page_title: Düren–Neuss railway
section_title: Decline of the Düren–Bedburg section
hierarchical_section_title: Düren–Neuss railway / History / Decline of the Düren–Bedburg section
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Mit 27 Minuten Verspätung ist der letzte Personenzug aus Richtung Bedburg in Düren auf Gleis 19 eingetroffen: N 8486 von Neuss, planmäßige Ankunft 20.55 Uhr, Lok 215 095-1 zog 4 Wagen. Der Bahnsteiglautsprecher verkündete in knappest möglicher Form: "Düren, hier Bahnhof Düren, Gleis 19. Verspätet eingefahrener Nahverkehrszug endet hier."
context_page_description: The Düren–Neuss railway is a line in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The non-electrified main line originally ran from Düren to Neuss, but the Düren–Bedburg section has been closed and dismantled.
context_section_description: With the commissioning of the so-called east-west S-Bahn (S 8) on 29 May 1988, the timetable concept of the Düren–Neuss line was modified. The new S-Bahn line between Mönchengladbach, Neuss, Düsseldorf and Hagen ran every 20 minutes and replaced commuter services on many sections. Therefore, most Düren–Düsseldorf services were shortened to the Düren–Neuss route. In addition, a regular interval timetable was established on the remaining Düren–Neuss section. At the time, this was a rare exception in regional transport, since before 1991 Deutsche Bundesbahn operated few services at regular intervals except on S-Bahn networks and Intercity services.
  Because services every 20 minutes from Neuss towards Düren would have been excessive, only every second S-Bahn service was met by a connecting train, so a 40-minute service was operated between Neuss and Grevenbroich. Only every second train continued to Düren, so that a service ran every 80 minutes between Grevenbroich and Düren, which was not very useful for passengers. During the morning peak hour there were some deviations from the regular interval pattern and some additional services. During the afternoon peak hour, the 80-minute service was reinforced between Bedburg and Neuss to provide a 40-minute cycle. The end of the Düren–Bedburg section was approaching, as the redevelopment of the line in the next seven years was foreseen as a result of the expansion of the Hambach surface mine, which was approved in the 1970s. On Sundays, the entire line was served every two hours. In addition, in 1988, some direct connections were restored from Horrem to Neuss in the peak hour. Through trains continued to run to and from Heimbach, but less than before and mostly only to/from Neuss instead of to/from Düsseldorf. Their numbers continued to decline over the next few years; the 1990/91 timetable only listed one daily direct connection to Heimbach and two return services, with three on Saturdays in both directions.
  On 2 June 1991, when DB introduced regular-interval services for regional services, the operating concept of the Düren–Neuss line was fundamentally changed. The trains now ran every hour on the whole line from Neuss to Horrem, but only on weekdays, as there had been no service from Saturday afternoon on the Erft Railway for nearly three decades. Additional services ran between Neuss and Grevenbroich on weekdays providing a service with intervals alternating between 20 and 40 minutes, services ran on the Erft Railway mostly at half-hourly intervals, and the previously prevailing break from 9:00 to 12:00 was abolished. As a result of this changeover, the intermediate stations north of Bedburg were given a much improved connection to Cologne. Since Cologne is not only larger than Aachen, but also closer to these stations, additional traffic was expected compared to the previous orientation to Düren and Aachen. In addition, of course, there would be improved connections from the Erft Railway to the commuter destination of Düsseldorf.
  The disadvantage of these changes was that there were no longer any through services towards Heimbach. In addition, the Bedburg–Düren section was operated only as isolated shuttle service, although now it ran every hour, even on Sundays. Compared to the hourly express train service (Aachen –) Düren – Cologne – Düsseldorf (– Dortmund)—now the RE 1 Regional-Express service—established in 1991, the direct connection from Düren to Dusseldorf via Bedburg and Neuss was completely unattractive because of the need to change trains twice. To make matters worse, the connections in Bedburg were only convenient in one direction due to scheduling constraints, in the morning from Düren to Neuss and in the afternoon in the opposite direction; otherwise the wait to change trains in Bedburg was over 30 minutes.
  This situation was improved on 31 May 1992: direct trains between Düren and Neuss were restored on Saturday afternoons and Sundays. On weekdays, however, the situation described above regarding transfers in Bedburg remained. The Düren–Bedburg line was thus one 
caption: At 21:22 the last passenger train from Bedburg in Düren arrived on track 19: N 8486 from Neuss hauled by locomotive 215 095-1
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