Rechte Rheinstrecke

The Rechte Rheinstrecke (German for Right Rhine line) is a double-track, electrified railway line, running at the right bank of the Rhine from Cologne to Wiesbaden, via Troisdorf, Bonn-Beuel, Unkel, Neuwied, Koblenz and Rüdesheim am Rhein. It forms a six-track line with the Cologne-Frankfurt high-speed rail line and the Siegstrecke between Porz (Rhine) and Troisdorf. It includes two tunnels between Rüdesheim and Lahnstein, including the well-known Loreley Tunnel near Sankt Goarshausen.

History

Soon after the opening of the first railways in the region a line on the right bank of the Rhine began to be discussed. In 1844 the Mayor of Deutz suggested building a line from Deutz via Rüdesheim to Wiesbaden. In 1852 Neuwied began to press strongly for the building of a railway. However, others, particularly Prussia, had substantial reservations. There were military objections to a railway line on the Rhine; this is why it took so long to approve the extension of the Left Rhine line past Rolandseck. In particular the suggested route would have had to pass close to the Festung Ehrenbreitstein fortress in Koblenz. Therefore in 1853 the Prussian War Ministry declared itself against the line.

Building of the southern section

For the Duchy of Nassau such considerations had less weight than the economic advantages. Therefore it gave the "Wiesbadener Eisenbahngesellschaft" (Wiesbaden Railway Company) a concession to build the Right Rhine line on Nassau national territory. On 11 August 1856, the first section of the Nassau Rhine line was opened from Wiesbaden to Rüdesheim. Because of the difficult nature of the construction, the line was not extended to Oberlahnstein until 22 February 1862 and Niederlahnstein until 3 June 1864.

The building of the Sieg line from Deutz to Gießen, starting in 1859, enabled Nassau to negotiate with Prussia over the continuation of the line, since the planned Sieg line passed through the Dillenburg district, which was part of Nassau. Finally in 1860 an agreement between both states was concluded, which allowed Prussia to build the Sieg line. In return Prussia agreed to build the Pfaffendorfer Bridge, which connected the line near Niederlahnstein with the Left Rhine line in Koblenz finished the year before. The bridge was inaugurated on 3 June 1864. A continuation of the Right Rhine line through Prussia was not possible for the time being, since the concession, which the Rhenish Railway had received for the Left Rhine line had specified that no concession would be given for a Right Rhine line before 1876.

Building of the northern section

As a result of the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, Nassau became part of Prussia, changing the situation in the Rhine completely. The Rhenish Railway now had an interest in completing the Right Rhine line, and soon received a concession for it. On 27 October 1869, the extension of the line was opened from Niederlahnstein to Neuwied.

The northern end was contentious. The concession referred to a line between Siegburg and Niederlahnstein and under the original plans the line should have turned at Beuel on Rhine to Siegburg. Later the line should have been extended via the Agger valley to Overath and then via Witten to Bochum or alternatively Essen. These plans were, however, viewed critically in Cologne, since it would have involved the construction of a major traffic axis through Bergisches Land near Cologne. Gustav von Mevissen, president of the Rhenish Railway, preferred a route via Troisdorf and Opladen to Essen.

Emil Langen, board member of the Rhenish Railway and director of Friedrich-Wilhelms ironworks (now the location of the suburb and station of Troisdorf-Friedrich-Wilhelms-Hütte) in Troisdorf, finally implemented a change in the planned route north of Beuel: the new route went from Beuel to the northeast and would cross the Sieg river at Menden (now part of Sankt Augustin), a station would be built at the Friedrich-Wilhelms works and the line would then turn southeast to parallel the Siegstrecke to Siegburg.

On 11 July 1870 the section of line was opened from Neuwied to Oberkassel, where the Bonn–Oberkassel train ferry provided a connection between the left and right Rhine lines. In addition the line from Friedrich-Wilhelms-Hütte to Siegburg had already been completely, only the completion of the Sieg bridge prevented the complete opening of the line. During the Franco-Prussian War the line received great strategic importance as a supply route and as a result the building of the Sieg bridge was accelerated with extra workers, starting in the late summer of 1870. The whole route was opened on 1 March 1871 and at the same time a branch was opened from Friedrich-Wilhelms-Hütte to Troisdorf and the line to Cologne, which later became the main line.

Later changes

In 1878/79 the Horchheim rail bridge was built south of Koblenz, creating a further connection between the right and left Rhine lines. During World War I three Rhine crossings were built using very similar building methods, which were all destroyed in World War II; only one of them was rebuilt:
*From 1913 to 1915, the Hindenburgbrücke was built between Rüdesheim am Rhein and Bingen - Kempten, connecting to the Left Rhine line and in particular the Nahetalbahn.
*From 1916 to 1918, the Kronprinz-Wilhelm-Brücke was built between Urmitz and Neuwied-Engers, which was rebuilt in 1954 as the Urmitz railway bridge.
*From 1916 to 1919, the Ludendorff Bridge was built between Erpel and Remagen to connect the Right Rhine line with the Left Rhine line and the strategically important Ahrtalbahn. It became famous as the Bridge of Remagen in the last days of World War II.

In 1961, during the electrification of the line, new single-line tunnels were built parallel to the existing double-line Loreley and Rossstein tunnels and the old tunnels were then converted to single-line operations and electrified.

With the opening of the Cologne-Frankfurt high-speed line at the end of 2002, Troisdorf station was completely rebuilt and the connections from the Right Rhine line towards Siegburg were removed.

Operations

The line is heavily congested and gives priority to long-distance freight trains. Long distance passenger trains in the Rhine Valley use the Left Rhine line and the Cologne-Frankfurt high-speed line.

Passenger services on the line are provided by RegionalBahn and RegionalExpress trains and all passenger trains start or finish at Koblenz station. Generally RegionalExpress trains operate every two hours between Frankfurt Hbf, Wiesbaden Hbf and Koblenz and RegionalBahn trains operate every two hours between Wiesbaden Hbf and Koblenz, crossing the Rhine on the Horchheim bridge. RegionalExpress trains operate every hour between Mönchengladbach Hbf, Cologne Hbf, Vallendar and Koblenz, via the Horchheim bridge. RegionalBahn trains operate every hour between Mönchengladbach Hbf, Cologne Hbf and Koblenz, via the Urmitz railway bridge.

Current developments

It is planned to build two extra tracks from Troisdorf to Bonn–Oberkassel for the extension of line S13 of the Rhein-Ruhr S-Bahn. Construction is due to commence in September 2009, with services commencing in 2013. One service an hour would continue past Oberkassel to Linz am Rhein. [" [http://www.general-anzeiger-bonn.de/index.php?k=news&itemid=10001&detailid=261680 Modified option for S-13 line] ", "General-Anzeiger", 5 January 2007 de icon]

Notes

References

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