Branch Line News International (ISSN 1354-0947), a newsletter about the world's railway geography and infrastructure 1996 archived text (BLN 769 - BLN 792) BLN 769.01] Coleraine - Portrush: (BLN 767.0499) The passenger service before 1968 was seasonal. In 1966, for example, the Ulster Transport Authority ran trains on the branch only between 30 May and 11 September, aimed mainly at day and weekend visitors to Portrush. The first departures from that resort were at 11:25 Monday to Friday, 11:30 Saturday and 19:35 Sunday. When the branch reopened in spring 1968, the service became all-year-round and two new stations opened, University serving the Coleraine campus of the University of Ulster and Dhu Varren serving the western side of Portrush. Between University and Dhu Varren, the closed station of Portstewart - some 2km from that town, though once linked to it by a roadside steam tramway - reopened at the same time, renamed Cromore after a nearby farm. This reopening was not successful, and Cromore no longer appears in the timetable. BLN 769.02][GB][IE] Londonderry - Carrigans: (BLN 718.04, 740.0299, 761.M131) Restoration of 1930s-built County Donegal railcar #12 is nearing completion at Manorcunningham. The single-ended car is to join its sister #18, already restored, on the 914mm-gauge Foyle Valley Railway, and the pair will make an attractive sight running back-to-back on the line out of the museum station at Londonderry Foyle Road south towards the border. The FVR, backed by Derry City Council and the International Fund for Ireland, hopes to cross into the Republic to reach Carrigans, County Donegal, and eventually St.Johnston, a total distance of some 12km. NIR have secured new freight traffic for the Londonderry - Coleraine line (BLN 767.0498). Londonderry Waterside is to load timber for shipment to Clonmel and Waterford. BLN 769.03][IE] (Claremorris -) Athenry - Ennis: (BLN 766.0482) Athenry is another loading point for timber, with double-headed trains of eight 19m-long wagons, specially adapted from container-flats at Inchicore, leaving at 19:15 to go south overnight via Ennis, Limerick and Tipperary, reaching Waterford 12 hours later. Iarnród Éireann have a new agreement with Coillte, Ireland's forestry development body, and hope to carry 300,000 tonnes of wood annually from 29 railheads, including Derry, with up to 15 trains a week on the Athenry - Ennis line. IE are said to have no plans for refurbishing the Claremorris - Collooney Jn line for timber or other freight traffic, though track remains in place. (Irish Times, 25 October 1995) BLN 769.04][GB][FR][BE] Eurostar PSUL?: (BLN 767.0500) Eurostars are not cleared to visit Victoria. First, yaw-dampers on Eurostar vehicles foul some British platform edges, which therefore have to be checked and if necessary adjusted. At least two platforms in Edinburgh Waverley, for example, had their edges repositioned during 1995, with public notices apologising and explaining the inconvenience as being preparation for future through trains to mainland Europe. Railtrack have done the work needed at stations on Eurostar routes, but not at London termini other than Waterloo - nor indeed at Waterloo's domestic platforms. Secondly, track and signalling layouts would make it extremely difficult to handle such very long trains at Victoria, and indeed at most places. Finally, Eurostar drivers are unlikely to have route knowledge of many other lines, though they do know the West London line, since they make empty-stock movements to and from North Pole depot. If a sudden emergency required diversion of an inbound Eurostar away from Waterloo International, it would turn left at Factory Jn and go to Kensington Olympia, where some basic immigration facilities have already been provided. BLN 769.05][BE] Charleroi - Anderlues trams: (Ball 8B1 not shown) The direct line from Pétria to Anderlues Monument was out of use before the line onward to La Louvière closed in August 1993. On both 1 June and 15 July 1993, for example, it was obstructed along its length by parked cars, and the rail-flangeways were well filled with dirt, while the trams on route 89 to Anderlues Monument and on route 90 to La Louvière were all running via Anderlues Jonction, where they connected with the bus service to Lobbes. It seems the Association pour la Sauvegarde du Vicinal have had difficulties before summer 1995 in running the Anderlues - Lobbes - Thuin museum tramway as advertised (BLN 738.0255, 760.0370, 765.0461, 767.0501). On a July 1993 public holiday the ASVi were advertising a service, but at Anderlues Jonction dirt filled the flangeways of the line towards Lobbes. At Lobbes no activity was to be seen, only an ASVi notice dated the previous week saying that due to damage preventing the supply of traction current to the trams, services had ceased until further notice. A householder by the Lobbes tram-stop volunteered that 'this often happens', and mentioned problems with electricity bills. BLN 769.06][BE] Brussel/Bruxelles: Y Pannenhuis - Simonis - Brussel-West/Bruxelles-Ouest - Y Cureghem (BLN 736.0203; Ball 10B2-10B1; Lijn/Ligne 28) Early on 4 December 1995 a fire started in the relay-room at Brussel-Noord, spreading rapidly through cable ducts. Firemen needed over eight hours to extinguish the blaze, by which time much signalling equipment had been destroyed, putting all points and signals out of action, as well as telephones and train-indicators at Noord, Central and Midi. The Noord-Midi line was reopened that evening, but with a very limited capacity. A resignalling scheme planned for 1998 has been hastily brought forward, but full restoration of capacity may take several months. During this time some trains instead use Lijn 28, the Ouest-Ceinture loop to the west of the city-centre with no ordinary passenger service. IC trains inbound from Luxembourg via Schuman are routed Y Josaphat - Y Zennebrug - Y Laeken - Y Pannenhuis, and take Ligne 28 southwards calling at Simonis station before terminating at Midi. Outbound IC trains to Luxembourg use their usual Midi-Noord route. IR trains between Dendermonde and Midi use the Y Jette - Y Pannenhuis curve and Lijn 28 in both directions, with a stop at Simonis. One local service also runs from Midi via Ligne 28, but otherwise all local services which normally use Noord are starting and terminating at Schuman, Schaerbeek or Jette. Most peak-hour P trains using Noord have been cancelled. The stop at Simonis, reported in BLN 736 as having been temporarily reopened during a previous emergency, is for passengers to connect into the Métro. BLN 769.07][DE] Bremerhaven - Harsefeld - Buxtehude - Hamburg: (Ball 16B2-17B2) Container trains were due to start working in 1993 between Bremerhaven and Hamburg via the EVB (Eisenbahn und Verkehrsbetriebe Elbe-Weser GmbH) to Harsefeld, then the BHE (Buxtehude Harsefelder Eisenbahn) to Buxtehude, but objections took some time to resolve and this freight flow, currently two trains a day, did not begin until 20 June 1995. The equivalent through passenger service, over links not shown in the Ball atlas, was introduced in September 1993 and described in BLN 718.011. (Op de Rails, 9/95) BLN 769.08][DE] Hamburg: The U-Bahn U1 extension northwards from Garstedt to Norderstedt Mitte (BLN 764.0444; Ball 17B3) was to open on 29 September 1995. Third-rail 1200V dc S-Bahn trains are to be restored to the Bergedorf - Aumhle section (BLN 764.0445; Ball 22B2-22B3; Linie S21), to reach Reinbek perhaps with the summer timetable change in 1997, and Aumhle in summer 2000. (Blickpunkt Strassenbahn, December 1995) BLN 769.09][DE] Hannover Flughafen: (Ball 26B2) Work has begun on construction of an S-Bahn line north to Hannover airport, near Langenhagen. BLN 769.010][DE] Helmstedt - Grasleben - Weferlingen - Haldensleben: (Ball 27B2) The local line (Nebenbahn) from Helmstedt to Oebisfelde crossed the former border between west and east Germany three times, so its closure as a through route was not surprising. In the west, the Helmstedt - Grasleben section remained in use as a freight branch, and in the east the intermediate station of Weferlingen became a terminus, served by the DR passenger branch from Haldensleben. After reunification, the short Grasleben - Weferlingen section was reopened for local sand traffic, linking the two stubs of line (BLN 738.0258). Plans to run steam tourist trains from Helmstedt to Weferlingen on three occasions during 1995 were frustrated by technical problems, but 1996 could see this being the first German preserved line to operate across the former frontier. BLN 769.011][DE] Berlin: Westkreuz - Spandau: (BLN 747.051; Ball 31B2) 16 September 1995 was the last day for long-distance trains running via the former S-Bahn route (Westkreuz - Eichkamp - Olympiastadion - Pichelsberg - Spandau) to which they had been diverted during works on the usual Fernbahn route via Ruhleben. Work on restoration of the 800V dc third-rail electric services via Olympiastadion has not yet begun, but the S-Bahn is now planned to reach Pichelsberg in 1997, Spandau in 1999 and eventually Falkensee in 2002. Elsewhere on the S-Bahn, Linie S25 is to be extended from Lichterfelde Ost to Lichterfelde Sd (BLN 760.0375; Ball 32A2) in December 1996. (Blickpunkt Strassenbahn, December 1995) BLN 769.012][DE] Riegel - Riegel Ort: (BLN 756.0283, 763.0427; Ball 67B2) SWEG services at Riegel Bf, which at present run from a separate track on the far side of the station access road, may be moved into the DB station on the Karlsruhe - Basel main line, to improve interchange. BLN 769.013][DE] Winden (Pfalz) - Bad Bergzabern: (BLN 765.0468; Ball 57A2) The 10km branch was reopened to passengers in September 1995, after a ten-year gap, on the initiative of the Land of Rheinland-Pfalz. The district of Sdliche Weinstrasse was responsible for providing the rather basic stations, including intermediate halts with ash platforms at Barbelroth and Kapellen-Drusweiler. Several of the level-crossings have neither barriers nor signals. The line is included in the local KVV (Karlsruher Verkehrsverbund) tariff. DB provides an hourly train, at present a lightly-loaded Class 628 two-car unit, but Rheinland-Pfalz have ordered from Fahrzeugtechnik Dessau a new Class 670 double-deck diesel railbus, which is to take over in spring 1996. These unusual railbuses are to appear also on the Bullay - Traben-Trarbach branch (Ball 48A2), and on the Winden - Wissembourg cross-border line into France when it reopens to passengers in September 1996. (partly Blickpunkt Strassenbahn, LCGB Bulletin, Dec.1995) BLN 769.014][DE] Warthausen - Ochsenhausen: (BLN 735.0184, 736.0212) The Ball atlas (69B2) shows this 19km 750mm-gauge line with the names of its end-points transposed. Opened on 30 November 1899 by the Königliche Württembergische Staatseisenbahnen, it was extended on 1 March 1900 a further 3km south at the Warthausen end to reach Biberach. In May 1964 passenger traffic ceased, and the Biberach - Warthausen section closed completely. The last freight train line ran in March 1983, and DB sold the line to the local councils. Tourist trains began in 1985, staffed by members of a local railway society, though a separate company owned the rolling-stock and was legally responsible for the operation. A dispute between the society and the company, over financial losses and the need for spending on maintenance and renewals, led to suspension of services after a few years. The local councils have formed a new company, Öchsle Bahn AG, to raise finance for the necessary work through a share issue. Trains are planned to operate every weekend from May to October in 1996. BLN 769.015][ES] Avilès - Gijón: In Asturias province in northern Spain, the Ball atlas (3A3) shows two lines running east from Avilès to Aboño and Gijón, an electrified metre-gauge coastal route via Regueral and a non-electrified one further inland with a tunnel but no stations between Trasona and Aboño. From a FEVE train on the coastal route in September 1995, no sign could be seen of junctions at either Trasona or Aboño. A Railway Magazine article in September 1972 has a map showing this line as 'proposed but not built'; a 1974 RENFE map shows a railway but not a RENFE line; a 1991 FEVE map shows a railway but not a FEVE line; and a map on p.18 of Trevor Rowe's Narrow-Gauge Railways of Spain, Volume 2 shows the inland route as the broad-gauge Ensidesa Railway. The metre-gauge Ferrocarril de Carreño opened in 1909 from iron-ore mines near Regueral to Aboño, and was extended in 1916 to the quays at El Musel by the Sindicato Asturiano del Puerto de El Musel. At El Musel it was linked to the 1909-built Sociedad Tranvías de Gijón line to Gijón city-centre. Electrified with 650V dc overhead in 1921, the Carreño line was further extended to run between Avilès and Regueral in 1922, completing an Avilès - Regueral - Aboño - Gijón route. In 1920, after the private sector had failed to raise the necessary capital, the Spanish State assumed responsibility for the construction of a Ferrol - Gijón railway, and work began in 1922. Infrastructure for a route independent of the Carreño from Avilès via Tabaza, Tamón and Veriña to Gijón was complete by 1928, together with a short branch from Veriña to the Carreño at Aboño, but track was never laid on the Avilès - Veriña section, and after the Civil War it was abandoned. At Avilès urban development and a motorway have obscured the trackbed, but traces can be seen east of the Tabaza valley, including the abutment of a bridge at Veriña which would have carried the line over the FC Norte and FC de Langreo tracks to El Musel. Between Aboño and Gijón, however, the Ferrol - Gijón railway had track in place by the outbreak of the Civil War in 1936, and though the State removed it in the early 1940s, the FC de Carreño relaid the line at its own expense in time for reinauguration in 1950, giving the Carreño its own access to Gijón city-centre. In 1974 FEVE took over the FC de Carreño, subsequently modernising it, and on the coast between Regueral and Aboño, realigning it, mostly in tunnel. The ENSIDESA company uses its own diesel locomotives to operate a private broad-gauge (1668mm) railway linking the steelworks at Avilès and Veriña with its coal and ore stockpiles at Aboño, which are fed by conveyors from the port at El Musel. Built probably in the early-to-mid 1960s, this line climbs out of the Tabaza valley in a 2km tunnel to parallel the never-used Ferrol - Gijón formation west of Aboño. BLN 769.016][ES] Zaragoza - Figuerelas: (Ball 13A1?) A recent 'open day' organised by General Motors' Opel factory near Zaragoza saw special passenger trains carrying over 20,000 people there, and it seems trains ran on to the site at Figuerelas. This place does not feature in the RENFE timetable, nor the Ball atlas. BLN 769.017][ES] Madrid Atocha - Parla: (Ball 22A2) South of the capital RENFE have diverted this 1676mm-gauge electrified suburban line to a new station much closer to the centre of Parla, and some 4km from the old terminus. South of Parla the line originally continued to Algodor and beyond, but much of its formation was taken over by the high-speed 1435mm-gauge Alta Velocidad Española line to Sevilla. BLN 769.018][IT] Chivasso - Pré Saint Didier: (BLN 696.010; Ball 45B3-40A1) At the start of the 1995-96 winter timetable FS closed Saint Vincent station and renamed Châtillon as Châtillon-Saint Vincent. Many of the stations on the Val d'Aosta/Valle d'Aosta branch have French-style names (thus 'Saint' instead of 'San'), since the valley is a French-speaking part of Italy. BLN 769.019][IT] Priverno Fossanova - Terracina: (Ball 53A2) Trains on this 17km FS branch off the Roma - Napoli main line have been cut back to one early-morning working to Roma and one back in the evening. Though electrified, the line has been threatened with closure for several years. BLN 769.020][CH] (Chur -) Landquart - Klosters: (Ball 95B2-96A3) A landslide in June 1995 damaged a bridge under the metre-gauge Rhtische Bahn near Saas. Pending completion of a temporary bridge, the section between Kblis and Klosters could remain closed for a lengthy period. (Op de Rails, 8/95) BLN 769.021][HR][BA][YU] Croatia, Bosnia and Yugoslavia: (Ball 46) Hrvatske Zeljeznice, the Croatian railways, operate reasonable train services in Croatia to the north and west of the capital, Zagreb, and between Zagreb and Osijek in Slavonia, but the Zagreb - Beograd main line remains closed at the border between Croatia and Serbia (Serbia and Montenegro together are still formally federal Yugoslavia). As mentioned in BLN 764.0452, HZ trains from Zagreb to Split on the Dalmatian coast take the secondary route through Otarije, remaining entirely within Croatia, rather than the former JZ electrified line, at present unavailable, via Bihac in Bosnia. Military trains have been operating in the Bihac area. HZ also operate a short isolated section from the Croatian coastal town of Ploce inland for 35km, crossing the border at Metkovic into Bosnia-Hercegovina to reach Capljina. This section was the end of JZ's electrified Doboj - Sarajevo - Mostar - Capljina - Ploce line through the mountains of Bosnia, but most of this route is also unavailable at present (Ball 51B3). Zeljeznice Bosne i Hercegovine, the railways of Bosnia-Hercegovina, are believed to be providing a passenger service over 4km of track between Sarajevo and Alipasin Most, but it is possible that no other ZBH trains now run on a regular basis (BLN 752.0167). In August 1995 the 44km id - Bijeljina branch, from Šid in Serbia to Bijeljina in Bosnia (BLN 702.012; Ball 47B1-52A3), had a special passenger train to evacuate from Bosnia a number of Serbian refugees fleeing from the Krajina area of Croatia. BLN 769.022][US] Georgetown - Silver Plume: The Georgetown Loop Railroad runs on 5km of the original trackbed of a 914mm-gauge Colorado Central Railroad line, opened 1877-84 to serve mines and tourism in a steep mountain valley, but abandoned and dismantled in 1939. The present short museum line, reconstructed in 1975-84, includes a serpentine loop with a spectacular 90m-long trestle bridge 29m above a creek. Passenger trains may be worked by a Shay geared locomotive of the kind once common in the American logging industry. BLN 769.023][CL] Santiago - Renaico - Temuco: Sadly, Chile's 1676mm-gauge Ferrocarril del Sur is to cease electric operation on the 140km section from Renaico south to Temuco, in favour of diesel traction. For one pair of electric trains a day, the maintenance of the 3000V dc overhead is said to be no longer worthwhile. (Eisenbahn Amateur, 8/95) The comfortable and civilised sleeping-car service between Santiago and Temuco (BLN 725.066) has been electrically-hauled for the whole 699km, a similar distance to London - Edinburgh, and it is not clear if this train is to continue, with a locomotive change at Renaico. BLN 770.024] Coleraine - Portrush: (BLN 769.01) Freight ceased around 1954, and year-round passenger traffic ceased on 10 October 1960 when the branch first closed seasonally during the winter. Trains thereafter ran at Christmas in 1960 only, and at Easter and during the May-September summer season in 1961-66. Only advertised excursions ran in May and June 1967, and regular services were restricted to July and August that summer. The 1968 service began on 1 June, and the branch has remained open since. BLN 770.025] Limavady Jn - Limavady - Dungiven: (BLN 767.0498) This branch off the Londonderry line once ran beyond Limavady to Dungiven, which closed to passengers 1 January 1933 and to all traffic 3 July 1950. Limavady Jn - Limavady closed to passengers 3 July 1950 and to all traffic 2 May 1955. BLN 770.026][FR] Paris: Châtelet-les-Halles - Gare de Lyon: (Ball 82A2-82A3) From 1987 Réseau Express Régional Ligne D from Orry-la-Ville-Coye via Gare du Nord terminated in the centre of Paris at Châtelet, but SNCF have put in additional tracks onward for 2.5km, paralleling Ligne A, to the underground suburban station at Gare de Lyon, beyond which two Sud-Est lines are now part of the RER, running via Lieusaint-Moissy to Melun as D2, and via Juvisy to Malesherbes as D4. Formally inaugurated on 11 September 1995, the new link was to have full public service from 24 September, but because of a drivers' dispute initially few trains ran through. Full service commenced on 16 October. The RER label applies only within the Île de France region, though trains start from Creil, beyond the northern boundary at Orry-la-Ville-Coye. To the south, SNCF seem ambivalent as to whether the RER ends at La Ferté-Alais, where most trains turn back, or at Malesherbes, just outside the Île de France in the Centre region. BLN 770.027][FR, BE] (Lille -) Frétin - Wannehain SNCF - Espléchin SNCB - Antoing (- Bruxelles): (Ball 7B1) BLN 768.0522 followed a Belgian source (Trans-fer, #97, p.42) in saying that not only Paris - Bruxelles TGVs but London - Bruxelles Eurostars would in June 1996 start to use the new Frétin - Antoing section of the LGV Belge, continuing via Mons instead of Ath to Bruxelles. However Today's Railways, in a useful illustrated article on the first section of the high-speed line (#10, p.32-37), refers only to the 14 daily TGVs, making no mention of Eurostars on it from 2 June. Certainly the TGVs would seem to gain more than the Eurostars from the new route, since by leaving the LGV Nord at Frétin, south-east of Lille, and taking the west-to-east side of the triangle there, they can avoid a reversal in Lille. A tricourant TGV in the new red Paris - Bruxelles - Amsterdam Thalys livery was at Tournai on 4 January 1996. BLN 770.028][FR][BE][DE] Avoiding Belgium during strikes: (BLN 725.056; Ball 16A3-16B2-17B1-18B1 (FR) 55B3-47B1-48B3 (DE)) On 29 November 1994, and again on 16 November 1995, several trains that normally run between France and Belgium via Quévy or Erquelinnes on their way to or from Germany were diverted to avoid a Belgian railway strike, seemingly a frequent enough occurrence for Franco-German contingency timetables to be held in readiness. After a reversal at Aulnoye the route used was Charleville-Mézières (avoiding line) - Hayange - (west-to-north curve) - Thionville - Apach - (border between France and Germany) - Perl - Trier - Koblenz-Moselweiss (west-to-north curve avoiding Hbf) - Koblenz-Lützel - Köln. The first and third sections are now freight-only apart from French trains for permissionaires (= military people on leave), and the second and fourth have only limited passenger use. BLN 770.029][BE] Brussel/Bruxelles: Y Pannenhuis - Simonis - Brussel-West/Bruxelles-Ouest - Y Cureghem (Ball 10B2-10B1; Lijn/Ligne 28) By the beginning of January, diversions via Simonis had ceased and trains were running via their usual Noord - Central - Midi route. Four weeks after the disastrous fire at Brussel-Noord (BLN 769.06), day-and-night work by engineers had provided a temporary signal-cabin, allowing the advertised timetable to be worked, with some modifications and even improvements, such as the Airport City Express trains running through to and from Midi instead of terminating at Central. An SNCB/NMBS leaflet however warns that until the definitive new signal-box is in use, which is expected by the end of 1996, services will be more than usually sensitive to 'perturbations'. On 4 January 1996, many crossovers and points at Brussel-Noord were rusty, and many signals were unlit and bearing crosses, indicating that much of the layout was unavailable. To help inform users about changes in the January-June 1996 timetable, SNCB/NMBS offer a free electronic ARIdisc timetable on diskette (BLN 742.0337) to anyone completing the form available at stations. BLN 770.030][DE] Hannover Messebahnhof: (BLN 752.0149; Ball 26B2) Preliminary advertising for the forthcoming CeBIT information-technology exhibition says that special trains will again run to Hannover Messebahnhof - a terminus on its own short branch, not shown in Ball - and that the nearby station at Laatzen on the Hannover - Göttingen main line, described in the leaflet as Bf Hannover Messe/Laatzen, will be used only for special stops by north-south ICE trains. In past years, the train programme for the Hannover Messe (= fair) has virtually replicated that for CeBIT, so it seems the Messebahnhof has had a reprieve for 1996 at least. Exhibition dates are 14-20 March 1996 (CeBIT), 22-27 April 1996 (Hannover Messe), 13-19 March 1997 (CeBIT), 14-19 April 1997 (Hannover Messe). BLN 770.031][DE] Berlin U-Bahn: Krumme Lanke - Warschauer Strasse: (BLN 765.0464) U-Bahn Linie U1 is a Kleinprofil one, with narrow-bodied trains and open top-contact 800V dc third rail, in contrast to the Grossprofil lines (U6, U7, U8, U9) which have under-running covered third rail. From Krumme Lanke, in the south-western district of Zehlendorf, the line runs in a shallow open cutting as far as Dahlem Dorf. The first intermediate station is Onkel Toms Hütte (= Uncle Tom's Cabin), with an arcade of shops on each side of the station parallel with the platforms, and an Onkel Tom Strasse nearby. Dahlem Dorf is possibly the world's only U-Bahn station with a thatched roof, in keeping with the area's pretensions as a village within the city, Berlin's Dulwich maybe. East of Gleisdreieck (= 'track triangle') the line runs on a long elevated viaduct (the Hochbahn) to Schlesisches Tor, and across the river Spree to Warschauer Strasse. This last section, into the terminus then called Warschauer Brücke, closed on 13 August 1961 when the Wall dividing the city was built, since the boundary between the American and Russian sectors followed the Spree, and the Oberbaumbrücke road bridge was closed to ordinary traffic. So the parallel U-Bahn river bridge closed as well, and later the disused bridge over Stralauer Strasse on the north bank was also removed. Warschauer Strasse U-Bahn station, reopened on 14 October 1995, has three platforms plus two sidings alongside, and a car-shed with some four roads, all on viaduct. The unusual elevated structure over the platforms is the signal-box. According to Blickpunkt Strassenbahn a further eight-road car-shed is to be located at right angles to the present station, parallel to Rudolfstrasse, by the end of 1996. However, in November 1995 interchange with the S-Bahn was still poor. Passengers changing trains faced not only a short walk in the open, but were forced to cross the very busy Warschauer Strasse twice, due to rebuilding of the bridge where that street crosses the main-line railway into Berlin Hbf. BLN 770.032][DE] Berlin trams: (BLN 765.0464) Since 14 October 1995 two tram routes extend into the west Berlin district of Wedding, route #23 from Warschauer Strasse and route #24 from Weissensee. The new extension starts at a triangular junction with the former terminal loop at Björnsonstrasse on the north side of Bornholmer Strasse, almost opposite the site of a former control-point between east and west Berlin. On the massive road bridge over the various railways at Bornholmer Strasse station (BLN 766.0486) the tram-tracks are interlaced, for the carriageway is not broad enough for double track on reservation, nor alas is there room for tram-stops immediately outside the S-Bahn station building on the bridge. Double track then runs westwards entirely on reservation in the centre of Bornholmer Strasse and Osloer Strasse. At Louise Schroeder Platz, the single-ended trams turn on a reversing triangle, a provisional arrangement according to Blickpunkt Strassenbahn. The driver remains in his place and a shunter, employed there all day for this purpose, uses the emergency controller at the rear of the car to drive it backwards. BLN 770.033][DE] (Artern -) Reinsdorf (bei Artern) - Vitzenburg - Karsdorf - Naumburg (Saale) Hbf: (Ball 41B2-42A2; KBS585) A new company, Karsdorfer Eisenbahn GmbH, set up to take over operation of this line, and possibly others, has acquired from the AKN system north of Hamburg some elderly MAN railbuses of a type never used by DB or DR. Pending transfer to KEG of operating responsibility, DB have leased the green-and-yellow vehicles, which externally carry both the name Karsdorfer Eisenbahn and the DB logo, and internally are fitted with Romanian litter-bins, marked CFR! The railbuses have replaced loco-hauled trains between Artern and Naumburg, and at least some trains on the neighbouring Naumburg - Teuchern line (KBS578). Loading of the loco-hauled DB service between Querfurt and Vitzenburg (Ball 42B2-42B3; KBS587) was negligible on 27 November 1995. Of the four intermediate stations, three are request stops, and Vitzenburg is merely a physical junction, the village being several kilometres away. 24 February 1996 has been quoted as a date for withdrawal of passenger services. BLN 770.034][DE] Weekend bargain ticket: (BLN 753.0179) DB's Schönes Wochenende ticket can still be a worthwhile buy at its 1996 price of DEM35 (= £15.75), allowing unlimited travel on a Saturday and Sunday for up to five persons travelling together on local services, other than ICE, EC, IC, IR or D trains. BLN 770.035][AT] Wien: Pflegeheim Lainz: (Ball 77A2) At Versorgungsheimplatz, one stop from the western terminus of tram-route 62, and not far from Speising S-Bahn station, stands the massive 19th-century Pflegeheim Lainz, a municipal old-people's home with its own internal 500mm-gauge railway. Now rare, such lines were once a feature of big institutions, in Victorian Britain as elsewhere, since all shared common logistical problems of moving quantities of coal, food and supplies around large sites before the development of reliable motor transport. Lainz was in 1995 still using its railway to distribute food from the kitchen to the wards three times a day. The layout is basically three or four loops running along the internal roadways, with a spur to each ward, a wagon-shed beside the kitchen, and a loco-shed at the southern end of the second loop. Battery-electric locomotives haul trains of up to six flat wagons bearing food trolleys, the full trolleys being loaded on the trains at a platform inside the kitchen itself and off-loaded at the ward sidings, where the empties are collected later. Lunchtime is the busiest period, with two trains in traffic. The grounds are fully accessible to the public, but the institution is a nursing-home not a transport undertaking, and the authorities understandably prefer visitors to be discreet, and not to cause difficulty for this unusual operation by their enthusiasm. BLN 770.036][DK] Vemb - Lemvig - Thyborøn: (Ball 1A2-1A3) Trains on the 'main line' of the Vemb-Lemvig-Thyborøn Jernbane, a private railway in western Jylland (Jutland), run from a junction with DSB at Vemb, reversing at the town station in Lemvig, high above the sea, before proceeding to Thyborøn. Beyond Lemvig town station an interesting short branch, not shown in Ball, descends steeply to Lemvig Haven. So steep is this branch that it requires a reversing spur, just long enough for a locomotive plus one or two wagons, to reach the harbour. A Lemvig - Lemvig Haven passenger service runs in the summer, when hourly trains connect with the small excursion vessel Anna Hviid, offering short 50-minute cruises on the Limfjord. Operating dates in 1995 were 19 June to 18 August. BLN 770.037][ES] León - Matallana - Cistierna - Guardo - Balmaseda - Aranguren (- Bilbao/Bilbo): (BLN 719.06; Ball 9B3-5A1) In the mid-1980s FEVE began a long-overdue renovation of track on the lengthy metre-gauge FC de La Robla, and the Quintana - Balmaseda section was relaid with heavy rail and even realigned in places. At the end of the decade, however, when the railway budget was heavily committed to building the Madrid - Sevilla AVE line, the State refused FEVE any more money. In 1990 the Transcantábrico tour train was re-routed to Donostia/San Sebastian because of the state of the track, and a minor derailment in late 1991 provoked the Ministry of Public Works to order the withdrawal of through León - Bilbao passenger services from 26 December 1991. León - Matallana trains continued to run. So for a short period did an eastern remnant of the through service, a bus link running between Matallana and Bercedo to connect with Bercedo - Balmaseda trains until summer 1992. Subsequently, finance from the provincial authority, the Junta de Castilla y León, has enabled track renewal in stages from León through Matallana to Cistierna and Guardo, where a new halt was built closer to the town-centre. The depot and workshop facilities at Cistierna have been upgraded to make the western end of the line more self-sufficient. Passenger trains reached Guardo again on 19 October 1994. The October 1995 timetable shows eight trains from León to Matallana on weekdays between 08:00 and 22:30. Two of these run forward to Bonar, two more continue to Cistierna, and one goes through to Guardo. The through passenger train is the 08:00 Mon-Fri León - Guardo, arriving 10:30 and taking a long siesta until its return at 17:20. On Saturdays it is the 09:45 León - Guardo, and on Sundays the 13:00, returning as the 19:09 Guardo - León, arriving 21:39. Coal from opencast mines near Santa Lucia in the Bernesga valley comes by conveyor belt to La Robla on the freight-only Matallana - La Robla branch and is loaded into trains for Guardo power station. The mines at Sabero near Cistierna closed at the end of 1993, though track remains from Cistierna to the washery. From Guardo eastward to Arija, the central section of the line sees no traffic at present, though the overgrown track is in place. From Arija on the Ebro reservoir, two or three 600-tonne sand trains run daily to Bilbao, descending in the morning and working back empty later in the day. Pressure continues for the reopening of the whole line. BLN 770.038][IT] Cècina - Volterra Saline-Pomarance: (BLN 682.65, 683.64, 685.85, 692.010; Ball 49A2) The 30km line runs through a sparsely populated valley, with only one village of any size, Ponte Ginori. A railbus makes two round trips early in the morning and two in the afternoon, perhaps to a timetable designed to facilitate freight working, for wagons were present in the yard at Volterra Saline-Pomarance, with a new gantry crane installed recently. The branch seems still to continue a short distance to mineral workings of some sort, possibly connected with the alabaster industry for which Volterra is noted. Since closure in 1960 of its 8.45km rack-equipped standard-gauge extension, climbing from a height of 72m to over 500m, the railway has no longer approached the walled hilltop town of Volterra itself, now a 9km bus journey from the station, over twisting mountain roads. BLN 770.039][IT] Ancona - Pescara: (Ball 51B1) The original station buildings at Pescara Centrale and Pescara Porta Nuova both survive, despite diversion of the Adriatic coastal main line on to an embankment and viaduct west of the original alignment. The old Pescara Centrale station site currently serves as a large car-park and bus-station and the disused track bed to Porta Nuova remains vacant. BLN 770.040][IT] Giulianova - Teramo: (Ball 51A1) Ferrovia Adriatico Sangritana operates some trains on this 26km branch, using ALn776 diesel railcars obtained from Ferrovia Centrale Umbria, while FS crews and railcars work the others. Most services run through from Chieti or Pescara Centrale, reversing at Giulianova, the junction. Teramo is quite a large town, and the line would seem to have a reasonably secure future. BLN 770.041][PT][PL] Expatriate British traction: (BLN 696.011, 768.0531) Portugal has not only its 'class 50 clones', but Class 20 derivatives, Sentinel shunters and railcars with AEC and Rolls-Royce engines. And Krakow depot in Poland in June 1995 still had 17 Class EU06 electrics, built at Vulcan Foundry in 1982 as derivatives of the British Class 85. BLN 770.042][RU] Moskva - Sankt Peterburg: A Russian private-sector group, RAO-VSM, announced on 25 December 1995 that they were confident of negotiating Western finance to build a new 645km line allowing an average speed of over 250km/h and a non-stop journey time of 150 minutes between Russia's two major cities, approximately the same distance apart as London and Edinburgh. Ten intermediate stations are planned. The report also mentions 'standardising' and eventual links to west European rail services, so presumably the new high-speed line, like Spain's isolated Madrid - Sevilla AVE, would be 1435mm standard-gauge rather than the normal Russian 1524mm broad-gauge. As part of the £3000M to £5000M project the group have awarded a contract for a £133M terminal complex, comprising a new station, hotel, shops and offices in the centre of Sankt Peterburg, to a UK construction firm, Taylor Woodrow. Work will not begin till finance is in place - so don't expect to be buying your ticket to the new station for a while yet. Still, Taylor Woodrow have ten years' experience on projects in Russia, and their contract is reportedly being underwritten by the UK's Export Credits Guarantee Department. (The Independent, 28 December 1995) BLN 770.043][CA] Canadian National: (BLN 767.0514) CN was privatised on 17 November 1995. BLN 770.044][US] Alamosa - Antonito, CO - Chama, NM - Durango, CO (- Silverton): (BLN 768.0535) The last regular passenger train from Alamosa through to Durango ran as long ago as 31 January 1951, but the state of New Mexico resisted the line's abandonment, and a service between Chama and Dulce continued for some months, running for the last time on 22 May 1951. Excursions however continued east of Durango using stock from the Silverton line, usually in spring or autumn when a spare train was available. The last such excursion ran on 9 October 1966, but only between Alamosa and Cumbres, and the last through excursion from Durango to Alamosa ran a week earlier, presumably on 2 October 1966. After this the Alamosa - Durango track was declared unsafe for further passenger operations, though some through freight continued, perhaps until November 1968. The line then lay out of use until the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad ran a press trip on 4 October 1970, prior to commencing regular tourist operation on 26 June 1971. The Chama - Durango section never reopened. BLN 771.045][IE] Dublin Connolly - Newcomen Jn - Glasnevin Jn: The Iarnród Éireann working timetable does not show specific trains booked to run via Newcomen Jn (BLN 764.0435), but the departure sheets at Connolly station indicate that the 08:03, 18:00 and 20:15 Dublin - Maynooth trains leave from Platform 7, and are thus likely to use the Newcomen Jn route. The 18:00 on 9 January 1996 certainly ran this way, with the left feather showing on the signal at the end of Platform 7 while the 18:01 northbound DART emu left simultaneously from the other side of the island platform. The Connolly - Newcomen Jn single track crosses the Spencer Dock - Lock No.1 section of the unnavigable Royal Canal. An Office of Public Works project to restore the Canal would remove the present culvert and reinstate a lifting bridge, eventually allowing navigation to and from the river Liffey once more. From 7 February 1994 IE closed and temporarily removed the track to allow this bridge to be built, but Waterways World for December 1995 notes that a dispute between the railway and canal authorities over their respective liabilities for running costs and possible legal claims then aborted the work. IE put their track back over the culvert and reopened the line after 21 May 1994 (BLN 749.079). BLN 771.046][IE] Dublin - Dun Laoghaire: Trains terminating at Dun Laoghaire can use one of the bay platforms on the down side so as to keep clear of the running line. One service that needs to do this is the southbound DART stopping train leaving Connolly at 18:18, which is closely followed by the faster 18:30 Dublin Connolly - Rosslare Harbour. This particular DART working returns north as empty stock. BLN 771.047][FR] (Paris -) Dreux - Argentan - Folligny - Granville: (Ball 24B2-23A2-21B3; SNCF 330) Recent engineering work to raise speeds has included not only relaying but a wholesale removal of connections to closed branches and redundant freight facilities. No freight except engineers' materials is now thought to use the line regularly. The work is continuing, with a completion target of December 1998. Fifteen new railcar sets are due for delivery between January 1998 and May 1999, and the current SNCF contract with the Région Basse-Normandie runs until 1999. BLN 771.048][FR] Tours - Chinon: (Ball 34B1; SNCF 422) In recent years, an out-and-back trip from Tours without staying overnight in Chinon was possible only on Sunday evenings, but from 25 September 1995, two round-trip workings on weekdays are restored to the timetable. (Guide Régional des Transports: TER Centre, 24 September 1995) BLN 771.049][FR] Salbris - Romorantin - Gièvres - Luçay-le-Mâle: (BLN 762.0401; Ball 36A1-35B1) Good news for the 67km metre-gauge CF du Blanc à l'Argent is that the regional authority is to pay for relaying work on 35km of track, included in the new five-year convention (= contract) between the Région Centre and SNCF. The line is operated for SNCF by a local company associated with the local bus operator, the Compagnie des Transports de l'Indre. (Guide Régional des Transports: TER Centre, 24 September 1995) BLN 771.050][FR] Orléans - Vierzon: (Ball 36A3; SNCF 430) St.Cyr-en-Val station on the Paris - Limoges main line serves the district of La Source in Orléans. New weekday shuttle trains began on 29 May 1995, running between Orléans main station and St.Cyr. Some run via Les Aubrais-Orléans, reversing there, but others use the direct chord, significantly increasing its use, previously somewhat limited. (Guide Régional des Transports: TER Centre, 24 September 1995) BLN 771.051][FR] Bourg-en-Bresse - La Cluse - St.Claude - Morez (- Andelot): (Ball 49A1-49B3; SNCF 525) Trains between Bourg-en-Bresse and Morez reverse at the east-facing junction station of La Cluse, but this will cease when a new west-to-north curve, equipped with platforms, opens in 1996. Target date is the start of the summer service in June. The 28km section of line between La Cluse and Bellegarde is out of use since cessation of freight to Nantua, but SNCF retain it against the still rather tenuous possibility that a scheme for a future Mâcon - Genève LGV may make use of part of it. BLN 771.052][FR] Paris Gare du Nord: (Ball 81B2) Extension of the half-length roofing of the Eurostar platforms to match the full length of the trains began on 23 October 1995 and should be complete in February 1996. BLN 771.053][BE] Brussel/Bruxelles: Delta - Etterbeek - Boondaal/Boondael: (Ball 10B1) On the lines circling the city to the east, three junctions form a triangle. With restructuring of local services from 25 September 1995, regular trains run on all three sides, though not at weekends. The north-to-south Delta - Boondaal line, which gained regular direct services in September 1993 (BLN 716.06), had by summer 1995 three trains an hour, but only two now run direct and the third reverts to a previous pattern in running via the other two sides of the triangle, reversing at Etterbeek. The north-to-west Delta (Y Etterbeek) - Etterbeek curve thus has an hourly service, the west-to-south Etterbeek - Boondaal curve a half-hourly service, and the north-to-south Delta - Boondaal line keeps two trains an hour. BLN 771.054][DE] (Bremen - Uelzen -) Salzwedel - Hohenwulsch - Stendal (- Berlin): (BLN 739.0281, 753.0181; Ball 18B1-28A3) Preparations for the future Bremen - Berlin service continue. The engineering occupation was extended from 18 June 1995, with Schienenersatzverkehr (SEV = rail-substitute buses) replacing trains between Salzwedel and Hohenwulsch rather than between Salzwedel and Brunau-Packebusch as advertised in the 1995-96 Kursbuch. Though it is not shown separately in Ball, the former Altmärkische Eisenbahn station building and platform used by the threatened Hohenwulsch - Kalbe trains is some 100m from the main Hohenwulsch station, with no direct running connection, only a link through the goods yard at the south end. In 1944 both stations were known as Bismark Ost. BLN 771.055][DE] Velten (Mark) - Kremmen - Neuruppin Rheinsberger Tor: (Ball 31B3-20B1; KBS206.55) This line, whose track was recently in very poor condition, closed 17 December 1995, with bus replacement for about three years to allow upgrading work. Reopening may be planned to fit in with the restoration of S-Bahn services on the Tegel - Hennigsdorf - Velten section of the Kremmener Bahn. BLN 771.056][DE] Long run on light rail in Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr: According to the Guinness Book of Records, the world's longest possible tramway journey is the 105.5km from Krefeld Sankt Tönis to Witten Annen Nord, taking 51/2 hours if one is lucky with connections. No route details are given. However the Blickpunkt Strassenbahn/LRTA 1992 Tramway & Light Rail Atlas of Germany indicates that an appropriate itinerary might be: Gauge Route number and operator Krefeld Sankt Tönis - Krefeld Hbf 1000mm 041 SWK Städtische Werke Krefeld Krefeld Hbf - Düsseldorf Heinrich Heine Allee 1435mm U76 RBG Rheinische Bahngesellschaft Düsseldorf Heinrich Heine Allee - Duisburg Hbf 1435mm U79 RBG Rheinische Bahngesellschaft Duisburg Hbf - Mülheim an der Ruhr Stadtmitte 1435mm 901 DVG Duisburger Verkehrsgesellschaft Mülheim Stadtmitte - Essen Porscheplatz 1000mm 104 EVAG Essener Verkehrs-AG Essen Porscheplatz - Gelsenkirchen Horst 1000mm 106 EVAG Essener Verkehrs-AG Gelsenkirchen Horst - Bochum Hbf 1000mm 302 BOGESTRA Bochum-Gelsenkirchener Strassenbahnen Bochum Hbf - Witten 1000mm 310 BOGESTRA Bochum-Gelsenkirchener Strassenbahnen Other options seem possible, including changing at Krefeld Fischeln instead of Krefeld Hbf; or using EVAG's 1435mm-gauge Stadtbahn light-rail line instead of its metre-gauge street-running tram between Mülheim and Essen; or using EVAG metre-gauge tram #127 between Essen and Gelsenkirchen Hbf. Some of the journey is surprisingly rural, and the Krefeld - Düsseldorf section, for example, is much more like railway than street-tramway. In January 1996 a day ticket valid on the whole VRR network cost DEM25.50 (£11.50) for up to five persons, covering local DB trains, light rail/trams, the Schwebebahn monorail in Wuppertal (BLN 752.0152), Solingen trolleybuses, and buses including Essen's guided buses. A non-rail transport curiosity worth visiting if you are in the Solingen area is the trolleybus turntable at Burg Brücke, a terminus close to the river Wupper with no room for a turning loop. Solingen is said to be considering phased closure of its trolleybus network. BLN 771.057][DE] Hoyerswerda trolleybuses: (Ball 44B3) To remain with the subject of trolleybuses, the disused O-Bus system visible from the train and mentioned in BLN 765.0466 was operated by Kraftverkehr Schwarze Pumpe GmbH, but last saw regular service on 29 December 1994. BLN 771.058][DE] Berga-Kelbra - Stolberg (Harz): (BLN 754.0220; Ball 41B3; KBS592) DB buses replaced trains on this 15km branch from 27 November 1995. Finance from the Land for bridge rebuilding would be needed before it could reopen, and this is uncertain. BLN 771.059][IT] Fabriano: On the electrified Roma - Ancona main line across the Apennines, the small motive-power depot at Fabriano provides diesel railcars for three secondary lines. The Fabriano - Pergola branch (Ball 50B2-50B3) sees few trains serving its small villages, but the single track over the hills from Albacina to Civitanova Marche-Montegranaro on the Adriatic coast (50B2-51A2) runs through two towns, Tolentino and Macerata, and has quite a good service. Fabriano units also work the branch off the Ancona - Pescara main line from Porto d'Ascoli to Ascoli Piceno (51A2-51A1), which serves a populous valley with considerable light industry. The train rushes past several small towns and housing estates where there would be scope for additional halts. Freight traffic is handled at Offida-Castel di Lama and Maltignano as well as Ascoli Piceno. Much of the line has been laid with continuous welded rail, a number of bridges have been rebuilt and there is modern colour-light signalling. The future of the Ascoli Piceno branch looks secure, and the line to Civitanova Marche-Montegranaro sees quite good traffic. So long as these two services remain worked from Fabriano depot, FS would probably save little by closing the Pergola branch, until some major renewal becomes necessary. BLN 771.060][IT] Civitavecchia Marittima: (Ball 52A3) In December 1995 there was little evidence of work on the new line to Civitavecchia Marittima from the north, though a concrete road bridge over what may be the new alignment could be seen on the north side of the town. BLN 771.061][IT] Anzio - Anzio Marittima: (Ball 52B2) The trackbed of the former branch to Anzio Marittima remained unobstructed at the end of 1995, though most track has been lifted. BLN 771.062][IT] Roma - Viterbo: (Ball 52B3-50A1) Three rail routes serve the town of Viterbo, north of Roma. The Roma San Pietro - Bracciano - Viterbo non-electrified FS line has the best service. Apart from a long gap in the middle of the morning, trains are generally about hourly, mostly running from Roma Ostiense, though some start from Tiburtina. Most are worked by ALn668 railcars, but some use diesel locomotives and push-pull sets. One cannot help feeling that FS electrified the wrong route when they wired the branch off the old Roma - Firenze main line from Attigliano-Bomarzo to Viterbo. This has a speed restriction on the girder bridge over the river Tevere (= Tiber), just west of the junction, and a very limited service which runs through from Orte. Only one through Roma - Viterbo train runs each way, Mondays to Saturdays. Curiously, this second route, the least direct, beaten by express buses between Orte and Viterbo, provides the fastest journey between Roma and Viterbo, as trains can use the high-speed Direttissima line south of Orte. The third line is the standard-gauge COTRAL interurban tramway from Roma Piazzale Flaminio to Viterbo Nord, still worked by pre-World War II electric railcars. The wooden-seated rolling stock might be suitable for a suburban line, but not for a route of 100km. Through workings are few, and trains are painfully slow, the journey from Roma taking about 21/2 hours. The walking route between Viterbo's stations is not signposted. Turn left out of Viterbo Porta Fiorentina FS station, then left over the level-crossing, and Viterbo Nord, the COTRAL terminus, is 100m ahead, behind a petrol filling-station. BLN 771.063][IT] Roma - Napoli: (Ball 52-53) The planned Roma - Napoli Direttissima high-speed line will quite closely parallel the original main line via Cassino, but no Direttissima construction work is in evidence near Roma or Cassino. The Cassino line has been very much a secondary route since the faster line via Formia was completed in 1927, but it is sometimes used for diversions, as during the morning of 26 December 1995, when all Roma - Napoli trains were routed that way, adding about an hour to journey time and considerably delaying regular services. South of Caserta, FS have built a short section of Direttissima, though not on an alignment shown in Ball. Electrification masts and signals can be seen on the concrete viaduct. Connections with existing lines at Cancello, San Maria Capua Vetere and Gricignano-Teverola (facing east, away from Roma) seem to be planned, but it is not clear what useful passenger function this line will perform. BLN 771.064][IT] Sulmona - Carpinone: (Ball 53B3-53B2) This highly scenic single-track line branches south from the Roma - Pescara main line at Sulmona and climbs through the mountains of Abruzzo for 119km to a junction at Carpinone with the Vairano-Caianello - Campobasso line. Whereas many parts of the Apennines are quite densely populated, this railway passes through wild and desolate countryside, with the only places of any consequence being Roccaraso, a winter-sports resort, and Castèl di Sangro. Many of the small halts serve only a few houses, and anyone alighting at Palena, near the line's summit, would be faced with 10km of tortuous road to reach the village. The numerous S-bends, as the railway gains height, make it most indirect. It is 53km by rail from Sulmona to Roccaraso, but only 35km along the main road. The diesel-railcar service is quite sparse, with four trains each way on weekdays and two on Sundays. BLN 771.065][IT] Vairano-Caianello - Campobasso - Termoli: (Ball 53B2-54A3) Pendolino units are reportedly on order to replace the ALn663 diesel railcars on the Roma - Cassino - Vairano-Caianello - Campobassso service. From Vairano-Caianello the single-track line runs through hilly country, making the link with Roma very slow and indirect. FS planned a cut-off from the main line south of Cassino through a long tunnel below Monte Sambucaro to Venafro, but though a concrete viaduct, now somewhat weathered, has been built on the new alignment at Venafro, no sign of current activity was to be seen at the end of 1995. Possibly the Pendolini are seen as being more cost-effective in reducing journey times. Campobasso, the capital of Molise region, has had its station recently refurbished. If Vairano-Caianello - Campobasso seems reasonably secure, the same cannot be said of the line from Campobasso to Termoli on the Adriatic coast. It has very few trains, and FS also runs buses on the parallel road. While most railways through hills tend to follow the valleys, this one runs near the summit of a ridge, giving fine vistas for much of the way. The last section of the line, between Guglionesi-Portocannone and Termoli, has been electrified for freight to a sugar refinery and various factories. The one factor in favour of the retention of this line is that Molise is one of Italy's smaller regions, and Termoli is the only town of any size apart from Campobasso. It might therefore be politically unacceptable to withdraw the rail service between the two. BLN 771.066][IT] Torre Annunziata: (Ball 55B3-55B2) Two FS branches off the Napoli - Salerno main line at Torre Annunziata Centrale have been threatened with closure. While both are in competition with 950mm-gauge Ferrovia Circumvesuviana lines, the FS stations serve different parts of the towns from the Circumvesuviana ones, and there would seem to be plenty of traffic for both railways. The branch from Torre Annunziata Centrale to Gragnano serves a densely-populated area on the south side of the Golfo di Napoli. The line is double-track, close to the shore, as far as Castellammare di Stabia, where trains reverse to climb a steeply-graded single track to Gragnano, whose FS station is hemmed in by blocks of flats. The branch is electrified, and some trains run through to and from Napoli Centrale. The other FS branch, from Torre Annunziata Centrale to Cancello, runs round the south-east side of Vesuvius, serving a number of small towns and villages. The competing Circumvesuviana lines provide direct services to Napoli and are therefore more useful to the local population. Although the FS line is electrified, passenger services are operated by diesel railcars. Trains run early in the morning and around the middle of the day, but despite this limited service two railcars are necessary to work the line. BLN 771.067][RO][TR] Constanta - Samsun: (Ball 53B3) Should you have wagon-load freight to ship, say, from Sweden to Iran, you can consign it (stoutly crated, well insured) by a new route involving four train-ferries: two Baltic ones to and from Denmark; Romania to Turkey across the Black Sea; then over Turkey's inland Lake Van. Although the Constanta - Samsun train-ferry was mentioned in La Vie du Rail of 15 February 1995, and therefore listed in the train-ferry supplement to BLN 755 of 10 June 1995, it was not until late in the year that the Romanian railways (Societatea Nationalea a Cailor Ferate Române) wrote to their colleagues in the UIC announcing its opening from 1 August 1995. The sizeable vessel used can carry up to seventy 60t rail wagons plus a number of 40t road vehicles. If you need to know how they can help handle your traffic, try faxing SNCFR's train-ferry office in Constanta on +40 41 617688. BLN 771.068][ER] Massawa - Asmara (- Agordat): Self-help rather than dependence on the World Bank or other foreign aid is the keynote of work now under way to rebuild Eritrea's defunct 950mm-gauge railway from the Red Sea port of Massawa for 117km through mountainous terrain to the capital Asmara, 2000m higher in the plains of the interior. The line, begun in 1887 during the Italian colonial period, and once extending 306km to Agordat, has some 30km of track back in place, but it may be several years before the rusting locomotives now being rehabilitated steam triumphantly into Asmara. (Financial Times, 22 December 1995) BLN 772.069][FR][BE] (Paris -) Aulnoye - Feignies SNCF - Quévy SNCB - Mons (- Bruxelles): (Ball 16A3-8A1; SNCB Ligne 96) From June 1996, when TGVs take over Paris - Bruxelles services, running via the LGV Nord, the LGV Belge as far as Antoing, and Ligne 78 to Mons (BLN 770.027), new SNCB dual-voltage Class AM96 units are to start working the Aulnoye - Mons cross-border section of the old route between the capitals. (European Railway News, January 1996, on Internet at http://mercurio.iet.unipi.it) BLN 772.070][DE] German branch closures update: (BLN 745 suppt.; OEIS 9609) Salzwedel - Dähre (Ball 18B1) and Stendal - Niedergörne (BLN 745.015; Ball 28A3-28B3) both closed on 31 December 1995. Güsen - Ziesar (BLN 767.0504; Ball 28B2) is thought unlikely to close. Klostermansfeld - Wippra (Ball 42A3) may close, but such closure is thought likely to be temporary, to allow viaduct repairs at Mansfeld (Südharz). Querfurt - Vitzenburg (BLN 770.033; Ball 42B2-42B3) has an indefinite reprieve, to see if an improved timetable attracts more passengers. WEG wants to close Amstetten - Gerstetten (BLN 763.0429; Ball 58B1) on 29 February 1996, and the Land of Baden-Württemberg is not prepared to finance new rolling-stock. As well as the advertised services, an unadvertised early-morning mixed train runs down the branch, leaving Amstetten after 07:19 as soon as shunting is completed. According to DB in Erfurt the Land of Thüringen has agreed to closure of Weida - Wünschendorf (Elster) and Zeulenroda untere Bf - Zeulenroda obere Bf (both Ball 42B1) plus Schleiz - Saalburg (Saale) (53A3). Services on these three lines are to cease on 1 June 1996. BLN 772.071][DE] Bad Durkheim - Ludwigshafen - Mannheim - Weinheim - Heidelberg: (Ball 57A3-55A1-55B1) The passenger transport area covered by the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Neckar includes two metre-gauge light railways and three metre-gauge town tramways (Ludwigshafen's VBL, Mannheim's MVG and Heidelberg's HSB) as well as the DB. The shorter light-rail line is the Rhein-Haardtbahn, from the small town of Bad Durkheim via Ludwigshafen into Mannheim where, in the Bahnhofsvorplatz outside the main DB station, the RHB makes connections with the town trams and the longer light-rail system, the OEG. The Oberrheinische Eisenbahn Gesellschaft connects Mannheim and Heidelberg by two routes, one via the small town of Weinheim and one direct, forming a triangle with sides about 10km long. As its name implies, the OEG began as a railway rather than a tramway, and some of its stops are still labelled 'Bahnhof', with sizeable station buildings, most alas now disused. Its longer route leaves Mannheim heading north-east on the town tram-tracks as far as Käfertal (BLN 752.0155), site of the OEG main depot and works. From Käfertal the OEG continues as reserved track through woodland and prosperous suburbs to Weinheim, where it stops within sight of the DB station. The line then turns due south as a mainly-single track along the eastern edge of the road. Stops can be on either side, as indicated by arrows on an internal display in the cars. From Handschuhsheim, Heidelberg town trams share the route, with short sections of central street-running thence to Bismarckplatz near the DB's Heidelberg Hbf. There the OEG cars do not reverse direction but, turning north-west, work the direct route back via Edingen, site of another OEG depot, and Seckenheim, to Mannheim. This line is distinctly more rural, with wide vistas of open country. Much of it is ballasted railway track, with only a short section of street-running, and the route into Mannheim is not shared with town trams, though connection is made at Neuostheim on the edge of town. Until September 1995 OEG cars terminated at Kurpfalzbrücke, in sight of but not linked to the line on the bridge traversed on the outward journey to Weinheim. The Kurpfalzbrücke terminus is a substantial affair, with what appear to have been a booking-office and waiting-room, now no longer in use, though the station and the short branch serving it are reportedly still used twice a day by cars operating school journeys. All other OEG cars take a new 1995 spur on to the Mannheim town system just short of the Kurpfalzbrücke, crossing their outward route and making a short loop through the city-centre to Mannheim Hbf, arriving some 21/4 hours after their departure from the same stop. VRN offices and machines sell a 'Ticket 24-plus' for DEM17 (= £7.75) covering DB local rail, light rail, trams and buses for 24 hours from validation on Mondays to Fridays, or for both Saturday and Sunday if validated on Saturday morning. It is nominally for one person, but if validated after 09:00 on Mondays to Fridays or at weekends or public holidays, it covers the bearer plus a second adult and up to three children. BLN 772.072][DK] Nykøbing (Falster) - Gedser: (BLN 767.0510; Ball 12A3) DSB planned to close the branch after withdrawal of the Gedser - Warnemünde train-ferry in September 1995, but have not yet been allowed to do so. Lollandsbanen, the local operator of the Nykøbing - Nakskov line (BLN 754.0233; Ball 12A3-11B3), is for the moment running the one daily train each way on behalf of DSB. (European Railway News, January 1996) BLN 772.073][ES] Oviedo: (Ball 3A3) The Spanish government have approved an ESP7000M programme of works involving the closure of existing FEVE stations and diversion of the urban section of the metre-gauge FEVE into the more centrally located broad-gauge RENFE station. Oviedo's FEVE station, Avenida de Santander, also known as Oviedo Económicos (from Ferrocarriles Económicos de Via Estrecha), would close and become a bus terminal, even though the installation of the final 2km of catenary on the line west from Pola de Siero was completed only in 1995. (partly European Railway News, January 1996) BLN 772.074][ES] Valladolid - Aranda de Duero - Coscurita - Ariza: (Ball 10A1-11B1-12A1) This 252km west-to-east cross-country broad-gauge route closed to passengers in 1984, but remains in place, somewhat overgrown. A centenary history of the line by Pedro Pintado Quintana appeared in 1995 (in the illustrated series Monografías del Ferrocarril, comprising three titles so far, cover-price ESP3000 (= £16) each, available from the publisher, Lluis Prieto i Tur, recently editor of the railway magazine Carril, at Apartado de Correos 94218, E-08080 Barcelona). The other titles are one on the Ferrobus railcar in Spain, and one on the ambitious but never completed railway from the end of a French branch (BLN 768.0520) across the Pyrenees for 800km to the south of Spain, the St.Girons - La Pobla de Segur - Lleida - Teruel - Utiel - Albacete - Baeza line. Unsurprisingly, most of this remarkable route is absent from the Ball atlases (71B1(FR)-14A3-14A1-22B2-31B3-31A2-37A3), since only part of it was ever inaugurated, as the branch from Lleida to La Pobla de Segur. Nevertheless, between 1927 and the 1960s much of the rest was actually constructed, with billions of pesetas spent on the many tunnels, embankments and viaducts, and track laid on lengthy sections, before the project was finally abandoned in 1984. Some unused track was lifted around 1990-91. BLN 772.075][IT] Domodossola - Borgomanero - Novara: (Ball 41A2-41A1) Piggyback traffic through Switzerland and the Simplon tunnel to the industrial areas of northern Italy is to avoid the upgraded and electrified Domodossola - Stresa - Arona - Gallarate - Milano main line, which has numerous tunnels, and instead take the 90km scenic secondary route from Domodossola to Novara, which is eventually to be electrified. A piggyback terminal is to be created near Novara Boschetto, strategically located between Torino and Milano. (Eisenbahn Amateur, 10/95) BLN 772.076][IT] (Roma -) Ponte Galleria - Fiumicino Città: (OEIS 9609; Ball 52A3) FS are expected to close the branch to Fiumicino Città, the town station, from the beginning of June 1996. The short branch to Fiumicino Aeroporto, the high-level station at Roma's main Leonardo da Vinci airport, will remain open. BLN 772.077][CH] Gümmenen - Laupen (- Flamatt): (BLN 705.69; Ball 92A3) The Gümmenen - Laupen section of this private standard-gauge Swiss line, the Sensetalbahn, is now freight-only, de-electrified and diesel-worked. A special from Flamatt to Gümmenen on 2 September 1995 was probably the last through electrically-worked train. (Op de Rails, 11/95) BLN 772.078][HU] Budapest Nyugati - Dorog - Esztergom / Komárom: (Ball 44B2-42B1; MÁV 2,4) Missing from the Ball atlas is the curve, 3km outside Nyugati, from Rákosrendezo to Budapest-Angyalföld, though this is used by all trains between Budapest and Esztergom. On the same line between Pilisvörösvár (27km) and Klotildliget (31km) is Pázmáneum, a recently opened station with a single platform and a new building. Not yet shown in the MÁV timetable, it was used by some 20 passengers when the 10:35 Budapest - Esztergom called there on 7 January 1996. Another lost chord not in Ball is the Dorog - Tokod curve avoiding Esztergom-Kertváros, used by Budapest - Komárom MÁV - Komarno ZSR - Bratislava trains #410 and 412, and reverse workings #413 and 411. Esztergom, Hungary's Canterbury, with its huge basilica looming high above the town, and its broken bridge across the broad river Duna (= Danube) is well worth the trip to the end of the 7km branch from Dorog. BLN 772.079][HU] Vác - Drégelypalánk - Balassagyarmat: (Ball 42B1; MÁV 75) Those interested in maximising their MÁV track km and using extra crossovers should ensure they are aboard the power-car on this 70km local line, for services reverse at Drégelypalánk, and the Class Bzmot railcar runs round its trailers there. BLN 772.080][EE] Tallinn - Keila - Riisipere - Haapsalu: The 1520mm-gauge line west from the Estonian capital is worked by 3000V dc electric multiple-units for the first 51km out to Riisipere, but the 53km section beyond to the port of Haapsalu, previously worked by diesel units, has recently closed to passengers due to lack of finance for track repairs, and freight closure is also threatened. Further south, the 55km line from Pärnu to Moisaküla, just short of the Latvian border, has closed to passengers due to poor usage, though an irregular freight service continues. (LCGB Bulletin, 2/96) It is not clear whether the Moisaküla EVR - Ipiki LDZ line across the frontier remains in use, or whether all Estonia - Latvia rail traffic is routed via the other extant crossing at Valga. BLN 772.081][IN] Bombay Victoria Terminus: The huge and ornate 1887 station, an eclectic mix of architectural styles built in the most confident period of the Raj, and indeed the largest edifice built during British rule in India, has been compared to London St.Pancras, but is even more impressive, efficiently handling nearly 1000 trains and up to 2 million passengers a day, though it is by no means the city's only main station. Known to everyone for over a century simply as 'VT', it has now been given a new and rather less memorable name. On 15 January 1996 the Hindu-nationalist city government renamed VT officially as the Chchatrapati Shivaji Railway Terminus, and for good measure gave Bombay itself an older form of its name, Mumbai. But, as The Independent reported on 23 January, several generations may come and go before the drivers of the city's taxis and auto-rickshaws respond to VT's new name with anything other than a blank stare. BLN 772.082][CN][VN] Beijing - Youyiguan ZhGTL - Dong Dang DSVN - Hanoi: Links between China's Zhong Guo Tie Lu and Vietnam's Duong Sat Viet Nam, severed during the seventeen-day border war in 1979, were to reopen officially on 12 February 1996. According to Vietnam's Transport Ministry, the first train to run through between the capitals was to be a northbound Hanoi - Beijing working departing on 12 February and reaching the frontier early on 13 February. A southbound train was to leave at the same time and cross into Vietnam 40 hours later. The standard-gauge 'Friendship Pass' route is via Dong Dang on the border with China's Guangxi province. No timetable was given for metre-gauge trains using the other crossing at Lao Cai on the border with the Chinese province of Yunnan. Both countries see the rail links as important for trade between them, which grew 60% in 1995. (E-mail via Internet to BLN, quoting Reuter report of 24 January 1996) Those in need of a challenge can now begin planning their itinerary for a Thurso - Inverness - London - Bruxelles - Moskva - Beijing - Hanoi - Ho Chi Minh City (Gare Saigon) trip. BLN would welcome hearing from anyone completing such a continuous rail journey, with details of their changes of train. BLN 772.083][BN] Brunei: Possibly the only railway in the oil-rich Sultanate is a miniature line of perhaps 380mm gauge running for about 1.2km round Jerudong amusement park, 15km north of the capital, Bandar Seri Begawan. Stations at each end of the single track have platforms, shelters and run-round loops terminating in turntables. Admission to the park and travel on the line are free. BLN 772.084][CA] Montréal Centrale - Deux Montagnes: (BLN 766.0494) Closed for reconstruction since 5 June, the Gare Centrale - Deux Montagnes suburban line reopened to passengers on 26 October 1995. BLN 772.085][US, CA] Skagway, AK - Fraser, BC (- Lake Bennett, BC - Whitehorse, YT): (BLN 759.0359, 765.0477) The White Pass & Yukon Route's summer tourist services, reintroduced mainly for cruise-ship passengers docking at the Alaskan port of Skagway, are in 1996 to turn back at Fraser, the Canadian border post, according to Trains for February 1996. Since the 914mm-gauge line has no freight traffic, Fraser - Lake Bennett, which saw its last scheduled tourist trip on 4 September 1995, has presumably joined the Lake Bennett - Whitehorse section in lying out of use. BLN 773.086] Track gauges: through-running at breaks of gauge: (BLN 716.01) At most of the world's points where railways of different track gauges meet, goods have always had to be laboriously transhipped, and passengers have needed to change trains. However, standard-gauge wagons sometimes ride down branch lines on narrow-gauge transporters, or with a narrow-gauge bogie under each axle. Narrow-gauge wagons are sometimes loaded on standard-gauge flat-cars. Specialist bogie-changing installations with vehicle lifting-jacks exist at a few places where the traffic can justify their high capital and running costs. And Transfesa freight wagons and Talgo passenger trains with adjustable wheel-sets change gauge from broad to standard as they move slowly over special tapering sections of track. Quite a lot of engineering goes into partial solutions to the problems created by engineers picking the wrong gauge in the first place! Sometimes nominal gauges can be different, yet traffic runs through. South Africa says its gauge is 1065mm, Zimbabwe calls it 1067mm, but trains do not notice this subtlety. Spain and Portugal have slightly different track-profile and gauge standards, but some through-running. (Sources vary as to Spain's nominal main-line gauge: for example, Jane's World Railways for 1985-86 quotes it as 1676mm and 1668mm on the same page.) Sometimes a gauge difference has been deliberate, as with Glasgow tramways, whose nominal gauge of 1416mm (4ft 7.75in) was set thus so that 1435mm-gauge main-line railway wagons could run on street tram-tracks on their way to and from shipyards and factories. Having a different profile from those of the trams, the wagon wheels rode not on the top surface of the rail but with their flanges running along the bottom of the rail's groove. Mercifully no longer around to give safety-inspectors nightmares, the 'compromise cars' of 19th-century America were bogie box-cars with unusually wide (125mm) wheel-treads, so that they could run on track of any gauge from 1435mm to 1475mm (4ft 10in), at a time when diversity of gauge persisted, especially in the southern States. (In 1861 less than 54% of US rail mileage was standard-gauge, and even in 1880 only some 80% was standard.) How the 'compromise cars' ever negotiated check-rails and crossings, whose dimensions must surely have varied with the track-gauge, is a mystery. It is no surprise that "careful railroad operators frowned upon the use of such cars, because they claimed many accidents could be traced to them." (American Railroads, John F Stover, University of Chicago Press, 1961) In 1996 the world has relatively few places where passengers can ride across breaks of gauge aboard scheduled through carriages, often long-distance sleeping-cars crossing several international frontiers (BLN 694.05). Tentatively listed below are the stations where passenger carriages may cross discontinuities between the standard gauge and the Spanish and Russian broad gauges. If readers suggest amendments or additions, a revised list might appear in a future BLN. 1435mm Station Frontier Station 1676mm France FR - ES Irun, Talgos adjust their wheel-sets Spain France FR - ES Port Bou, Talgos adjust their wheel-sets Spain Spain, Madrid - Sevilla AVE line Sevilla, Talgos adjust their wheel-sets Spain Spain, Sevilla - Madrid AVE line Madrid, Talgos adjust their wheel-sets Spain (Through Talgo trains adjust their wheel-sets to travel via the high-speed AVE line to and from points in Spain beyond it) 1435mm 1520mm Poland Kuznica, bogie exchange PL - BY Belarus Poland PL - BY Brest, bogie exchange Belarus Poland PL - UA Mostiska, bogie exchange Ukraine Slovakia SK - UA Chop, bogie exchange Ukraine Hungary HU - UA Chop, bogie exchange Ukraine Romania Viçsani, bogie exchange RO - UA Ukraine Romania RO - MD Ungheni, bogie exchange Moldova Turkey TR - AM Akhurian, bogie exchange Armenia Iran Djulfa, bogie exchange IR - AM Armenia China CN - KZ Druzhba, bogie exchange Kazakhstan China Erenhot, bogie exchange CN - MN Mongolia China Manzhouli, bogie exchange CN - RU Russia BLN 773.087][FR] Nice - Digne: (BLN 765.0460; Ball 66B1-67A1-77B3) Poor weather since November and flooding in mid-January 1996 has delayed work on reopening between Entrevaux and Annot, the final 13km section of the storm-damaged metre-gauge Chemin de fer de la Provence. (L'Écho du Rail, Feb. 1996) BLN 773.088][FR] Cannes - Ranguin (- Grasse): (BLN 760.0369; Ball 77A3) The passenger service operated by SNCF under contract to the Syndicat Intercommunal des Transport Publics Cannes-Le Cannet last ran on Thursday 23 November 1995, the day before the SNCF strikes. Trains on the 3km Cannes-la-Bocca - Ranguin section of the Grasse branch were replaced by buses, and seem unlikely to resume. Car-delivery traffic continues to the private siding just beyond Ranguin station. (L'Écho du Rail, Jan., Feb. 1996) BLN 773.089][BE, FR] Signeulx SNCB - Gorcy: (Ball 17B1, not shown) Summer 1995 saw the end of an unusual international branch line. Built in 1875, the 4km private industrial line linked the ironworks at Gorcy in France with the Belgian railway system, probably the only case of a French industrial plant of any importance being rail-connected solely via a foreign country. Direct connection to France's own railways was inhibited not only by the terrain, but by reluctance on strategic grounds to have another line heading into France from a point so close to the frontier. At the time, just after the Franco-Prussian War, the kind of defensive thinking that led to the building of the Maginot Line fortresses permeated the French military. The Gorcy furnaces and forges therefore despatched all their production via a junction at Signeulx, between Virton and Athus on Belgium's Ligne 165 (Libramont - Bertrix - Virton - Athus). A railcar chartered by the Belgian enthusiast group GTF visited the branch on 31 March 1984, by which time most of the works had closed, victim of Europe's steel crisis, though a wire-drawing mill was still in operation. By 1988 most activity had ceased, and only a storage facility remained on the site, employing a handful of workers. No traffic had run since 1990, but it was not until June 1995 that SNCB took the fateful step of removing the junction pointwork, finally ending the life of the Gorcy railway company, perhaps the least-known of Europe's international railways. (Trans-fer, #99, January 1996, after Salle d'Attente, July 1995) BLN 773.090][BE] Charleroi - Anderlues trams: (BLN 767.0501, 769.05) The relaid track in the street between Anderlues Jonction and Anderlues Monument was brought into use on 28 October 1995. Museum trams shuttled back and forth on 28 and 29 October. All Charleroi - Anderlues service trams now run the same way, passing the depot at Jonction to terminate at Monument. Curiously, both route numbers 89 and 90 continue to be carried. The difference seems to be that #90 services connect at Monument with buses for Binche. The line avoiding Jonction and running direct to Anderlues Monument is again out of use. BLN 773.091][NL] Weesp - Almere - Lelystad: (Ball 4A3-1B1) A new unstaffed halt, Almere Parkwijk, was to open on 1 February 1996 between Almere CS and Almere Buiten on the Flevolijn. The line crosses the extensive polders of Flevoland, reclaimed from the bottom of the Zuider Zee since World War II, and NS plans eventually to extend it north-eastward from Lelystad to become a through main railway offering faster transits to the northern province of Friesland. (partly from Op de Rails, 12/95) BLN 773.092][DE] (Berlin -) Neustadt (Dosse) - Wittenberge - Ludwigslust: (Ball 19B1-19A2; KBS170, 202) Engineering work from 24 September 1995 until the timetable change in June 1996 causes replacement of local services by bus over the sections Neustadt (Dosse) - Breddin and Wittenberge - Ludwigslust. Over the latter section three pairs of InterRegio trains are also withdrawn. Westkreuz - Wittenberge local trains, worked by Class 628 units, are diverted at Neustadt to run over the non-electrified line to Pritzwalk. BLN 773.093][DE] Amstetten (Württemberg) - Gerstetten: (BLN 763.0429, 772.070; Ball 58B1) Just after 07:18 on Monday 19 February 1996, the WEG railcar went to Amstetten DB exchange sidings to collect a single fuel tank-wagon before forming the unadvertised early-morning mixed-train down the branch. On the way it set out the loaded wagon in the discharge bay at the Bundeswehr (German army) siding between Amstetten and Stubersheim. Two further impromptu stops were needed for the crew to break up frozen mud in the rail grooves at level-crossings. On arrival at Gerstetten platform at 09:03, the railcar, still with BLN's reporter aboard, ran via the end-of-line headshunt into the loco-shed. Return working was at 10:50, arriving back at the junction at 11:22. BLN 773.094][DK] Odense - Fredericia: (Ball 7A2-6B2) The first electric operation west of the Storebælt (Great Belt) began on 25 September 1995 between Odense and Fredericia, presaging 25kV 50Hz haulage through from København via Korsør and Nyborg once the Storebælt bridge-and-tunnel link replaces the train-ferries, perhaps at the end of 1996 (BLN 754.0231, 767.0509). BLN 773.095][SE][NO] Luleå - Boden - Gällivare - Råtsi - Kiruna - Riksgränsen - Narvik: (Ball 3A1-3A3-4B3-4A3) The lengthy electric line across the Arctic northlands of Sweden and Norway has an electrified mineral branch still open for traffic, extending some 40km from a triangular junction at Råtsi to Svappavaara (2B3-3A3). At Svappavaara the opencast iron-ore workings owned by LKAB are closed - possibly to reopen if demand increases - but the ore-pelletising plant continues to operate. Up to four trains a day carry iron-ore from the LKAB mine at Kiruna to Råtsi and down the branch to the plant, and coal imported through the Swedish Baltic port of Luleå is also rail-hauled there to be used in the pelletising process. All the output of ore pellets goes out by rail, mainly to the Norwegian port of Narvik for export. LKAB keep a heavy Co-Co shunter at the plant to assist with unloading and loading. A train of 100t bogie hopper wagons loaded with pelletised ore and hauled by a Swedish Dm/Dm3 locomotive was seen from the main line in September 1995, waiting to head north from Råtsi. The same wagons are used for all three traffic flows. BLN 773.096][FI] Helsinki beer tram: Outside Helsinki's central station, a granite landmark of architectural interest built between 1904 and 1914, a 1950s tram, restored and equipped as a mahogany-panelled beer-bar sponsored by the Sinebrychoff brewery, leaves from the east side of the square on the hour from 10:00 to 15:00, Sundays excepted, to tour the city's tram lines for 60 minutes. Fare of about £5 includes your first half-litre of Koff lager, not dear in a country where the going rate for beer is about £7.40 a litre (£4.25 the pint). (Michael Jackson, The Beer Hunter, What's Brewing, December 1995) BLN 773.097][PT] Porto: (Ball 7A1) In January 1996 extensive works were under way in the area, and considerable disruption to services seems likely to continue for some time. The Porto - Pocinho Linha do Douro has just been doubled, and is now being electrified, between Ermesinde and Valongo. The Porto - Valença Linha do Minho is having extra tracks laid between Porto Campanhã and Contumil, and the section northward as far as São Romão, already electrified, is being doubled. Contumil carriage-servicing facilities are being substantially rebuilt. The branch from Contumil to Leixões, the port area west of the city, is being electrified, though no masts or wires have appeared at the throat of Leixões yard. The junction for the branch, closed to passengers 29 May 1987, is south of Contumil station, and a new platform has been built on the branch, suggesting that CP intend reopening it to passengers, at least in part. BLN 773.098][PT] Porto trams: (BLN 748.070, 755.0255) For the moment, the 1435mm-gauge trams of the Sociedade de Transportes Colectivos do Porto continue on one route, #18. An advertised 15-minute service runs from about 05:30 to 21:00, Mondays to Saturdays, from Boavista via Castelo do Queijo (the coastal end of Avenida de Boavista) and Foz to Carmo, the trams being based at Massarelos depot. The Castelo do Queijo - Matosinhos section closed 26 September 1993, when route #19 was withdrawn and route #1 truncated, and Infante - Massarelos closed 12 September 1994, when route #1 was withdrawn. BLN 773.099][ES] León - Matallana - Cistierna - Guardo - Arija - Aranguren: (BLN 770.037; Ball 9B3-5A1) FEVE's staffing at level-crossings and stations on the León - Guardo section of the metre-gauge Ferrocarril de La Robla is quite generous. Too lavish, said the regional authority, the Junta de Castilla y León, and suspended some of its subsidy payments for passenger services. FEVE retaliated by threatening withdrawal of trains. Both sides were meeting at the end of February 1996 to try to resolve the dispute. On a more positive note, a new freight contract recently signed will bring coal from Norfolk, Virginia, by ship to Raos (Santander), eastwards by FEVE to Aranguren, then west via Arija to the Termonor power-station at Velilla del Rio Carrión, near Guardo, reopening the Arija - Guardo section of the FC de La Robla. During February 1996 FEVE cleared vegetation from the out-of-use section, erected new warning signs at level-crossings, and ran a number of test trains. The new freight workings (two trains each way every weekday) were to begin on 23 February, but exceptional snowfall across northern Spain put back their start for three days or more. BLN 773.0100][CZ][PL] Cernousy CD - Zawidów PKP: (BLN 737.0240; Ball 36A2) Unadvertised staff trains use this international line, shown on the Quail maps but not in the Ball atlas, but the frontier crossing is not available for individual travellers. BLN 773.0101][SK] Bratislava - Šurany - Hronská-Dúbrava - Zvolen: (BLN 739.0294; Ball 42A1-42B2-43A1) Overhead wiring of the 120km line from Šurany to Hronská-Dúbrava was complete by the end of 1993, the year after the Czech Republic and Slovakia parted, but was not used until electrification at 25kV 50Hz of the short 11km section from Hronská-Dúbrava to Zvolen in 1995. Electric services began between Bratislava and Zvolen on 29 August 1995. ZSR hope to electrify the 21km from Zvolen to Banská Bystrica and the 70km from Zvolen to Fil'akovo by the end of the century. (Op de Rails, 12/95) BLN 773.0102][RU] Moskva: tall tales of rare track below ground: The Guardian on 7 February 1996 ran a story, translated from Moskovski Novosti, a daily newspaper, about secret underground lines for defence and strategic purposes beneath the Russian capital. Since London too has had some interesting underground features (see Beneath the City Streets by Peter Laurie, Penguin Books 1972, revised edition Panther Granada 1979), the probability of some unusual trackage under Moskva must be reasonably high. However the article did rather stretch the bounds of belief with its tales of 'Project D-6' having not just a 1947-built line from the Kremlin east to Poklonnaya Gora, but 320km of secret track, one line 85km long, 8,500 employees (more than InterCity West Coast and South West Trains together!), seven- or eight-coach electric Metro trains with car-carrying flat wagons, and two north-western extensions currently under construction, including a 25km line to a presidential dacha out of town! Key point to note, according to Denis Baranov's article, is the peculiar layout of Arbat station on the ordinary Metro, with mysterious marble steps up to sealed and guarded doors leading into the central station of the secret underground beneath the defence ministry and the Kremlin. Well, maybe - but it wouldn't do to get locked up while looking for clandestine railway infrastructure that may or may not exist. BLN 773.0103][JP] (Tokyo -) Echigo-Yusawa - Muikamachi - Tokamachi - Saigata (- Noetsu - Kanazawa): The Hokuetsu-Hoko Line, seen diverging from the old Joetsu Line at Muikamachi as an apparently disused branch (BLN 768.0536), was begun in 1968. Shown as still under construction in the 1975 Quail Railway Atlas of Japan, it is now said to be nearing completion. Its developer, whose title translates as Metropolitan Intercity Railway, is a 'third-sector' company, with local-authority backing, but neither publicly-owned nor wholly private-sector. Services are planned to connect at Echigo-Yusawa with the Shinkansen bullet-trains that burrow through the mountains from Tokyo on the 1435mm-gauge Joetsu Line. Taking the old 1067mm-gauge Joetsu Line as far as Muikamachi, the Hokuetsu-Hoko trains are then to run 59.4km westward on new track to the Sea of Japan, and thence south-west along the existing coastal line as far as Kanazawa. BLN 773.0104][CA] Montréal Centrale - Deux Montagnes: (BLN 766.0494, 772.084) Though train service resumed on 26 October 1995, it ceased on 20 December due to technical difficulties with the new stock. Full service, essentially hourly off-peak SSuX, two-hourly SO, four-hourly SuO, resumed on 8 January 1996. During the line's reconstruction some stations, including Deux Montagnes, were relocated. BLN 773.0105][BO][CL] Bolivia: (BLN 751.0140, 758.0341-3) Antofagasta Holdings, the London-listed Chilean mining, banking and railways group, are to regain control of the Andean network they used to run before nationalisation in 1962. With privatisation of Bolivia's metre-gauge Empresa Nacional de Ferrocarriles, Antofagasta are to acquire 73% of ENFE's Andean lines, the Red Occidental, and 23.9% of its eastern network, the Red Oriental, separate but linked via Argentina. The ENFE Andean system already connects at Ollagüe with the Ferrocarril de Antofagasta a Bolivia, forming an important through route (Antofagasta - Calama - Ollagüe - Oruro) from the Chilean coast to mountainous and land-locked Bolivia, part of the line having passenger services. Combined operation of the railways by FCAB's strong management team will develop traffic between the interior and ports on the Pacific, says the company. Evidence of FCAB's positive attitude has indeed already appeared in BLN 751 and 758. (Financial Times, 26 January 1996) BLN 774.0106][IE] (Ennis - Ennistimon - Milltown Malbay -) Moyasta Jn - Kilrush: The 914mm-gauge West Clare Railway was closed by CIE in 1961, but a 3km section of the 100km system is to reopen in June 1996 as a tourist line, using one of the original steam locomotives, and some of the original coaching-stock, transferred from Bord na Móna. Trains will run south from Moyasta, and the new West Clare Railway Company hopes to extend to Kilrush in the next few years. (Westmeath Examiner, 10 Feb. 1996) BLN 774.0107][FR] Paris: rover tickets: (OEIS 9616; Ball 81-82) Three-zone tickets for unlimited travel on public transport cover the inner area including the Métro plus RER lines between Gare du Nord; Nation; Boulevard Masséna; Cité Universitaire; Boulevard Victor; Charles-de-Gaulle-Étoile; and Porte de Clichy. Five-zone tickets cover also the SNCF lines out as far as (clockwise from the north) Survilliers-Fosses; Roissy-Aéroport-Charles-de-Gaulle; Dammartin-Juilly-St.Mard; Crouy-sur-Ourcq; Nanteuil-Saacy; Crécy-en-Brie-La-Chapelle; La Ferté-Gaucher; Provins; Longueville; Montereau; Souppes; Boigneville; St.Martin d'Étampes; Angerville; Dourdan-la-Forêt; Dourdan; Gazeran; Houdan; Versailles Rive Gauche; Versailles Rive Droite; St.Nom-la-Bretèche-Forêt-de-Marly; Bréval; Port Villez; Cergy-le-Haut; Chars; Persan-Beaumont; Bruyères-sur-Oise; and Luzarches. Name of ticket Validity Price Approx. £ equivalent in March 1996 Formule 1 three zones one day FRF40 £5.20 £5.20 per day Paris Visite three zones two days FRF70 £9.10 £4.55 per day Paris Visite three zones three days FRF105 £13.60 £4.50 per day Paris Visite three zones five days FRF165 £21.40 £4.30 per day Formule 1 five zones one day FRF100 £13 £13 per day Paris Visite five zones two days FRF170 £22 £11 per day Paris Visite five zones three days FRF230 £29.80 £10 per day Paris Visite five zones five days FRF315 £40.80 £8.20 per day BLN 774.0108][FR, CH] Évian-les-Bains - St.Gingolph SNCF (- Le Bouveret CFF): (BLN 721.04; Ball 50B2 (FR), 98B3 (CH)) SNCF have barred the tourist trains which were the only workings on this line. The operators of the Rive Bleue Express are said to owe SNCF the sum of FRF600,000 for use of the track. (Eisenbahn Amateur, 11/95) BLN 774.0109][DE] Hamburg: Garstedt - Norderstedt Mitte: (BLN 769.08; Ball 17B3) The U-Bahn U1 extension opened on 29 October 1995, according to Light Rail & Modern Tramway for February 1996. BLN 774.0110][DE] Helmstedt - Grasleben - Weferlingen - Haldensleben: (BLN 738.0258, 769.010; Ball 27B2) Services advertised in 1995 did not operate, but tourist trains on the first German preserved line across the Innengrenze, the former 'Iron Curtain', should begin on 27 and 28 April 1996, then run one weekend each month until October. The trains are based at Weferlingen, making two return workings to Helmstedt plus a trip over the DB (ex-DR) passenger line to Haldensleben. The line includes the southern portion of the Helmstedt - Oebisfelde branch of the Preussische Staatseisenbahn, opened 1 September 1895. The Helmstedt - Grasleben section stayed open for freight after passenger services ceased in autumn 1958. The section across the border between Grasleben and Weferlingen, latterly used only for light-engine movements, closed in 1952, though afterwards track from Grasleben towards the border remained in place, forming a headshunt for various factory sidings. BLN 774.0111][DE] Nienhagen (bei Halberstadt) - Dedeleben: (BLN 742.0346; Ball 27B1) In December 1995 this threatened branch was said to be barred to locomotives because of the condition of the track, but by 15 February 1996 loco-hauled passenger trains were again operating. A driver said that the planned repair works were complete, but a severe speed-limit nevertheless remains between Nienhagen and Schwanebeck. BLN 774.0112][DE] Heudeber-Danstedt - Osterwieck West: (BLN 707.04; Ball 27B1) Patronage of the branch railcar was minimal on 15 February 1996, and the Heudeber-Danstedt - Wasserleben section has a severe speed restriction. A curiosity was the CSD electrification wagons in the sidings at Osterwieck. Osterwieck West, where the passenger services terminate, is a basic halt with a simple shelter next to a war memorial. The nearby line north from Heudeber-Danstedt to Veltheim, shown in Ball as freight-only, was heavily rusted but still in place at the junction, Abzw Mulmke, controlled by a hand-point. BLN 774.0113][DE] (Bremen - Uelzen - Salzwedel -) Hohenwulsch - Stendal: (Ball 28A3) At Hohenwulsch the rails from Salzwedel are shiny and in use for engineering trains, though as reported in BLN 771.054 no passenger trains are running on that section in early 1996. Hohenwulsch main station has block-paved platforms and signs in the modern DB house-style, including one directing passengers to the Kalbe trains. Further down the muddy path, however, the next sign is a wooden one nailed to a tree, and the separate Kalbe platform, once that of the Altmärkische Eisenbahn, is in complete contrast to the rest of the station. Between Hohenwulsch and Stendal the actual track varies a great deal. Some of it is continuous welded rail on deep ballast, as befits a future Bremen - Berlin main line, but other sections are older, with speed restrictions. New signalling is in place but not yet in use. A long running-loop lies north of Kläden, where the station has been relocated to the south. BLN 774.0114][DE] Stendal area: (BLN 756.0278; Ball 28A3) By 15 February 1996 the new Schnellfahrstrecke high-speed alignment avoiding Stendal to the south had ballast and electrification masts but still no track. Part of the existing main-line alignment west of Stendal was also temporarily trackless, with reconstruction work under way. Trains from Oebisfelde leave this alignment and take a single line laid on part of the never-completed west-to-north 'strategic' chord, the Armee Kurve, the rest of which has been lifted (see sketch-map with BLN 753.0185). They then swing round over a new junction on to the Salzwedel line, crossing the bridge over the temporarily-lifted main line before running into Stendal Hbf. BLN 774.0115][DE] Klostermansfeld - Wippra: (Ball 42A3) When traversed in February 1996 this branch had severe speed restrictions and no sign of intermediate freight, though Wippra itself had timber traffic. BLN 774.0116][GR][MK] Greece: In recent years the Greek railway organisation OSE (Organismos Sidirodromon Ellados, sometimes known as CH from its name in French, Chemins de fer Helléniques) has reopened several lines to passengers. Lianokladi - Stilis (Ball 66A3) is a standard-gauge branch east from the Athinai - Thessaloniki main line, while Isthmos - Loutraki (Ball 66A2) and Argos - Nafplion (BLN 725.062; Ball 66A1) are metre-gauge branches off the Peloponnese network. Several Athinai - Thessaloniki InterCity trains now begin and end at Piraeus port station (Ball 66B3). The cross-border line into the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (Messonisio - Neos OSE - Kremenica MZ) (Ball 62A3) remains closed due to ill-feeling between Greek and Yugoslav Macedonians. BLN 774.0117][CH] Solothurn - Moutier: (Ball 86B1-86A1) The EBT (Emmental Burgdorf Thun Bahn), which works the SMB line, is considering its total or partial closure, replacing the passenger trains by buses. Freight traffic on the Solothurn Münster Bahn has greatly reduced since the closure of the border-crossing from the CFF to the SNCF at Delle and onward to Belfort (BLN 745.010, 753.0200). BLN 774.0118][CH] Olten - Läufelfingen - Sissach (- Basel): (BLN 743.0364, 757.0307; Ball 87A2) Regional trains on the old Hauenstein line, thought to be threatened, are secure until at least 1998, though regional traffic is to be temporarily transferred to the road to allow diversion of main-line trains while a viaduct on the new Hauenstein line at Gelterkinden is repaired during 1996-97. (Eisenbahn Amateur, 11/95) BLN 774.0119][CH] Pontresina - Bernina - Campocologno - Tirano: (Ball 96A1) The southernmost branch of the metre-gauge Rhätische Bahn, winding through the magnificent glacier scenery of the Bernina Pass and spiralling down to Tirano FS station just inside Italy, has been realigned south of Poschiavo to obviate a section of street-tramway running in the village of San Antonio. . (Eisenbahn Amateur, 11/95) BLN 774.0120][PL] Olecko - Goldap: (Ball 34A2-34A3) Before World War II, five lines exchanged traffic at the junction of Goldap, then in East Prussia, Germany, but now in Poland, close to the border with Russia's Kaliningrad exclave. Only one line survives, with a daily freight trip still running in summer 1995, and the signalling installation is out of use. Olecko - Goldap passenger services were withdrawn from 1 April 1993, yet the line remained in the PKP timetable till 1995, though it has now disappeared. (Eisenbahn Amateur, 11/95) BLN 774.0121][PL] Polish passenger closures: PKP withdrew passenger services from several lines in the Wroclaw area with effect from the weekend of 11 February 1996. Szydlów - Gracze Ball 37A1 PKP 202 Lwowek Slaski - Zebrzydowa Ball 36A2 PKP 250 Kobierzyce - Pilawa Górna Ball 36B2-1 PKP 222 Gryfów Slaski - Swieradow Zdrój Ball 36A2 PKP 253 BLN 774.0122][LT] Lithuania by standard gauge: (BLN 715.014, 763.0432; Ball 34B2) British Steel has secured a contract to supply 14,000 tonnes of rail to build a 1435mm-gauge line linking Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai with the western European network. (Independent, 11 March 1996) Presumably the existing standard-gauge line coming in from Poland (Trakiszki PKP - Mackovo LG - Šeštokai) will be extended to run to the capital, Vilnius. BLN 774.0123][TR] Istanbul: (BLN 722.019, 745.020; Ball 53A2) Since BLN's January 1995 report, the light-rail metro line has been extended westward. Trains now indicate their destination as Yenibosna, four stops to the west of Zeytinburnu, but diagrams in the cars assert that Dionya Tikaret M, one stop further on, is already open. Work continues to extend the line to Havalimani (= airport) station, serving the city's Atatürk airport at Yesilköy. On 18 February 1996 a short extension of the street-running light-rail line seemed imminent, for track had been placed alongside the roadway from the present city-centre terminus outside Sirkeci TCDD station for about 200m as far as the approach to the Galata bridge across the Golden Horn. Both light-rail lines continue to be very heavily used, though rail provides only a fraction of the local public transport in a city of 13 million seething with buses and taxis. BLN 774.0124][IR][TM] Mashhad - Sarakhs RAI (- Mari TDZ): Due for completion in March 1996 is a new standard-gauge Iranian Railways branch to the Sarakhs free-trade border zone, and on across the frontier into Turkmenistan. International trade from Iran through the town of Sarakhs to former Soviet central Asia reached 1 million tonnes of consumer goods in 1995, and is set to boom further when the railway opens. (Economist, 2 December 1995) BLN 774.0125][NA][ZA] Namibia: The Cape-gauge railway in former South West Africa was once operated as part of South African Railways, and the sole international connection of today's TransNamib system is with the Republic of South Africa's Spoornet. Striking off north-west from the Cape Town - Johannesburg main line, the railway to Namibia runs De Aar - Upington - Nakop (ZA-NA border) - Keetmanshoop - Windhoek - Kranzberg - Swakopmund - Walvis Bay, crossing broad expanses of Kalahari semi-desert and Namib desert before reaching the Atlantic coast. Major TransNamib traffics now are imported coal, unloaded from ships at Walvis Bay, and petroleum products, including aviation fuel for the country's main airport east of the capital, Windhoek. Some mixed trains run, typically with a single coach and a large number of assorted but modern wagons, and a number of lengthy branches remain in use, including Kranzberg - Otavi and Otavi - Grootfontein. The latter line is freight-only, serving the transhipment point for a TransNamib 'road-train', carrying freight, largely in containers, for the remotest parts of the country's north-east. As well as being a railhead, Grootfontein has a wagon-repair business. This part of the Namibian system, north and west of Windhoek, was originally 610mm-gauge, and much of it, including the Grootfontein line, was converted to 1065mm gauge only in 1961. On the coast, Swakopmund's classic Bahnhof, dating from the country's days as a German colony before World War I, has alas recently been isolated from the railway to facilitate construction of a local link road, and a new rather basic station is provided instead. Between Swakopmund and Walvis Bay, the line has been relocated inland because of sand encroachment. About halfway between the two towns, a restaurant made up of three old railway coaches stands on what seems to be a section of the old line. BLN 775.0126] Douglas - Laxey - Ramsey: Because of road-works involving level-crossings, the Manx Electric Railway's winter service (30 October - 22 December 1995 and 8 January - 29 March 1996) has been restricted to the Laxey - Ramsey section, with cars running SSuX from Laxey at 09:45 and 13:45, and from Ramsey at 11:40 and 15:25. The work may be continuing, so check locally before travelling. BLN 775.0127][FR] French line closures?: (BLN 768.0516) Before all the politicking, and subsequent government back-tracking in the face of strikes, the SNCF board had declared on 25 October 1995 that they intended to replace five passenger rail services by buses during 1996. (L'Écho du Rail, #153, Dec 1995) (Beauvais -) Abancourt - Le Tréport 14A2-13B3 Troyes - St.Florentin 27A1-37B3 (Laon -) Marle-sur-Serre - Hirson 16A2 Saumur - Thouars 34A1-44A3 La Ferté-Milon - Fismes (- Reims) 26A3-15B1 BLN 775.0128][FR] Armentières - Lestrem - Merville (- Berguettes-Isbergues): (Ball 7A1) Lestrem forwards significant quantities of grain traffic. The section beyond, which had closed completely by 1980, reopened for freight in October 1995 to serve a reactivated private siding at Merville. The line formerly extended through to Berguettes-Isbergues. (L'Écho du Rail, #156, March 1996) BLN 775.0129][FR] (Paris Est -) Gretz-Armainvilliers - Coulommiers - La Ferté-Gaucher (- Esternay): (Ball 25B2-26A2) This branch off the Paris Est - Basel main line has recently been electrified as far out as Coulommiers, from which a diesel unit works a shuttle service east to La Ferté-Gaucher. As noted in BLN 752.0143, a stop-block and a missing rail at the station there bar access to the line beyond to Esternay, closed to passengers from 6 March 1972 and thereafter to all traffic, though the track still lies in place. The station building at Marles-en-Brie, between Gretz and Coulommiers, is set well back from the electrified line, leaving a gap that formerly accommodated the tracks of the branch from Marles to Verneuil l'Étang, completely closed 3 November 1969. BLN 775.0130][FR] Haguenau - Oberhoffen - Soufflenheim - Roeschwoog: (Ball 30B3, part shown) Though the substantial middle section from Oberhoffen to Soufflenheim closed to all traffic as long ago as 16 December 1973, the Haguenau - Roeschwoog line was used in February 1996 for two movements of double-deck stock from the De Dietrich works at Reichshoffen via Lauterbourg and the DB to the Netherlands, because of loading-gauge problems on the direct route. (L'Écho du Rail, #156, March 1996) BLN 775.0131][FR] Vertaizon - Billom: (Ball 55A3) SNCF have operated this short départemental line east of Clermont-Ferrand since 1 April 1964 when its passenger service was withdrawn. Present traffic seems to be mainly road salt for the winter months. (L'Écho du Rail, #151, October 1995) BLN 775.0132][FR] Tournemire-Roquefort - L'Hospitalet-du-Larzac (- Le Vigan): (Ball 63A1-64A1, not shown) The remaining, western, end of this line ceased commercial traffic in the mid-1950s and was then taken over by the French military, but it is the subject of efforts by the local authority to run a tourist service. Special passenger trains ran on 5 and 6 August 1995. (L'Écho du Rail, #152, November 1995) BLN 775.0133][FR][CH] Évian-les-Bains - St.Gingolph SNCF (- Le Bouveret CFF): (BLN 774.0108; Ball 50B2 (FR), 98B3 (CH)) The Swiss-operated Rive Bleue Express tourist trains, suspended from 17 September 1995 after dispute about payment for use of this section of SNCF track, should run in 1996 after all, since Swiss local authorities agreed in October 1995 to a three-year subsidy. (L'Écho du Rail, #153, December 1995) BLN 775.0134][BE, DE] Weywertz - Butgenbach - Büllingen (- Losheimergraben - Losheim DB - Jünkerath): (BLN 734.0163, 747 suppt., 762.0404; Ball 10A1) Vennbahn services commenced running regularly over the Weywertz - Trois Ponts and Raeren SNCB - Stolberg DB sections from the 1994 season, but no passenger service was offered between Butgenbach and Büllingen during the 1995 season. Vennbahn trains still traversed that section so that the locomotive could run round, but they ran empty. BLN 775.0135][NL] NS car-carrier trains take pedestrians: NS have recently re-launched for the 1996 season their AutoSlaap Expres long-distance overnight car-carrier trains, some of which traverse unusual curves on their journeys from s'Hertogenbosch to Hendaye, Cerbère, Nice, Pesaro, Verona and Villach. A leaflet (Voordelig naar de zon met de nieuwe AutoSlaap Expres!, valid 2 April - 2 November 1996) makes it clear that these trains welcome foot-passengers and cyclists as well as those with cars. BLN 775.0136][NL] Rotterdam Kleiweg - Schiebroek Aansluiting: (Ball 3B2) For the first time since 1975, regular passenger trains are to use this curve off the Den Haag CS - Pijnacker - Rotterdam Hofplein line. From 2 June, the last train of the day in each direction will run to and from Rotterdam CS instead of Hofplein. Useful background history of the Pijnacker line appeared in BLN 677.o03. BLN 775.0137][NL] Amsterdam Haarlemmermeer - Amstelveen: (Ball 4A3, not shown) A standard-gauge museum tramway operates on a section of the former NS Haarlemmermeerlijn from Amsterdam's Haarlemmermeer station, reached by GVB tram routes #6 or 16. According to a notice at Haarlemmermeer station on 10 March 1996, trams depart for Amstelveen at 10:30, 11:00, 11:20 and every 20 minutes until 17:40 on Sundays and public holidays from 7 April 1996. Return fare is NLG5, with a day ticket costing NLG15. BLN 775.0138][DE] Rahden (Kreis Lübbecke) - Uchte: (BLN 715.06; Ball 25B3) DB freight traffic is again said to be ceasing, and the prospectus for a DGEG railtour on 8 October 1995 suggested that this could be the last opportunity to travel on the branch. BLN 775.0139][DE] Karlsruhe trams on railways: (BLN 735.0179, 736.0192; Ball 57B2) Now being electrified, the SWEG line from Bruchsal to Menzingen should see Karlsruhe light-rail vehicles running through as Stadtbahn route S32 from 1 September 1996, and the branch (Bruchsal -) Ubstadt Ort - Odenheim following, as route S31, in 1997. (Blickpunkt Strassenbahn, 1/96) BLN 775.0140][DE] Eyach - Hechingen - Gammertingen - Hanfertal - Sigmaringen: (Ball 68B3-69A2) The Hohenzollerische Landesbahn (HzL) operates a total of 107.4km of route. From the zero-point at Eyach the most northerly 28km of the HzL 'main line' are freight-only, the first 14km to Stetten running through a dramatic high-sided limestone gorge. Unexpectedly, the track is in fine fettle, the reason being the busy quarry at Stetten, loading block trains of stone which work on to DB. The line has climbed on to a plateau by Hechingen, where the HzL station is parallel to DB's station at a higher level. A steep connecting track links the two via a short reversing spur, the headshunt of which effectively limits movements to a locomotive and one or two vehicles at a time. South from Hechingen Landesbahn station to Sigmaringen the line has a regular HzL passenger service. The principal depot on the line is at Gammertingen, where the 19.7km Gammertingen - Kleinengstingen freight branch diverges to make an end-on junction with the DB freight line Kleinengstingen - Münsingen - Schelklingen (- Ulm). Until recently, no physical connection between HzL and DB existed at Sigmaringen, but the HzL track was slewed into platform 7 of the DB station, and the site of Sigmaringen HzL station now lies derelict beyond. Freight off the HzL once had to work out over the 9.7km line from Hanfertal to Sigmaringendorf, where the west-facing link to DB has been lifted and replaced by a new east-facing one, not shown in Ball. HzL trains also run certain services on the Tuttlingen - Beuron - Sigmaringen section of DB, as described in BLN 735.0182 and BLN 761.0386. On HzL metals the preservation group Eisenbahnfreunde Zollernbahn eV offer steam-hauled Eyach - Hechingen trains on 7 and 8 April 1996, and on the first Sunday in the month from June to September, with the morning southbound train making a dramatic sight in the gorge section. EFZ also offer services on the Gammertingen - Kleinengstingen branch, continuing over DB to Münsingen, on the second Sunday of the month, June to September. In 1994 EFZ also began to operate on a regular basis over the (Aulendorf -) Altshausen - Pfullendorf DB freight line on the third Sunday, June to September (BLN 735.0177; Ball 69A2), but because of the poor condition of the line structures in 1995 they did not - despite their advertising - resume running Tübingen - Entringen - Altingen (BLN 729.096; Ball 69A3-57B1). Occasional EFZ steam trips run over other lines. EFZ information is available from Postfach 1127, D-72001 Tübingen; fax +49 7071 76749 from mid-April. BLN 775.0141][SE] (Stockholm -) Södertälje - Eskilstuna: (Ball 23A2-22B3; SJ 58) Expresses from Stockholm reach Södertälje by the fast new Grödingebanan, the royal opening of which was on 9 January 1995 (BLN 753.0199). West of there buses replace trains on the Svealandsbanan while engineers upgrade parts of the line for higher-speed running. This work is due for completion in 1998. BLN 775.0142][SE] Växjö - Hultsfred - Västervik: (Ball 26A3-22B1) The history leading up to closure on 22 December 1992 of this ex-SJ 891mm-gauge line appeared in Today's Railways #6 for April-May 1995. Since then the preservation groups have resolved their differences and between them acquired the line. Småländska Smalspåret resumed weekday services between Växjö and Norrhult from 10 July to 5 August 1995, and ran a weekend shuttle service at Hultsfred for a rock festival just after. The Tjustbygden Railway Society operated trains on Sundays during July 1995 over the Verkebäck - Ankarsrum section near Västervik. In 1996 Småländska Smalspåret plan to extend their service north to Hultsfred and operate from 24 June to 24 August, Sundays excepted, while the Tjustbygden Railway Society hope to extend their operations south to Tuna, and to run on Saturdays as well as Sundays during July. BLN 775.0143][PT] Lisboa Terreiro do Paço - Barreiro ferry: (BLN 733.0158; Ball 25B1) On 5 September 1995 a new estação fluvial (= ferry-terminal) and bus-station were opened on the south bank of the Tejo estuary at Barreiro, a couple of minutes walk east of Barreiro railway station and former ferry-landing. At about the same time, CP's Tejo ferry fleet was privatised and now operates as Sociedade Fluvial de Transportes SA (SOFLUSA). In January 1996 the ferry connections from Lisboa advertised in the CP Guia Horário Oficial timetable book were not the same as in the CP Lisboa - Algarve pamphlet. Barreiro railway staff work to the latter times, as disgruntled passengers found when their delayed ferry, shown as a booked connection in the Guia Horário, in fact failed to connect. BLN 775.0144][CH][DE] Swiss train-operator MThB to expand: SBB are to transfer operation of Schaffhausen - Etzwilen - Kreuzlingen - Romanshorn (Ball 88A3-89A2) to Swiss private railway Mittelthurgau Bahn, for ten years starting with the summer 1998 timetable. MThB already run local services from Weinfelden and Kreuzlingen in Switzerland over DB's Konstanz - Radolfzell - Singen - Engen line (BLN 714.018; Ball 89A3-68B1) and are to operate the trains when DB's (Radolfzell -) Stähringen - Stockach line reopens to passengers in autumn 1996. The Stockach line is not to be electrified, but is to have lightweight Swiss-built diesel railcars of a Stadler design (as in BLN 755.0251, not as in BLN 766.0491) (L'Écho du Rail, #156, March 1996; Today's Railways, #11, February-March 1996) BLN 775.0145][CZ][SK] Czech-Slovak border-crossings: (BLN 712.011; Ball 41B2-42B3) The Czech-Slovak frontier intersects the former CSD to give seven rail border-crossings, listed from south-west to north-east. CD junction Type of line Electrification ZSR junction Breclav double-track main line 25kV 50Hz Kúty Hodonín single-track local/bypass line 25kV 50Hz Holíc nad Moravou Sudomerice nad Moravou single-track local line Holíc nad Moravou Veselí nad Moravou single-track rural line Nové Mesto nad Váhom Bylnice single-track secondary line Nemšová Horní Lidec double-track main line 3000V dc Púchov Ceský Tešín double-track main line 3000V dc Cadca The Czech Republic and Slovakia parted at the beginning of 1993 and not at the end of that year as the wording of BLN 773.0101 perhaps suggested. BLN 775.0146][CA] Hull - Wakefield: Tourist trains operate May to October on this former CP line, heading north for 32km up the west bank of the Gatineau river. The track is now owned by the city of Hull, which lies across the Ottawa river from the nation's capital. Regular passenger trains ceased 27 January 1963. A previous tourist service plied the line between 1973 and 1986, and freight trains still ran until January 1986. The present operation began in June 1992, and claims to be the only 'authentic' steam-powered train running in eastern Canada. However authenticity does not seem to extend to the provenance of the locomotive: the Hull - Chelsea - Wakefield Steam Train leaflet depicts Swedish Statens Järnvägar #909. BLN 776.0147] (Belfast -) Bleach Green Jn - Antrim: (BLN 760.0364) Northern Ireland Railways' planned £8M improvement works to reopen Bleach Green Jn - Antrim for Belfast - Londonderry passenger trains by mid-1997 have had to be postponed for financial reasons, much to the concern of Derry's councillors and MP. It seems that the cross-border Belfast - Dublin main-line improvement project is running seriously over budget and, even though 75% of its cost is being met by the European Union taxpayer, NIR are said to be facing a bill for £50M instead of the £32M expected. (The Sentinel, March 1996) BLN 776.0148][IE] Sligo - Sligo Quay: (BLN 772.178) One location in Ireland where wagons were unloaded while standing on a running line was between the junction at Sligo station and the Quay sidings, at a point where the line crossed a road underbridge. Wagons loaded with grain were positioned on the bridge and discharged into road vehicles beneath by means of a spout extending down through the bridge decking. BLN 776.0149][IE] Dundalk Barrack Street: (BLN 765.0480) According to the Iarnród Éireann staff newspaper, the last freight train from Barrack Street on 24 March 1995 was followed one day later by a special 'farewell' passenger train which left the branch terminus at 15:37. (Rail Brief, June 1995) BLN 776.0150][IE] Dublin Connolly - Newcomen Jn - Glasnevin Jn: (BLN 771.045) Newcomen Jn can be reached only from platform 7 at Dublin Connolly, but use of platform 7 is not a guarantee that a Maynooth service will go via Newcomen Jn rather than via Drumcondra. On 24 March 1996 the 18:00 Connolly - Maynooth train did run via Newcomen Jn, keeping out of the path of a northbound DART service, and it is understood it goes that way up to four times a week, but not on any regularly predictable basis. The return 19:05 from Maynooth is also reported to travel via Newcomen Jn fairly regularly. Timings in the May 1995 working and public timetables are such that, if strictly adhered to, none of the DART workings would actually oblige any Maynooth train to use the Newcomen Jn route to avoid a conflict. Avoidance of conflict with freight movements on the Drumcondra line, notably a Dublin - Ballina chemical train and a Dublin - Waterford Bellferry container train, is said to be the key to the choice of route, with decisions taken at the time depending on the running of the freight services. The 14:05 Ballina - Dublin Connolly, running via Islandbridge Jn - Glasnevin Jn, was advertised to operate on Easter Monday, 8 April 1996 (BLN 758.0316). Inchicore is to have open days on 15-16 June. BLN 776.0151][IE] Dublin - Dun Laoghaire: (BLN 771.046) All Monday-Saturday DART services turning at Dun Laoghaire use one or other of the down bay platforms to keep clear of running-line movements, and the two early-morning services on Sundays probably do so also, especially as a rear gate to the station gives access on the level for the ferry passengers who are the primary users of these trains. BLN 776.0152][IE] Limerick - Ennis: (BLN 763.0417, 766.0481) On 27 March 1996 the stock off the 10:30 Ballybrophy - Limerick train formed the 12:05 Limerick - Ennis and the return working from Ennis to Limerick, rescheduled from 14:00 to 14:15. Loadings on the first two parts of the diagram did not reach double figures, but on the up journey a party of senior citizens rather taxed the capacity provided, a single coach with fully operational steam heating. An extra train was scheduled to run on Easter Monday, 8 April, as the 15:40 Limerick - Ennis and 17:00 return. BLN 776.0153][IE] Waterford - New Ross: (BLN 765.0458) By April 1996 track across the Waterford road at New Ross had been replaced by tarmac, and at another level-crossing about 1km further south, alongside the quays, a track panel had been removed. BLN 776.0154][FR] Paris: rover tickets: Voyages Vacances, 162 Regent Street, London W1R 5TB, telephone 0171-287 3171 or 3231, sell the Formule 1 and Paris Visite rover tickets described in BLN 774.0107. BLN 776.0155][DE] Grosskorbetha - Pörsten - Deuben: (Ball 42B2) This line has been substantially rebuilt for its heavy coal traffic, with relaid track and new structures including a major bridge over the river Saale. At Wählitz, between Webau and Hohenmölsen, new sidings connect with Mitteldeutsche Braunkohle AG lines. Traffic is to the nearby chemical works at Leuna, north of Grosskorbetha, and westward to the cement works at Deuna, between Bleicherode and Leinefelde (41A2). Some track upgrading on the Leipzig-Plagwitz - Pörsten line has allowed passenger trains to be accelerated. BLN 776.0156][DE] Hoyerswerda - Knappenrode - Spreewitz - Sabrodt (- Sedlitz): (BLN 765.0466; Ball 44B3) The unadvertised passenger trains from Hoyerswerda call at a number of modest platforms in the marshalling yards at Spreewitz, Schwarze Pumpe and Sabrodt, and terminate at a small platform by Sabrodt Mitte signal-box, where the locomotive runs round its single carriage. Numerous connections link DB with the railways of Lausitzer Braunkohle AG (LAUBAG), many of them electrified and some of them multiple-track. Schwarze Pumpe has a large passenger station, probably dating from the 1960s and built for the benefit of workers at the fairly isolated industrial installations nearby, but the passenger trains now run only for railway employees, and other people are likely to be excluded from them. BLN's reporter, joining the train at Knappenrode, the last call at a public station, was able to state quite honestly that he was an Eisenbahner. By the time the guard found out his employer was an Eisenbahn other than DB, the train was under way! BLN 776.0157][DK] Denmark: closures in 1996?: DSB are said to want to close a number of freight-only branches, so the BLS tour on 25-26 May may be all the more opportune. On the Bramming - Ribe - Tønder DSB (- Niebüll DB) line, the Ribe - Tønder section, still with a passenger service, is said to be threatened. South of Tønder, the cross-border section to Niebüll is already out of use (Ball 5B2-5B1). Traffic between København goods yard and the island of Amager (København Godsbanegård - Kastrup, 9A2-9A1) is likely to cease early in 1996. Though the Amagerbanen could see steam specials as part of the European City of Culture celebrations during 1996, it will probably be lifted thereafter. (LCGB Bulletin, March 1996) BLN 776.0158][PT] Viana do Castelo - Viana-Doca: (Ball 7A2, not shown) Although the Quail map implies that the 1.3km Ramal de Viana-Doca was open for freight in 1994, the branch junction has been removed and the general appearance in January 1996 suggested closure was some considerable time ago. BLN 776.0159][PT] (Coimbra-B -) Coimbra - Coimbra Parque - Serpins: (Ball 17B2) From Coimbra-B (B for bifurcação = junction) on the Lisboa - Porto main line, a short 1.7km electrified branch serves the main station in the sizeable university city of Coimbra. Continuing beyond Platform 1 on the south-west side of what is otherwise a terminal station, a single line then heads south-eastwards, first running through the town streets, crossing busy intersections and paralleling the side of a park. This urban section has for many years had a vestigial passenger service, restricted to the very early morning, presumably to avoid conflict with road traffic. Coimbra Parque, a separate small station, originally no more than a bus-stop-type halt, but relocated and upgraded around 1988, is the starting point for all other trains on the 35km Ramal da Lousa to Serpins. In spring 1996, the first train in the morning, the 05:15 Mondays-Fridays from Coimbra-B, called at Coimbra and ran forward through the quiet streets under the street-lights to Coimbra Parque. BLN 776.0160][PT] Setil - Vendas Novas: (Ball 26A3-26A2) Extending from one triangular junction on the Lisboa - Porto main line to another on the Linha do Alentejo out of Barreiro, this single-track line, the sole link between the CP systems north and south of the Tejo estuary, has been expensively upgraded for freight traffic using EU money, including provision of several remote-controlled loops. Only one intermediate station, Coruche, serves any settlement larger than a hamlet, and local passenger service was withdrawn from 1 January 1990, though restored in 1993, with one passenger round-trip running daily, two SX. A weekly long-distance Porto - Faro service, the Comboio Azul (= blue train) also runs, Friday afternoons northbound, Sunday nights southbound. Until recently, this ran via the tight north-to-east curve on viaduct at Setil, the Concordancia Norte do Setil (not quite as rendered on the Quail map), but at some date since 1 March 1996 it was retimed and now reverses in Setil station, though not timetabled to call there. BLN 776.0161][JP] Tokyo: This immense city's dense and diverse urban railway system continues to grow apace, with at least three new lines or line extensions opening within a five-month period. On 2 November 1995, operators Tokyo Waterfront New Transit opened their Yurikamome (= seagull) line from an interchange with JR at Shimbashi to Ariake. From stations with fully-enclosed platforms, light unmanned trains run on rubber tyres along concrete guideways high above an area remarkably similar to London's Docklands, comprising huge vacant areas awaiting redevelopment, and dramatic new buildings, including one in the shape of a gigantic ocean liner. At one point the line describes a complete circle in the median of a dual-carriageway road to climb on to a high bridge over the navigation channel beneath. The present high-level terminus at Ariake is designed to allow for a future extension back towards the city-centre. Less than 100m away is the underground interchange station, Kokusei-Tenjijo, of another entirely new docklands operator, the Tokyo Waterfront Railway. Their Rinkai-fukutoshin line is a conventional 1067mm-gauge metro whose first 4.9km section, Shin-Kiba - Kokusei-Tenjijo - Tokyo Teleport, opened to the public on 30 March 1996, with BLN reporters in attendance. From Shin-Kiba, where passengers are interchanged with JR East suburban services and the Teito Rapid Transit Authority Yurakucho subway line, the line heads west through and beneath dockland redevelopment to terminate at Tokyo Teleport, though it is planned to extend westwards to further interchanges with JR at Oimachi and Osaki. The gauge would permit through-running with JR. Through-running from suburban to metro lines is already a major feature of Tokyo's railways, public and private, on three different gauges: 1067mm, 1372mm and 1435mm. Four days earlier, on 26 March, TRTA's Namboku (= south-north) subway line opened its Komagome - Iidabashi - Ichigaya - Yotsuya extension, penetrating closer to the city centre. This new 1067mm-gauge line has fully-enclosed platforms with platform-edge doors, but the trains are not driverless. BLN 776.0162][JP] Takasaki - Yokogawa - Karuizawa - Nagano: The 115.8km 1067mm-gauge Shin-Etsu main line of JR East is famous for the 11km climb through the forested highlands between Yokogawa and Karuizawa, with a gradient of 1 in 15. Worked until 1963 using an Abt rack rail, it has since employed adhesion traction, in the shape of a specialised fleet of 54 Class EF62 Co-Co locomotives hauling freight and some through passenger trains, and 25 Class EF63 Bo-Bo-Bo locos working in pairs piloting ordinary electric multiple-unit trains uphill and down, an unusual and possibly unique arrangement. With separate up and down alignments for much of its length, numerous bridges and tunnels, and expensive working arrangements, this scenic and interesting incline may well close by 1998. The Hokoriku Shinkansen, a high-speed 1435mm-gauge bullet-train line branching from the existing Tokyo - Takasaki - Niigata Joetsu Shinkansen, is already under construction between Takasaki and Nagano, to be completed in time for the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano. Present plans are that Shin-Etsu through freight would be diverted; local passenger workings at each end would be handed over to a 'third-sector' company; and the historic incline would be abandoned. BLN 776.0163][JP] Noheji - Shichinohe: Far from busy Tokyo and the Shinkansen bullet-train network, this quiet little branch, which connects at Noheji with the Morioka - Aomori main line of JR East in north-eastern Honshu, is run by the 'third-sector' Nambu Jukan railway, part-financed by the prefecture and the local authorities. The first 5km of its 21km length is a former alignment of the main line, the rest opening in 1962. Serving only rural communities and a college on the way to its terminus in the small town of Shichinohe, the branch is single 1067mm-gauge track throughout, much of it grass-grown. Passing loops which remain are out of use. Freight service ceased in 1984. Electric token instruments are retained and semaphore signals still protect the entry to Shichinohe station. Five return trips per day are operated by a four-wheeled railbus. The railway claims that it is the only one in Japan to use railbuses, and indeed other lines do seem to employ bogie vehicles. When BLS inspectors took a return trip on the branch on 2 April 1996, just a single passenger other than their own group used the train, and then only for a next-station 5km journey. The line's future must be doubtful. BLN 776.0164][JP] Aomori - Hakodate: Linking the city of Aomori on the main island of Honshu with the city of Hakodate in the northern island of Hokkaido, JR's Tsugaru Kaikyo