German railway company, 1999 to 2004
The
Dortmund-Markische Eisenbahn GmbH (DME)
was a German train operating company, that operated the
Dortmund
?
Hagen
?
Ludenscheid
train service (route
RB52
) from 30 May 1999 to 11 December 2004. It was a subsidiary of the
Dortmunder Stadtwerke
(74%) and the
Markische Verkehrsgesellschaft
(26%), the municipal public transport operators of
Dortmund
and
Markischer Kreis
.
[1]
History
[
edit
]
As part of the German rail reform after
German reunification
, regulation of regional train services passed from federal to state (
Lander
) control in 1996. In
North Rhine-Westphalia
, the state established regional rail authorities (
Aufgabentrager
). Two of them,
Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr
(VRR) and
Zweckverband SPNV Ruhr-Lippe
(ZRL) put the operation of route RB52, operated hitherto by
Deutsche Bahn
,
out to tender
as a pilot project. In 1996, the
bidding consortium
of Dortmunder Stadtwerke and Markischer Verkehrsgesellschaft won this tender,
[2]
they then founded the DME on 11 September 1997.
[3]
After acquiring rolling stock, DME started operation on 30 May 1999. It was the first
private railway
(non-DB rail company) to win a competitive tender of rail operations in North Rhine-Westphalia.
[4]
[5]
In 2002, route RB52 was tendered out by VRR and ZRL once again, this time as part of the
Sauerland-Netz
, together with routes RE57 (
Dortmund
?
Arnsberg
?
Bestwig
?
Winterberg
), RB53 (Dortmund ?
Schwerte
?
Iserlohn
) and RB54 (
Unna
?
Frondenberg
?
Menden
?
Neuenrade
). DME took part in this competition, but lost to
DB Regio NRW
. Since 12 December 2004, that rail company has thus been running on the former DME route.
[2]
The company, which was registered at the Dortmund Amtsgericht under
HRB 12798
, was then dissolved on 10 January 2006, the specially trained employees seconded to DME in 1999 were taken over again by Dortmunder Stadtwerke or Markische Verkehrsgesellschaft and the four vehicles were sold. After the settlement of the transport contracts and the resolution of disputes regarding vehicle financing and the accidents, the company ceased to exist on 8 September 2011.
[6]
Operation
[
edit
]
The DME operated the
Regionalbahn
route
RB 52
with the brand name
Volmetalbahn
, running between
Dortmund Hbf
and
Ludenscheid
stations. From North to South, this route used the following railway lines:
VRR
was the responsible
regional rail authority
for the cities of
Dortmund
and
Hagen
, and the
Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis
for the section between Dortmund Hbf and
Hagen-Rummenohl
, and ZRL for the
Markischer Kreis
for the section between
Schalksmuhle-Dahlerbruck
and Ludenscheid. Within the VRR its fares applied, within the ZRL the fares of the Verkehrsgemeinschaft Ruhr-Lippe (VRL).
The timetable consisted of a daily hourly service in both directions, stopping at all stations. It began Mondays to Fridays at 5 am, Saturdays at 6 am, Sundays at 8 am, and ended daily at 10 pm.
[7]
Rolling stock
[
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]
The DME used four three-part
diesel multiple units
(VT 01.101, VT 01.102, VT 01.103 und VT 01.104) of the type
Bombardier Talent
with 1st and 2nd class, with one DMU always used as a reserve.
[8]
Maintenance was carried out in the workshops of the Dortmunder Eisenbahn.
Several times, vehicles were damaged in accidents; a shunting accident on 26 August 2002 was particularly consequential, after which two of the four vehicles were out of service for six months. Vehicles from other railway companies were rented as replacements, including identical Talent DMUs from
Ostmecklenburgische Eisenbahn
, a
Regio-Sprinter
from
Durener Kreisbahn
, two MAN rail buses from Karsdorfer Eisenbahngesellschaft and a demonstration vehicle of the
LINT 41
by
Alstom LHB
.
[8]
After the DME ended its services, the four vehicles were bought by the rolling stock leasing company
Alpha Trains
. They were then leased to
Eurobahn
and
NordWestBahn
,
[7]
[9]
[10]
today, all four DMUs are in service as 643 124, 121, 122 and 123 for
Transdev Regio Ost
(
Mitteldeutsche Regiobahn
).
[11]
External links
[
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]
Literature
[
edit
]
- Christian Kuhlmann:
Regionalisierung des Schienenpersonennahverkehrs ? Chancen und Grenzen.
Tectum, Marburg 2002, ISBN 3-8288-5106-1.
References
[
edit
]