Branch Line News International (ISSN 1354-0947), a newsletter about the world's railway geography and infrastructure 1995 archived text (BLN 745 - BLN 768) BLN 745.01] Belfast Central - Belfast Yorkgate: (BLN 738.0248) A new timetable was introduced with the opening of the section from Belfast Central (Lagan Junction) to Yorkgate on Monday 28 November 1994. While most Larne line services terminate in Belfast, there is some through running, including four Monday to Friday Larne - Belfast - Lisburn - Londonderry trains. NIR's free buses between Central and Yorkgate are cut back to become a Central to city-centre circular service. The bridge over the river Lagan is named the Dargan Bridge after the Irish engineer and entrepreneur, William Dargan (1799-1867). During summer 1994, NIR removed the signalling control panel from the upper storey of the former York Road station building to a new signalling centre at Belfast Central which will control the Lisburn, Bangor and Larne lines, plus Bleach Green Jn to Antrim. The foreword to the new timetable forecasts that "... by September 1995 passengers will be able to travel to ... Great Victoria Street Station." (BLN 741.0317). BLN 745.02] Shanes Castle Railway: (BLN 736.0193) The owner, Lord O'Neill, was persuaded to reopen this 914mm-gauge 2.5km tourist line near Antrim for another summer, but patronage did not rise to expectations. The line is reported to have closed finally at the end of the 1994 season. BLN 745.03][GB][FR][BE] Eurostar Discovery: (BLN 742.0339) Four Eurostars (two Paris, two Bruxelles) are now scheduled to run each way daily including Saturdays and Sundays. Eurotunnel had previously required Saturday and Sunday-morning possessions for continuing testing work ordered by the intergovernmental safety authorities, but paths became available and a second edition of the Eurostar timetable appeared with effect from the start date of public service on 14 November 1994. Perhaps the first passenger working from Waterloo to Haute Picardie was on Tuesday 29 November, when the 0823 London - Paris train ran wrong-line through the tunnel as far as the British crossover, then reverted to the normal route before becoming a complete failure on the up running line at TGV-Haute Picardie station. The set shunted to the down platform loop via an emergency crossover and passengers were detrained. A replacement Eurostar was fetched from Paris, arriving there 122 minutes late. BLN 745.04][FR] TGV openings: TGV properly refers to high-speed trains (Trains à Grande Vitesse) while LGV refers to lines (Lignes à Grande Vitesse), but the term TGV has become so much part of the language that the French, including SNCF people, often say TGV even when talking about lines. Stations have the TGV label prefixed (TGV-Haute Picardie) or suffixed (Satolas TGV; Aéroport Charles de Gaulle TGV-RER). TGV-Haute Picardie station, at Ablaincourt-Pressoir (BLN 730.0122; Ball 15A2), opened for business on 29 May 1994, when a BLS reporter saw off the first connecting bus from St.Quentin station, with about half a dozen passengers. Presumably TGV-Haute Picardie was then rather far from being finished, for the formal opening did not occur until 6 October 1994. Because of its location in open fields near nowhere in particular, it is known as 'Sugar-Beet station' (Gare des Betteraves) by its detractors, who would have preferred a station at Chaulnes, giving interchange with the Amiens - Tergnier line. SNCF however chose a site near an autoroute interchange. Similar greenfield stations are planned on the new LGV Est to Strasbourg, whose proposed alignment was recently unveiled. The opening of Aéroport Charles de Gaulle TGV (Ball 81B3) was deferred until 13 November 1994. The high-speed link under construction north-west of the triangle de Coubert on the LGV Jonction (BLN 736.0195) will have two spurs at Valenton. One, the raccordement TGV de Valenton, crosses two-thirds of Valenton yard to face west on to the Grande Ceinture, giving access thence via Massy TGV to the LGV Atlantique, while the other crosses the whole width of the yard to reach a north-facing junction, bifurcation de Creteil (also referred to as Pompadour), about 1.5 km south of Vert de Maisons station, giving access to Paris Gare de Lyon. BLN 745.05][FR] Paris RER: (BLN 718.06; Ball 81A1) An extension of SNCF's Réseau Express Régional Ligne A from Cergy-St.Christophe to Cergy-le-Haut opened on 29 August 1994. (La Vie du Rail, #2460) BLN 745.06][FR] Motteville - St Valéry en Caux: (BLN 739.0277; Ball 13A2) Closure and bus substitution are reported to be from 5 September 1994 until completion of work in 1996, but doubts have been expressed about whether the line will in fact reopen. (L'Echo du Rail, 9/1994) BLN 745.07][FR] Dieppe - Serqueux: (BLN 740.0303; Ball 13B2-14A2) This line, still rusting away in 1994, closed to passengers from 22 August 1988, according to a contemporary issue (#2159) of La Vie du Rail, but freight traffic continued for some time after, at both ends if not throughout. At the Serqueux end, both tracks certainly showed the polish of regular use when seen on several occasions over the next couple of years, only becoming rusty more recently. BLN 745.08][FR] Strasbourg trams: CTS, the Compagnie des Transports Strasbourgeois, were to open their first tram route (the 9.8km line A between Hautepierre Maillon and Baggersee) on 26 November 1994 with four (futuristic-looking, York-built) trams an hour, later increasing to twelve an hour. Dummy running without passengers began on 21 October. Full operation will be marked by wholesale revision of surrounding bus services, to complement the trams, from 27 February 1995. (CTS Trans Lignes, 10/1994) BLN 745.09][FR] Nantes trams: (Ball 32B1) Tram line 2 opened from Cinquante Otages to Trocadière (Réze) in September 1992; extended Cinquante Otages - Université de l'Erdre in September 1993; extended Université de l'Erdre - Bourgeonnière in March 1994; and extended Bourgeonnière - Orvault Grandval on 3 September 1994. There is a proposal to construct a line on SNCF alignment between Réze-Pont Rousseau (on the Ste.Pazanne line) and Sucé (on the freight-only Châteaubriant line, north of La Chapelle sur Erdre), via the direct freight spur between those two lines, not shown in the Ball atlas, from bifurcation de Segre to Doulon. (La Vie du Rail, #2460) BLN 745.010][FR][CH] Belfort - Delle SNCF (- Boncourt CFF - Porrentruy): (Ball 40B2) Belfort - Delle passenger services were withdrawn from 27 September 1992 (BLN 698.04) and the Morvillars - Delle section was closed completely from 23 May 1993, so that the line is no longer available as a through route for international freight, though the threatened Swiss local trains still, for the moment, reach Delle (BLN 743.0363). Morvillars is not shown in Ball, but it was the junction for the line via Fesches-le-Châtel to Montbéliard. BLN 745.011][FR] Fort-l'Écluse-Collonges - Divonne-les-Bains: (Ball 49B1-50A2) A tourist operation is proposed on (?part of) this branch in the Pays de Gex. (advertisement in La Vie du Rail, #2462) BLN 745.012][FR] Cannes - Ranguin: (BLN 715.03, 736.0201; Ball 77A3) Passenger trains are operated by an SNCF railcar in the livery of Syndicat Intercommunal des Transports Publics de Cannes-Le Cannet, the local authority-owned bus service. Passengers receive a standard bus ticket for their flat-rate fare, collected on board. The service is still running, but will be suspended for engineering work during the month of February 1995. However, the SNCF national timetable book (table 509), wall timetables and local leaflets (fiches horaires) are unable to agree on the precise start and finish dates of the work. BLN 745.013][LU] Luxembourg - Howald: Howald station (not shown in the Ball atlas at 18A2) is a recent single-face platform at PK (pointe kilométrique) 14.385, apparently built to serve an industrial estate and retail park, with exit to the street over the roof of a supermarket. Rail access from the north is by one of the ground-level tracks (usually the easternmost one, #102) in the yard which stretches from Luxembourg station to Howald. The main line by contrast is on embankment at this point so as to fly over the west-to-south goods spur from Hollerich. To the south, trains from Howald can use a ladder-junction to gain access to the main line by the signal-box at PK 14.2. The timetable valid from 27 September 1992 showed a Sundays-excepted service of seven southbound and five northbound shuttle trains between Luxembourg and Howald, with four northbound on Saturdays. The station does not seem to have been as successful as hoped, for by the May 1994 timetable, lunchtime trains had been withdrawn and the service was down to three southbound workings Mondays-Fridays (two on Saturdays, reducing to one in winter 1994-95) with two northbound Mondays-Saturdays. However, three of these services had become Howald calls of trains between Luxembourg and the Esch-sur-Alzette line, thus using not only track 102 but also the connection to the main line at the south end of Howald. BLN 745.014][DE][FR] Winden (Pfalz) - Kapsweyer DB - Wissembourg SNCF: (BLN 743.0356; Ball 57A2 (DE), 30B3 (FR)) At Wissembourg on 9 November 1994, there was no evidence of a passenger service from Germany. The report that passenger reopening was due in September 1994 seems to have been premature. German sources say the proposals are still tentative, with finance not yet agreed. BLN 745.015][DE] Stendal - Niedergörne: (BLN 714.014; Ball 28A3-28B3) The Russian-design nuclear power-station at Niedergörne is being demolished. The office blocks appear to be seeking a new life as an industrial estate, but the branch is thought likely to close after the demolition is completed. BLN 745.016][DE] To Berlin-Tegel by French military train: (BLN 738.0259; Ball 31B3) The TMFB (train militaire français de Berlin), which conveyed French military personnel to and from Strasbourg, made its final runs on 28 and 29 September 1994, ending its career on arrival back at its base, the French military station at Berlin-Tegel, just south of the closed S-Bahn station on the Kremmbahn, the currently freight-only branch from Schönholz to Heiligensee, soon to be reopened to passengers and extended through to Hennigsdorf. The station and the 16 coaches (which had in effect been paid for with German money) were then handed over to the German authorities - the former to become an historic monument, the latter almost certainly for sale to a railway further east. (La Vie du Rail, #2466) BLN 745.017][DE] Betzdorf - Daaden: (BLN 730.0112, 742.0347; OEIS 9464; Ball 38B1-39A1; KBS463) The branch is understood to have reopened to passengers on 2 November 1994, a Monday-Saturday service being provided by the Westerwaldbahn. BLN 745.018][DE] Delitzsch north-to-west curve: (Ball 42B3) This chord, between the south end of the lower station and the west end of the upper station at Delitzsch, is in use for all trains between Bitterfeld and Halle (KBS251) until 27 May 1995, during a period of reconstruction work on the direct Bitterfeld - Halle line. It is thought likely to close when the diversions cease. Single-track and electrified, the curve seems a relatively modern addition to the layout, though it had been in use long enough for the track to require considerable fettling-up before the diversions could begin. It crosses on the level the only road access to Delitzsch Oberer Bahnhof, so intending passengers may find their route to the station obstructed at times during the present diversions. BLN 745.019][CZ][PL] Tanvald - Harrachov CD - Jakuszyce PKP - Jelenia Gora: (BLN 739.0293; Ball 36A1) The cross-border section beyond Harrachov into Poland is reported as having been used by special trains on at least one weekend during 1994, though it has no booked service. (LCGB Bulletin, #1/95) BLN 745.020][TR] Istanbul: (Ball 53A2) As forecast in BLN 722.019, the 1435mm-gauge street tramway has been extended several km westwards from Cevizlibag, with alternate workings from Sirkeci station now going further out to Zeytinburnu. The Aksaray tram branch and turning-circle seem to be used for stabling purposes only. Both the present outer terminating-points require reversals over crossovers and all workings are pairs of single-ended articulated cars coupled back-to-back. The turning triangle at Sirkeci is not used. The metro line starting from the underground station at Aksaray has also been extended outwards from the junction near the large new Otogar (= bus station) over the valley south-westwards on the surface to Zeytinburnu and one stop beyond, with further construction work well in evidence on the line towards the city's Atatürk airport at Yesilköy. The other leg of this metro line still runs to the temporary terminus near the depot at Esenler, but here too construction works can be seen for an extension to the north-west. At Zeytinburnu there is a connecting line between the street tramway and the metro. As noted in BLN 722, the stock is very similar, but the street-running cars as well as having skirted wheels have fewer seats, to give more standing-room, and the metro has some intermediate non-driving trailers. On the other side of the Golden Horn, all five cars of the metre-gauge heritage tramway were seen in service during a three-day period. At Taksim, the new metro line to the north is still just a very large hole, plus a hoarding with a not-too-easy-to-follow map of the proposed new works. Inflation has savaged the value of the Turkish currency since BLN 722. Fares in November 1994 were: TCDD Sirkeci - Halkali TRL9000 (16p for 28km); tram or metro TRL10,000 (18p); Tünel or heritage tram TRL5000 (9p). BLN 745.021][YU] Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia: On 29 November 1994, the Macedonian Railways in Skopje telexed the Union Internationale des Chemins de fer (copy to most European railways and BLN) to say that they had settled their share of the wagon fleet of the old federal Yugoslav Railways (JZ). Macedonian wagons now bear the initials MZ and UIC number 65. BLN 745.022][US][CA] Amtrak axe: The National Railroad Passenger Corporation - a US nationalised industry which trades as Amtrak and receives USD952M federal subsidy to run all of the country's passenger trains other than commuter and metro lines - is to eliminate three complete routes plus segments of others, cutting back many train frequencies, reducing train-km by 21% and full-year costs by USD340M, shedding 5500 jobs or about 25% of its work-force, and retiring most of its elderly 'heritage fleet', the passenger cars it took over from the private-sector railroads when it was formed in 1971. From 1 April 1995 Chicago - Milwaukee (the Hiawatha service); Chicago - Grand Rapids (the Pere Marquette); and San Jose - Sacramento - Roseville (the Capitols) will no longer run. Segments of route to be eliminated are St.Louis - Kansas City; Birmingham - Mobile; Detroit - Pontiac; Detroit - Toledo; Philadelphia - Atlantic City; Philadelphia - Harrisburg; Springfield - Boston; and one international New York - Montréal train (the Montrealer via Vermont). The New York - Montréal Adirondack, which uses a different route, via Schenectady, is apparently to survive. (Amtrak press release, 15 December 1994, via Internet) BLN 745.023][ZM][ZW][MZ][BW][ZA] Southern Africa: Zambia Railways have changed the timings of their international passenger shuttle from Livingstone across the NRZ-maintained Zambezi bridge to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, the service which was re-introduced in September 1994 (BLN 740.0314). The new times posted up in Livingstone station on 12 December 1994 were: km 0630 1600 0 Livingstone ZR 0815 1800 0700 1630 13 Victoria Falls NRZ 0745 1730 Three out of a sample of five workings ran to time, and a fourth, northbound, one waited at Victoria Falls for passengers off the late-running overnight National Railways of Zimbabwe train from Bulawayo. The trains, comprising a rather battered ZR diesel locomotive with bright-red passenger coach and guard's/baggage-van, also convey any suitable cross-border freight traffic, such as coal from Hwange. The more hazardous commodities such as petrol and sulphuric acid in tank-wagons were however seen to travel in separate freight trains across the bridge. As described in BLN 719.07, NRZ's 15th-class 4-6-4+4-6-4 Garratts still shunt at Bulawayo and haul the Rail Safaris charter train over the beautifully-maintained, deep-ballasted 472km of 1067mm-gauge track between Bulawayo and Victoria Falls. This well-run, comfortable set of traditional carriages met with the approval of a BLS team travelling in mid-December on the company's normal holiday package, which includes intermediate stops to see big game in Hwange National Park and can be recommended. For those in search of rarer track, Rail Safaris, following the ending of the civil war in Moçambique, are planning a 'seaside excursion' in April 1995, running their train from Victoria Falls via Bulawayo and Harare to Mutare, then via the Caminhos de Ferro do Moçambique to the port of Beira on the Indian Ocean, a journey totalling 1560km one way. Rail Safaris' UK agent is on 01734-472830. Bulawayo, as well as being the last stronghold of big Garratts in the world, is unusual in being a through main-line station converted into a terminus, this being done when level-crossings in the south of the town became inconvenient. All the passenger facilities are concentrated on the north side of platform 1, though there are four other long platform faces. The sparse NRZ passenger services, which run overnight, seem well-supported, loading up to twenty or so vehicles, sometimes with relief trains at busy weekends. Fares are cheap: one-way 1st-class Bulawayo - Harare is ZWD79.10 including bedding (= £6.50 for 482km). NRZ has no short-haul or commuter trains. Apart from the handful of domestic services to Victoria Falls, Chiredzi, Harare and Mutare, international trains run (a) from Bulawayo by the traditional route via Plumtree to Francistown, Gaborone and Lobatse in Botswana, now again continuing, it is understood, into South Africa and terminating at Mafikeng; (b) from Bulawayo via Somabhula, Rutenga, Beit Bridge and Pretoria to Johannesburg; and (c) from Harare also via Somabhula etc to Johannesburg. Electrification at 25kV 50Hz extends 310km from Harare (the capital, once Salisbury) to Dabuka yard, just south of Gweru. BLN 746.024][GB][FR][BE] Eurostar: From next Monday, 23 January 1995, Eurostar service will step up from two to four London - Paris trains each way daily, with a fifth working each way on Friday and Sunday evenings. London - Brussel/Bruxelles will have three instead of two trains each way daily, two of the three making calls at Lille-Europe. By about the end of 1995, London - Paris Eurostars should be running approximately hourly. In their first six weeks, the London - Paris trains have been running 85% full during the week, and nearly 100% full on Friday and Sunday evenings, hence the extra weekend trains now being deployed. British ticket sales have been 50% of the total, against SNCF's 35% and SNCB/NMBS' 15%. (La Vie du Rail, #2477, 4 January 1995) BLN 746.025][FR] Les Ifs - Etretat: (Ball 13A2) Spring 1995 is expected to see the official opening of 5.5km of the CF Touristique Etretat - Pays de Caux between Les Loges and Etretat in Seine-Maritime. The line from Les Ifs to Etretat opened on 22 June 1895 and lost its passenger service on 30 June 1951, but the rails remained in place after complete closure on 3 April 1972, gradually disappearing under vegetation. A preservation group has been working on the line's rehabilitation since 1993, and has secured finance from the département and the European Regional Development Fund, formally launching the tourist project at Les Loges on 17 October 1994. (Connaissance du Rail, #164, Dec. 1994) BLN 746.026][FR, CH] Pontarlier - Vallorbe: (Ball 50A3 (FR), 90B2 (CH)) The 23km single-track line from Pontarlier in France to Vallorbe in Switzerland closed to passengers on 18 April 1939 and was completely closed by 1975, but 2km has been restored as the CF Touristique Pontarlier - Vallorbe using an 0-4-0T borrowed from the CFT du Rhin. The preservation group hopes to lay a further 2.5km in 1995 and 3km more in 1996. (Connaissance du Rail, #164, Dec. 1994) BLN 746.027][FR] Nice - Digne: (BLN 743.0368; Ball 66B1-67A1-77B3) Severe flood damage closed the line throughout on 5 November 1994. An autorail began running the 8km from Nice to Lingostière on 7 November, and the 20km between Nice and St.Martin-du-Var were open by 23 December. All other services are by bus. The 150km metre-gauge line, built between 1890 and 1912 through difficult but scenic terrain, has never been remunerative and is currently operated by Chemins de fer de Provence, a subsidiary of CFTA, on behalf of a consortium of regional, departmental and local authorities. Its future is very much in doubt, for it might cost some FRF30 to 40 million (= £3.6M to £4.8M) simply to repair the track and bridges destroyed, and FRF135 million (£16M) to implement the full modernisation plan drawn up in 1990, including extension of the metre-gauge from Digne over 22km of disused SNCF standard-gauge trackbed to St.Auban on the Briançon - Aix line. (La Vie du Rail, #2477, 4 January 1995) BLN 746.028][FR] Pau funicular: (not shown in Ball at 70A1) The short (103m) metre-gauge funicular closed for repairs on 14 September 1993, supposedly for two months. The cars were duly overhauled, but problems were then encountered with a 1906 cast-iron pulley-wheel. The local authority who operate the line are considering what to do, but meanwhile the line remains out of use. (La Vie du Rail, #2462) BLN 746.029][FR] La Tour de Carol-Enveitg - Villefranche-Vernet-les-Bains: (Ball 79B3; SNCF table 547) Improvements at several stations to meet tourist demand, and a new (resited) halt at Thuès-Carança for walkers and climbers, seem to indicate a brighter future for the SNCF's third-rail dc metre-gauge Ligne de Cerdagne and its stock, known as le petit train jaune or le canari. (Connaissance du Rail, #164, Dec. 1994) BLN 746.030][DE] Neustadt (Dosse) - Brandenburg: (Ball 19B1-28B3; KBS266) The Kursbuch for both summer 1994 and winter 1994-95 has continued to show through trains between Rathenow Nord and Rathenow, though a footnote does indicate that one should enquire about the effect of engineering works. The line was not broken from 29 May 1994 as suggested in BLN 729.090, and the Schnellfahrstrecke work may not now necessitate such an interruption. BLN 746.031][DE] Rostock: (Ball 12B1; McDougall p.99) Rostock's original station, the Friedrich-Franz Bahnhof, for 88 years the city's goods station, was to be reopened experimentally as a passenger terminus from 26 September to 3 October 1994. Hourly S-Bahn trains from Warnemünde were to run forward from the Hauptbahnhof to terminate closer to the city centre, near the Steintor. Permanent reopening is likely to follow. The old station was opened in 1850 as the terminus of the Bad Kleinen - Rostock Friedrich-Franz Eisenbahn, but in 1866 the Deutsche-Nordische-Lloyd company built the Neustrelitz - Warnemünde line with its own through station in Rostock, which subsequently became the Hbf. (Blickpunkt Strassenbahn, #6/94) The Rostock Seehaven branch has a freight-only north-to-east curve from Rostock Dierkow to Bentwisch, not shown in Ball. The area between Rostock Hbf, Kassebohm and Dalwitzhof is also rather more complex than shown by Ball, though McDougall's map 78 gives a fuller version of the layout. In spring 1994 the Güterbahnhof north-to-east curve appeared to be out of use. Warnowbrücke Ost is the junction at the east end of this curve, even though the junction is west of the river Warnow bridge. Warnowbrücke West is the junction at the north end of the Rostock avoiding line (McDougall G131). Rostock Gbf Süd controls the two (north- and south-facing) junctions in the middle of this avoiding line. Rostock B1 signal-box controls the junctions at the east end of Rostock Hbf, including the west curve into Gbf. The two passenger lines, from Hbf to Schwerin and from Hbf to Plaaz and Tessin, run from a junction at B1 box southwards as two parallel single tracks. On the Plaaz/Tessin line is an unadvertised staff halt just before Dalwitzhof signal-box, located in the east angle by the Plaaz-line bridge over the freight line. Dalwitzhof box controls the junction at the south end of the Rostock avoiding line and the Schwerin line, and also the junction between the freight line, the Plaaz line and the Tessin line. BLN 746.032][DE] Rostock - Tessin: (BLN 717.06; Ball 12B1; KBS162) As already reported, though the line might have some prospect of attracting commuter traffic into Rostock, the poor condition of the sizeable bridge over the river Warnow enforces a severe speed restriction and continues to cause concern for its future. Sanitz has the one intermediate crossing-loop on the branch, and from the junction there the closed line to Tribsees runs east, with track still in place and not yet overgrown as far as can be seen. BLN 746.033][DE] Velgast - Tribsees: (BLN 717.06; Ball 13A2-A1; KBS168) This threatened branch, one of the Pommern Landesbahnen standard-gauge lines until absorbed by DR after 1945, immediately betrays its light-railway origins as it starts from its own platform across the station approach from Velgast main-line station. Beyond the freight connection with the main line the railbus proceeds in leisurely fashion along 30.3 km of very dubious track, not much better than Bord na Mona's railways in Irish peat-bogs. At Neu Seehagen, 5km from Velgast, a facing junction for the Franzburg branch remains in place, with disused trackbed stretching eastward. The 1944 Kursbuch does not show this line, but it was in the timetables in 1959 and 1962. Private sidings at Semlow may or may not still be in use. At Tribsees too, occasional freight traffic is reported. No wagons were seen, but something had used some of the sidings. The condition of the track would certainly require any use by a locomotive to be at very low speed. Tribsees booking-office, the only one on the line, has been unstaffed since 1 October 1993, but the station is quite grand for a light railway. Tribsees once had two other light railways, the now-defunct Stralsund-Tribseer Eisenbahn and the Greifswald-Grimmener Eisenbahn, as well as being the terminus of the closed DR line from Sanitz on the Rostock - Tessin branch. BLN 746.034][DE] Stralsund - Pasewalk (- Berlin): (Ball 13A2-21A3; McDougall G133) Stralsund's triangular junction with the Rügen line has three signal-boxes with the following codes: the northern apex is 'B3', the southern apex is 'Srg' and the eastern apex, just before Rügendamm station, is 'Rüf'. Clearly visible north of Ducherow station is the embankment of the flying junction with the former line to Wolgaster Fähre and Swinemünde (now Swinoujscie, in Poland). Abzweigung Charlottenhof, the western apex of the triangle made by the Neubrandenburg line at Pasewalk, is just a signal-box, not a passenger station as shown in Ball. When seen during 1994, the west-to-north chord was still mostly in place and signals at the Charlottenhof end were lit, but Abzw. Belling, the northern junction, had already been removed. Belling appeared to have had at some earlier date another west-to-south chord, replaced no doubt by the present line between Charlottenhof and Pasewalk W5 box. BLN 746.035][DE] Greifswald - Lubmin: (BLN 717.06; Ball 13B1; KBS194) On the Stralsund - Berlin main line the junction for the Lubmin branch is Schönwalde, a signal-box with no passenger station. Greifswald Süd station is about halfway between Greifswald Hbf and Schönwalde, and not as shown in Ball. The branch was built after 1962 to serve a nuclear power-station, known as Greifswald but located at Lubmin. A narrow-gauge Pommern Landesbahnen line once ran from Greifswald via Lubmin to Wolgast Hafen, but the standard-gauge line appears to have been built anew on a different alignment. Confirmation that none of the old trackbed was used would be welcome, however. BLN 746.036][DE] Minden - Nienburg: (Ball 25B2-26A3) Not shown in Ball are what appear to be DB branches (rather than private sidings) both diverging westwards to power-stations on the river Weser, from a south-facing junction at Lahde and a north-facing junction just south of Landesbergen. BLN 746.037][DE] Hannover - Stendal - Berlin: (BLN 739.0282; Ball 28A3-28B3) The Land of Brandenburg has ceased to oppose construction of the Schnellfahrstrecke high-speed line through its territory, so the route should open throughout in May 1997. The compromise: a 19km section through the breeding-area of some unspecified rare bird is to be double instead of quadruple track, and trains are to run at a maximum of 200km/h. (Teletext on German satellite TV, Sat-Eins, 28 December 1994) BLN 746.038][CH][FR] Porrentruy - Boncourt CFF - Delle SNCF: (BLN 743.0363, 745.010; Ball 86A2-85B2 (CH), 40B2 (FR)) On Mondays to Fridays only, three Swiss Federal Railways train régional emu workings on the Porrentruy - Boncourt line run forward the extra kilometre or so to the frontier station of Delle, just inside France. Delle yard and the line beyond to Belfort are out of use, seemingly in place but well hidden by undisturbed snow on 3 January 1995. Two other passengers alighted from the 1655 arrival and one joined the 1659 return working. The Swiss conductor said this level of usage was normal, and that the trains were to be withdrawn (supprimés) in the next timetable period. The CFF Porrentruy - Boncourt trains seemed to have reasonable usage, however, with more traffic at that particular time than the Chemins de fer du Jura single railcar had on the neighbouring Porrentruy - Bonfol branch. If the CJ succeed with their bid to take over from CFF the Boncourt passenger service, the junction layout would allow through Boncourt - Porrentruy - Bonfol workings without reversal. Both Boncourt and Bonfol branches appear to have freight traffic, and there is an electrified branch or siding striking off north-west from Courtemaîche for about a km over a long newish concrete viaduct, possibly to a military installation. Porrentruy retains a turntable. BLN 746.039][CH, FR] Dornach - Basel - Flüh - Leymen - Rodersdorf: (Ball 86B2) Baselland Transport's yellow trams run through Basel's city streets on metre-gauge tracks shared with the green urban trams, but have their own reservation in the Basel suburbs and become a rural light-rail line out towards Rodersdorf in the neighbouring canton of Solothurn. An unusual feature of the line is that the last-but-one station, Leymen, lies in France, so BLT's Swiss trams cross in and out of the European Union without ceremony every twenty minutes. BLN 746.040][CH] Bière - Apples - Morges: (Ball 90B1) A bière at Bière seemed a good idea for 1 January 1995, and indeed the BAM timetable just permitted one to be taken also at L'Isle-Mont-la-Ville, the other branch terminus on this T-shaped metre-gauge system. At the pleasantly rural middle junction, Apples, the village bar was shut for the public holiday, so cider could not alas be ordered, but inspection of the station showed that a good deal of freight traffic had been handled there during the recently-ended sugar-beet season, at a siding equipped with a beet-loader and a winch and chains for shunting. Similar loading facilities were at Bière and L'Isle. More warlike freight was seen on the line on 5 January when a train of Swiss army tanks on standard-gauge flat wagons supported on metre-gauge bogies sat behind BAM locomotive #22 at the main-line junction, Morges. No doubt the beet traffic is also handled thus in standard-gauge wagons. Morges station is being extensively remodelled, affecting both the CFF and the BAM layout there. BLN 746.041][CH] Lausanne: (Ball 91A1; CH timetables 101-104) The very short Lausanne-Gare (LG) rack line (BLN 739.0287), from the centre, Lausanne-Flon, down to the CFF station serving this rather hilly city, is now described as Métro-Gare. The longer LO rack line, also standard-gauge but locomotive-worked, which runs from Lausanne-Flon on a parallel track in the same tunnel down a longer distance past the Gare CFF to the steamer pier at Ouchy on Lac Léman, has become Métro-Ouchy. Also from Lausanne-Flon, heading out westwards to end in a pair of west-facing bay platforms at the CFF station of Renens in the canton of Vaud, runs the TSOL line described as Métro-Ouest. This interesting line (not shown in Ball) has new stations and light-rail Class 558 stock. It is well-used, running for the 18-minute journey on a single reserved track mostly alongside roads, with loops at all the stations except Provence-TL, UNIL-Sorge and Bassenges. The system's planners seem addicted to station-names made up of initials, which are not explained on the system map or at the stations themselves, so presumably the Lausannois all know what they mean! EPFL station uniquely has an island platform and is near the line's quite sizeable depot. The poor relation in the city is the metre-gauge Lausanne - Echallens - Bercher line, which used to work into the city centre on the tracks of the now-defunct urban tramway. There are some signs that it may one day do so again, but for the present it is exiled to Lausanne-Chauderon, the rather tatty and inconvenient station (several blocks to the west of Flon and 15 minutes' walk from the Gare CFF) where its reserved track out to Bercher begins. BLN 746.042][CH] Genève: (Ball 97A3) CFF know their eight-platform main station simply as Genève, but the buses of Transports Publics Genevois use its more specific title of Gare CFF de Cornavin, and SNCF ticket-issuing computers seem to know it better as Genève-Voyageurs. Most main-line trains from the rest of Switzerland run through Genève to and from Genève-Aéroport, which is on a short double-track stub branch to the north-west of the city. The airport line physically branches off the main line heading west to the border between La Plaine CFF and Bellegarde SNCF, but the former is electrified at the CFF's standard 15kV 16²/3Hz while the latter has French 1500V dc, so there are parallel tracks and incompatible sets of wires westward out of Genève for a short distance. The CFF local service to La Plaine has perforce to use the French electrification, and new Class 550 light-rail vehicles, the CFF's only 1500V dc stock, began operating in September 1994 under the title of Rhône Express Régional (echoing the Paris RER) and sharing the tracks with TGVs for Paris and TALGOs for Barcelona. Each of the Class 550 vehicles has a small auxiliary diesel engine to enable it to trundle slowly to the depot under unfriendly 15kV ac overhead. The city's secondary station is SNCF's quiet single-platform terminus, Genève Eaux-Vives, whence local emus make the ten-minute international journey on the single track eastward. (BLN 692.05) The intermediate suburban station of Chêne-Bourg on the Swiss side is no longer served, so there is now only one halt, at Ambilly on the French side of the border, before reaching the adjoining French town of Annemasse, to connect with SNCF trains further east to Evian-les-Bains, south to La Roche-sur-Foron and west to Bellegarde. Genève Eaux-Vives goods yard is in place but seems out of use except for a CFF dining-car and couchette-car parked there as a winter shelter for the homeless, run by the Red Cross. Worth a visit is the Eaux-Vives station buffet, serving excellent meals. A wooden building, it was once a pavilion at the Swiss National Exhibition of 1896, being re-erected at Eaux-Vives about the turn of the century, and still more or less in its original condition. It is said (Eisenbahn Amateur, #8/94) that it remained unrenovated because its location would have required it to be dismantled had a proposed link across town between Eaux-Vives and the La Praille freight branch (not shown in Ball) ever materialised. Eaux-Vives is near Genève's sole existing tram route, #12, and a few peak-hour trams on short workings use the turning circle in the station forecourt. Trams do not at present serve the main station, but tracks for a route #13 are now being laid again in the Place de Cornavin, and during 1995 it should become possible to go from one station to the other on trams. BLN 746.043][ZA] Aliwal North - Barkly East: Spoornet, the nationalised South African railway company, threatened closure of this spectacular 1065mm-gauge line, which includes eight reversing sidings, but was eventually persuaded to lease it for three years from 1 April 1992 to a local private-sector company, NECRail (= North East Cape Rail), as a commercial venture, retaining both freight and steam-hauled excursions. Early in its operation a tragic accident cast some doubt over its future. With the lease understood to come up for renewal in March 1995, further news would be welcome. BLN 747.044] Timetables on disk and on line: New Zealand rail timetables are now available on the World Wide Web at http://www.waikato.ac.nz/nz/rail/timetable.html and a range of European railway material is at http://mercurio.iet.unipi.it/home.html. BLN 747.045][GB][FR] Le Shuttle station nomenclature: Quizzed by a persistent BLN reporter, Sir Alastair Morton, co-chairman of Eurotunnel, wrote to say that Le Shuttle's end-points are properly known as "UK Terminal" and "Terminal France". ("That is official.") Meanwhile Le Shuttle tickets printed by Eurotunnel's computer say "Folkestone" to "Calais". It seems likely that the train operators (and people like the emergency services) use Sir Alastair's nomenclature, but that Eurotunnel's marketing department prefer the names of the nearby towns as being more helpful to their road-borne customers. BLN 747.046][FR] Denain - Arenberg: (OEIS 9445) Though the railway is not shown in the Ball atlas (7B1), Train Touristique du Hainaut service began on 21 January 1990 over 8km of colliery lines from Denain to Arenberg, which lies between Waller and Raismes stations on the SNCF Douai - Valenciennes line. Because of track work there was no service in summer 1994, but 1995 information may be available from Cercle d'Études Ferroviaires Nord Denain, 6 chemin du Moulin, F-59144 Jenlain, France. BLN 747.047][FR] Languedoc rural station closures: From 25 September 1994, the first day of the SNCF winter timetable, passenger trains were to cease calling at 17 little-used stations in rural Languedoc. A new train-plus-taxi service was to be offered, at a supplement of FRF10-40, to those reserving to or from certain remaining stations designated as gares zone de desserte, such as Chanac, Mende and Bagnols-Chadenet. Le Monastier - La Bastide Ball 63B2-64A3 Le Villard-Salelles; Le Bruel; Barjac; Balsièges; Badaroux; Allenc; (Ligne Translozérienne) Larzalier; Belvezet; Daufage-Le Goulet. Nîmes - Langogne Ball 64B1-64A3 Boucourain; Vézénobres; St.Hilaire de Brethmas; Tamaris; Malbosc; (Ligne des Cévennes) Concoules-Ponteils; Prévenchères-Gorges du Chassezac. Béziers - St.Chely d'Apcher Ball 73B3 Joncels. (Ligne des Causses) (Connaissance du Rail, #164, Dec. 1994) BLN 747.048][DE] Wismar - Hornstorf - Blankenberg - Karow (Mecklenburg): (Ball 12A1-19B3; McDougall G130; KBS156) In addition to the junctions listed in BLN 742.0342, Blankenberg has two distinct stations side by side, one on the Wismar - Karow line, one on the Ludwigslust - Rostock main line. The 1993-94 timetable required a meet of five trains to be accommodated on four platform faces at Karow just after 1400. Platform 1 has a middle lead to allow two trains - KBS172 workings, to Ludwigslust and to Waren - to stand tail to tail. Observed on two different days in 1993, none of the trains carried more than a handful of passengers. The spectacle was retimed to 1000 in the 1994-95 timetable. BLN 747.049][DE] Strasburg - Prenzlau and Prenzlau - Gramzow: (BLN 716.014-5; Ball 20B3-21A2; KBS291-2) These branches, which may close on 27 May 1995, are all that remains of the Prenzlau und Angermünde Kreisbahn, owned by the Land of Brandenburg until absorbed by DR after 1945. BLN 747.050][DE] Hamburg Hbf - Aumühle: (Ball 22B2-B3; KBS100, 101.22) Trains from Hamburg Hbf to Büchen and beyond use the Bad Oldesloe line as far as a junction (not shown in Ball) at Berliner Tor station, and then the electrified S-Bahn track east of there. The parallel track to the south is used for freight, and gives access to a recent freight and container terminal between Billwerder-Moorfleet (not as spelled in Ball) and Mittlerer Landweg. There is a link with the S-Bahn at signal-box 'Ba' west of Nettelnburg and at 'Bk' box, shown in Ball as Bergedorf, though Bergedorf station is perhaps 1km beyond the junction, towards Reinbek. At Aumühle, the S-Bahn terminates in separate platforms, to the north of the station on the main line. BLN 747.051][DE] Berlin Spandau - Westkreuz: (BLN 735.0178, 737.0231; Ball 31B2) Three different routes from Spandau to Westkreuz have all seen recent use by passenger trains. Until the end of May 1995, IC services from Hamburg to Berlin Zoo will continue to use the old S-Bahn route via Olympiastadion while works are completed on the usual main-line Fernbahn route. The R5 Nauen - Westkreuz service uses neither of these routes, but keeps heading east as far as the closed Siemensstadt-Fürstenbrunn S-Bahn station, where it diverges round a west-to-south curve (not shown in Ball) on to tracks running parallel to the Jungfernheide - Westend Südring S-Bahn line, to terminate at a recently-constructed wooden platform on the single-track Südring freight line, alongside the S46 high-level platforms at Westkreuz. Its top-and-tailed push-pull stock continues empty to Halensee between trips. BLN 747.052][DE] (Berlin-Wilhelmsruh -) Rosenthal - Blankenfelde - Abzw. Schönwalde: The Wilhelmsruh - Schönwalde line, not shown in Ball at 32A3, was severed at the Wilhelmsruh end where Berlin was divided by the Wall. Railcar charters by Pro-Bahn ran on part of the line on 1-2 September 1990, and there were occasional trips later, for example in autumn 1993. According to the Kursbuch der deutschen Museums-Eisenbahnen 1994, the line was to have a Eurovapor Berlin passenger train on certain dates in summer 1994, running inward from Basdorf to Märkisches Viertel and back out to Basdorf before doing trips over both the somewhat-threatened passenger branches (BLN 729.091; Ball 20B1; KBS204.8) from Basdorf to Gross Schönebeck and to Liebenwalde. However this train seems not to have run as planned, though a Berliner Eisenbahnfreunde steam special on 11 September 1994 certainly did run, from a Haltestelle at Wilhelmsruher Damm, just south of the Quickborner Strasse level-crossing in the Märkisches Viertel/Rosenthal area, out to Basdorf and back. Are any comparable operations on the line planned in summer 1995? Until 1 September 1995 ABB-Henschel-Waggon-Union are to use a short section of the Wilhelmsruh - Schönwalde line for testing new Berlin U-Bahn trains. From the point where the Berlin outer ring railway crosses it (near Mühlenbeck-Mönchmühle S-Bahn station) out towards Schönwalde, a third rail is to be laid, fed from the S-Bahn substation at Mühlenbeck. (Blickpunkt Strassenbahn, #6/94) BLN 747.053][DE] Berlin - Leipzig diversions: (BLN 713.07; Ball 29B2-44-43-42B2) Diversions are continuing during the 1994-95 winter timetable, including the use of the Doberlug spur. BLN 747.054][DE] Bad Hersfeld - Heimboldshausen - Gerstungen: (BLN 708.03, 723.031; Ball 40B1-51B3) From Bad Hersfeld (where the junction with DB was north of the two stations, not south as shown in Ball) the Hersfelder Eisenbahn GmbH line ran only as far as the junction with DB at Heimboldshausen. All HEG rail operations ceased after 31 December 1993, though DB uses a short section of HEG track to work potash from the private siding at Nippe to their own line at Heimboldshausen and on to Gerstungen. The track from Werk Hattorf to Heimboldshausen was and is DB. Western potash traffic started to work over the HEG only when politics made it difficult to send it via DR at Gerstungen, to which route it eventually reverted after unification. HEG continues to run its buses, and the company is under the management of Hessische Landesbahn GmbH. Before partition there were two lines running west from Vacha, one via Philippstal and Hattorf to Heimboldshausen, and the other via Unterbreizbach to Wenigentaft-Mansbach, where it split, one branch continuing to Eiterfeld and Hünfeld and the other heading south via Tann to Hilders on the Fulda - Seiferts branch, closed 1 September 1993 (BLN 721.010). BLN 747.055][DE] Böblingen - Dettenhausen: (Ball 57B1-58A1) The 17km Schönbuchbahn is to reopen to passengers in 1996, worked by the Württembergische Eisenbahn (WEG). Nearby, two closed DB lines, Calw - Weil der Stadt and (Tübingen -) Entringen - Gültstein - Herrenberg, the latter already partly dismantled but partly in tourist use (BLN 729.096), have been bought by the local district councils for a symbolic one Deutschmark (plus tax!) against the possibility that they too may be reopened for passenger services, run by either DB or another operator. (Eisenbahn Amateur, #9/94) BLN 747.056][IT] Casalecchio di Reno - Bazzano: (Ball 47B2) This 17km section of line in the Bologna area is at present being completely renewed with a view to reintroduction of passenger services, for which two Firema E122 railcars have been ordered. (Eisenbahn Amateur, #9/94) BLN 747.057][CZ, PL] Tanvald - Harrachov CD - Nowy Swiat PKP - Jakuszyce - Jelenia Góra: (BLN 737.0241, 739.0293, 745.019; Ball 36A1) A German source confirms that this cross-border line goes through Harrachov and does not branch off at Korenov as shown on the Quail maps. The route across the mountains, opened throughout in 1902, has an interesting history, with various changes of names, frontiers and electrification, closely reflecting events in this corner of Mitteleuropa. Station name in German in Czech in Polish Tanwald = Tanvald Polaun = Korenov Strickerhäuser = Harrachov Neuwelt = Nový Svet = Nowy Swiat Jakobsthal (Riesengebirge) = Jakuszyce Ober Schreiberhau = Szklarska Poreba Górna Hirschberg (Riesengebirge) Hbf = Jelenia Góra Riesengebirge (the mountain range) = Krkonoše = Karkonosze To begin with only the German station names were in use. Polaun was the Austrian-German frontier station, and became the Czech-German frontier station when Czechoslovakia was set up after 1918. Between Polaun and Neuwelt, the line crossed the actual border more than once. Strickerhäuser station was in Germany, but the village it served, Harrachsdorf (now Harrachov), was in Austria, later Czechoslovakia. Neuwelt station was in Germany. After 1945 what had been German Silesia became Poland. The frontier itself also changed and the line now crosses it only once between Harrachov station (in the Czech Republic) and Nowy Swiat station (in Poland - though the village, Nový Svet, is Czech). The steep Czech portion of the line, once Austrian, was partly rack-equipped between Tanvald and Harrachov, but though the rack remains regular traffic has not used it since 1984. On 15 January 1923 the Deutsche Reichsbahn inaugurated electric operation at the German standard 15kV 16²/3Hz between Polaun and Hirschberg, but in 1945-46 the overhead wire was confiscated by the victorious Red Army invaders. Not until 30 September 1987 did PKP re-electrify the section from Szklarska Poreba Górna to Jelenia Góra, at the Polish standard 3000V dc, using some of the old German pylons. PKP now runs a reasonably frequent passenger service on this section. After 1945, passenger service on the Czech side resumed from Tanvald to Korenov in 1958 and on to Harrachov in 1963. The border section from Harrachov to Nowy Swiat lay out of use from 1945 till 1992, when volunteers renovated it, and some special trains ran from Tanvald to Jelenia Góra. During 1994 one special ran over the whole line, as reported in BLN 745, and a PIBSE railtour is planned to go this way in April 1995. BLN 747.058][AT] Austrian closures?: (BLN 739.0292; OEIS 9466) The passenger services below were reported as to be withdrawn from 31 December 1994, but visits to Eisenerz and Engelhartstetten in late December showed no obvious signs of imminent closure, and someone doing a travel survey on an Engelhartstetten train said the line was threatened, but not about to close at the end of the year. The closure deadline may have been an ÖBB tactic to persuade local authorities to reconsider financial support. Meanwhile the lines seem to remain open, at least until the timetable change in May, but up-to-date news would be welcome. Ball ÖBB timetable Hieflau - Eisenerz 74A1-74B1 13b Mürzzuschlag - Neuburg Ort 75A1 53 Siebenbrunn - Leopoldsdorf - Engelhartstetten 76A3 71a Launsdorf-Hochosterwitz - Klein St.Paul 82B2 64 (BLN 736.0220) St.Paul - Lavamünd 83A2-83A1 62b (BLN 736.0221) Hieflau - Eisenerz still has frequent iron-ore trains and will presumably remain open for that traffic. On Saturday 17 December 1994 several trains were operating. Empties are propelled by an ÖBB electric locomotive up the steep gradient from Eisenerz to the mine-workings in the mountains, using specially-adapted vans fitted with electric head- and tail-lights for these movements. BLN 747.059][AT, SK] Wien - Wolfsthal ÖBB (- Bratislava Petrzalka ZSR): (Ball 76B3 (AT), 41B1 (SK)) Slovakia's capital, Bratislava, is in German called Pressburg (and indeed to the Magyar-speaking minority in Slovakia it has a third name, Poszony, having once been the Roman town of Posonium). The railway from Wien to Wolfsthal is in consequence the Pressburgbahn, though it no longer extends beyond Wolfsthal across the river Donau/Dunaj into Slovakia. Rather slow and congested, due to its origins as an electric light railway, the line would, if restored as planned, be the most direct route and would give Bratislava a useful airport link to Flughafen Wien Schwechat. Nevertheless Wien - Parndorf Ort - Kittsee - Bratislava is planned to be the principal electrified route over the relatively short distance between the two capitals. (BLN 736.0218) BLN 747.060][AT] Wien Südbahnhof: (BLN 736.0219; McDougall A4) ÖBB staff organised an excursion from Gross Schweinbarth (Ball 65A1) to Mödling (77A1) for the Christkindlmarkt on 24 December 1994. The leaflet said the route was via Gänserndorf, Stadlau, Erdberg and Wien Süd, implying that the train used the connection through the sidings between the Ostbahn and the Südbahn at Wien Süd. BLN 747.061][JP] Kobe earthquake: The earthquake, measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale, which struck at 0546 local time on Tuesday 17 January 1995, badly affected four railways between Osaka and Kobe: the 1435mm-gauge shinkansen line, JR's 1067mm-gauge line and two private lines, the Hanshin Electric Railway and the Hankyu Electric Railway. Shinkansen structures - elevated in places more than 40m above ground and crossing densely populated residential districts - collapsed in nine locations between the two cities, leaving tracks suspended in the air. The quake hit just fourteen minutes before the first morning bullet-train would have left Shin-Osaka station heading westwards to Kobe on its 240km/h journey. By 18 January shinkansen shuttles were operating between Tokyo and Kyoto and between Okayama and Fukuoka, but with all seat reservations cancelled. By 19 January the emergency schedules amounted to 60% or 70% of the full service: Tokyo - Kyoto Two Hikari expresses per hour One Kodama all-stations per hour Tokyo - Maibara One Kodama all-stations per hour Tokyo - Nagoya One Hikari express per hour Okayama - Hakata/Fukuoka Two Hikari expresses per hour Himeji - Hakata/Fukuoka Two Kodama all-stations per hour Kyoto - Shin-Osaka reopened on the afternoon of 20 January and JR-Tokai announced resumption on Saturday 21 January of full Tokyo - Kyoto - Shin-Osaka shinkansen services to the ordinary timetable with seat reservation facilities restored. Shin-Osaka - Shin-Kobe is unlikely to reopen for at least six months. The JR 1067mm-gauge line is closed between Amagasaki and Nishi-akashi, and indeed no through rail route is open along the Inland Sea coastal strip. JR plan to divert some expresses from Kyoto or Osaka via local lines towards the Sea of Japan coast and back to Himeji, adding 120km or 2 hours to journeys. Some Hanshin trains were derailed where their elevated track was destroyed near Sannomiya station in Kobe, and more stock was trapped when their elevated Amagasaki train depot was badly damaged. Hankyu's Itami station, also on elevated track, completely collapsed. A shinkansen structure fell across Hankyu's Imazu line, as also did an elevated road. Both railway companies have restarted some operations, though it will be months before repairs are completed. Operations are disrupted even on intact trackage since about 100 out of 400 drivers on one line understandably failed to report for duty. All Kobe's and Osaka's city subway lines were stopped on the morning of 17 January, but Osaka's were running again by the early evening. Two other private railways running into central Kobe, the Sanyo Electric Railway and the Kobe Electric Railway, were closed all day, and the Nagata - Kobe section of the former remains closed, though other parts of the two lines were to reopen on the 18th. (via Internet from Hiroshi Naito at 100221.2721@compuserve.com) BLN 747.062][JP] Hokkaido: (BLN 738.0272) In December 1994, JR Hokkaido announced their decision to close 'the most costly line in Japan', the 122km Shinmei line from Fukugawa to Nayoro, which once carried 4000 passengers a day but is now down to 300. (via Internet from Masaaki Emi at g410177@komaba.c.u-tokyo.ac.jp) BLN 748.063] Inter-Rail: Inter-Rail tickets for the over-26s seem to continue to be available until the end of May 1995 with the same prices and conditions as shown in the leaflet valid until the end of December 1994. BLN 748.064][GB][FR] Eurostar: (BLN 746.023; Ball 6A2) Calais-Fréthun saw its first advertised stops by Eurostars working the new service pattern from Monday 23 January 1995. Only the first Paris - London train and the last London - Paris train call, so a day trip is at present possible only from Calais to London and not vice versa. The APEX second-class return fare London - Calais is £66.20. A day trip from London to Lille-Europe is now possible, however, since calls are made morning and evening in each direction by London - Bruxelles trains. BLN 748.065][FR] Rouen Métrobus: (BLN 731.0121; Ball 13B1) Rouen's new tramway, bizarrely called Métrobus, opened officially on 16 December, and to the public as planned on 17 December 1994, running south from Boulingrin via Gare Rive-Droite to St.Sever with lines to both Grand Quevilly and Sotteville. BLN 748.066][FR] Dunières - Montfaucon - Tence - St.Agrève: (BLN 716.04; OEIS9447; Ball 56A1) Tourist services over this northern section of the metre gauge Vivarais line have had a somewhat unstable history. The final train under CF Régionaux ran on 26 September 1986. The local authorities then took over the line and eventually leased it to SOFITEC, a private-sector company which had previously been involved in running or marketing the CF de la Mure. On 21 August 1993 SOFITEC began running trains between Montfaucon and Tence only, trading as the CF Velay-Lignon, but ran into financial problems and went out of business. A volunteer organisation, Voies Ferrées du Velay, which had been in existence and anxious to run the line ever since the 1986 closure, had assisted SOFITEC in 1993, but in 1994 took over operation under the title VFV Ligne Touristique Velay-Lignon. Summer services commenced between Dunières and Tence on 19 June 1994. A 1995 service is planned. For details contact VFV, 22 rue de la Croix, F-43220 Dunières, France. BLN 748.067][NL] Schin op Geul - Simpelveld - Kerkrade: (Ball 9B2-10A2) NS closed the Miljoenenlijn between Simpelveld and Kerkrade in 1988, and then between Schin op Geul and Simpelveld in May 1992 when the Maastricht - Schin op Geul - Simpelveld - Aachen passenger service was diverted to run Heerlen - Herzogenrath - Aachen. The Zuid-Limburgse Stoomtrein Maatschappij have acquired three Swedish steam locomotives (two 4-6-0 and an 0-8-0) to run on the line, which is to reopen for tourist trains. (via Internet, European Railway News, January 1995 on http://mercurio.iet.unipi.it/news.html) BLN 748.068][DE] Merzig - Losheim (Saarland) - Neukirchen: (Ball 55B3) The Merzig-Buschfelder Eisenbahn, a standard-gauge light railway, opened in 1903 to connect rural northern Saarland with the Saar valley main line between Trier and Saarbrücken, but closed to passengers in 1961 and freight in 1988. A preservation group, the Museumseisenbahnclub Losheim now runs trains with steam and diesel traction on 15km of the line. From Merzig DB station to the MECL's Merzig-Brotdorf station up the branch is a 5km walk. There is no bus service, but pick-up can be arranged for groups. Further information can be obtained by telephoning + 49 68 72 61 69. BLN 748.069][ES] Alicante - Denia: (BLN 729.097; Ball 32A1-32B2) The 93km metre-gauge line along the Costa Blanca seems to be thriving, and Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat Valenciana have opened some seven new intermediate stations since 1991, with another one to come shortly. Two or three of them have names obviously reflecting the nature of the traffic. New stations, names underlined, were noted between older stations as follows: Alicante - Albufereta - Condomina - Feria (under construction) - Discotecas - Palmeral - ... - Calapiteres - Cala d'Or - La Mercé - ... - Hospital Vila Joiosa - Hipermercado Finestrad - Benidorm - Disco Benidorm - Cami Coves - ... - Garganes - Cap Negret - Olla Altea - ... - La Jara - Hospital Denia - Alqueries - Denia. Some FGV station signs have already been, or are now being, altered from Castilian Spanish to the local Valencian versions of the place-names, for example, from Villajoyosa to La Vila Joiosa and from Camino Cuevas to Cami Coves. BLN 748.070][PT] Portugal: Today's Railways #5 for February-March 1995 reports that "much of the deep rural railway is already under threat of closure. Services on the Figueira da Foz - Pampilhosa, Tua - Mirandela and Póvoa de Varzim - Famalicao lines are all to be withdrawn." The first is 1668mm-gauge (Ball 17A2); the others both metre-gauge (8A1; 7A1-7B1). A third metre-gauge line, Régua - Vila Real (8A1), is also threatened. The broad-gauge Régua - Tua service would become a single-train shuttle. On the broad-gauge Douro valley line Tua is now the easternmost junction with a metre-gauge branch, and has a preserved Mallet. In 1994 the Linha do Tua to Mirandela had five workings a day each way, using Bo-Bo diesel locomotives hauling a bogie van and a pair of bogie coaches. From Santa Luzia to Abreiro up the river Tua gorge the scenery is dramatic with much flange-squealing on curves. Beyond Mirandela to Bragança, the rail passenger service is technically suspended rather than closed, but trains seem unlikely to return to supplant road transport through the sparsely populated countryside. The slow rail-replacement bus ignores the new main road and wanders round visiting the tiny stations, all still standing, some with their goods sheds and water towers. Track is in place throughout. At Bragança the yard is full of abandoned bogie stock, mainly freight wagons, and the quarter-roundhouse has become an attractive museum with an engaging curator and two well-cared-for locomotives. Down the Douro valley, Régua has extensive mixed-gauge track, sometimes with a shared rail, sometimes metre-gauge within the broad-gauge. Just upriver is a derelict bowstring-girder bridge, heavily rusted and without rails of either gauge. Was there once a railway to Lamego? In 1994 one could wander freely in the station area, viewing the plinthed 0-4-0T and nine rusting 2-4-6-0T metre-gauge Mallets abandoned round the turntable. Their successors, the two-car metre-gauge dmus on the surviving Linha do Corgo, thread their way round curves up the river gorge to Vila Real five times a day, but no longer run to Chaves (BLN 697.08). Chaves still has a pleasant station, but track has been lifted in from the station throat. A museum there, reputedly with two locomotives, looked derelict but was said to be open on weekdays. Downstream, the Lisboa - Porto main line crosses the river Douro at Porto on a new concrete bridge, and trains no longer have to slow to a crawl to traverse Gustave Eiffel's striking and slender iron arch-girder bridge of 1877, from which CP have now removed the track. A river trip is a good way to appreciate the four different bridges into the city across the deep and wide gorge. Old railway trackbed and a tunnel can be seen below Eiffel's Maria Pia bridge. Porto's city-centre station, São Bento, is reached by reversing direction at Porto Campanha, the 'country' station where Intercidades trains from Lisboa terminate, down an incline in tunnels somewhat reminiscent of the approach to Glasgow Queen Street. Unique to Porto São Bento however are the magnificent murals and frieze made up of traditional blue tiles (azulejos). Many Portuguese stations make attractive use of these tiles, but none does so on such an impressive scale. Porto's latterly much reduced and long-threatened tramway may now have closed completely, but Lisboa's extensive 900mm-gauge tram system remains full of character, with many elderly four-wheel cars, the world's steepest adhesion tram tracks (15%) and many photogenic locations including what must be the narrowest streets with regular services (round the Graça loop). Flat fare in 1994 was PTE140 (56p). Day tickets are also available, valid on the three street funiculars and the distinctive public elevator as well as the trams. Tourist tram tours of the city are on offer. Travelling on the Lisboa metro, run by a separate company, is dull by comparison, but it is efficient and cheap. If you buy your metro ticket from a booking-clerk rather than a machine, it is slightly more expensive, with a flat fare in 1994 of PTE60 from a ticket machine or PTE65 (about 26p) from booking clerks. Beware however their common scam, of withholding a PTE100 coin from change for a note, on the grounds that tourists don't notice. Three times a BLN reporter had to request the correct change! Just off Lisboa's busy Avenida Cinco de Outubro (but not shown in Ball at 25B1) is the two-track dead-end station called Terminal (Av. 5 de Outubro) in the timetable, but Apeadeiro (= alighting-place, halt) Av. 5 de Outubro, according to the name on the front of the building. Opened appropriately enough in the month of October 1992, it serves as a city-business-district terminus for a Monday-to-Friday suburban shuttle service, via the Campolide avoiding line, to and from Cacém on the Sintra line (not out as far as Sintra itself, as BLN 728.080 said). The branch from Campolide to Alcântara-Terra (see description and sketch-map in BLN 728) reopened to passengers in October 1992. Its trains call at a single platform at Campolide west of the main platforms there, and they can proceed to Sete Rios via an overbridge without conflicting with Rossio - Sintra trains. BLN 748.071][CH, FR] Genève: (BLN 746.042; Ball 97A3) Genève-Eaux-Vives - Annemasse is electrified at 25kV 50Hz, not the 1500V dc of the Genève - Bellegarde line. SNCF emus deployed in the area can use either voltage. Four different rail electrification systems are thus to be found in the city, including CFF's standard 15kV 16²/3Hz and the low-voltage dc street tramway. There are trolleybuses too. (But there cannot be many places to challenge Stratford in eastern London for diversity of electrification in one single station: Railtrack 25kV 50Hz overhead; Railtrack top-contact third-rail dc; London Underground fourth-rail dc; and Docklands underside-contact third-rail 750V dc.) BLN 748.072][PL] Polish closures?: Some twenty secondary and branch services, especially in the Wroclaw area and in the north-east of Poland, were thought likely to be withdrawn from 1 January 1995, but in practice no lines seem to have closed completely to passenger trains. PKP appear to be economising by fairly deep cuts in services, and many timetabled trains are cancelled, so intending travellers should be wary. BLN 748.073][PL] Warszawa metro: A 12.6km section of metro has opened, from Kabaty to Politechnika, being Phase 1 of the 90km network of four 1435mm-gauge third-rail 825V dc lines long-planned for Poland's capital. (Railway Gazette International, January 1995) BLN 748.074][CA][US] Sherbrooke (Quebec) - Mattawamkeag (Maine) - St.John (New Brunswick): (BLN 721.012) The Atlantic, a VIA Rail passenger train between Montréal and Halifax which ran overnight thrice-weekly across northern Maine on the Canadian Atlantic Railway, a US line owned by CP Rail, ceased after 15 December 1994. The Océan, VIA Rail's train between the same cities over the all-Canadian CN route via Rivière du Loup, began running six days a week instead of three from 16 December. Instead of closing to all traffic, however, the CP trackage in Maine has been bought by the Bangor & Aroostook Railroad. (Railway Gazette International, December 1994 & January 1995) BLN 748.075][BR] Rio de Janeiro - São Paulo: Surrendering to competition from frequent and keenly-priced air services, the Rede Ferroviaria Federal SA, Brazil's federal railway network, withdrew from passenger service between these two huge cities, 499km apart, when they ceased to run the Santa Cruz sleeping-car train in 1991. On 8 December 1994 however a private-sector company began to operate a new nine-hour overnight service on the 1600mm-gauge RFFSA route with the Trem de Prata (= silver train) comprising sleeping-cars and a restaurant-car. (Railway Gazette International, January 1995) BLN 748.076][JP] Great Hanshin earthquake 1995: (BLN 747.061) This is now the official term for the disastrous events of 17 January. Reconstruction work proceeds apace. The JR, Hankyu and Hanshin lines run parallel in the populous area between Osaka and Kobe, and have competed for passengers since before World War II, so all three are eager to restore their tracks and be back in business first. All are working on rehabilitating their lines bit by bit. As soon as one section is ready, operations are resuming on that stretch. JR-West estimate that six months will see their 1435mm-gauge shinkansen bullet-trains and their ordinary 1067mm-gauge services running throughout. In the meantime they have decided to revive previously-abandoned 1067mm-gauge sleeper services from Tokyo to Kyushu, and route them round the disaster area by local lines, to compensate for the disruption to their fast daytime shinkansen trains. Hankyu also plan full operations on their Kobe line within six months, but are hoping to open temporarily before that, using provisional passenger facilities in place of two destroyed elevated stations. Kobe's city subway demonstrated an unforeseen vulnerability, damage being done to shallow rather than deep-level stations, which engineers had not expected in the light of previous earthquake experience. More than a year may elapse before the Kobe subway is fully restored. Another unfortunate victim is said to be a preserved JR 4-6-2 steam locomotive, normally operated elsewhere, but under maintenance in a Kobe workshop on 17 January, which suffered severe boiler damage and may not run again. (via Internet from Hiroshi Naito at 100221.2721@compuserve.com) BLN 749.077][IE] (Stranorlar -) Fintown - Glenties: (BLN 717.01) This 914mm-gauge branch, part of the County Donegal system, opened from Fintown to Glenties on 3 June 1895 and closed to scheduled services on 13 December 1947, with occasional turf, livestock and bog iron ore trains for a few years after, according to the local paper. The preservation group Cumann Traenach na Gaeltachta Lar have acquired a small diesel locomotive from Bord na Mona and by the line's 100th anniversary this summer they hope to begin running a tourist train on a restored 3km stretch of track near Fintown, and eventually on the 14km to Glenties. The newspaper's photograph of the first run on the relaid line in December 1994 showed ten persons riding on the diminutive engine! (Donegal Democrat, 15 December 1994) BLN 749.078][IE] Dundalk: (BLN 741.0318) "On the 31st day of March 1995 all services of trains for the carriage of merchandise operating on the railway line known as the Barrack Street Branch Line in .... Dundalk will be terminated. Alternative services ... in the affected area will be provided by the [CIE] Board at its extended rail freight depot situated at Ardee Road in ... Dundalk." (Public notice dated 24 January 1995 in the Irish Press, 27 January 1995) BLN 749.079][IE] Dublin Connolly - Newcomen Jn - Glasnevin Jn: (BLN 741.0320) The low-level line was out of use from 7 February to 21 May 1994 for engineering work, planned but apparently not carried out, to reinstate the lifting bridge in connection with restoration of the Royal Canal. The Dublin - Maynooth services ran satisfactorily via Drumcondra during that period, and normally have continued to do so since. A new station on the low-level line is mooted, however, to serve the Croke Park stadium at present being rebuilt and enlarged, and works at Glasnevin Jn suggest that a former lead there may be reinstated to allow through running off the low-level line via Cabra to Islandbridge Jn and the main line to Cork. BLN 749.080][IE] Dublin: Glasnevin Jn - Islandbridge Jn: The line via Cabra has had no regular scheduled passenger service since July 1989 when a weekly Sunday-morning Dun Laoghaire - Dublin Heuston boat-train ceased. A new regular (or irregular?) service commenced however on 25 October 1993. On Irish public holiday Mondays which are followed by a normal working day, a 1405 Ballina - Dublin Pearse relief train seems to have become established in the working timetable, running non-stop from Athlone to Dublin Connolly via Portarlington and the Cabra line. If the pattern is maintained, it would run on Mondays 17 April, 5 June, 7 August and 30 October 1995, and 1 January 1996. A telephone call to Dublin BLS member Michael Walsh on + 353 1 2853335 on or after the preceding Wednesday should be able to confirm whether the train is planned to run. BLN 749.081][IE] Tralee - Listowel (- Ballingrane Jn): Irish Rail have decided to retain the trackbed of the disused North Kerry line from Tralee to Listowel, and County Kerry's development plan makes provision for a future rail link onward from Listowel to the Ballylongford/Tarbert area. There is thought to be potential for industrial development on the Shannon estuary, perhaps a smelter at Ballylongford to process zinc ore from Co.Kilkenny and Co.Tipperary, or an oil refinery at Tarbert. (Cork Examiner, 5 January 1995) BLN 749.082][IE] Waterford Abbey Jn - New Ross: (BLN 722.016) The branch was not permanently closed in September 1993, only temporarily broken to enable construction of an overbridge for the new Belview port facility. The line was again passable, though not in use, by May 1994 and was visited by the weed-spraying train on 15 June 1994. (Irish Railway News, April and July 1994) BLN 749.083][FR] Noyelles - St.Valéry-Canal (- Cayeux-sur-Mer): (Ball 14A3) The former mixed-gauge section between the main-line junction of Noyelles and St.Valéry-Canal, which belonged to the SNCF even though CFTA metre-gauge locos used to haul the standard-gauge freight wagons on it, was déclassée on 17 October 1994, as a prelude to its acquisition by the preservation undertaking, CFT de la Baie de la Somme. Déclassement is the process whereby the French government formally abandons a piece of intérêt national railway alignment. Services may have long ceased, and the track may have been lifted, but until déclassement takes place the land cannot legally be turned over to other activities. On 10 November 1993, 291.69km were déclassés; on 29 December 1993, 0.34km; on 11 July 1994, 295.315km and on 17 October 1994, 289.797km. (L'Echo du Rail, #135 & #140, August & December 1994) BLN 749.084][FR] Carentan - Baupte - La Haye-du-Puits - Portbail - Carteret: (Ball 11A1) A seasonal tourist service ran from Carentan to Baupte Le Prieure as the Ligne du Marais from 27 May 1989. SNCF closed the line for freight on 1 October 1990. Because closure of a level-crossing at Carentan and sale of land at Baupte to a factory would have limited their operations at both ends, the Train Touristique du Cotentin organisation ceased operations on the section after the 1993 season and abandoned the project finally in June 1994, after the movement of a WD shunting loco as part of the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy. This was the only operation here in 1994, hinted at in a stop-press report in Today's Railways #1. Use of the section from Baupte to La Haye-du-Puits seems to be dead, for the local authority are purchasing only the trackbed, not the track, from SNCF. Freight traffic was withdrawn between La Haye-du-Puits and Carteret on 27 May 1979, and the line is now severed between La Haye and Portbail. Between Portbail and Carteret however the Ligne de la Côte des Isles (BLN 719.02; OEIS9447) started operation on 24 June 1990. Each year since, TTC have run trains on Sundays and public holiday afternoons from June to early September, and in 1994 market-day trains on Tuesday and Thursday mornings during July and August. Occasional out-of-season trains are also now being advertised. (partly from L'Echo du Rail #138, November 1994) BLN 749.085][FR, BE] Mont St.Martin SNCF - Athus SNCB: (Ball 17B1) The former electrified freight line, closed on 26 September 1993 to enable construction of the new Athus avoiding line (BLN 741.0325), was formally abandoned (déclassée) on 11 July 1994, thus thwarting local aspirations that it might be restored (BLN 735.0176). (L'Echo du Rail, #135, August 1994) BLN 749.086][FR] Fontoy - Audun-le-Tiche (- Esch-sur-Alzette CFL): (Ball 18A1) BLN 721.02 reported that cross-border freight had ceased by 1992 and that the freight branch from Fontoy to Audun seemed derelict. However the last remaining traffic on the line, block trains of slag from the siding of Arbed d'Esch-Terres-Rouges, is reported not to have ceased until mid-1994. In September 1994 the condition of SNCF freight tracks in the Audun station area, as opposed to the track used by CFL passenger trains, certainly suggested that there had been no freight traffic at that extremity of the line, still less any freight interchange with CFL, for a very long time. The French military however have an unloading ramp at Audun-le-Tiche and may be the final arbiters of the line's fate. (L'Echo du Rail, #137, October 1994) BLN 749.087][FR] Tarbes - Bagnères-de-Bigorre: (Ball 70B1-2) Although closed for general merchandise in 1989, this line remains open to serve the works of CFDB, formerly Soulé. (L'Echo du Rail, #138, Nov. 1994) BLN 749.088][FR] Nice: (Ball 77B3) SNCF are to build a halt at the Paillon bridge behind the exhibition hall in Nice for the world Rotary Club convention to be held in June 1995. (L'Echo du Rail, #137, October 1994) BLN 749.089][DE] Wolgaster Fähre - Seebad Ahlbeck and Zinnowitz - Peenemünde Dorf: (Ball 13B1-14A1; now KBS194) Following some modernisation, reported in BLN 717.011, the lines on the island of Usedom were to transfer on 1 January 1995 to a private company Usedomer Bäderbahn GmbH, still wholly owned by DB. Plans are in hand to link the lines to the mainland DB system by a road/rail bridge. BLN 749.090][DE] Hannover - Stendal - Berlin: (Ball 27A2-28B3) ICE trains from Kassel and points south are planned to run to Berlin by turning north at Weddel, just east of Braunschweig, on to an entirely new alignment as far as Lehre. The existing line from Braunschweig to Lehre will close, but from Lehre will become an electrified single track to a flying junction at Fallersleben. Fallersleben - Wolfsburg will be a three-track section. East of Wolfsburg the Schnellfahrstrecke will run on the north side of the existing line till just east of Oebisfelde, then on the south side till just east of Stendal. Near Uchtspringe both the high-speed line and the ordinary line will take a new route further north, and a stretch of the present alignment will be abandoned. East of Stendal, where a flying junction converges, the Schnellfahrstrecke will cross again to run on the north side. The new bridge over the river Elbe at Hämerten (BLN 716.017, 719.05) is complete, with the existing line already slewed on to it. Now that the Land of Brandenburg has ceased its opposition (BLN 746.037), the delayed work on the line east of Grosswudicke should progress rapidly. Perhaps this will lead to the long-threatened temporary closure of Rathenow - Rathenow Nord. BLN 749.091][DE] Berlin north-west: (Ball 31A3-31B2) The May 1995 timetable is to bring significant changes. Nauen - Wustermark is to close permanently. New crossovers recently installed at Nauen may have suggested otherwise, but are thought to have been the result of engineering works planned by DR going ahead unamended (BLN 733.0154). The line between Wustermark and Wustermark Rangierbahnhof is to close temporarily to passenger trains, to allow both the ordinary passenger line and the Schnellfahrstrecke to be laid on new formation lying between the present two parallel single running lines, the northern one of which carries most but not all of the passenger services. This new west-east alignment is straighter but requires completely new bridges over the north-south Berlin Aussenring. Passenger trains from the Stendal and Rathenow direction are likely to take the west-to-south curve at the Wustermark 'cross', at present used by R4 Nauen - Potsdam trains, and go south round the outer ring. In mid-February 1995 the west-to-north curve was seen to be de-electrified, though it did show signs of recent use. The north-to-east curve used by R5 trains via Brieselang is to close to passengers when Wustermark Rbf is shut. Eastward from Wustermark Rbf the Schnellfahrstrecke is to run on the north side of the line to Staaken, and will then it seems loop to the north via Spandau West, taking the old alignment once used by S-Bahn services serving the Staaken station in west Berlin. The diverted long-distance (Fernbahn) trains from Spandau over the old S-Bahn route via Olympiastadion to the Stadtbahn and Berlin-Zoo are at present (BLN 747.051) using a newly-laid, sharply curved and steep connection just east of Spandau, at the location of former Ruhleben Rub box, and a similarly recent connection between S-Bahn and Fernbahn tracks just west of Charlottenburg. This temporary diversion is to enable fettling-up of the Fernbahn tracks from Ruhleben Ruo box southwards, and the two new junctions may go out of use when the Fernbahn trains revert to their normal route. Flyovers have been built at Ruhleben, and one track of the Fernbahn from Spandau to Westkreuz may possibly be ready to reopen in May 1995. Work has also begun at Ruhleben on what will become the route via Jungfernheide, the Innenring and Moabit to the lower level of Berlin's proposed new central station on the Lehrter Bahnhof site (BLN 737.0231). The former Hamburg - Berlin main line via Albrechtshof and Spandau, now on a new higher-level formation eliminating former level-crossings, should also reopen in May, perhaps initially as a single track without electrification. The diversion of the R5 Nauen - Jungfernheide service to run to Westkreuz is only temporary, starting 27 June 1994 and intended to last about three years, until Jungfernheide station is reopened, presumably also with Innenring S-Bahn service. BLN 749.092][AT] Gmünd NÖ - Alt Nagelberg - Litschau / Heidenreichstein: (Ball 63B2; McDougall p.32; OEIS 9515) Of the Waldviertler Schmalspurbahn 760mm-gauge branches in Nieder Österreich, only the line to Litschau, where there is a grain silo, remains open for freight. Alt Nagelberg station is the physical junction between the two branches, beyond which they run parallel for some 2km before diverging, not quite as shown in Ball. Every year since 1987, following closure to regular passenger services, steam trains have been chartered from ÖBB by the Österreichische Gesellschaft für Eisenbahngeschichte, the enthusiast group which would like to take over the lines. In 1995 four are to run from Gmünd to each branch terminal. Alas, both are not to be served on the same day, and this has probably not occurred since 1992. New in 1995 is to be the availability for hire, on the 6.5km between Langegg and Heidenreichstein, of a pedal-powered rail-cycle capable of carrying three persons. (ÖBB Erlebnis Bahn & Schiff 1995) BLN 749.093][AT] Stammersdorfer Lokalbahn near Wien: (BLN 737.0237; Ball 65A1; KBS93a) These lines closed to passengers south-west of Obersdorf and north and west of Gross Schweinbarth on 29 May 1988. The section south-west of the new halt at Obersdorf is understood to be used for track-maintenance training purposes. The physical junction at Gross Schweinbarth is at the station, not as shown in Ball. Passenger trains north of there were reintroduced in May 1989, but Pirawarth - Gaweinstal Brünnerstrasse is again threatened with closure, perhaps in May 1995. Pirawarth - Hohenruppersdorf reopened to passengers on 27 September 1993 (BLN 725.063) and is in freight use from Hohenruppersdorf to Sulz-Nexing. This is the sole section of the line between Stammersdorf and Dobermannsdorf still in use for freight only. Beyond, Sulz-Nexing - Zistersdorf Stadt no longer appears on ÖBB network maps, and is overgrown and clearly out of use south of the level crossing at Zistersdorf Stadt halt. BLN 749.094][AT] (Leobersdorf -) Wittmansdorf - Wöllersdorf: (BLN 737.0235; Ball 75B2; KBS52c) This line, threatened with closure, perhaps in May 1995, has only one train each way Mondays to Fridays. In July 1994 the afternoon working was a single railcar from Leobersdorf, which departed attached to a loco-hauled train for St.Pölten. At Wittmansdorf the railcar was detached and, with only eleven passengers aboard, diverged on to the branch at Stw 2. Near Matzendorf, it passed the site of the link, gone by 1958, from the Aspangbahn, which formed part of the earlier route Wien - Kledering - Felixdorf - Puchberg am Schneeberg. Steinabrückl station was staffed, for the level-crossing, and the track had been realigned through the village. Wöllersdorf has not had a triangular junction, as shown in Ball, since at least 1986, for although the north end of the north-to-south curve remains in use as a scrap sleeper depot, the southern junction has been removed. On arrival at Wöllersdorf, the afternoon railcar ran empty to Wiener Neustadt. BLN 749.095][AT] Götzendorf - Mannersdorf: (Ball 76A2) Although the line has freight traffic and is shown on the Kursbuch map, the timetable confirms that passengers are conveyed by road. When passenger trains did run, they propelled out of the station at Götzendorf, since the junction, east of the station, faces east, rather than west as shown in Ball. BLN 749.096][AT] (Wien -) Parndorf Ort - Parndorf (- Kittsee): (BLN 736.0218; Ball 76A3; KBS7) The Neusiedl am See branch had a triangle where it met the Wien - Hegyeshalom main line, but only the north-to-west curve and the northern junction remain, not the west-to-east curve and the eastern junction as shown in Ball. The surviving junction, Abzw Bruck an der Leitha 1, faces Wien, with Parndorf Ort halt located at it, so as to be served by both main-line and branch trains. Further east lies Parndorf (station untitled in Ball) which is the junction for the line to Kittsee, proposed for restoration through to Bratislava. BLN 749.097][AT] Gleisdorf - Weiz Stadt: (Ball 83B3; KBS52b) This standard-gauge section of the Steiermärkische Landesbahnen had in July 1994 a modern diesel unit in StLB livery, built at Jenbach like the ÖBB cars mentioned in BLN 739.0291, and unlike the elderly StLB stock on the Peggau - Übelbach line described there. On some trips, the unit works through to and from Graz over ÖBB tracks. Interchange with the StLB 760mm-gauge is at Weiz station, but standard-gauge trains continue some 200m to Weiz Stadt, a single-platform halt at the very end of the line, adjacent to the main street. BLN 749.098][AT] Weiz - Anger - Birkfeld: (Ball 83B3-75A1; KBS52b) Until September 1993, the 760mm-gauge StLB summer-season steam passenger service ran from Weiz to Birkfeld, but for the 1994 season it was cut back to the resort of Anger. In July 1994 freight traffic appeared no longer to work beyond the private siding for a chemical plant at Oberfeistritz, but the station was staffed. Passenger trains start outside Weiz standard-gauge station on the west side, and cross the standard-gauge track on leaving. BLN 749.099][ES][FR] Barcelona - La Tour de Carol-Enveitg - Toulouse: To seek to further the stalled proposal for through running between Barcelona and Toulouse by variable-gauge Talgo trains, local authorities and rail unions in both countries chartered a special train of Talgo III stock from Barcelona to La Tour de Carol on 17 December 1994. (L'Echo du Rail, #141, January 1995) BLN 749.0100][IT] Italian closures - or openings?: Early in 1994, when FS was restructured into seven territorial zones, an economy plan was proposed, envisaging closure of some 2,000km of secondary lines; introducing labour-saving operation on others; transferring some lines to local authorities, but reopening some already closed, in some cases on a seasonal basis. Lines mentioned as candidates for reopening include Merano - Malles-Venosta (Ball 42B3), due to reopen in summer 1996; Sulmona - Castel-di-Sangro (53B3); Palazzolo-sull'Oglio - Paratico-Sarnico (42A1), closed since 1966, but local authorities have a project for a ten-week reopening in summer 1995; Asciano - Buonconvento (49B2 not shown). (L'Echo du Rail, #129 & 138, February & November 1994) BLN 749.0101][BA] Sarajevo: Though the trams are famous for having started running again in the Bosnian capital, the last train to leave Sarajevo departed on 2 May 1992, taking with it the station-master and some other Bosnian railway employees, according to The Guardian of 27 January 1995. BLN 749.0102][PL] Warning for travellers to Poland: Further to BLN 748.072, details of PKP service cuts do not yet appear to be available from one central source, and finding out only from the departure list alterations at a station where you plan to board a train that it is not running is no fun - especially on Polish rural lines which often only have three trains each way a day, requiring you to wait maybe five or six hours until the next one! Full lists of cancellations and alterations by area are being assembled by the German group PIBSE, and any Society member planning to travel in Poland is welcome to check with Mr N J Hill, 73 Norfolk Park Avenue, Sheffield S2 2RB, with s.a.e. - or telephone 0114-275 2303 (home) or 0161-234 4592 (office hours) for the extent of information received so far from that source and notes from personal travels. BLN 750.0103] Timetables on line: Australian rail timetables are now on the World Wide Web at http://www.monash.edu.ac.au/ccstaff2/che/bromage/www/tt/ and some Eurostar information is at http://www.iihe.ac.be/hep/pp/evrard/eurostar.html. BLN 750.0104] Isle of Man airport express: BLN 709.01 described the useful rail-air link offered by the steam trains of the 914mm-gauge IoMR, and gave times of the request stops at Ronaldsway Halt near the airport. The 1995 times are the same as in 1993, but the airport link is now properly advertised in the island's rail timetable leaflet, covering the Manx Electric, Snaefell Mountain and Groudle Glen Railways as well as the steam line, valid Easter till October, and available from Isle of Man Railways on 01624-663366. Ten minutes is quoted to walk from plane to train, but it takes less than half that if you are short of time. BLN 750.0105][FR] Motteville - St.Valéry-en-Caux: (BLN 745.06; Ball 13A2; SNCF307) It seems that the passenger service was withdrawn from Tuesday 6 September 1994, as it last ran on the Monday. The service has been withdrawn, supposedly temporarily, to provide paths over the 32km branch for freight trains carrying materials for motorway construction. (L'Echo du Rail, October 1994) BLN 750.0106][FR] Caen - Clécy: (Ball 22B3) This seasonal operation from Caen-Prairie to Clécy, the Chemin de Fer Touristique Suisse-Normande, commenced on 8 July 1991 but was suspended from 4 July 1993, and did not run in 1994. The rolling-stock was transferred away, and the section between Thury-Harcourt and Clécy has been taken over for road works. The preservation group's trains did not run into the SNCF station at Caen, where the overgrown branch was still in place in September 1994, as was the boarded-up signal-box which controlled the junction. (L'Echo du Rail, August 1993 & October 1994) BLN 750.0107][FR] Chartres - Courtalain-St.Pellerin: (Ball 24A1-35A3) Passenger train times on the 55km branch, once a through route from Chartres to Saumur, changed from 22 January 1995. A return rail journey to Courtalain in one day is not possible, though buses advertised in the SNCF fiche horaire timetable leaflet allow day-trips one-way by rail at weekends. Excluding short workings, the trains are: M-F M-F SO SO SuO M-F M-F SO SuO SuO 1742 1825 1408 1747 1947 Chartres 0735 0819 1357 1735 1920 1837 1915 1456 1835 2035 Courtalain-St.Pellerin 0642 0724 1309 1647 1832 Courtalain-St.Pellerin lies just to the south of the Courtalain high-speed junction where the TGV-Atlantique line divides to head westward via Le Mans and south-westward via Vendôme, but the branch is not connected to the TGV line. Courtalain station is not well-sited for the small town, almost 2km away. The hotel in the town square is however recommended for food and an overnight stay, while one ponders on the choice of morning departures. South of Courtalain the former Saumur line is still in use the 15km to Boursay-St.Agil, but is thought to be out of use beyond. BLN 750.0108][FR] St.Dizier - Eclaront - Wassy - Doulevant-le-Château: (Ball 27B2-27B1) Passenger services ceased on 1 May 1952 and the line, which was operated by CFTA for SNCF, closed completely on 1 April 1991, at the same time as the Eclaront - Montier-en-Der branch, and was formally déclassée on 11 July 1994 to enable purchase by the Chemin de Fer de Blaise et Der. Having acquired a railcar from the CF du Vermandois in March 1994, the CFB&D ran a seasonal passenger service from their base at Wassy on three Saturdays in September 1994, running to Eclaron in the morning and to Doulevant-le-Château in the afternoon. If the venture is judged sucessful, another railcar would be obtained, which would be able to enter St.Dizier SNCF station. A regular Tuesdays and Thursdays freight service between St.Dizier, Wassy and Brousseval commenced on 27 September 1994. (L'Echo du Rail, August, October, November 1994) BLN 750.0109][FR] Chinon - Ligré-Rivière - Richelieu: (Ball 34A1-44B3) The Chinon - Ligré-Rivière section remained in SNCF ownership but must have ceased to be of interest to them after the 1969 closure for freight of their line east from Ligré-Rivière. At long last, on 15 December 1994, the section was déclassée to enable its acquisition by the Richelieu local authorities, who own the Ligré-Rivière - Richelieu line, used by the Train à Vapeur de Touraine, a seasonal steam tourist service. (L'Echo du Rail, January 1995) BLN 750.0110][FR] Pontarlier - Gilley: (Ball 50A3-40A1) This line lost its passenger service on 18 April 1939, closed completely in 1988, but was not finally lifted until November 1994. (L'Echo du Rail, January 1995) BLN 750.0111][FR] Pontarlier - Vallorbe: (BLN 746.026; Ball 50A3) The Chemin de Fer Touristique Pontarlier - Vallorbe project is led by a public-works contractor and the aim is to reopen from Les Hôpitaux-Neufs-Jougne to La Cluse-Mijoux, from which freight services were withdrawn on 3 November 1969. The first trial-run over the 1km section between Les Hôpitaux and La Combe-du-Miroir operated in September 1993, in connection with a cycle race, and a service over a 2km stretch from Les Hôpitaux ran on nine dates in August and September 1994. An extension of 2.5km to the level crossing at Touillon is expected in 1995, and a further 3km to Fontaine-Ronde in 1996. (L'Echo du Rail, October 1993 and February, November and December 1994) BLN 750.0112][FR] Pont-de-Dore - Arlanc - Sembadel - Darsac: (Ball 55B1-55B3) This lengthy (113km) line closed to passengers south of Arlanc on 26 September 1971 and north of Arlanc on 28 September 1980. SNCF kept La Chaise-Dieu - Sembadel for freight until 8 February 1988, and Sembadel - Darsac until 1 October 1992. Les amis du musée de la machine agricole et à vapeur (AGRIVAP) began running seasonal tourist passenger services between Courpière and Ambert, where their museum is located, from 14 July 1986. On 8 February 1988 AGRIVAP took over from SNCF the freight operation of the section from Pont-de-Dore to Arlanc. Freight trains run MWFO for internal traffic between Courpière and Giroux and TThO, if required, to interchange with SNCF at Pont-de-Dore. AGRIVAP extended their tourist service southwards, initially to Arlanc, then to La Chaise-Dieu from 1992. It is reported that they reached Sembadel on a few dates in 1994, though that is not shown in their publicity for the season. Now, a group, apparently of local authorities, is exploring the purchase of the 20km Sembadel - Darsac section, where track remains in place, for extension of tourist services. Even the 35km Sembadel - Estivareilles branch, the remaining portion of the line to Bonson, which lost its passenger service on 7 July 1969, is included in the ambitious proposals. (La Vie du Rail #2047, 2139; L'Echo du Rail, December 1994; AGRIVAP publicity) BLN 750.0113][FR] Les Landes: (Ball 59A1-59A2) The Laluque - Tartas line of Voies Ferrées des Landes does not have passenger services (as implied by Ball) but it is not completely closed (as stated by Today's Railways #4, p.14). Traffic has been interrupted because of problems at a paper mill and 0.26km at the end of the line was déclassé on 2 November 1994. A grain silo is also connected to the line. VFL's other freight lines shown in Ball have however closed as follows: Labouheyre - Mimizan-Bel-Air on 29 May 1992; Laluque - Laluque-Boos and Parentis-en-Born - Ychoux - Liposthey on (?31) March 1989. Labouheyre - Sabres was also a VFL line until its closure on 1 July 1969, but in August 1970 a seasonal tourist service began on it between Commensacq and Sabres, run by ABAC for the Parc Naturel Régional to give public access to their Ecomusée de Marquèze. From 1976 the service was extended to run from Labouheyre, initially using a halt just short of the SNCF main-line junction and later, from 1980, the SNCF station. The departément transferred the concession for the line to the park in 1974, but after a disagreement the Ecomusée took over the tourist service from 1991. The section between Labouheyre and Marquèze has had no service since September 1990. The remaining section is under threat, because the park management intend, if they have not already done so, to construct roads and car parks to improve public access to the Ecomusée at Marquèze. ABAC moved to and operated seasonal tourist trains on the Labouheyre - Mimizan-Bel-Air line from 15 August 1990, but since that line was formally abandoned (déclassée) on 13 April 1994 presumably the tourist service did not survive after the withdrawal of VFL freight services in May 1992. (La Vie du Rail #1903; L'Echo du Rail, August 1994, January 1995) BLN 750.0114][FR] (Gardanne -) Brignoles - Carnoules: (Ball 76B2) This eastern section of the freight line from Gardanne closed in January 1990, but the through route remains available for diversions. The vegetation was cut back in summer 1994 and an inspection train, hauled by a Y-class locomotive, traversed the closed section on 22 November 1994. (L'Echo du Rail, December 1994) BLN 750.0115][FR] Perpignan - Thuir: (Ball 80A3) Although not identified as such in Ball, this line was operated by the independent Chemin de Fer des Pyrénées-Orientales. It closed beyond Canohès from 1 January 1990 and the last train to Canohès ran on 27 June 1994. The line was being lifted in December 1994. L'Echo du Rail, August 1994, January 1995) BLN 750.0116][BE] Vennbahn: (BLN 747 supplement) A landslip just south of Kalterherberg blocked the line, forcing a northbound ADL tour train on 4 March 1995 to halt suddenly, and retreat. BLN 750.0117][LU] Pétange - Fussbësch - Lamadelaine - Bois de Rodange - Bois Chatier: (Ball 17B1) From a junction at Pétange CFL station the erstwhile Prince Henri mineral railway in 1875 opened the 6km via Fussbësch (also rendered as Fussbusch and Fusboesch) to Lamadelaine, and in 1879 extended a further 4km via Bois de Rodange to Bois Chatier on the French border. Topography dictated Lamadelaine's dead-end layout, where trains reverse. The section beyond Bois de Rodange appears to have gone out of use by World War II, though it was still mentioned in post-war working instructions of the CFL, which took over the PH line in 1946. The remainder of the line seems to have been out of use by 1962, and a landslip in spring 1964 at the 2.5km point, between Pétange and Fussbësch, seems to have marked its final demise, although the last mine in the area did not cease working until 1978. After preparations starting in summer 1969, the Association des Musée et Tourisme Ferroviaires (AMTF) commenced operating Train 1900 from Lamadelaine (now Fond de Gras AMTF station) to Bois de Rodange (now Rodange AMTF station) and to Fussbësch on 4 August 1973. In 1986 Luxembourg's Ministry of Cultural Affairs decided to create a railway and industrial park at Fond de Gras. The blockage near Fussbësch was removed, enabling trains to get closer to Pétange from 1 May 1990. The present temporary terminus is named Pétange-Triage, a bit misleading for what is nothing more than "end-of-steel", there being no run-round loop, platform nor stop block. From Pétange CFL the first km or so of the former PH alignment carries a siding to the Ecuosider Socam factory, but the ground levels have been altered, so that reconnecting AMTF to the siding, and hence CFL, looks unlikely. Indeed, earthworks along the north side of the factory may be intended as a more permanent Pétange terminus for AMTF. Trains run on the Pétange-Triage - Fussbësch - Fond de Gras - Rodange line on Sundays and public holidays from 1 May to 30 September, with first departures about 1440. Before the first advertised workings, a railbus proceeds from Fond de Gras to each end with AMTF staff. The steam trains are hauled from Fond de Gras out to Rodange and to Pétange-Triage, and from Fussbësch back to Fond de Gras, all other moves being propelled. Semaphore signal equipment from Wilwerwiltz is installed at Fond de Gras. The 1km walking distance between CFL and AMTF at Pétange is rather less than at Rodange or Fond de Gras (where the nearest CFL station is Niederkorn), but the route is neither signposted nor immediately apparent, so it may be helpful to describe it here. From Pétange CFL, follow the main line, with roads either side, in the direction of Rodange as far as the first underbridge, where there are actually two parallel bridges, one for the CFL main line and one for the erstwhile PH line, now the private siding. Take the road (Rue Ecuosider) between the two lines and continue down the lane between the CFL fence and the factory fence. Where the three electricity pylon routes cross the lane, there is a bridleway to the left which shortly crosses the AMTF line, and a nameboard marks the spot as Pétange-Triage halt. (Le Fond-de-Gras et ses trains: du Prince Henri au Train 1900; and other AMTF material) BLN 750.0118][LU] Fond de Gras - Giedel - Dhoil - Lasauvage: (Ball 17B1 not shown) At Fond de Gras the Parc Ferroviaire et Industriel also includes a 4km-long 700mm-gauge mineral line, the Minièresbunn Dhoil-Rodange (MBD) whose title, in the local dialect, shows both French and German linguistic influences. This line once brought to the surface most of the output of the Dhoil mine, to be conveyed onward by overhead ropeway to the furnaces of Minières Métallurgiques de Rodange (MMR). The installations were modernised in 1957, but operations ceased at the end of 1978. The surface line runs from Fond de Gras, adjacent to the AMTF shed and station, up to Giedel, a reversing spur beyond the dead-end of the AMTF line, and then to Dhoil, parallel to but above the AMTF Rodange line. In September 1994, it was worked by steam locomotive RAW #1 Meiningen and one passenger vehicle. At Dhoil, passengers change into a three-car man-riding set fitted with overhead current collection which is not used, since it is hauled by a two-axle diesel #10 Albert, for a trip through the mine tunnel. This has 1908 on the south portal and 1949 on the north and runs under a hill to the former mining village of Lasauvage. Although there is a triangle here, trains are not turned but are propelled back to Dhoil. Seasonal tourist trains run on Sundays and public holidays from 1 May to the second Sunday in October, with first departure at 1500. BLN 750.0119][NL][DE] Schin op Geul - Simpelveld NS - Aachen West DB: (BLN 748.067; Ball 9B2-10A2) At Schin op Geul the junction remained in place, but the closed line towards Simpelveld was heavily rusted in 1994. Passenger closure seems also to have meant complete closure. At the German end the junction at Aachen West has been removed since at least July 1993. BLN 750.0120][DE] Trossingen Bahnhof - Trossingen Stadt: (BLN 730.0117; Ball 68B2; KBS743) From 1997, when regular Trossinger Eisenbahn workings on this interesting 4.3km 600V dc standard-gauge branch are due to cease, the local authority plan to continue to run the proposed preservation operation, and have already had a railcar, coach and shunting engine restored for this purpose. (L'Echo du Rail, March 1994) BLN 750.0121][DE] Murnau - Oberammergau: (Ball 70B1-71A1; KBS963) The single-track branch crosses the Garmisch-Partenkirchen - München main line by a bridge at Murnau Ort halt to enter the junction station, alongside which, to the east, is the former branch terminal station, which still had electrified track in the platform in July 1994. Murnau has the first German electronic signal-box, commissioned on 13 December 1985, according to a plaque at the station. BLN 750.0122][AT] St.Michael - Leoben - Bruck an der Mur: (Ball 74B1-75A1, 83A3; McDougall A3; KBS6,14) The junction layout at St.Michael is not as shown in Ball. St.Michael station is at the northern apex of a triangle formed by two single-track north-to-west and north-to-east curves and by the double-track Villach - Wien main line avoiding the station, on which the boxes controlling the junctions are Stw.4 (west) and Stw.3 (east). At Bruck an der Mur (McDougall map 6) the station is also to the north of the triangle of running lines, and the junctions at the ends of the single-track west-to-south avoiding chord are Abzw. Bruck-Stadtwald and Abzw. Bruck-Übelstein, respectively. BLN 750.0123][AT] Wien: Maxing / Meidling - Inzersdorf Ort - Oberlaa - Kledering / Klein Schwechat: (BLN 736.0219; Ball 77A-B2; McDougall A4) This line avoiding Wien Südbahnhof, the Wien Donauländebahn, was originally built to provide the Westbahn with access to the river Donau at Albern Hafen, for transhipment traffic. At its western end it begins at a triangle formed by the junctions of Maxing (the western junction with the Verbindungsbahn), Wien Meidling (the north-eastern junction) and Abzw. Altmannsdorf (the south-eastern junction). From Maxing to Oberlaa and Kledering it carries international trains between Wien Westbahnhof and Hegyeshalom MÁV, and from Meidling to Inzersdorf Ort the passenger trains from Wien Südbahnhof for the Ebenfurth line. Oberlaa is the junction for the spur to Kledering (shown in Ball, but untitled and rather too far to the east - it should be about halfway between Inzersdorf Ort and Kledering). Beyond Oberlaa the line crosses over (not under, as shown in Ball) the Ostbahn main line and Wien Zentralverschiebebahnhof (= central marshalling yard). BLN 750.0124][AT][SI] St.Paul - Lavamünd ÖBB - Dravograd SZ: (BLN 734.0169, 736.0221; Ball 83A2-83A1) The now-defunct cross-border line had one further Austrian station (Rabenstein an der Drau) between Lavamünd and the Slovenian frontier. The chord line from St.Paul to Bleiburg, avoiding Slovenia, was built in 1963-64, according to Austrian Travel Wonderland. BLN 750.0125][IT] Sardinian narrow-gauge: (Ball 39) Ferrovie della Sardegna (FdS) have ambitious plans for renovation of their underused and generously-staffed 950mm-gauge system, including relaying track with heavier material, modernisation of stations, and improved alignments and communications. At Cagliari, a link to the FS station is planned, as is electrification of the suburban section out to Monserrato. Eight railcars plus five trailers have been ordered from ABB. On the line west from Macomer in the centre of the island, the section beyond Tresnuraghes to the coast at Bosa-Marina (Ball 39A2) was to reopen for summer 1994. Travellers should avoid reliance on the FdS section of the FS timetable for train timings. (L'Echo du Rail, February 1994, Today's Railways #4, December 1994-January 1995) BLN 750.0126][AR] Tierra del Fuego: The large island of Tierra del Fuego - since it lies south of the Patagonian mainland where the 750mm-gauge Rio Turbio coal line runs (BLN 741.0336) - seems now to have the world's most southerly railway (BLN 707.07), with the construction in 1994 of a 500mm-gauge tourist line, the Ferrocarril Austral Fuegino, operated by Tranex Turismo SA of Ushaia, in one of Argentina's national parks. One steam locomotive was British-built in 1995. (Railway World, March 1995) BLN 751.0127][FR] Rouen-Préfecture closure: (BLN 731.0121; Ball 13B1) The diversions into the temporary station of Rouen-Préfecture were to cease after 20 January 1995, according to SNCF's winter timetable. BLN 751.0128][FR][BE][NL][DE] Paris - Bruxelles - Köln / Amsterdam: The marketing name for the high-speed international trains is to be Thalys, a made-up word said to have been selected pour son évocation de la vitesse, du confort et de la modernité. Initially, in 1996, SNCF TGV-Réseau units, designated PBA for Paris-Bruxelles-Amsterdam, are to be used, these being tricourant sets able to work on SNCF and NS 1500V dc, SNCB/NMBS 3000V dc and SNCF 25kV 50Hz. In 1997, a new build of international TGV PBKA units is to be introduced, which will be quadricourant sets, able to work to Köln on DB's 15kV 16²/3Hz. The completion date for the Thalys platforms, numbers 3 to 6, at Bruxelles-Midi/Brussel-Zuid appears to have slipped to June 1995. (SNCF/SNCB press release, 17 January 1995) BLN 751.0129][FR] Cambrai-Annexe - Wambaix: (BLN 692.03; Ball 15B3; McDougall F24) The continued use of the Cambrai-Ville avoiding line by the annual Tourcoing - Briançon winter-sports workings was confirmed on Sunday 5 March 1995, when the northbound couchettes-only train (#6792/3) was boarded discreetly at St.Quentin in a fierce blizzard. St.Quentin was surprisingly busy at 0717 on a Sunday morning, with three trains of returning skiers plus services to Metz, Paris and Bruxelles all departing within fifteen minutes. The ski trains, from Briançon, Bourg St.Maurice and St.Gervais, were all bound for Tourcoing behind CC 72000 diesel haulage, with electrics taking over for the last leg from Lille. The now-closed Cambrai-Annexe station is in some disrepair, with only one of its previously illuminated station-signs even partially readable. The revised impression of the Ball atlas still shows Cambrai incorrectly, with Cambrai-Ville and Cambrai-Annexe transposed and the chord from Cambrai-Ville to Wambaix omitted. BLN 751.0130][FR] Poitiers - Limoges: (Ball 53A3-44B2; SNCF 464) According to the local press and local railwaymen, a recent study of passenger traffic is likely to lead to bus substitution of one or more of the daily round trips on this line. (L'Echo du Rail, February 1995) BLN 751.0131][FR] Château-Arnoux-St.Auban - Digne: (BLN 746.027; Ball 66B1) The 22km disused SNCF standard-gauge branch to Digne, northern terminus of the flood-damaged Chemins de fer de la Provence metre-gauge line to Nice, lost its ordinary passenger and freight services from 25 September 1988, but some seasonal passenger trains ran in summer 1989, ceasing at the September 1989 timetable change. BLN 751.0132][FR] Cannes - Ranguin: (BLN 745.012; Ball 77A3) During the engineering work in February 1995 the weekday trip to the CAAT car-unloading private siding above Ranguin continued to run. SITP, the local transport authority, say that the passenger service will begin running again when the works are completed, contrary to rumours in the area about its likely demise. (L'Echo du Rail, February 1995) BLN 751.0133][BE] Train + bike rental in Belgium: From April 1995 the bikes for rental at NMBS/SNCB stations are all to have seven gears, and in the Ardennes region mountain bikes will be available. Combined train + bike tickets are on offer, and return of a rental bike will be possible at many stations. (European Railway News, March 1995, on Internet at http://mercurio.iet.unipi.it) BLN 751.0134][DE] Wolgaster Fähre - Seebad Ahlbeck and Zinnowitz - Peenemünde Dorf: (BLN 749.089; Ball 13B1-14A1; KBS194) Privatisation of the Usedomer Bäderbahn has been delayed till "mid-1995". (European Railway News, March 1995, on Internet) BLN 751.0135][DE] Hamburg - Neumünster - Kiel: (Ball 17B3-10B2) Schleswig-Holstein remains the last of the German Länder without any main-line electrification, but Hamburg - Kiel electric services are to begin with the timetable change at the end of September 1995. (European Railway News, March 1995, on Internet) BLN 751.0136][AT] Villach: (Ball 82A1; McDougall A7 and map 7) The layout between Warmbad Villach, Gödersdorf and Neuhaus an der Gail is rather more elaborate than shown in Ball because the large Villach Süd marshalling yard, with various connecting spurs, lies there. A full plan appeared in OEIS 9448. In the area of Villach itself there are two spurs not shown in Ball. One is from Villach Westbahnhof Stw.1 running northwards on the bridge across the river Drau alongside, but separate from, the passenger tracks, before diverging westwards to Abzw. Gummern 2. From a south-facing connection with that line at the north end of the river bridge another spur crosses the Villach - Salzburg passenger line to drop down, behind Villach Hbf, to the St.Veit line junction, Stw.1. BLN 751.0137][AT] Unzmarkt - Tamsweg - St.Andrä - Mauterndorf: (Ball 82A3; OEIS 9515) The Steiermärkische Landesbahnen still run scheduled services on their 760mm-gauge Murtalbahn as far as Tamsweg. Beyond, on what was the western end of the Murtalbahn, preserved tourist trains operate in summer. These Taurachbahn GmbH trains are not normally permitted in Tamsweg station, so services run only between St.Andrä, some 2km down the branch, and Mauterndorf. From 23 to 31 July 1994, however, Taurachbahn trains were working through into Tamsweg. BLN 751.0138][AT] Stainz - Wohlsdorf: (Ball 83B2; OEIS 9518) This former Steiermärkische Landesbahnen 760mm-gauge line, which lost its ordinary passenger service on 1 February 1951, and closed to goods on 31 March 1980, became a tourist operation by Marktgemeinde Stainz, no longer running to the former interchange point with the standard-gauge Graz Köflacher Bahn, as shown in Ball, but cut back to a run-round loop at Wohlsdorf, just short of the GKB, about 1km south of Preding Wieselsdorf station. The line is not in the ÖBB timetable or ÖBB's publication Erlebnis Bahn & Schiff 1995, but from May till October, on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, the Stainzer Flascherlzug is to run, leaving Stainz at 1500. BLN 751.0139][PT] Regua - Lamego: (BLN 748.070; Ball 8A1 not shown) A French-language source (copy of pages from an unidentified book said to be held in the NRM Library) states that a steeply-graded metre-gauge branch from Regua did once cross the hills to reach Lamego, 15km to the south, and that construction began towards Vila Franca de Naves on the Linha da Beira-Alta, a further 95km south. On a visit in 1990, remains included not only the disused rail bridge next to the road bridge over the river Douro at Regua but, 4km to the south, a sizeable concrete-and-stone viaduct built on a horseshoe curve across a valley, with trackbed disappearing into a hydro-electric power-station, and probably into a tunnel beyond. Though it was clearly built for a railway, walking along the formation revealed no visible artefacts to confirm it had ever actually carried trains. At Lamego, the modern bus-station and car-park, built on some of the scarce flat land in the town, may possibly be on the site originally chosen for the railway station. BLN 751.0140][CL][BO] Antofagasta / Mejillones - Calama - El Abra (- Ollagüe - Oruro): The metre-gauge Ferrocarril de Antofagasta a Bolivia (FCAB), which is owned by a British company, the Antofagasta (Chili) and Bolivia Railway plc, has secured a new twelve-year contract to provide freight services for the El Abra mine, 315km north-east of the port of Antofagasta and 70km north of Calama. The new services are expected to begin in September 1996, carrying up to 840,000 tonnes a year of sulphuric acid in 120 tank-cars from the acid terminal at FCAB's subsidiary port of Mejillones, on the coast north of Antofagasta airport, inland to the mine, and some 225,000 tonnes of copper cathodes in 42 specially designed cars from the mine to the main port of Antofagasta for export. FCAB expects to increase its turnover (USD24M in 1994) by over 60%, and will invest USD40M in fifteen main-line locomotives and freight rolling-stock, plus upgraded track and maintenance facilities. FCAB has also a ten-year freight contract with the Zaldívar mine, whose services start in March 1995, and a five-year renewal of the freight agreement with the Chuquicamata mine. The press notice announcing the El Abra contract on 17 February 1995 did not mention the FCAB's passenger services. From Antofagasta's attractively preserved station passenger trains no longer run inland the first 241km to Calama, but the Thomas Cook timetable shows a weekly train onward from Calama into the Andes for 202km to Ollagüe on Chile's border with Bolivia, and beyond for 488km over the metals of the Empresa Nacional de Ferrocarriles (ENFE) to the town of Oruro. BLN 752.0141][FR] Lovers undisturbed by boozers on the TGV Duplex?: "Because of the stairways, lover compartments are only open at one end and therefore will not suffer from people constantly passing on the way to the bar." Passengers looking to enjoy either activity on board will be able to sample double-deck TGVs on the Paris - Lyon / Marseille / Montpellier routes from May 1996. (Today's Railways, April-May 1995) BLN 752.0142][FR] Paris RER Ligne A: (BLN 745.05; Ball 81A1) Cergy-le-Haut, the line's north-western terminus in spring 1995, is designed as a through station with two island platforms. The eastern quai has both faces in use (voie 2 is the 'through' line and voie 4 a loop) but the western one has only the 'through' line, voie 1, in place. As well as the extension to Cergy-le-Haut, Ligne A has a new intermediate station, Neuville-Université, north of Bifurcation de Neuville between Conflans-Fin d'Oise and Cergy-Préfecture. At the line's eastern end, between Torcy and the terminus at Marne-la-Vallée-Chessy (station for the Disney theme-park), the intermediate station is called Bussy-St.Georges, rather than Violenne (Ball 25B2). BLN 752.0143][FR] (Paris-Est -) Tournan - Coulommiers - La Ferté-Gaucher: (Ball 25B2-26A2) At the beginning of January 1995 a link just east of Tournan to the TGV-Jonction line, with signals lit, was in place except for the actual junction points. Between Coulommiers and La Ferté-Gaucher all freight facilities were disconnected, except one factory siding at the 76km post which appeared still to see occasional use. At La Ferté-Gaucher itself all track was disconnected except one platform face and a run-round loop in the former goods-yard. A stop-block had been placed between the station and the level-crossing, and a length of rail removed, preventing any further movement beyond towards Esternay and Oiry, though track remained in place. BLN 752.0144][FR] (Paris-Est -) Longueville - Provins: (Ball 26A2; SNCF 170) At the end of the 7km passenger branch from Longueville (Seine-et-Marne), the line continued beyond Provins station across a level-crossing towards Villiers-St.Georges and seemed to see regular freight use in January 1995. BLN 752.0145][BE] Eurostar and Thalys routes in Belgium: (BLN 751.0128) Belgium's TGV routes as proposed at October 1994 are shown superimposed on a 1:250,000-scale plan (carte du tracé) available, together with an explanatory booklet, from SNCB Info, TGV-STAR 21, BP153, B-1060 Bruxelles 31, Belgium. On the Eurostar and Thalys routes linking London, Paris, Brussel, Köln and Amsterdam, about 160km of Belgium's 305km would be new construction, the remainder being existing lines upgraded. Short-sighted Government reluctance to authorise the investment could however delay the route to Germany until 2004, and the route to the Netherlands until 2005 - a scenario not unfamiliar to Eurostar travellers, trundling through Kent slowly enough to wave to the crossing-keeper near Ashford............... Civil-engineering trains working on the first section of the TGV-Belge line are based at St.Druon near Antoing but, because the Arbre viaduct in the middle of the new line cannot yet be used, a secondary base (Base du Coucou) is being set up with sidings between the converging tracks of the existing Ligne 94 and the new TGV line 6km south-east of Ath. The section from the French frontier to Antoing should open in May 1996, but Antoing - Ath may take until September 1997 or even June 1998. A detailed track plan of the new layout between Bruxelles and Lembeek appeared in Modern Railways in January 1995. The works to increase line capacity for Eurostar and Thalys between Halle and Bruxelles Midi have progressed to the stage where in early March 1995 the new platforms were in use on the new lines through Halle (which are on the west side, the westernmost now being numbered 1) while the original main-line platforms were out of use. At the same time, the tracks between Forest Midi and Bruxelles Midi which run past Klein Eiland to the west of the carriage yards (BLN 739.0278; Ball 10B1; SNCB Ligne 96A) were temporarily singled between Forest Midi and Klein Eiland, to allow excavations under the other track. A London-bound Eurostar departed this way, and it may be their normal route to and from the Eurostar platforms (1 and 2) at Bruxelles Midi. Certainly, trains which are booked to or from the low-numbered platforms at Midi do normally use Ligne 96A, to avoid conflicts at the south end station throat. Does the track layout in fact allow Eurostars to access the main route (Ligne 96) at the south throat? BLN 752.0146][BE] Charleroi - Anderlues: (BLN 729.085, 738.0255; Ball 8B1, not shown) At the western end beyond Pétria the remnant of the Vicinal metre-gauge interurban tramway operates from Charleroi as route 89 via the depot to Anderlues Jonction, and as route 90 via the short direct line to Anderlues Monument. Street track between Jonction and Monument is being realigned and from May or June 1995 route 89 trams are to run via the depot and Jonction to Monument. (Tramfare; Blickpunkt Strassenbahn) BLN 752.0147][BE] SNCB Ligne 163 Libramont - Bastogne: (BLN 716.09; Ball 17B3) In March 1995 the timetables at Bertrix gave no indication that service on Ligne 163, whose passenger trains were suspended in May 1993, would be by bus. The substitute bus conveyed six passengers, and an SNCB guard who duly checked tickets. The large station at Bastogne Sud is still open though without trains, and unsurprisingly the tracks are very rusty. Bastogne Nord is derelict, and the tracks northward to Gouvy are lifted. Protest posters in the town included one comparing the Bastogne of 1944, cut off from the rest of the world by the encircling Nazis, and of 1994, cut off by the SNCB. BLN 752.0148][DE] DB 1995-96 timetable changes: A preview of DB's new timetable suggests the following closures are to be expected from 28 May 1995. BLN references Ball atlas KBS Rathenow - Rathenow Nord (much-heralded closure; buses are to substitute ) 729.090, 749.090 28B3 266 Bedburg (Erft) - Düren (new opencast mining is expected to lead to closure) 745 supp. 37B1 482 Hartenrod (Kreis Biedenkopf) - Niederwalgern (eastern part of KBS624) 745 supp. 39B1 624 Korbach - Bad Wildungen 729.093, 745 supp. 39B2-40A2 621 Klein Gerau - Gross Gerau Dornberg (E-to-S curve; no Darmstadt - Worms trains) 49A1 651 (Schlettau -) Walthersdorf (Erzgebirge) - Crottendorf obere Bahnhof 705.03, 745 supp. 54B3 537 BLN 752.0149][DE] Hannover Messebahnhof: (BLN 739.0280; Ball 26B2 (not shown); McDougall G11) This short branch with its special station for traffic to Hannover Messe (= fair) may not last beyond 1995 or perhaps 1996. Trains with passengers for events or exhibitions may instead use an expanded Laatzen station on the Hannover - Göttingen main line, with a moving walkway to the exhibition site. BLN 752.0150][DE] (Halberstadt - Wernigerode -) Ilsenburg - Stapelburg: (BLN 696.09; Ball 27B1-27A1; KBS324) On 12 March 1995 the last train ran on the Ilsenburg - Stapelburg section, which has closed to enable construction of a new Ilsenburg - Vienenburg line, linking the former east and west German systems north of the Harz mountains. Only some 2km of the closed branch will reopen as part of the new route. BLN 752.0151][DE] Mulheim (Ruhr)-Styrum - Duisburg-Meiderich Süd: (BLN 743.0359; Ball 33A3; KBS448) The line was to have its last train on 1 April 1995, closing completely thereafter to facilitate the extension of Duisburg's tram subway to Meiderich. It is possible the DB line may later reopen for freight. (IBSE) BLN 752.0152][DE] Wuppertal monorail: (Ball 34A1) Neither the Ball atlas nor the recently published Eisenbahnatlas Deutschland shows the Schwebebahn, a distinctive suspended monorail, dating from the turn of the century and well worth a journey. A well-used local metro with over a dozen intermediate stops at elevated stations, it has termini a short walk from Wuppertal-Vohwinkel and Wuppertal-Oberbarmen DB stations. At the Vohwinkel end the line runs at about second-floor level above a busy city street, but for most of the 13.2km route length the cars hang 10m or so above the river Wupper. A good forward view is possible, a bit like that from a cable-car. Various fares are on offer, but a day ticket costing DEM8.70 covers up to five persons (and one dog) for all public transport in the area. BLN 752.0153][DE] Berga-Kelbra - Stolberg (Harz): (BLN 731.0126; Ball 41B3; KBS592) A deteriorating viaduct may lead to closure of this 15km passenger branch, perhaps at the end of 1995. The line was not included in the 'doubtful future' list published as a supplement to BLN 745. BLN 752.0154][DE] Wächtersbach - Bad Orb: (BLN 743.0361; Ball 51A2; KBS618) The 7km Kreiswerke Gelnhausen branch has closed to passengers. The last train was on 4 March 1995. (IBSE) BLN 752.0155][DE] Mannheim: Waldhof - Käfertal - Hbf / Rbf: (Ball 55A2-55A1; McDougall G58; KBS655) To avoid having to reverse Frankfurt - Karlsruhe etc express trains calling at Mannheim Hauptbahnhof, DB some decades ago built a new main line from Mannheim-Waldhof running into the west end of the Hbf, and this line, close to the river Rhein at its southern end, carries nearly all the passenger traffic. The old line via the sole intermediate station of Mannheim-Käfertal into the east end of the Hbf has only a vestigial passenger service. On 14 November 1994 some three passengers boarded the 1537 from Mannheim-Waldhof to Hbf, an electric locomotive hauling three or four coaches, and not many more got in at Käfertal. South of Käfertal, one of the two tracks was out of use all the way to the junction east of the Hbf, though the double-track north-to-east freight-only curve to Mannheim-Rangierbahnhof appeared well polished. Käfertal looks well-served by trams, and it would not be surprising if its DB service, and the north-to-west passenger curve from Käfertal to Hbf, disappeared from future timetables and maps. BLN 752.0156][AT] Mürzzuschlag - Neuberg Ort: (BLN 747.058; Ball 75A1; KBS53) This line was not closed in 1988 as alleged by McDougall (p.33), nor at the end of 1994 either, but it is still threatened with closure during 1995. Passenger trains run beyond Neuberg station, now worked as a halt, to terminate at a further simple halt at Neuberg Ort. Beyond that, the line was seen in July 1994 to continue to a private siding. BLN 752.0157][AT] Ebenfurth avoiding line: (Ball 75B2; McDougall A14; KBS51) In the 1994-95 timetable the passenger trains using the tracks avoiding Ebenfurth station on its north-west side, not shown in Ball, are EN236 Venezia Santa Lucia - Wien Südbahnhof and D1234 Firenze - Wien Südbahnhof. The southern end of the line is controlled by Stw 3 but the north end has no signal-box, so it is presumably controlled from the Ebenfurth station box, Stw 1. BLN 752.0158][AT] Graz avoiding line: (Ball 83B3) An east-to-south curve at Graz, between the Feldbach and Spielfeld Strass lines, was noted in July 1994, but is not shown in Ball. BLN 752.0159][DK] Nykøbing (Falster) - Gedser: (Ball 12A3) DSB are to withdraw local passenger services on the branch from the May 1995 timetable change, and international trains routed that way to and from the Gedser-Warnemünde train-ferry are also to cease from September 1995. Since freight via Gedser ended in January 1994, it looks as if this international route will close after 110 years. (LCGB Bulletin, February 1995) BLN 752.0160][IT] Torino-Dora - Pessinetto (- Ceres): (Ball 45A-45B3) This line run by SA Torinese Tranvie Intercommunali was severed beyond Pessinetto in September 1993 by a damaged bridge, which has not been repaired through lack of finance. Services on the remainder of the line are in the hands of SATTI's ex-SNCB type 54 emus. (L'Echo du Rail, February, March & October 1994) BLN 752.0161][IT] Asciano - Monte-Antico: (Ball 49B2) This FS branch closed from the September 1994 timetable change, but might see tourist trains sponsored by the local authority. Also closed was the FS line from Orte to Capranica-Sutri (Ball 50B1-52A3). (L'Echo du Rail, February 1995) BLN 752.0162][CH] Sursee - Triengen: (Ball 87A1) The annual passenger trips on the Sursee Triengen Bahn, a non-electrified and freight-only Swiss private line, are planned to be on Sunday 24 September 1995. BLN 752.0163][CH] Orbe - Chavornay: (Ball 91A2) This 3.9km private line is unusual for Switzerland in being standard-gauge, but it uses 700V dc overhead electrification while the CFF uses 15kV 16²/3Hz, so the extensive interchange of freight traffic for Les Granges has to be handled by a diesel shunter. BLN 752.0164][PL] PKP branch closures: (BLN 748.072, 749.0102) The German-Polish enthusiast group PIBSE reports five Polish State Railways (Polskie Koleje Panstwowe) branches closed to passengers. km Ball atlas PKP timetable closed to passengers from Skwierzyna - Miedzychód 29 31B1 341 (part) 20 March 1995 Rzepin - Miedzychód 97 36A3-31B1 335 (part) 20 March 1995 Lubsko - Zagan 33 36A3-36A2 358a 3 April 1995 Czempin - Mieszków (- Jarocin) 54 36B3-37A3 322 27 March 1995 Gieraltowice - Orzesze 11 40A1 157 (part) 2 January 1995 Katowice area BLN 752.0165][PL, CZ] Cieszyn PKP - Ceský Tešín CD: (Ball 42B3) This short cross-border link between the Polish and Czech systems reopened for passengers on 1 March 1995, the train times being those already shown in table 146 of the PKP timetable. (PIBSE) BLN 7