Post on 31-Mar-2015
Missing regional transborder rail – connection Nijmegen - Kleve
European Parliament, 25.January 2012, Dr. Artur Leenders,
Deputy mayor of the city of Kleve
Only 26 km are missing
History
1865: Opening of the Railway Kleve – Nijmegen
1879 Railway Connection Amsterdam – Nijmegen – Köln
(Bridge across the Waal) 1988 Amsterdam – Köln is closed 1991 Last train Kleve - Nijmegen
Reasons to close the connection
Cross border fee: 10 guldens extra fee on every ticket
Low frequency: only 5 trains / day Didn`t stop at Groesbeek and Heijendaal
(University and Radbout – Hospital) DB refused to automize the track
(5 crossing keepers)
1991 – 2012 The border is gone!
Traffic has increased in both countries Economy and trade have become
international Kleve belongs to the region Arnhem –
Nijmegen and not to the Ruhrgebiet People of both countries live, work and
study in the neighbourcountry
Passenger expectations
Enschede – Gronau: 1200 p./ day Venlo – M`gladbach: 1600 p./day Heerlen – Aachen: 800 p./day Nijmegen – Kleve: 2000 p./day
(Herman Katteler, IST Radbout Universiteit Nijmegen, 2005)
Costs
Röhr – AGV – Inquiry (1998)
Nijmegen – Border: 17.1 Mill. Euro
Border – Kleve: 14,2 Mill. Euro
Total costs: 31,1 Mill. Euro
CVAV – Rapport 26 (2005)
Nijmegen – Border: 16,8 Mill. Euro
Border – Kleve : 14,4 Mill. Euro
Total costs: 31,2 Mill. Euro
Problems in Kleve
We took away one bridge
We took away one bridge
And we don´t want it back
Why does Kleve want the connection?
30% of the clients in the shops in Kleve are dutch
30% of the money on the banks in Kleve is dutch money
All the inscriptions on the shops in Kleve are bi – lingual
And:
We have a university
We have a university
We checked it 2007
The result of Rot 8 considering the railway connection
The economic benefit of the
railway connection Nijmegen – Kleve for the Euregio is very much higher than the costs
The opinion in Kleve is:
Whether we get a train
Or a tram
We would welcome both, but:
To realize the connection, we need money from the Euregio, from the german government, from Düsseldorf and from the European Parliament in Brussels
Will we get it only for a train or will we get it also for a tram?