Dortmund–Enschede railway

Dortmund–Enschede
Overview
Locale	North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany and the Netherlands
Line number	2111 (Dortmund–Dortmund-Eving); 2100 (Dortmund-Eving–Gronau); 2014 (Gronau–Gronau border);
Technical
Line length	103 km (64 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Operating speed	140 km/h (87.0 mph) (maximum)
Route number	412
Route map
	Legend
	59.7
	59.0
	56.1
	96.0
	Ahaus nuclear storage siding
	former line from Burgsteinfurt
	Dülmen (interchange station, high level)
	Haltern–Münster line
	3.0
	2.5
	Source: German railway atlas [1]

Last updated March 25, 2019

The Dortmund–Enschede railway is an international railway connecting the eastern Ruhr district of Germany to Enschede in the Netherlands, which was built by the Dortmund-Gronau-Enschede Railway Company.

The Ruhr is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 2,800/km² and a population of over 5 million (2017), it is the largest urban area in Germany and the third-largest in the European Union. It consists of several large cities bordered by the rivers Ruhr to the south, Rhine to the west, and Lippe to the north. In the southwest it borders the Bergisches Land. It is considered part of the larger Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region of more than 12 million people, which is among the largest in Europe.

Enschede, also known as Eanske in the local dialect of Twents, is a municipality and a city in the eastern Netherlands in the province of Overijssel and in the Twente region. The municipality of Enschede consisted of the city of Enschede until 1935, when the rural municipality of Lonneker, which surrounded the city, was annexed after the rapid industrial expansion of Enschede which began in the 1860s and involved the building of railways and the digging of the Twentekanaal.

History

The Dortmund-Gronau-Enschede Railway Company (German : Dortmund-Gronau-Enscheder Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft, DGE) began to build its line from Dortmund DGE station (later called Dortmund East station) to the east of the central city. As a result, its line had to cross the original Dortmund–Hamm trunk line of the Cologne-Minden Railway Company (Cöln-Mindener Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft, CME).

German is a West Germanic language that is mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, South Tyrol (Italy), the German-speaking Community of Belgium, and Liechtenstein. It is also one of the three official languages of Luxembourg and a co-official language in the Opole Voivodeship in Poland. The languages which are most similar to German are the other members of the West Germanic language branch: Afrikaans, Dutch, English, the Frisian languages, Low German/Low Saxon, Luxembourgish, and Yiddish. There are also strong similarities in vocabulary with Danish, Norwegian and Swedish, although those belong to the North Germanic group. German is the second most widely spoken Germanic language, after English.

The Dortmund–Hamm Railway is an important and historically significant railway in Germany. It is a major axis for long distance passenger and freight trains between the Ruhr and the north and east of Germany. It is the part of the trunk line built by the Cologne-Minden Railway Company from Köln Deutz to Minden. It was opened in 1847 and has been modernized and developed several times since then.

Cologne-Minden Railway Company transport company

The Cologne-Minden Railway Company was along with the Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company and the Rhenish Railway Company one of the railway companies that in the mid-19th century built the first railways in the Ruhr and large parts of today's North Rhine-Westphalia.

The first section to Lünen Nord station was opened on 25 November 1874 for passenger trains; the first goods trains ran a week later. Six months later, the line reached Dulmen, where it crossed the Wanne-Eickel–Hamburg line (also a CME line) to reach Dülmen DGE station (later called Dülmen Ost (east) station), which was located north-west of the CME station.

Dülmen station is one of two operating tower stations in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located in Dülmen in western Münsterland. It is at the crossing of the Wanne-Eickel–Hamburg and the Dortmund–Enschede railways.

The Wanne-Eickel–Hamburg railway is the shortest railway link between the Ruhr and the Hamburg Metropolitan Region and hence one of the most important railway lines in northwest Germany. It links the cities of Münster (Westfalen), Osnabrück and Bremen.

The other parts of the line were opened at short intervals after each other. It reached Coesfeld on 1 August 1875 and Gronau on 30 September 1875, when the Münster–Enschede line of the Royal Westphalian Railway Company (KWE) was also opened to the station. The last section to Enschede in the Netherlands was built in cooperation with the KWE and opened on 15 October 1875 and subsequently operated jointly.

Coesfeld Station (Westphalia) is the main railway station of the town of Coesfeld and an important transport hub in western Münsterland in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is a junction station on the Dortmund–Enschede, Dorsten-Coesfeld and Empel-Rees–Münster lines.

Gronau (Westf) is a railway station in the town of Gronau, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The station lies on the Dortmund–Enschede railway and Münster–Enschede railway and the train services are operated by Deutsche Bahn. The line between Enschede and Gronau was closed in 1981 and re-opened in 2001. To the west of the station are 3 sidings.

The Münster–Enschede railway is a 64 km long, continuous single-track and non-electrified branch line from Münster via Gronau in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia to Enschede in the Netherlands.

With the opening of Duisburg–Quakenbrück railway by the Rhenish Railway Company four years later, Coesfeld station became an interchange station. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Empel-Rees–Münster line (the eastern part of which is called the Baumberge Railway) was opened, which also intersected at Coesfelder Station, making it the major railway junction of western Münsterland.

The Duisburg–Quakenbrück railway is a former inter-regional German railway, built by the Rhenish Railway Company (RhE) from Duisburg in the western Ruhr region of North Rhine-Westphalia to Quakenbrück in Lower Saxony on the border of the former Grand Duchy of Oldenburg. Some sections of it are now disused.

Rhenish Railway Company Transport company

The Rhenish Railway Company was along with the Cologne-Minden Railway Company (CME) and the Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company (BME) one of the railway companies that in the mid-19th century built the first railways in the Ruhr and large parts of today's North Rhine-Westphalia.

Temporary closure

The Gronau–Enschede section was closed on 27 September 1981 for passenger and freight services. After lengthy negotiations, the cross-border passenger services were resumed in 2001.

Current situation

The section from Dortmund to Lünen is double track, electrified and classified as a main line.

Lünen (Luenen) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located north of Dortmund, on both banks of the River Lippe. It is the largest town of the Unna district and part of the Ruhr Area.

The section from Lünen to the border at Gronau is single track, non-electrified and has been classified as a branch line since 2007. This section is operated as part of Deutsche Bahn’s Münster-Westphalia Regional Network, based in Munster.

Operations

The route is now served hourly by the RB 51 (Westmünsterland-Bahn) Regionalbahn service. Trains pass each other in Lüdinghausen, Coesfeld and Epe. Because of the single-track, services operating in the opposite direction and departing on the symmetry minute delay services by several minutes. RB 50 ( Der Lüner ) also runs hourly between Dortmund and Lünen towards Münster.

Services on the line were operated from 12 December 2004 until 10 December 2012 by Prignitzer Eisenbahn, operating with modern Bombardier Talent diesel multiple units. Previously services had been operated by DB Regio NRW with class 624 diesel multiple units and DB Regio Westfalen won the most recent contract and has operated it since 11 December 2012.^[2]

External links

Media related to Dortmund–Gronau railway line at Wikimedia Commons

NRW railway archive of André Joost:

Description of line 2111: Dortmund Ost ↔ Dortmund-Eving
Description of line 2100: Dortmund-Eving ↔ Gronau
Description of line 2014: Gronau ↔ Enschede

Related Research Articles

Enschede is the main railway station in Enschede, Netherlands. The station opened on 1 July 1866 and is on the Zutphen–Glanerbeek railway. Between the late 1970s and 2001, the passenger service to Germany stopped. The connection to Münster was reopened in 2001. There is no connection allowing the German trains to run any further into Overijssel; however there was before the line closed.

Münster Hauptbahnhof is the main railway station in the city of Münster in Germany.

Witten/Dortmund–Oberhausen/Duisburg railway railway line

The Witten/Dortmund, Oberhausen/Duisburg railway is one of the most important railways in Germany. It is the main axis of long distance and regional rail transport on the east–west axis of the Ruhr and is served by Intercity-Express, InterCity, Regional-Express, Regionalbahn and S-Bahn trains.

Lünen Hauptbahnhof is a railway station located north of central Lünen on the outskirts of Nordlünen in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

The Zutphen–Glanerbeek railway is a railway line in the Netherlands running from Zutphen to the German border at Glanerbrug, passing through Hengelo and Enschede. It is also called the Staatslijn D in Dutch. "Glanerbeek" is the former name for the Glanerbrug railway station. The line was opened between 1865 and 1868. The section between Enschede and the German border was closed for traffic in 1981, but it was reopened in 2001, although physically disconnected from the Dutch railway network; no Dutch train can enter this stretch and trains coming from Germany can not enter the Dutch network through Enschede.

The Bochum–Essen/Oberhausen railway was built by the Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company to the north of its main line through the central Ruhr to tap traffic from mines and factories in the northern Ruhr region, which is now in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Steinfurt-Burgsteinfurt station is the main station of the town of Steinfurt in western Munsterland in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and is located in the district of Burgsteinfurt. The station is a former railway junction on the Münster–Enschede railway. The Coesfeld–Rheine railway and the Borken–Steinfurt railway are closed and largely dismantled.

Metelen Land station is located in Metelen in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia on the Münster–Enschede railway. The station is operated by the Metelen Land Railway Museum.

The Hellweg net consists of the four Regionalbahn lines in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia: RB 50, RB 59, RB 69 and RB 89. It has a length of about 370 km. The RB 50 is referred to as Der Lüner, the RB 59 as Die Hellweg-Bahn and the RB 69 and RB 89 together as Die Ems-Börde-Bahn. On 14 December 2008 operations were taken over by eurobahn. Previously these four Regionalbahn services were operated by DB Regio NRW.

Epe (Westf) is a railway station in the town of Epe, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The station lies on the Dortmund–Enschede railway and the train services are operated by Deutsche Bahn.

Legden is a railway station in the town of Legden, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The station lies on the Dortmund–Enschede railway and the train services are operated by Deutsche Bahn.

Rosendahl-Holtwick is a railway station in the town of Rosendahl, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The station lies on the Dortmund–Enschede railway and the train services are operated by Deutsche Bahn.

Lette is a railway station in the town of Lette, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The station lies on the Dortmund–Enschede railway and the train services are operated by Deutsche Bahn.

Nottuln-Appelhülsen is a station in Appelhülsen, a suburb of the municipality of Nottuln, in the district of Coesfeld in the German state of Nordrhein-Westfalen.

References

↑ Eisenbahnatlas Deutschland (German railway atlas). Schweers + Wall. 2009. pp. 38, 139. ISBN 978-3-89494-139-0.
↑ "SPNV-Wettbewerb Nordrhein-Westfalen" (in German). Zughalt.de. Retrieved 16 January 2014.

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[Eisenbahnatlas-1] Eisenbahnatlas Deutschland (German railway atlas). Schweers + Wall. 2009. pp. 38, 139. ISBN 978-3-89494-139-0.

[2] "SPNV-Wettbewerb Nordrhein-Westfalen" (in German). Zughalt.de. Retrieved 16 January 2014.