from Gelsenkirchen-Horst
3.1 Hugo junction
Emscher and Rhein-Herne Canal
2.6 Buer Süd (Kanalbr)
Freight line from Nordstern
-0.3 Gelsenkirchen-Bismarck
Gelsenkirchen Zoo
Wanne Unser Fritz
Line to Wanne-Eickel
former line to Dortmund
Freight line to Herne

The Winterswijk–Gelsenkirchen-Bismarck railway is a formerly continuous, 59 kilometre-long railway line, built by the former Dutch Westphalian Railway Company (Niederländisch-Westfälische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft), from Winterswijk in the Netherlands to Bismarck, now part of Gelsenkirchen, in the northern Ruhr region of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

The part of the line that is still in operation today is largely single-track and non-electrified and is classified as a main line.

History

The Dutch Westphalian Railway Company received a concession on 26 June 1878 for the construction of a railway line that would connect the Ruhr area as directly as possible to the network of the Dutch railways in Winterswijk and Zutphen.[2]

It began the construction of the line in Winterswijk, which was already connected to a railway line to Zutphen. From there, the line runs nearly directly to Hervest via Borken. There the line met the Duisburg–Quakenbrück railway, which in the meantime had been opened by the Rhenish Railway Company in 1879, and followed it to Dorsten. The last section ran in a wide arc to the south-east and met the Royal Westphalian Emscher Valley Railway at Hugo junction. The line ended in Bismarck station, now Gelsenkirchen-Bismarck marshalling yard, of the Royal Westphalian Railway Company and the Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company, on the Bergisch-Märkische Emscher Valley Railway. The two companies were already operating in cooperation with each other. Passenger traffic on the line started on 21 June 1880 under the management of the Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company from the beginning.[2]

Partial closure

Line between Winterswijk and Borken

At the beginning of the First World War, cross-border traffic between Burlo and Winterswijk was stopped, but it was restored in the late 1920s. At the beginning of the Second World War, passenger services were finally abandoned, while the last freight train ran on 30 September 1979.[2] The Dutch part of the track was declared a nature reserve, making its reopening difficult.

Passenger services were abandoned between Borken and Burlo on 29 September 1961, while freight traffic continued until 30 September 1994. This section was formally closed on 1 January 1996.[2]

Current situation

The main part of the line between Gelsenkirchen Zoo station (one kilometre east of the Gelsenkirchen-Bismarck marshalling yard) and Borken station is still open as a non-electrified and largely single-track line. The line is double track from Zweckel junction, near Gladbeck West station, where with a link from the line from Bottrop connects, to Dorsten station. From there to Hervest-Dorsten station the line runs parallel to the line to Coesfeld, creating the impression of a double-track line.

On the section of the line that is still in operation there are now 37 crossings, eleven with full barriers, 18 with half barriers and three which just have a flashing light, which means that there is an average of just over one kilometre between each crossing. A special feature is the railway crossing in Gelsenkirchen-Beckhausen, where this line crosses a narrow-gauge railway operated by BOGESTRA at an at-grade crossing.

Rail services

The majority of the line is still served by public transport services:

Prignitzer Eisenbahn GmbH operated the RB 44 service until December 2010. Since then, like the other three services, it has been operated by NordWestBahn.

Notes

  1. Eisenbahnatlas Deutschland (German railway atlas) (2009/10 ed.). Schweers + Wall. 2009. ISBN 978-3-89494-139-0.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Line 2236: Winterswijk ↔ Gelsenkirchen-Bismarck". NRW Rail Archive (in German). André Joost. Retrieved 21 July 2013.

External list