Bahnstrecke Gronau–CoevordenBahnstrecke Gronau–Coevorden (Gronau–Coevorden Railway)The Gronau-Coevorden railway line runs from Gronau in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia to Coevorden in the Dutch province of Drenthe. The line runs largely through Lower Saxony and was built between 1895 and 1910 by the Bentheimer Kreisbahn (BK). The BK still operates the German section as railway line DB 9203, but since 1923 under the name Bentheimer Eisenbahn AG (BE). The BE also operates passenger services as RB 56. The railway consisted of a southern line, from Gronau (Westf) station to Bentheim (since 6 June 1979: Bad Bentheim), and a northern line from the BE station Bentheim (since 1997 a hotel) to Coevorden station. The southern line has been dismantled except for a small section, which forms the connection with Ochtrup-Brechte via DB 9209. Bahnstrecke Gronau–Coevorden 21st Century From the beginning of the 21st century, efforts were made to reopen the passenger service, in particular to make the city of Nordhorn (more than 50,000 inhabitants) accessible by train again. The northern line had only been used for freight transport since 1974, but intensively. A maximum speed of 50 km/h applied to freight trains on the railway line. This was partly due to the large number of unprotected level crossings, where accidents regularly occurred. Adaptation and modernisation of the railway line and merging or closing level crossings were necessary to make a passenger service with a higher maximum speed possible. Bahnstrecke Gronau–Coevorden Region In March 2016, the Landesnahverkehrsgesellschaft Niedersachsen (the transport authority of Lower Saxony) awarded BE the contract to provide passenger transport on the line for an initial period of three years, with the possibility of an extension of up to twenty years. Alstom received an order for five Coradia Lint 41 regional trainsets. The project, called Regiopa (a portmanteau of 'Regio' and 'Europa'), includes:
Due to objection procedures, there was a delay until the summer of 2019. From 7 July 2019, after an interruption of 45 years, passenger services between Bad Bentheim and Neuenhaus have been running again , again provided by Bentheimer Eisenbahn AG. This company also provides rail freight transport and regional bus transport in the Landkreis Grafschaft Bentheim. Bahnstrecke Gronau–Coevorden Future Plans There are concrete plans to extend the passenger service from Neuenhaus via Veldhausen, Hoogstede, Emlichheim and Laarwald to Coevorden and possibly further via the "Emmerlijn" to Nieuw Amsterdam and Emmen. A study by the CIMA institute in collaboration with the University of Groningen commissioned by the BE, the Landkreis and the province of Drenthe predicts a passenger number of approximately 1530 per day. The target year is 2025. The "Bentheimer Kurve", a railway curve east of Bentheim that should enable direct train traffic between Nordhorn and Rheine , is also part of plans for the more distant future. In August 2020, the Braunschweig University of Technology was commissioned to conduct a feasibility study on the reactivation and partial reconstruction of the section from Bad Bentheim to Gronau. Bahnstrecke Gronau–Coevorden Preparation In preparation for the extension of the passenger service towards Emlichheim and Coevorden, the Bentheimer Eisenbahn purchased six additional Coradia Lint 41 trainsets second-hand from Deutsche Bahn in 2023. These DB-Baureihe 648.0 trainsets date from 2000 and 2001 and correspond to the five Lints already in use. The plan is to refurbish three of them using parts from the other three. Work on the infrastructure is scheduled to begin in mid-2024, after which the through train service from Bad Bentheim via Neuenhaus to Coevorden should start at the end of 2026, not a year earlier as initially thought. The province of Drenthe and the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management are contributing a total of 27.8 million euros to the reactivation of the passenger service to Coevorden. Bahnstrecke Gronau–Coevorden Route Map DB 2014 of Glanerbeek Oldenzaal tram line dismantled 0.0 Gronau (Westf) Dinkel DB 2100 to Dortmund Hbf DB 2014 to Münster Zentrum Nord 1,7 Bauverein 3.6 Ochtrup-Brechte 5.1 Driland border North Rhine-Westphalia - Lower Saxony 8.3 Bardel DB 9209 from Ochtrup-Brechte 0.0 11.0 Back mountain 13.6 Gildehaus-Mitte 16.7 Bad Bentheim Süd formerly Bentheim Süd DB 2016 of Almelo Bad Bentheim 18.7 Bad Bentheim Nord formerly Bentheim Nord DB 2016 to Salzburg 20.2 Bad Bentheim formerly Bentheim 22.4 Quendorf 25.3 Precipitation 28.2 Hestrup 30.8 Brandlight workshop Bentheimer Eisenbahn AG 33.1 Nordhorn-South essay bundle HST Nordhorn-Blanke 36.2 Nordhorn 39.3 Frenswegen 42.4 Grassdorf New house south 46.7 New house Fight 49.3 Veldhausen 52.6 Asterisk Ash Osterwald 54.8 Mountains Lee 56.5 Highest 59.6 Big Rings 61.1 Small Rings Emsland-Stärke GmbH 64.6 Emlichheim 68.3 Forward 71.2 Laarwald BORDER border Germany - Netherlands Coevorden Euroterminal Nijhoff-Wassink line Railway arch towards Marienberg Coevorden-Vecht Canal line from Zwolle Lutterhoofd district Zwolle tram line dismantled Station DSM tram line to Ter Apel dismantled 76.0 Coevorden tram line to Assen dismantled line to Stadskanaal | |||||
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