Elberfeld–Dortmund railway

The railway line Elberfeld- Dortmund is one of the most important and busiest railway lines in Germany. It is the main axis of the long-distance passenger transport, rail passenger and freight local services immediately south of the Ruhr, including navigated by Intercity-Express, InterCity, Regional-Express, Regional Bahn and S -Bahn.

This 56 km long route is the main route of the Bergisch- Märkischen Railway Company, it was opened in 1849 and has since been expanded several times and electrified on complete length.

History

Since the Cologne -Minden Railway Company intended to circumvent the Bergische Land along the Ruhr and Wupper widely already in planning their route, the Bergisch- Märkische Railway Company (BME ) acquired on 12 July 1844, the Prussian concession for a railway connection of highly industrialized area in the valley of the Wupper and the Bergische Land to the east. A connection to the west of the Rhine was completed in 1837, the Dusseldorf - Elberfeld Railway Company (DTE) in 1841.

Construction of the line

In 1825 Friedrich Harkort in the journal " Hermann" published the call for the construction of a railway from Cologne to Minden, where he in the scripture written by him: " The railway from Minden to Cologne " renewed in 1833. The BME has the track built from 1844 to the plans of Harkort and put into individual sections in operation.

Long single track construction

• On October 9, 1847, the section Elberfeld- Schwelm was opened to passenger traffic. Because of the difficult conditions above the Kruiner tunnel section Schwelm - Gevelsberg the Streckenbau came here slow

Widen the

• By the end of 1860, the sections of Elberfeld- Schwelm and Milspe -Dortmund was expanded to double track
• 1882, track doubling of the section Schwelm - Milspe (later Station Ennepetal )

Electrification

The entire route is operated electrically since May 29, 1964.

Expansion of the mainline

After the nationalization of the BME started to develop this, the major railway junctions Dusseldorf and Dortmund connecting route gradually. Between 1900 and 1915, an additional pair of tracks for local traffic was built ( called in the language of the web " local tracks " ) in order to keep the existing tracks for through trains. The first tracks were built until 1911 between the lower and upper Barmen, Elberfeld Vohwinkel after they were opened on 10 April 1913 and two years later was closing the gap between Elberfeld and Barmen sub.

On December 12, 1939, between the stations of Hagen- porch and Wetter (Ruhr) a serious railway accident when two passenger trains came together because of Dispatchers and interlocking errors occurred. 15 people died, 36 were also injured.

Expansion for S -Bahn

In the course of setting up the S -Bahn line S 8 that are mentioned in the previous section, local tracks between Wuppertal- Vohwinkel and Wuppertal- Barmen were integrated into the new range of S-Bahn ( 2525 ). On 29 May 1988, the opening of the new route pieces of Wuppertal- Barmen was up to the branch Linder Hausen for railway Witten- Schwelm to the east, and from Wuppertal to Dusseldorf main station Vohwinkel west.

Current situation

The railway line runs partly parallel to the built by the Rhenish Railway Company Wuppertal Northern Railway, which led north of the Wupper the through the countryside and is shut down for the most part today.

The S -Bahn line S 8 of Hagen Dusseldorf to Moenchengladbach used today sections of both routes, as well as connecting them railway Witten- Schwelm. The S -Bahn line S 5 of Dortmund Witten to Hagen ( and further than S 8 ) runs on its full route along the historic route course.

Is due to construction work or other restrictions, a train running through Wetter (Ruhr) or only one track possible, the trains are under easier conditions from Witten Hbf on the freight line to Wengern East and diverted the Ruhrtalbahn to Hagen- porch.

Train services

In passenger traffic, the route every hour of the Intercity Express Line 10 from Cologne ( two periods of Bonn) about Hamm ( Westphalia ) and Hanover is traveled to Berlin with stops in Wuppertal and Hagen. In addition, run more individual ICE and every two hours, alternating intercity lines 31 and 55 between Cologne and Dortmund, also with intermediate stops in Wuppertal and Hagen.

The regional express line Wupper -Express ( RE 4 ) of Aachen Mönchengladbach and Dusseldorf follows from Wuppertal Hbf the course of the railway line to the Witten Hauptbahnhof, where she takes a opened in 1988, new railway line between Witten and Dortmund Bochum- Langendreer. The section between Witten and Dortmund is now used only by the S 5.

Other transport lines that criss-cross at least parts of the track, are the Rhine -Münster -Express (RE 7) and Maas- Wupper -Express ( RE 13) on the section between Wuppertal Hbf and Hagen Hbf, the Ruhr -Sieg- Express ( RE 16 ) and the Ruhr -Lenne -Bahn (RB 40) between Hagen Hbf and Witten Hbf, and Regional railways The Müngstener (RB 47 on the local tracks of 1913 /5) and Rhein- Wupper -Bahn (RB 48) between Wuppertal Hbf and Wuppertal- Barmen.