Lower Ruhr Valley Railway

The Lower Ruhr Valley Railway (German: Untere Ruhrtalbahn) is a former railway in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It was opened on 24 January 1876 by the Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company (Bergisch-Märkische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft, BME) along the Ruhr to the southwest of the city of Mülheim an der Ruhr and connects Mülheim-Styrum on the Witten/Dortmund–Oberhausen/Duisburg railway and Essen-Kettwig on the Ruhr Valley Railway.

Lower Ruhr Valley Railway
Overview
Native nameUntere Ruhrtalbahn
Line number2185 (Kettwig–Mülheim-Styrum)
85 (Ruhrbrücke junction–Mülheim West)
LocaleNorth Rhine-Westphalia
Service
Route numberMost recently: 231a
Technical
Line length14.7 km (9.1 mi)
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in) standard gauge
Operating speed40 km/h (24.9 mph) (most recent maximum)
Route map

Operating points and lines[1]
0.0
Kettwig
(former junction north of the Ruhr)
1.0
Kettwig Stausee
1.8
Kettwig vor der Brücke
3.0
Schloßhotel Hugenpoet
4.5
Mintard
8.7
Aubergsweg
9.0
Saarn
Brauerei Ibing
11.5
Mülheim-Broich
Connecting curve to Speldorf
Ruhr
13.0
Ruhrbrücke junction
Former passenger line to Mülheim BME
14.7
Mülheim-Styrum

Passenger services

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The first passenger services in 1876 ran from Kettwig over the Kettwig railway bridge and the Ruhr bridge in Mülheim to the Mülheim station of the BME,[2] which was later renamed as Mülheim (Ruhr) and is now Mülheim (Ruhr) West.[3] The passenger service was moved in 1909 to Styrum[4] because the connecting curve to Mülheim BME was upgraded for the expansion of Friedrich Wilhelms-Hütte steel works and Mülheim (Ruhr) West station was in the way. At the end of World War II, the two Ruhr bridges were destroyed.[2] Consequently, passenger services from Mülheim had to stop short of the Ruhr bridge at Kettwig and later a station was built there called Kettwig Stausee ("Kettwig reservoir", below the current S-Bahn station of the same name) as a terminus.[5] In Mülheim, the passenger service was diverted over the Broich connecting curve to Speldorf. After the re-establishment of the Mülheim bridge in 1954 both of the north-west end points (Styrum and Speldorf) were served until the abandonment of passenger services in 1968.[2]

History

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  • 24 January 1876: BME opened Kettwig–Styrum line
  • 6 March 1876: freight traffic commenced between Kettwig and Styrum
  • 15 March 1876: passenger services started between Kettwig Ruhrbrücke junction
  • 1899: line duplicated between Kettwig and Broich
  • 1909: line duplicated between Broich and Styrum
  • 10 December 1909: passenger services started between Ruhrbrücke junction and Styrum
  • 1945: Broich–Styrum bridge destroyed
  • 10 April 1945: Kettwig–Kettwig Stausee bridge destroyed
  • 1953: passenger service between Kettwig vor der Brücke and Kettwig Stausee restored
  • 23 May 1954: single-track bridge restored for freight between Styrum and Broich
  • 1 November 1955: Kettwig Reservoir Styrum converted from double-track main line in single-track branch line
  • 1954/1955/1958: passenger service between Broich and Styrum was restored
  • 26 May 1968: passenger service between Kettwig Stausee and Styrum abandoned
  • 1 September 1968: freight operations between Kettwig Stausee and Saarn closed
  • 10 October 1973: Broich–Styrum line closed
  • 10 October 1973: Saarn–Broich line converted into a station track
  • 1978: freight operations between Saarn and Broich closed
  • 2 November 1981: Saarn–Broich line closed
  • 3 February 1982: Saarn–Broich line dismantled.
  • 1992: connecting line between Broich and Speldorf dismantled.

Notes

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  1. ^ Eisenbahnatlas Deutschland (German railway atlas). Schweers + Wall. 2009. ISBN 978-3-89494-139-0.
  2. ^ a b c "Line 2185: Kettwig - Mülheim-Styrum". NRW Rail Archive (in German). André Joost. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
  3. ^ "Mülheim (Ruhr) West station operations". NRW Rail Archive (in German). André Joost. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
  4. ^ "Line 85: Ruhrbrücke Abzw - Mülheim BM". NRW Rail Archive (in German). André Joost. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
  5. ^ "Kettwig Stausee station operations". NRW Rail Archive (in German). André Joost. Retrieved 30 July 2013.

References

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  • Friedhelm Stöters (1993). Die Ruhrtalbahn von Kettwig nach Mülheim an der Ruhr (in German). Duisburg: self-published.
  • Martin Menke (1999). Die Geschichte der Ruhrtalbahn von Mülheim (Styrum) über Broich-Saarn-Mintard nach Kettwig (in German) (3 ed.). Mülheim an der Ruhr: self-published by Eisenbahnfreunde.
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