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?