Dortmund–Enschede railway

Dortmund–Enschede
Route number:	412
Line length:	103
Gauge:	1435
Maximum speed:	140
Legend line from Hengelo (connecting track dismantled) 53.6 Enschede (connecting track dismantled) Hengeloschestraat Oldenzaalschestraat 57.7 Enschede De Eschmarke 59.4 Glanerbrug 59.7 59.0 Gronau border NL / D 56.1 96.0 Gronau (Westf) Line to Münster 94.5 VEW Gronau siding 91.9 Epe (Westf) 87.1 Lasterfeld Former line from Enschede Süd Ahaus nuclear storage siding former line from Burgsteinfurt 80.6 Ahaus Former line to Borken 72.9 Legden (former station) 68.2 Rosendahl-Holtwick Line from Lutum, line from Münster 61.0 Coesfeld (Westf) 58.3 Coesfeld (Westf) town siding Former Baumberge Railway to Borken Line to Dorsten 55.3		51.2	Merfeld (now siding)
	45.0	Dülmen Ost (formerly Dülmen DGE)
		former connecting line to Dülmen (low level)
	44.6	Dülmen (interchange station, high level)   Haltern–Münster line
		former connecting line from Dülmen (low level)
	37.9	Ondrup
	32.4	Lüdinghausen
	26.1	Selm (Kr Lüdinghausen) (former station)
	24.6	Selm-Beifang
	22.0	Bork (Westf)
	20.4	Bork (Westf) siding (Bundeswehr)
	14.9	Lünen Nord
		Line from Münster
	13.9	Lünen Hbf (Keilbahnhof)
		Connecting line to Lünen Süd
		Lünen Süd junction–Horstmar line
		Connecting line from Horstmar junction
	10.5	Preußen
	8.1	Dortmund-Derne
	5.4	Dortmund-Kirchderne
		to Dortmund-Obereving
		Dortmund rail freight bypass
		to Dortmund-Scharnhorst
	3.1	Dortmund-Hoesch
	3.0 2.5	Dortmund-Eving (former station)
		(new route since 1904)
	0.0	to Dortmund Hbf
		Dortmund–Hamm line
		(former route until 1998)
	0.6	Dortmund Ost (formerly Dortmund DGE)
		Former line to Dortmund Süd

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.

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).

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 East station), which was located north-west of the CME station.

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 of 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.

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.

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.

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, operating services on intersecting lines to depart on “symmetrical minutes” delays services by several minutes. RB 50 Der Lüner also runs hourly between Dortmund and Lünen towards Münster.

Services on the line have been suplied since 12 December 2004 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.

External links

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