Sauerland-Express
| RE 17: Sauerland-Express | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Route number: | 430, 435 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Line length: | 209 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Maximum speed: | 140 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operator: | DB Regio NRW | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| State: | North Rhine-Westphalia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Route map | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Sauerland-Express (RE 17) is a Regional-Express service in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, running from Hagen to Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe and is managed by the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr (Rhine-Ruhr Transport Association), the Verkehrsgemeinschaft Ruhr-Lippe (Ruhr-Lippe Transport Company, VRL), the Nahverkehrsverbund Paderborn-Höxter (Paderborn-Höxter Local Transport Association, nph) and the Nordhessischer Verkehrsverbund (North Hessian Transport Association, NVV). It is operated by DB Regio NRW with electric multiple units of classes 612 and 628.4 and is popular with tourists and users of the Schönen-Wochenende (“beautiful weekend”) tickets.
The operation of the service from 2016 has been put out to tender as part of the Sauerland Net (Sauerland-Netz).[1]
Services
The service runs between Hagen and Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe every two hours and between Warburg and Hagen additional services produce an hourly service. The services to and from Kassel use electric multiple units of class 612 (RegioSwinger) while those on the cycle turning back at Warburg use class 628.4 sets.[2] On Fridays and Sundays, some special services run to Willingen. The Fröndenberg–Bestwig section is also supplemented with an hourly service of the RE 57 (the Dortmund-Sauerland-Express), which continues to Winterberg.
Rollingstock
Earlier the RE 17 was operated with Class 218 locomotives hauling three to six Silberling carriages together with class 624 diesel multiple units. The Warburg cycles were changed in the mid-1990s to class 628.4 DMUs. From the beginning of the 21st century, the locomotive-hauled trains on the Kassel cycles were replaced by class 612 (RegioSwinger) EMUs. Individual services to Willingen were operated with trains hauled by class 218 locomotives until 2006.
Future
Elimination of stops in December 2013
On the Warburg–Kassel section, RE 17 services will only stop in Hofgeismar from the timetable change on 15 December 2013, in particular eliminating the stop at Kassel Central Station (Hauptbahnhof). Thus, the travel time to Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe will be reduced by up to 13 minutes.[3]
Planned upgrade of the route
It has been planned to increase the line speed to 160 km/h using tilting technology. This would have reduced the travel time between Hagen and Kassel from three hours to two hours. This upgrade was originally planned to be realised by the end of 2006. Inclusion in the planned network of 2015 Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan (Bundesverkehrswegeplan) was rejected in 2010 due to its estimated low economic return.[4] Its realisation in the foreseeable future is unlikely.
Tender for operations from 2016
The operation of the Sauerland-Express from 2016 is being tendered as part of the Sauerland network with tenders being called in August 2013.[5] Operations of the Sauerland-Express between Warburg and Kassel will be curtailed. Instead Regional-Express services on this section will be provided by the extension of the RE 11 (Rhein-Hellweg-Express), which will run on the Düsseldorf–Paderborn–Kassel Wilhelmshöhe route.[1]
Route
The line operates from Hagen to Schwerte on the Hagen–Hamm railway and from Schwerte to Warburg on the Upper Ruhr Valley Railway. In Warburg it changes to the Frederick William Northern Railway, also known as the Hessische Nordbahn (Hessian Northern Railway).
Connections
| Station | Connections to/from | Line |
|---|---|---|
| Hagen | Bochum, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Essen, Hamm, Iserlohn, Cologne, Lüdenscheid, Siegen, Solingen, Venlo (NL), Wuppertal | RE 4, RE 7, RE 13, RE 16, RB 40, RB 52, RB 91, S 8, S 5,  ,  |
| Schwerte (Ruhr) | Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Hamm, Iserlohn, Cologne, Münster as well as Rheine, Solingen, Venlo (NL), Wuppertal | RE 7, RE 13, RB 53 |
| Fröndenberg | Menden, Neuenrade, Unna | RB 54 |
| Bestwig | Winterberg | RE 57 |
| Brilon Wald | Korbach, Willingen, Brilon Stadt | RB 55, RE 57 |
| Warburg | Dresden, Hofgeismar, Münster, Ostseebad Binz | RT 3, RB 89, , |
| Kassel Hbf | Frankfurt, Fulda, Göttingen, Gießen, Halle(Saale), Korbach, Marburg, Treysa | RE, RB, RT (only local) |
| Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe | Berlin, Frankfurt, Fulda, Gießen, Halle (Saale), Hamburg, Korbach, Marburg, München, Treysa, Stuttgart | RT, RE, RB, , (local and long-distance) |
Notes
- 1 2 "Ausschreibung Sauerland-Netz gestartet" (Press release) (in German). Nahverkehr Westfalen-Lippe (NWL). 11 October 2012. Retrieved 7 August. Check date values in:
|access-date=(help) - ↑ "RE17: Sauerland-Express". NRW rail archive (in German). André Joost. Retrieved 7 August 2013.
- ↑ "NWL-Verbandsversammlung beschließt Angebotsverbesserungen für 2014" (in German). Nahverkehr Westfalen-Lippe (NWL). 18 July 2013. Retrieved 7 August 2013.
- ↑ "Neues Stationspreissystem belastet den ZRL jährlich mit 2,3 Millionen Euro: Infrastrukturausbau in der Region gefährdet" (Press release) (in German). Zweckverband Ruhr-Lippe. 12 October 2010. Retrieved 7 August 2013.
- ↑ "Service contract - 319330-2012" (in German). 9 October 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2013.