Linke Rheinstrecke

The Linke Rheinstrecke (German for "Left Rhine line") is a famously picturesque double-track electrified railway line running for 185 km from Cologne via Bonn, Koblenz, and Bingen to Mainz. It is situated close to the western (left) bank of the river Rhine and mostly aligned to allow 160 km/h operation between Cologne and Koblenz and between Bingen and Mainz. Line speed between Koblenz and Bingen is restricted by the meandering nature of the Rhine.

History

The first section of the line opened on 15 February, 1844, by the Bonn-Cölner Eisenbahn (Bonn-Cologne Railway) between the former station of Cologne St. Pantaleon Cologne and Bonn. It was extended on 21 January 1856, south to Rolandseck station and in 1859 north to the Köln Hauptbahnhof.

After the takeover by the Rheinische Eisenbahn (Rhenish Railway) the line was extended in 1858 through Remagen and Andernach and crossed the Moselle to Koblenz via the Moseleisenbahnbrücke (Moselle rail bridge), opened on 11 November 1858. The particularly beautiful section of the line between Koblenz and Bingerbrück (now called Bingen Hbf), which runs close to the river through this winding section of the Rhine Valley was opened on 15 December 1859. Bingerbrück station was at the time on the border of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Grand Duchy of Hesse. Here it connected with the line of the Hessische Ludwigsbahn (Hessian Ludwig Railway), opened on 17 October 1859, from Mainz and the Nahetalbahn to Saarbrücken.

In Koblenz, the Pfaffendorfer Bridge over the Rhine was completed in 1864 to connect to the Right Rhine line to Niederlahnstein and Wiesbaden. With the construction of the Horchheimer bridge north of Koblenz, opened in 1879, and the Urmitzer bridge south of Koblenz, opened 1918, this bridge was progressively given over to pedestrian, vehicular and, eventually, tram traffic and the last train used it at the outbreak of World War I in August 1914.From 1861 to 1900 the Nassauische Rheinbahn (Nassau Rhine Railway) operated a train ferry between Bingen and Rüdesheim am Rhein; it was later converted to a passenger ferry. This connection was replaced in 1915 by the Hindenburg Bridge, which connected the right Rhine line with the left Rhine line and the Nahetalbahn. From 1870 to 1914 another train ferry operated between Bonn and Oberkassel to transfer trains between the Left Rhine line and the Right Rhine line.

During the First World War a further strategic Rhine crossing was built, the Ludendorff Bridge between Erpel and Remagen. It connected the Right Rhine line with the Left Rhine line and the strategically important Ahrtalbahn. It was built from 1916 to 1919 at the request of the German generals in order to bring troops and war materials to the Western Front. Both the Hindenburg Bridge and the Ludendorff Bridge were destroyed in the Second World War and were not rebuilt.

The line was electrified in 1959.

Current operations

Until the opening of the Cologne-Frankfurt high-speed rail line, the line was one of the busiest in Germany. The fastest trains connecting the Rhineland and southern Germany ran on the line. The importance of the line for long distance travel has diminished since the opening of the high-speed line. The line is now generally used by one InterCity/InterCityExpress (stopping at Bonn, Koblenz and Mainz) each hour, RegionalExpress train each one or two hours and one RegionalBahn train each one or two hours in each direction, as well as freight trains. Before the opening of the high-speed line, freight trains were largely restricted to the Rechte Rheinstrecke, but with the increased availability of train paths on the Linke Rheinstrecke many of them are now routed over it.

References

* Dr. Horst Semmler: "150 Jahre Eisenbahn Bonn-Köln", Verlag Kenning, ISBN 3-927587-23-0 de icon
* Eisenbahnatlas Deutschland – 2005/2006 edition, Schweers + Wall, 2005, ISBN 3-89494-134-0 de icon
* Udo Kandler: "Eisenbahn wie auf einer Ansichtskarte. Die Linke Rheinstrecke", "LOK MAGAZIN". No. 305/Jahrgang 46/2007. GeraNova Zeitschriftenverlag GmbH München, ISSN|0458-1822, pp36-55. de icon