Rail Connection Nijmegen-Kleve

The track, then and now

Once upon a time there was ……..

Cöln-Crefelder Eisenbahn Gesellschaft

(CCE)

Shunt Köln - Kleve

• 15.November 1855 Köln – Neuss• 26.Januari 1856 extended until Krefeld• 23. Augustus 1866 shifted via Krefeld-Oppum• 11.November 1859 taking over by the Rheinische

Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft (REG)• 1.Maart 1863 extended until Kleve

Nijmeegsch Spoorwegcomité

• 1860 start of the lobby by citizens of Nijmegen• 1863 creation Nijmeegsche Spoorwegmaatschappij

(NSM)• 1865 opening railroad Nijmegen – Kleve• 8 augustus 1865 Nijmegen connected on the German

network of railways• 1879 Nijmegen connected on the Dutch network of

railways• 1884 monument in honour of the realization of the 1e

railway connection with Kleve

Continuation time bar• 1879 transfer station in Nijmegen• 1886 exploitation by Prussian Railway Companies• 1.Juli 1886 Haarlem-IJmuidense Railway Company

(HIJSM)• 1909 Station Cleve Tiergarten opened because of the visit

of Kaiser Wilhelm II• 1911 railway road is double track• 1911 – 1960 tram between Kleve and Beek

• 1918 – 1925 train station ‘t Heilig Land• 1934 station closing Groesbeek (then 57 years without

possibility for passenger traffic in Groesbeek)• 1945 destroyed railway bridge at Rhenen is not restored• 1961 closing down the second track

• 1978 closure all stations except Nijmegen,Kranenburg and Kleve

• 1988 last D-train on this route

• 2.Juni 1991 closure of the route for passenger transport

• 1999 overall closure

Decay

Latest developments

• Early 2000s lobby for HSL-station(High Speed Line) Arnhem

• Present and interested in shunt to Nijmegen-Kleve were:

Schiphol, NS, Pro-RailProvinces N-Holland, Utrecht en GelderlandCities Amsterdam, Utrecht, Arnhem, Nijmegen en KleveKreis Kleve, Bundesland Nordrhein-WestfalenChambers of CommerceStadsregio Arnhem-Nijmegen (in that time KAN)Weeze, DB etc.

Continuation developments

• Political questions SP Party Province Gld• Activities Association for Innovative (rail) Transport(VIEV)• Lobby Airport Weeze• 2.Februari 2005 motion Nijmegen „Glad I ride with the train to

Cleves“ (at that time no support in Germany)• 2007 decision until further research by Stadsregio (city region). • April 2008 Start Draisinen, tourist attraction with ‘fietslorry's’

(success!) and…..• ….Council decision Municipality Groesbeek against reactivation of

the railway.

Draisinen

Developments public transport

• Competition railway-companies• European re-discovering other public transport

possibilities (quicktrams, lightrails, tramtrains, bustrains, freighttrams etc.)

• Introduction sustainable public transport

Public opinion in Groesbeek?

• Stüppkesmarkt (flea market) Kranenburg• On this market one could vote for or against rail activation. There were many people from Groesbeek of which

there were many joining the voting, 80% of which for the re-activation.

• Approach by citizens• There are more and more citizens who approach us with the question why the Council of Groesbeek is now

actually against rail activation!

• Railway information night• GroenLinks organised that night at 19-04-2010 and we had a lot of visitors (including our Nijmeegse and German

neighbours) and most of them were positif interested.

State of affairs in the Council

• Parties VVD, VOLG, GroenLinks and SP vote for re-activation (8 votes)

• PvdA have their doubts (3 votes)• CDA, GVP vote against re-activation (7 votes)• The mayor is absolutely against re-activation but is

leaving at the 1.of april this year.• The Council is now writing a Vision 2025 for Groesbeek

and go for the development of the tourism. In that context they see more and more the importance of a good railway-network, also in relation with sustainibility.

Rail Routes?

Summary

• Enthusiastic started, bled to death, not only the railroad but also the tourism (using more and more cars)

• New situation, new conditions• We need economic impulses (tourism, health, sports,

conferences etc.)• Need sustainable developments (using less cars)

• In 2004 at a symposium in Groesbeek Drs.Arnold Boer (Europarc Federation Treasurer) said:

„There is nothing what I heard or have seen today, or I know an area in Europe where they have it in the same way or even better, but there is no area where they have it all together: You have gold in your hands!!“

• Syntropher opens the way for a tram-train connection which can quickly bring tourists, shopping people, students etc in the country and in the centres.

Future?

• My motto is:• You only have a

future when you build one!