GOOD PRACTICE CASE STUDY

“Haller Willem” – From uncomfortable, slow train rides to modern intermodal transport - revitalisation and modernisation of a regional railroad line

Demonstration site Dissen/Bad Rothenfelde-, Thematic Area Seamless and Intermodal Networks and Services Date of latest update of document 27.05.03

Table of contents

KEY SUCCESSES ...... 2 ABSTRACT ...... 2 URBAN PROFILE ...... 4 BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES ...... 4 POLITICAL AND INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK ...... 5 PRESENT STAGE OF IMPLEMENTATION ...... 6 LESSONS LEARNED ...... 10 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION...... 11 BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 11

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Key successes · Revitalisation of a regional railroad line (originally dating back to 1886) · The old tracks were modernised to suit modern low-floor trains · Train stations were reorganised, some relocated, two new stations set up in order to satisfy passenger needs · New residential areas were constructed close to the railroad line to ensure environmentally friendly access (by foot or bike) · Intermodality was taken care of by bringing bus stations close to the train stations, by offering corresponding train and bus connections with matching timetables and tickets valid on both means of transport, as well as by providing Park and Ride as well as Bike and Ride facilities Abstract On August 15, 1886, “Haller Willem”, a railroad line of approx. 60 km connecting Osnabrück in Lower Saxony in Northwestern Germany with Bielefeld in North Rhine , started operation. It was named after a coachman from , a city on the railroad line, who had served the route with his coaches before. Over the years, the line experienced the common fate of most rural branch lines – they were highly appraised in the early years, but with the advance of affordable cars, they became more and more dispensable. As less and less travellers used trains to get from A to B, German railroad responded to the decreasing demand by decreasing its offer, which, in turn, made the railroad line even less attractive to potential customers. In 1984, the last regular passenger train ran the whole route from Osnabrück to Bielefeld, then the Lower Saxonian (Osnabrück) part of the line was closed down for passenger transport. “Haller Willem” had, in its early days, also been the main means of transport for coal and ore, raw goods needed for steel production. But more and more goods were either transported on trucks or on more direct, faster railroad lines. (The initial speed of “Haller Willem” was 40 km/h.) In 1991, no more freight trains ran all the way between Bielefeld and Osnabrück. Only Bielefeld-Dissen-Bad Rothenfelde remained in operation. In the past decades, railroad lines which were not serviced any more became very likely to be shut down forever, including removal of the track. As the North Rhine Westphalian half of the railroad

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line was still used, there was some more pressure on German railroad to leave the Lower Saxonian part untouched, at least for a while. “Demand-responsive” offers on the North Rhine Westphalian part resulted in fewer trains running during the week, no trains on Saturday afternoons and evenings and no trains on Sundays. The situation became rather desolate and another shut down could almost be expected. But a citizen’s initiative was founded as early as 1982, first simply interested in better public transport at the Eastern end of the railroad line, in Bielefeld. But over the years, particularly the North Rhine Westphalian half of “Haller Willem” became a central concern of a group of people finally founding the “Initiative Haller Willem” (IHW) in 1991, planning on revitalising this regional means of transport. This initiative was and is supported by VCD (“Verkehrsclub Deutschland“, environmentally oriented consumer association), GNU (“Gemeinschaft für Natur und Umweltschutz im Kreis Gütersloh“, a regional environmental initiative), “Pro Bahn” (a consumer association concerned with everything relating to German rail) and GdED, (“Gewerkschaft der Eisenbahner Deutschlands”, the trade union of railroad workers in Germany), supported by various citizens. An idea was born not only to simply revitalise the line by having the old trains run on the old tracks, but also to create a modern, customer-friendly, easy accessible intermodal transportation system. In 1996, IHW presented concrete suggestions. Fortunately, a major event lay ahead: Expo 2000, the world exhibition in Hannover in Lower Saxony. The Expo did not only show national and international developments at the exhibition site, it also invited accompanying actions, so-called “worldwide projects”, and IHW (together with the municipalities concerned and German rail as project partners) successfully managed to present its project idea to the relevant jury. 4,000 project ideas were presented, 800 from 123 countries were finally selected, “Haller Willem” being one of them. Since the Expo received a lot of attention on all levels of government as well as in the media, it became much easier to find supporters and financial support after the approval as an Expo project than it had been before. The “Expo project” status itself did not lead to direct financial support, only efforts to present the project at the Expo were financed directly. As the citizen’s initiative could not handle the whole project on its own on an honorary basis, the regional transport provider VV OWL (East Westphalian-Lippe Transport Association) was asked in 1999 to take over the main responsibilities. A new post was created for the head of IHW, Michael Dresbach, and the professional project team started further negotiations with local and regional government as well as German rail. First work on the track started in June 1999 and in the end, the project had achieved most of its original aims, which were summarised under three headings: · „fascinating rail technology“ – renewal of the track, new low-floor trains, new radio signalisation technology (FFB) · "train stations - networks for customer service" – renewal of platforms with comfortable equipment, various service and information offers, intermodal knodes, creation of a high quality surrounding area · "Quality of life with track access” - construction of new living quarters in walking distance of the stations, new stations close to where people already live, relocation of stations In North Rhine Westphalia, “Haller Willem” has become a modern, easily accessible, comfortable, comparatively fast, environmentally friendly, reliable means of public transport. And by the end of 2003, the next step will be taken: The Lower Saxonian part will also be revitalised, i.e. the railroad line of 1886 will once again be fully functional.

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Urban profile “Haller Willem” is a railroad line in the North-West of Germany. Its catchment area has approx. 800,000 inhabitants (1999), 500,000 of them living in the area of the original Expo project in North Rhine Westphalia. Bielefeld, starting point of the “Haller Willem” trains there, a university city, is among the 20 largest cities in Germany with 325,000 inhabitants. Osnabrück, the former and future “other end” of the railroad line (in Lower Saxony), is also a university city, housing 157,000 inhabitants. The size of the 15 catchment area municipalities between Bielefeld and Osnabrück ranges from 6,500 (Bad Rothenfelde) to 94,500 inhabitants (Gütersloh). Little information is available on transport data, but there is one figure shedding a little light on the situation in Osnabrück and Bielefeld. 2002, inner city bus traffic in Osnabrück amounted to the arithmetical average of 217 trips per inhabitant. In Bielefeld, this number was 110. Figures for “Haller Willem” can be found further down in this report.

Background and objectives In 1991, “Haller Willem” the old railroad line of 1886, connecting the university city of Bielefeld in North Rhine Westphalia with the university city of Osnabrück in Lower Saxony, faced the fate of many other regional lines: A continuous decrease in usage, and foreseeable shutdown. But the people living in the catchment area did not want to accept this situation and founded a citizen’s initiative. They wanted more trains, they wanted modern trains, and they wanted the revitalised train line to be an integral part of sustainable urban and regional development. And in 2001, the “Haller Willem“ project initiated by these people received one out of ten Länder prices for sustainable urban development awarded by the North Rhine Westphalian government. This price entitled the project to further financing possibilities. But there were ten years of hard work from 1991, the early days of the initiative, till 2001, when it received the award. As stated before, the initiative was and is supported by VCD („Verkehrsclub Deutschland“, environmentally oriented consumer association), GNU (“Gemeinschaft für Natur und Umweltschutz im Kreis Gütersloh“, a regional environmental initiative), “Pro Bahn” (a consumer association concerned with everything relating to German rail) and GdED, (“Gewerkschaft der Eisenbahner Deutschlands”, the trade union of railroad workers in Germany), as well as various citizens. They planned on creating a modern, customer-friendly, easy accessible intermodal transportation system with stations where people lived, with new residential areas where the railroad line was, with modern low-floor trains running regularly and reliably, offering intermodal interchange nodes for bus transport and other train lines, as well as Park & Ride and Bike & Ride facilities. The Expo 2000, the world exhibition in Hannover, Germany, offered an opportunity to not only accelerate the complex process of finding project partners and finances, but also to use a handy platform to make the project known beyond its regional scope. As the Expo attracted a lot of media attention, it became more attractive for local and regional stakeholders to support one of the Expo’s “worldwide projects”. Since the citizen’s initiative could not handle the whole project on its own on an honorary basis, the regional transport provider VV OWL (East Westphalian-Lippe Transport Association) was asked in 1999 to take over the main responsibilities. A new post was created for the head of IHW, Michael Dresbach, and the professional project team started further negotiations with local and regional government as well as German rail. First work on the track started in June 1999, the project’s objectives being: · „fascinating rail technology“ – renewal of the track, new low-floor trains, new radio signalisation technology (FFB)

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· "train stations - networks for customer service" – renewal of platforms with comfortable equipment, various service and information offers, intermodal nodes, creation of a high quality surrounding area · "Quality of life with track access” - construction of new living quarters in walking distance of the stations, new stations close to where people already lived, relocation of stations In North Rhine Westphalia, “Haller Willem” has become a modern, easily accessible, comfortable, comparatively fast, environmentally friendly, reliable means of public transport where aspects of sustainable regional development have well been taken into account. Intermodal interchange nodes allow for almost seamless travel, using bikes, cars, buses and various train lines, and all means of public transport can be used on just one ticket. The Expo project has attracted so much attention, that Lower Saxony could be convinced to follow the good example, and by the end of 2003, the whole railroad line of 1886 will once again be fully functional.

Political and institutional framework On August 15, 1886 the first regular trains ran on the state-owned railroad line „Haller Willem“ between Osnabrück and Bielefeld. On April 1, 1895, Osnabrück (and „Haller Willem“) were allocated to “Directorate Münster“ of the state railway. This allocation remained unchanged until 1974. New structural reforms led to the dissolving of „Directorate Münster“. “Haller Willem” was then split according to the Länder affiliation – the North Rhine Westphalian part then belonged to “Directorate Essen” and the Lower Saxonian part to “Directorate Hannover”. German rail remained in charge of regional transport, while the Länder were responsible for local transport. In 1984, passenger transport was restricted to the North Rhine Westphalian part of „Haller Willem“ and in 1989, the Land and German rail signed a framework contract to guarantee further operation in North Rhine Westphalia. In 1996, the citizen’s initiative first publicised its Expo project concept. In ht e same year, the Land North Rhine Westphalia handed down its responsibility for local transport to the districts (Kreise) and the towns which are administrative districts in their own right (kreisfreie Städte), which in turn founded 9 regulatory bodies for this purpose. In the area of East-Westphalia Lippe, the home of the Eastern part of “Haller Willem”, VV OWL has taken over this part. Thus, this regulatory body has taken over negotiations with German rail, while talking to municipalities, districts, the North Rhine Westphalian ministry for transport, energy and spatial planning (MWMTV) at the same time. Since certain responsibilities related to the revitalisation concept lay with all these different bodies, negotiations had to be far-reaching and intense. In 1997, German rail, still responsible for regional transport, threatened shut down of the Lower Saxonian part of the railroad line, although the Expo project “Haller Willem” was already underway, but together with the concerned municipalities and the city of Osnabrück, the citizen’s initiative IHW managed to revise this shut down in order to keep options open to revitalise the whole line one day. On January 1, 2001, a new 30-year leasing contract between German rail and the regional Lower Saxonian transport provider Verkehrsgesellschaft Landkreis Osnabrück came into force, at the symbolic price of 1 DM. A similar contract had been signed for the North Rhine Westphalian part. The total cost of the North Rhine Westphalian “Haller Willem” Expo project amounted to approx. 77 mio DM which were financed as follows: · 36.34 mio by the German Schienenwegeausbaugesetz (law for the cultivation/extension of railroad lines) · 19.677 mio regionalisation funds of both North Rhine Westphalia and Lower Saxony

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· 10.473 mio DM building subsidies and finally · 10.242 mio DM German Rail’s own resources In Lower Saxony, 16.3 mio Euro will be invested to modernise the 23 km old track to allow for a speed of 80 km/h. 10.7 of these 16.3 mio € will be financed by the Land Lower Saxony according to the “Regionalisierungsgesetz” (regionalisation law). Present stage of implementation Before its revitalisation, „Haller Willem“ was a slow means of transport, running on a rather deficient schedule, which did not suit the needs of the potential customers. The trains were old, not efficient in terms of energy consumption, the technical installations, especially signalisation, were expensive (also in maintenance), needed a lot of personnel and were very susceptible to interference. The old trains used on the “Haller Willem” line in the 80s were slow and uncomfortable. When looking around for a suitable modern train, the “Haller Willem” project management decided in favour of the futuristic lightweight low-floor railcar TALENT VT 644 in 1996. (3.5 mio DM for two of its predecessors, VT 628, were put at German Rail’s disposal by the Land North Rhine Westphalia as early as 1995.) The TALENT trains, 52 m long, offer approx. 160 seats (partly folding seats). The trains are very efficient in speeding and braking, which is important, as the track is rather demanding. In order to facilitate fast boarding, the three-part vehicle has 6 doors per side, one of them leading directly into a multifunctional compartment for bikes. On the train, there is a sufficient number of luggage storage places next to the seats, and the trains also have a toilet suitable for the handicapped. Since the TALENT is a low-floor train, the doors are at the same height as the platforms (76 cm), i.e. the entrance is barrier-free in principle. However, there is a 20 cm gap in width, not yet covered by ramps. The TALENT offers a good traveller information system and a ticket vending machine. These trains allow for radiotelegraphy, which was supposed to control signalisation and safety features (at crossings). Unfortunately, this is the one aspect of the whole project, which did not really work out as expected. Until today, radiotelegraphy is not really functioning on “Haller Willem”. The new trains needed a new track and new platforms. Work on the track started on 17.06.99, in just a few weeks the first 20 km of permanent way had to be renewed. The rails were dismantled, the sleepers removed, ballast cleaned and partly replaced. Finally, cable lines had to be drawn. 30 mio DM were needed for renewal of the whole track. But in addition, nine platforms had to be renewed, lengthened and adjusted to the height of 76 cm, 5 completely new platforms had to be built. Signalisation technology had to be modernised, level crossings had to be adapted to the new technology, train stations had to be modernised.

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Modernisation of the train stations did not necessarily mean that the old station buildings were modernised and once again returned to their old function. Many “Haller Willem” platforms were equipped with a “DB- Plus-Punkt”, an 11.5 x 3 m modular wind-protected shelter of aluminium and glass, 3.8 m high in the middle, offering a ticket vending machine, passenger information, video control, mailbox and an emergency telephone. The old station buildings were partly used to accommodate other services interesting for potential travellers such as kiosks, bicycle rental and repair, shops etc. The surroundings of some of the stations were also modernised and made more attractive, for example by offering additional incentives such as a cinema or stores. One station is the starting point of a 3 km “art mile”, with sculptures financed by sponsors. For the success of the „new“ „Haller Willem“ it was necessary to attract potential passengers in an optimal way. School children were a basic group of passengers on weekdays, their needs had to be considered accordingly. Other tiers of potential passengers included: · commuters, who were not attracted by the train before, because trains were not running often enough or because there were no adequate bus lines taking them to the train on time, or because the surrounding quarters of the train stations were not particularly attractive · long-distance travellers wanting to catch IC or ICE trains in Osnabrück or Bielefeld who had to use uncomfortable bus lines with irregular schedules before, with little room for luggage · tourists and visitors to spas wanting to discover the surrounding area, faced with the problems of little room for luggage, long travel times, inconvenience when wanting to use various modes of transport · leisure travellers (for shopping purposes, going to sports or cultural events, hikers, bikers) At the starting and ending points of the railroad line, Bielefeld and Osnabrück, passengers can easily change to long-distance trains in the direction of Bremen/Hamburg, Rhine/, Rhein/Main, and Hannover/Berlin. In Bielefeld, 38.000 travelers board 340 trains daily. However, the train times have not yet been co-ordinated, someone travelling for example from Halle to Berlin or Cologne will have to wait for about 45 minutes in Bielefeld before getting his connecting train. People who do not live directly in the vicinity of the “Haller Willem” find 7 bus routes with co-ordinated timetables connecting them to 5 of the “Haller Willem” stations. Bus/train access has been modified to allow for direct, barrier-free change of transport mode. The North Rhine Westphalian integral sequenced schedule (“Integraler Taktfahrplan” ITF) was introduced in Ostwestfalen-Lippe, the region of the “Haller Willem”, in the spring of 1998. Even before the introduction of the “Haller Willem” project, this measure led to a significant increase in passenger travel, especially due to rides on Saturdays after 15:00 and on Sundays when there were no trains before. The integral sequenced schedule requires minimum hourly running times of 6-20:00 on weekdays, 7:30 until 16:30 on Saturdays (and 2-hourly connections afterwards), as well as 2- hourly running times from 10-20:00 on Sundays all through North Rhine Westphalia.

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To attract as many of these potential customers as possible, the “Haller Willem” initiative thought that trains at 30 minute intervals were a prerequisite, with the possibility of maybe having some “express” trains, not stopping at all the stations, and some “regular” trains, stopping everywhere. Now (May 2003), trains run at 30-minute intervals between Bielefeld and Halle on weekdays (from early in the morning until the evening, later in the evening there are less trains at a 30 minute interval, but trains run until 22:03), and there are hourly trains between Halle and Dissen-Bad Rothenfelde. On Saturdays, trains run hourly on the whole route, on Sundays the interval is 2 hours. This is not quite what was expected, but much more than was offered before “Haller Willem” was revitalised. People, who live in the catchment area of “Haller Willem” but not on one of the bus routes, may want to park a car at the train station. In most cases, they find special Park & Ride places for this purpose (but at some of the more rural stations there are as few as 7 or 8 parking spaces). Park & Ride was promoted by a special campaign with posters, ads, post cards and signposts. For passengers who live close enough to access the station by bike, there are sheltered Bike & Ride places (30 to 60 places at various stations). There is also a bike route (Teuto-Senne-Route) running parallel to the railroad line (see the map, the bike route is red, the railroad line black). It is the first bike-rail-route in Germany and offers the possibility of taking the train part of the way and of cycling as far as one wants alongside the railroad line. The concept of Haller Willem has not only been to modernise the existing railroad line with its existing stations, but also to create new residential areas, to build new stations or relocate stations where necessary. Close to the new stations Quelle-Kupferheide, Steinhagen Bielefelder Straße and Künsebeck approx. 2,000 new flats are being constructed for more than 4,000 people.

In Quelle-Kupferheide, the new residential area is generating its electricity with solar power, the ecological orientation of the project favours walking and cycling, thus reserving less space for motorised traffic than normally assigned to it.

In Halle Pape, an old industrial site was given up, now it has become a new residential area and the station has been relocated to meet the new requirements.

Besides passenger transport, there is still freight transport on the “Haller Willem “ line.

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Train station modernisation – before and after

Halle station 1997 Halle station 2001 inside 2001 inside 1997

Results and impacts As explained above, the “Haller Willem” project has successfully managed to revitalise a neglected railroad line and to turn it into a modern, comfortable, means of transport. The success of the project can particularly been seen in the number of passengers which rose from approx. 1,600 on weekdays in 1999 to 2,500 in Sep. 2000.

Fahrgastzahlen RB 75, Haller Willem

3000 2548 2500 2112 2000 1597 1328 1500

1000 Fahrgäste absolut 500

0 Juni-Sept. 98, RES Juni-Sept. 99, RES Juni 2000, VVOWL Sept. 2000, VVOWL

Erhebungszeitraum und Quelle

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Fahrgastentwicklung RB 75 (Bielefeld - Dissen/Bad Rothenfelde), Werktag

+ 97,32 % 3000 2942 2500 Leistungsmehrung 2000 in Zugkilometern: 1500 74,35 % 1491 1000

500

0 Herbst 1996 Herbst 2001

Mittlere Zugbesetzungszahlen 1996: 53

(Fahrgäste pro Zug) 2001: 57 (Langverbinder Bi.-Dissen) 45 (Kurzverbinder Bi.-Halle)

This graph shows that daily weekday passenger numbers increased from 1,491 in autumn 1996 to 2,942 in autumn 2001, i.e. an increase of 97.32 %, which corresponded to an increase of 74.35 % in train km. However, not all aims where reached immediately. A passenger organisation lamented that as soon as the Expo was over, investments in the railroad line were shortened and prices increased. It took much longer than originally expected to modernise the crossings etc. Old trains were still operating in part in 2001, the new trains were susceptible to disturbances, and radiotelegraphy did not work as expected. However, considering the alternatives (shut down of the railroad line or transport at the level of 1980 with uncomfortable trains running at unfavourable times), a lot has been achieved. Lessons learned “It takes two to tango” or: It takes the willpower, steadfastness and staying power as well as the willingness to compromise of several partners (who may first have been antagonists) to realise such a revitalisation project. Had it not been for the citizen’s initiative “Haller Willem “ (IHW), this railroad line would have faced the fate of many others, i.e. shut down. It was, however, very important for the initiative, to find a potent partner such as the regional transport provider VV OWL which had the manpower and finances to follow the project through and negotiate successfully with German rail, the concerned municipalities, districts and the North Rhine Westphalian ministry for transport, energy and spatial planning (MWMTV) at the same time. The Expo as media-intensive event certainly helped the project to find the necessary attention and to convince stakeholders that it was opportune to support the initiative. Times have changed and train lines are no longer shut down as easily as stakeholders have realised that sustainable urban and regional development needs public transport as an integral element, so it may be easier for follower projects to find sympathetic listeners – and financial supporters. However, as long as responsibilities are as split up as they were in this case (local vs. regional vs. national transport, local vs. regional spatial planning, two German Länder involved etc.), negotiations will take a long time and a lot of staying power to carry such a project through. But “Haller Willem” has shown that it is possible, even at times that are not favourable to such an initiative, and followers are certainly welcome to profit from the experiences of this project and to copy its successes.

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Additional information Name: Kai Schulte

Address: VV OWL, Jahnplatz 5, 33602 Bielefeld, Germany Tel: + 49 521 32 94 33 14 Fax: + 49 521 32 94 33 16 E-mail: [email protected] Project website: http://www.hallerwillem.de/ Bibliography I. http://www.hallerwillem.de/ II. http://www.haller-willem.net/

III. Ppt-CD-ROM provided by VV OWL IV. http://www.vvowl.de/ V. http://www.v-o-s.de/69_303.htm VI. http://home.arcor.de/osnabahn/sbrackwede/sbrackwedelang.htm VII. http://www.l-huelsmann.de/haller2.htm VIII. http://www.amshausen.net/hallerwillem.htm IX. http://www.osnanet.de/adfc/kettenblatt/kb301/haller_wilhelm.html X. SCHÜTTE, INGRID UND RÜDIGER UFFMANN (2000): DER HALLER WILLEM – FAHRT IN DIE ZUKUNFT, VERLAG UHLE & KLEIMANN

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