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Mönchengladbach / District of Viersen. After intensive consultations, the heads of administration of the city of Mönchengladbach, the district of Viersen, the city of Viersen and the city of Willich have drawn up a declaration of mutual support for projects in local rail transport that is ready for signature.
An essential part of the agreement is the extension of the S 28 to Viersen. Over the past few months, new consultations have been started on this between the partner municipalities. The joint declaration was voted on in the past few weeks. It can now be submitted to the responsible committees of the cities and the district for resolution.
In addition to the extension of the S 28 with the final stop at Viersen station, the agreement also includes a number of other local rail passenger transport projects on the left Lower Rhine. These have positive effects for the entire region. These include:
- Maintaining the RE 13 line (Venlo-Viersen-Mönchengladbach-Düsseldorf-Wuppertal-Hamm) and securing the connection of today’s stops with the usual frequency when realizing a fast passenger rail connection between Eindhoven and Düsseldorf
- The acceleration of the RE8 between Cologne and Mönchengladbach and the establishment of a second S6 on the route by building a second track between Rheydt Hauptbahnhof and Rheydt-Odenkirchen
- The extension of the S8 via Mönchengladbach Hauptbahnhof to Rheydt Hauptbahnhof or optionally to Erkelenz / Hückelhoven, connected with an additional stop in the area of the Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences.
The parties involved agree that the projects as a whole are an important building block for the development of regional rail transport. The agreement is therefore a milestone on the way to sustainable and climate-friendly mobility on the left Lower Rhine. The compatibility between the S 28 and the cycle expressway between Krefeld, Willich and Mönchengladbach is also stipulated in the agreement.
District Administrator Dr. Andreas Coenen says: “I am pleased that with the regional consensus we have finally reached an agreement on the extension of the S 28 to Viersen. In addition to the other connections it contains, this is a very important project for the mobility transition, for which we have fought for a long time. The entire region will benefit. Now we can finally start with the implementation. “
Mayor Felix Heinrichs emphasizes: “The challenges of the future are so great that we can only make progress in close collaboration with our regional partners. Sustainable mobility by rail is a mega project that is long overdue. For Mönchengladbach, the continuation of the S8 at least to Rheydt and the expansion of the RE13 to Eindhoven are elementary. Other projects such as the acceleration of the RE8 between Cologne and Mönchengladbach or the expansion of commercial space at the airport have priority and benefit the entire region. When expanding the S28, we were able to agree on clear framework conditions that are extremely important for nature, the residents and the city as a whole. This is a good package with which we can now start the discussion in the city. “
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