Lease agreement signed between Wiehl town council and RSE

It had become quite in the controversy about the future of the Wiehltalbahn after courts decided in favour of a continued operation. Now the hatchet got buried officially.

On 2. March, 2011, the city of Wiehl and the Rhein-Sieg-Eisenbahn (RSE) signed a lease contract for that part of the track that is located on the urban area of the city of Wiehl. Consistent contracts with the other involved local authorities will follow.

Daniel Preis (CEO of RSE) handed on a small tomahawk to the mayor of Wiehl - Werner Becker-Blonigen - wich was buried immediately. Photo: Gerhard ManselDaniel Preis, CEO of the RSE, brought a small tomahawk along  when signing the contract and suggested to bury it immediately – a proposal that was gladly accepted by the mayor of Wiehl.

The "Förderkreis zur Rettung der Wiehltalbahn e.V." (fund raising group for the preservation of the Wiehltalbahn – registered society) had taken the track at rent from the DB in 1998 and assigned the Rhein-Sieg-Eisenbahn (RSE) as railway infrastructure company to operate it.

Since the acquision of the track by the local authorities in 2006 and the cancellation of the lease contract with the fund raising group by the new owners no lease contract did exist – that changed now again.

The crucial signatures. Photo: Gerhard Mansel

Had the fund raising group assigned the Rhein-Sieg-Eisenbahn (RSE) with the operation up to now, the cooperation treaty was being designed that way now, that the RSE is the new leaseholder and the legal responsibility is directly with a railway company. This will hardly have any influence on the field work practice.

Gerhard Mansel, chairman of the fund raising group, assured on the occasion of the signature of the contract that he will continue being the contact person in situ. Also the active members of the fund raising group – who invested 3500 voluntary working hours in the track last year – will continue to maintain the track under the guidance of the RSE, as well to conduct the railbus rides and to conduct the tourism trains of the "Bergischer Löwe" together with the colleagues of the railway museum Dieringhausen.

The long-term tense situation already released tension during the last months. Last autumn the city of Wiehl for example for the first time chartered the Wiehltalbahn railbus for themselves for a ride with guests from the twin city Crimmitschau. With visible joy the mayor of Wiehl, Werner Becker-Blonigen, took the role of the travel guide in the rail coach.

Construction of a level crossing in Wiehl

On the day of the signature of the contract the city of Wiehl, RSE and the fund raising group not just made peace with the past, but also took the opportunity to clearify concrete issues for the future in form of a contract for the construction of a new level crossing on the area of the station Wiehl.

On both sides road stumps already come up to the rails. The Rhein-Sieg-Eisenbahn and the city of Wiehl signed the so called "crossing contract" subsequently to the lease contract, which regulates the financial, constructional and legal questions of the crossing of rails and road.

From the fund raising group's point of view the constructional changes, which are financially carried by the city of Wiehl,  will increase the value of the Wiehl station.

Although the loading and storage track (track 3) will be shortened to have just two instead of three rails on the level crossing (the flow of traffic will benefit from it) a sufficient, usable length of 100 meters is left. And even more important: Part of the contract is the decision to ensure the enduring usability of the end-loading platform at the end of track 3, as Wiehl is an official freight terminal and can be reached from every other freight terminal connected to the railway net..

The crossing will cutt he present platform 2. So an alteration of the platforms is unavoidable. Two side-boarding platforms will be built: platform 1 south of the planned crossing and platform 2 north of it, which is rendered possible in the first place by the relocation of the point to platform 3. Already the passengers of the touristly trains of the “Bergischer Löwe”, for which up to now just a narrow platform is available, will benefit from the new platforms.

The city of Wiehl plans to build a coach terminal at the Wiehl station. The new platform 1 will then allow the direct change between bus and railway. This is as well an investment for an regional rail transport as the length of both platforms, which allows for trains with a length of up to 155 meters, what conforms with the specification of the transport association Rhine-Sieg (VRS) for local traffic platforms.

Thomas Gaisbauer, technical deputy of the city of Wiehl, hopes for a realisation of this plans until the end of this year. He assumes construction costs of up to 700.000€. While the city of Wiehl and - in form of a grant – the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia pay for all described measures directly linked to the crossing, it is in the responsibility of RSE and Wiehltalbahn to recondition the rails of platform 1, that currently can’t be used because of the bad state of the railroad sleepers. Wiehl will then be an adequate crossing station again.

Making peace and turning swords into ploughshares: The tomahawk got swapped with excavator and tamping machine in Wiehl.

The city of Wiehl reports about the signature of the contracts with text, photos and a video on its  Website.