Rhein-Münsterland-Express - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

State:

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...

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The Rhein-Münsterland-Express (RE 7) is a Regional-Express service in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia

North Rhine-Westphalia

(NRW). The hourly service initially runs to the south east from Krefeld

Krefeld Hauptbahnhof

Krefeld Hauptbahnhof is the largest station of the city of Krefeld in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The double-track and electrified Duisburg-Ruhrort–Mönchengladbach railway and the Lower Left Rhine Railway cross at the station. A line to Rheydt formerly began at the station, but...

via Neuss

Neuss Hauptbahnhof

is the central railway station and Hauptbahnhof for the German city of Neuss.-History:Neuss station was opened in 1853, along with the line from Aachen. A rail connection to Cologne followed in 1855. In 1875/76, the second station building was built. The current station building was opened at the...

to Cologne

Köln Hauptbahnhof

Köln Hauptbahnhof is the central railway station in Cologne, Germany.The station is an important local, national and international hub, with many ICE, Thalys and Intercity trains calling there, as well as regional RegionalExpress, RegionalBahn and local S-Bahn trains...

and then turns to run to the northeast via Solingen

Solingen Hauptbahnhof

Solingen Hauptbahnhof is the only train station in Solingen, Germany offering ICE and IC long distance trains....

, Wuppertal, Hagen

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....

to Münster

Münster Hauptbahnhof

-History:The original Münster station was opened in 1848 by the Münster-Hamm Railway Company, when it opened by the Münster–Hamm railway to the then capital of the Prussian Province of Westphalia as a terminus of its branch line from Hamm, where it connected with Cologne-Minden trunk line. The...

. Every two hours it continues to Rheine.

History

Today's RE 7 is the successor to the former StädteExpress line SE from Aachen

Aachen Hauptbahnhof

Aachen Central Station is the train station for the city of Aachen, in the far west of Germany near the Dutch and Belgian border. It is the largest of the four currently active Aachen stations, and is integrated into the long-distance network.- History :...

via Cologne and Wuppertal to Munster.

From 1998, under the original version of North Rhine-Westphalia’s integrated timetable (ITF 1), the service ran between Düren

Düren station

Düren station is located to the north of the centre of Düren and is the largest station in the city and the district of Düren. It is located at the intersection of the Cologne–Aachen high-speed line with the lines to Linnich, Heimbach and Euskirchen. Until 1992 it was also connected to the Erft...

and Munster. With the introduction of ITF 2 in December 2002, the line was extended at both ends to Aachen and to Rheine. Since the Rhein-Sieg-Express (RE 9) often ran late under the new timetable, in June 2003, the RE 7 exchanged its section on the left (west) bank of the Rhine with the RE 9's left bank route and has since then run to Krefeld. This eliminates a level crossing of rail tracks in Cologne and avoids conflicts between the two services. The short turn around times available for the RE 7 in Krefeld then led to significant delays on the RE 7.

To stabilise the timetable, in 2006 locomotives on the line were changed from class 111

DB Class 111

The Baureihe 111 is a class of electric locomotives built for the Deutsche Bundesbahn, and now owned by Deutsche Bahn AG.- History :Class 111 is the successor of the Class 110 express Einheitslokomotive...

to class 112

DR Class 243

The DR Class 243 is a universal electric locomotive of the Deutsche Reichsbahn which is used for general rail service. Deutsche Bahn lists the locomotive as Class 143. The locomotives of class 143/243 still belong to the most successful class of German electric locomotives.- Development :Since...

and the Rhein-Münsterland-Express since then has runs every two hours to Münster. These changes eventually led to normal on-time running. The Zweckverband SPNV Münsterland (Münsterland rail transport association) is planning, however, to extend hourly services to Rheine. As part of the second stage of modernisation at Rheine station, one of the two disused platforms are to be reactivated, which would make available six platform tracks instead of four. The train could therefore operate without platform conflicts with InterCity

Intercity (Deutsche Bahn)

Intercity is the second-highest train classification in Germany, after the ICE. Intercity services are loco-hauled express services, usually over long-distances. There are Intercity routes throughout Germany, and routes generally operate with a two-hour frequency, with multiple routes giving a more...

services on the Emsland line. In return, 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...

RB 68 services would be discontinued.

The line is operated every hour by DB Regio

DB Regio

DB Regio AG is a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn which operates short and medium distance passenger train services in Germany, and operates light and heavy rail infrastructure in the United Kingdom.-Germany:...

NRW. Long sections of RE 7 runs parallel to Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn lines and it has some of the character of a fast S-Bahn service and is perceived by the passengers accordingly.

Route

The Rhein-Münsterland-Express runs on the following railway lines:

Rheine–Münster line (full length)
Münster–Hamm line (full length)
Hamm–Hagen line (full length)
Dortmund–Wuppertal line
Elberfeld–Dortmund railway
The Elberfeld–Dortmund railway is a major German railway. It is part of a major axis for long distance and regional rail services between Wuppertal and Cologne, and is served by Intercity Express, InterCity, Regional Express, Regionalbahn and S-Bahn trains....

(from 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....

)
Wuppertal-Düsseldorf line
Düsseldorf–Elberfeld railway
The Düsseldorf–Elberfeld railway is a 27 km long main line railway in Germany, originally built by the Düsseldorf-Elberfeld Railway Company, connecting Düsseldorf and Elberfeld via Erkrath, Hochdahl and Vohwinkel...

(to Linden/Gruiten junction)
Gruiten–Köln-Deutz line
Gruiten–Köln-Deutz railway
The Gruiten–Cologne-Deutz railway is a major German railway. It is part of a major axis for long distance and regional rail services between Wuppertal and Cologne, and is served by Intercity Express, InterCity, Regional-Express and regionalbahn trains....

(to Köln-Mülheim)
Duisburg– Köln-Deutz line
Cologne–Duisburg railway
The 64 km long Cologne–Duisburg railway is one of the most important lines in Germany. It is the main axis for long distance and urban passenger rail services between Cologne and the Ruhr, served by Intercity Express, Intercity, Regional Express, regionalbahn and S-Bahn trains...

(from Cologne-Mülheim)
Hohenzollern Bridge
Cologne–Krefeld line (entire length)

Rail operations

The service is operated with push–pull trains, each composed of four double-deck carriages hauled by class 112 locomotives

DR Class 243

History

Route

Rail operations

See also