GERMANY: The Land of Nordrhein-Westfalen has confirmed €17m of funding to enable the introduction of a passenger service on the 10 km Niederrheinbahn route between Moers and Kamp-Lintfort from 2026.
‘By reactivating the old tracks, Kamp-Lintfort, the third largest German town without a rail connection, will be connected to the rail network and the university will be connected to sustainable public transport’, explained Ronald Lünser, spokesman for Rhein-Ruhr transport association VRR, when the funding decision was announced on April 25.
A temporary shuttle service was operated on the line from May to October 2020 to serve a garden festival, but the introduction of a permanent service will require a more extensive upgrading costed at €19m. This will include bridge and level crossing improvements and the construction of stations at Kamp-Lintfort, Kamp-Lintfort-Süd/Kattenstraße, Moers-Repelen and Moers-Eick.
Moers-Rheinkamp station also needs to be rebuilt. Deutsche Bahn is to undertake resignalling works in Rheinkamp, with the Land providing €12·3m to enable the work to be brought forward from DB’s planned date of 2035 to align with the reopening project.
‘We must do everything we can to ensure that more people can travel by train reliably, affordably and safely’, said Land Transport Minister Ina Brandes. ‘With every new train connection, we shift thousands of car-km to the rails every year and relieve the roads.’
