Passenger trains have been running again on the railway line in the Ahr Valley since early Monday morning. For the time being, the end of the line is Ahrweiler train station.
At 4:41 a.m. the time had come according to the railway’s timetable: four months after the flood disaster, Regionalbahn 39 was the first train to travel on the section of the Ahr Valley Railway from Remagen to Ahrweiler.
The importance of this day for people in the Ahr Valley can also be seen from the political celebrities who announced their visit. Together with Prime Minister Malu Dreyer (SPD), the acting Federal Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer (CSU) and the board of directors of Deutsche Bahn, Ronald Pofalla, drove the RB39 in the afternoon. The resumption of train traffic will bring back a bit of normalcy for the people in the region, said Pofalla.
Rail replacement traffic is changing
The timetable provides for two trains per hour and direction on the initially single-track route, as announced by Deutsche Bahn. Therefore, according to SPNV-Nord, the network of rail replacement traffic in the Ahr valley is also changing. The SEV-Line 1 to Mayschoss via Dernau and the SEV-Line 3 to Ahrbrück via Altenahr both start at Ahrweiler train station from now on. For the time being, a bus will also be commuting between Bad Neuenahr and Remagen. The reason: The train is not yet returning to Heimersheim station.
Heimersheim station was completely destroyed
The rail replacement route to Dernau now begins at Ahrweiler train station.
SWR
Because the breakpoint was completely destroyed by the water in mid-July. According to the railway, a track has been repaired here in the past few months. According to the timetable, no trains stop here for the time being, as the platform itself has not yet been rebuilt.
The trains could actually run as far as Walporzheim, because the route is largely intact by then. However, according to the Ahrweiler district, the Ahrweiler Markt station is currently being rebuilt. By the end of the year, the trains should then run to Walporzheim again, according to Deutsche Bahn.
The train station in Heimersheim was badly damaged by the masses of water.
Press office
Deutsche Bahn AG / Patrick Kuschfeld
No official forecast for the route to Ahrbrück
According to Deutsche Bahn, around 4,200 tons of gravel and 7,800 tons of crushed stone were required to rebuild the first section. Before that, tons of rubble had been removed. In addition, five kilometers of cables, one kilometer of rails, 1,500 sleepers and two level crossings would have had to be renewed.
When the complete, approximately 30-kilometer-long stretch upstream to Ahrbrück will be restored cannot yet be estimated due to the immense destruction. The SPNV-Nord and the Ahrweiler district want the completely destroyed route to be rebuilt with new technology as quickly as possible.
According to her, electrification is also conceivable. This is also what the mayor of Altenahr, Cornelia Weigand (independent), demands. She also advocates reactivating the line to Adenau.
The first trains will run again between Remagen and Ahrweiler station after the flood disaster in mid-July.
SWR
Experts estimate a construction and planning time of at least six years
Even if the railway itself has not yet given a forecast, experts estimate the planning and construction time to be at least six years – under optimal conditions. In the flood disaster in mid-July, at least seven railway bridges and up to 20 kilometers of track were washed away by the floods in the Ahr valley, according to SPNV-Nord.