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The Ruhr–Sieg railway is a 106 km long double-track, electrified main line from Hagen

Hagen

Hagen is the 39th-largest city in Germany, located in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located on the eastern edge of the Ruhr area, 15 km south of Dortmund, where the rivers Lenne, Volme and Ennepe meet the river Ruhr...

 to Siegen

Siegen

Siegen is a city in Germany, in the south Westphalian part of North Rhine-Westphalia.It is located in the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein in the Arnsberg region...

 via Iserlohn

Iserlohn

Iserlohn is a city in the Märkischer Kreis district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the largest city by population and area within the district and the Sauerland region.-Geography:...

-Letmathe, Finnentrop

Finnentrop

Finnentrop is a community in Olpe district in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.- Geography :Finnentrop lies near the forks of the rivers Bigge and Lenne in the Sauerland and is divided into the following constituent communities:- History :...

 and Kreuztal

Kreuztal

Kreuztal is a town in the Siegen-Wittgenstein district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.-Location:Kreuztal is a town in the low mountains of the northern Siegerland and lies at the western edge of the Rothaargebirge about 10 km north of Siegen....

 in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia

North Rhine-Westphalia

North Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with four of the country's ten largest cities. The state was formed in 1946 as a merger of the northern Rhineland and Westphalia, both formerly part of Prussia. Its capital is Düsseldorf. The state is currently run by a coalition of the...

. The line, which has many tunnels, runs primarily through the valley of the Lenne

Lenne

The Lenne is a river in the Sauerland area in North Rhine-Westphalia, western Germany, a left tributary of the Ruhr.Having its source on top of the Kahler Asten near Winterberg in an intermittent spring at an elevation of 2,687 feet, the Lenne ends after a course of 128 km flowing into the...

. South of Altenhundem it crosses the watershed between the Lenne and the Sieg. The line was opened between 1859 and 1861 and is one of the oldest railways in Germany.

History

In 1835 a committee was established in Siegen to promote the construction of a horse-drawn railway

Horsecar

A horsecar or horse-drawn tram is an animal-powered streetcar or tram.These early forms of public transport developed out of industrial haulage routes that had long been in existence, and from the omnibus routes that first ran on public streets in the 1820s, using the newly improved iron or steel...

 from Siegen to the Ruhr

Ruhr

The Ruhr is a medium-size river in western Germany , a right tributary of the Rhine.-Description:The source of the Ruhr is near the town of Winterberg in the mountainous Sauerland region, at an elevation of approximately 2,200 feet...

. The goal was better and faster transport of coal from the Ruhr for smelting in the Siegen area. Iron production in the Siegen country was very important for Prussia

Prussia

Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...

. It produced over 23 percent of the country’s total pig iron production and 85 percent of its crude steel production.

During the lengthy approval process, the committee, which was based in Hagen from 1851, changed the proposal to a steam railway, rather than a horse-drawn railway. There was a dispute for a long time about exactly where the line should run. A line from Hagen via the Volme

Volme

The Volme is a river in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the left tributary of the Ruhr. It is 49.8 km long, of which 21.3 km lie within the city limits of Hagen....

 valley was favoured initially. Later a line running along the Lenne and the Hundem valley was preferred. An interest group from Olpe

Olpe, Germany

Olpe is situated in the foothills of the Ebbegebirge in North Rhine-Westphalia, roughly 60 km east of Cologne and 20 km northwest of Siegen. It is part of the Regierungsbezirk of Arnsberg and is the seat of the district of Olpe.- Location :...

 wanted the main line to run through the Bigge valley. The committees in both Siegen and Hagen selected a more easterly route through the Hundem valley because it would be shorter and therefore cheaper.

Construction was finally approved in 1856 with a state guarantee of interest payments. Because the line promised economic growth above all for the iron works along it, they took part in financing the line, for instance the Meggen works and the Würdinghausen iron works invested 1,000 thalers

Prussian thaler

The Thaler was the currency of Prussia until 1857. From 1750, it was distinct from north German Reichsthaler unit of account in that it contained 1/14 of a Cologne mark of silver, rather than 1/12, and was minted as a coin...

 each, the Carolinen iron works invested 5,000 thalers and the town of Kirchhundem invested 2,100 thalers. The hoped-for traffic was not achieved at first because charcoal could be brought especially from the Sauerland

Sauerland

The Sauerland is a rural, hilly area spreading across most of the south-eastern part of North Rhine-Westphalia, in parts heavily forested and, apart from the major valleys, sparsely inhabited...

 to the Siegen area. The highest point of the railway line between Hagen and Haiger is Welschen Ennest at almost 411 m above sea level.

Line construction

The line was built from 1858 to 1861 under the direction of Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company and took place with few problems. The construction of tunnels involved the Austrian engineer Franz von Rziha, who had already participated in the construction of the Semmering railway

Semmering Railway

The Semmering railway, Austria, which starts at Gloggnitz and leads over the Semmering to Mürzzuschlag was the first mountain railway in Europe built with a standard gauge track. It is commonly referred to as the world's first true mountain railway, given the very difficult terrain and the...

. Since narrow valleys had to be crossed, the Borsig

August Borsig

Johann Friedrich August Borsig was a German businessman who founded the Borsig-Werke factory.Borsig was born in Breslau , the son of cuirassier and carpenter foreman Johann George Borsig...

 company built a special locomotive, class 675, designed for its curves. At first the line was single track, but it was duplicated in 1870. The section from Hagen to Letmathe was opened on 21 March 1859, the Letmathe–Altena

Altena

Altena is a town in the district of Märkischer Kreis, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The town's castle is the origin for the later Dukes of Berg. Altena is situated on the Lenne river valley, in the northern streches of the Sauerland.-History:...

 section opened on 17 July 1860 and finally the last part from Altena to Siegen opened on 6 August 1861. The Ruhr-Sieg line had been formally inaugurated on the previous day. In this ceremony a train derailed at Grevenbrück, without any complaints of injury.

Stations were built in all the major towns. Tudor style

Tudor architecture

The Tudor architectural style is the final development of medieval architecture during the Tudor period and even beyond, for conservative college patrons...

 stations were built in Plettenberg

Plettenberg

Plettenberg is a town in the Märkischer Kreis, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.-Geography:Plettenberg is located in the east of the Sauerland hills. The highest elevation of the city area is in the Ebbegebirge with 593 m above sea level, the lowest elevation with 194 m near Teindeln...

, Grevenbrück and Kreuztal, attracting attention as unusual designs for the region (today they are listed monuments). Engine sheds with turntables were commissioned in Letmathe (for 2 locomotives), Altena (6 locos), Altenhundem (6 locos), Kreuztal (2 locos) and Siegen (9 locos). In the late 1870s a depot was built at Finnentrop, close to the branch lines to Olpe (Bigge Valley Railway

Bigge Valley Railway

The Bigge Valley Railway is a 24 kilometre long, single-tracked branch line from Finnentrop via Attendorn and Olpe to Freudenberg in western Germany. It is not electrified and the section of line from Olpe to Freudenberg is now closed. The section between Olpe and Finnentrop is regularly...

) and Wennemen (Finnentrop–Wennemen line). Together with Altenhundem it gradually developed into one of the centres for operations on the Ruhr–Sieg line. Altemhundem was primarily used for heavy freight locomotives for pushing trains up the ramp to Welschen-Ennest station. The depots in Letmathe and Kreuztal lost their importance because of their proximity to the major depots in Hagen and Siegen. Altena depot was abandoned at the beginning of the 20th century. As part of the electrification, Altenhundem depot was abandoned and Finnentrop depot was greatly reduced, as the line is now only used by diesel multiple units.

Long-distance passenger services

As late as 1980, express trains ran from Munich

Munich

Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

 via Stuttgart

Stuttgart

Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....

 and Frankfurt

Frankfurt

Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...

, over the Ruhr–Sieg line to Norddeich Mole. There were also individual coaches running from north Norddeich-Mole to Friedrichshafen

Friedrichshafen

This article is about a German town. For the Danish town, see Frederikshavn, and for the Finnish town, see Fredrikshamn .Friedrichshafen is a university city on the northern side of Lake Constance in Southern Germany, near the borders with Switzerland and Austria.It is the district capital of the...

 on the Ruhr–Sieg line. Traditional stops for express trains were Hagen, Letmathe, Altena, Werdohl, Finnentrop, Lennestadt-Altenhundem, Kreuztal and Hüttental-Weidenau (now called Siegen-Weidenau).

In 1993 long-distance passenger traffic was converted from express trains to InterRegio

InterRegio

The InterRegio is a train service seen in some European countries. Mostly they are trains that run "from region to region", as best described by Swiss Federal Railways.-Switzerland:...

 trains, stopping regularly only in Hagen, Werdohl, Finnentrop, Altenhundem and Siegen-Weidenau. The long-distance passenger services were made up of several pairs of express train each day and later an Inter-Regio service from Norddeich Mole to Frankfurt, which was discontinued in the summer 2001 timetable.

Current operations

Even today, heavy freight trains need to be pushed by an additional locomotive from Altenhundem to Welschen Ennest. This locomotive then returns to Altenhundem. Before the electrification of the Ruhr–Sieg line almost all southward bound freight trains were pushed up to Welschen Ennest.

Regional-Express and Regionalbahn

RegionalBahn

The Regionalbahn is a type of local passenger train in Germany.-Service:Regionalbahn trains usually call at all stations on a given line, with the exception of RB trains within S-Bahn networks, these may only call at selected stations...

 trains from Iserlohn and Siegen are coupled together in Letmathe station, and continue as a unit via Hagen, Witten

Witten

Witten is a university city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the home of the Witten/Herdecke University, the first private university in Germany.-Bordering municipalities:* Bochum* Dortmund* Herdecke* Wetter * Sprockhoevel* Hattingen...

 and Bochum

Bochum

Bochum is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, western Germany. It is located in the Ruhr area and is surrounded by the cities of Essen, Gelsenkirchen, Herne, Castrop-Rauxel, Dortmund, Witten and Hattingen.-History:...

 to Essen

Essen

- Origin of the name :In German-speaking countries, the name of the city Essen often causes confusion as to its origins, because it is commonly known as the German infinitive of the verb for the act of eating, and/or the German noun for food. Although scholars still dispute the interpretation of...

. In the opposite direction, trains are uncoupled in Letmathe station and then run separately to Siegen and Iserlohn.

Since the cessation of the InterRegio service from Frankfurt to Münster (with some continuing to Norddeich Mole) the double-track Giersberg tunnel in Siegen that connects the Ruhr–Sieg line with the Dill line and bypasses the main Siegen station is used only by freight trains. Further connecting curves and junctions in Hagen-Kabel and Hohensyburg allow the transport of freight between Gießen

Gießen

Gießen, also spelt Giessen is a town in the German federal state of Hesse, capital of both the district of Gießen and the administrative region of Gießen...

 and the Ruhr region without reversal and bypassing Hagen Hauptbahnhof

Hagen Hauptbahnhof

is the Hauptbahnhof for the city of Hagen in western Germany. It is an important rail hub for the southeastern Ruhr area, offering regional and long distance connections....

.

Development projects

It is proposed in the Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan to rebuild the Ruhr–Sieg and Dill lines as a line upgraded for high-speed by 2015. In recent years, there has been a start to the improvement of the track, such as reconstruction of level crossings and long sections of line, the rationalisation of electronic interlocking equipment and related measures, such as the renewal of turnouts, track, overhead electrification and signals. The enlargement of tunnels, which has been planned for years is now being implemented, allowing the rerouting of some containerised freight from the Rhine lines (East Rhine and the West Rhine lines) to the Ruhr-Sieg line.

Moreover, the Ruhr–Sieg line is listed as a "second priority" in the Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan, depending on the growth of demand for freight transport, for such improvements as improving the steep grade on the Altenhundem–Welschen Ennest section.

In the last few years, almost all stations from Altena to Siegen-Weidenau have been modernised under a program of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, including improvements of access for the disabled. The few stations that have not modernised (including Finnentrop) are intended to be modernised in the coming months and years. Finnentrop station building was demolished for this reason in December 2007. The new new station will have same-platform access between trains and buses.

Services

The Ruhr-Sieg line is served every hour by:

• RE (Regional-Express) 16: Ruhr-Sieg-Express, connecting to Essen
• RB (Regionalbahn
  RegionalBahn
  The Regionalbahn is a type of local passenger train in Germany.-Service:Regionalbahn trains usually call at all stations on a given line, with the exception of RB trains within S-Bahn networks, these may only call at selected stations...
  
  ) 91: Ruhr-Sieg-Bahn.

The Ruhr-Sieg line is also used by local rail freight.

External links

NRW rail archive of André Joost:

www.eisenbahntunnel-portal.de: