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|} The Witten–Schwelm railway (also called the ''Elbschetalbahn'', Elbsche Valley Railway) is a now disused except for short sections at each end located in the Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis, a district in the southeastern Ruhr area in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The 4.6 km long double-track and electrified section from Witten Hauptbahnhof to Wengern Ost is now used for the transport of freight. The 17 km long and single-track section from Witten-Höhe to Schwelm was intended to be a part of a relief route from the Ruhr to Cologne. It was envisaged that the line to Schwelm would have been extended to the south via Lennep (near Remscheid) to Cologne, but this was not completed due to the outbreak of the First World War. == History == Work on the line began in 1911 and although ultimately only part of the original plan was completed, this was delayed until 1934. Thus Deutsche Reichsbahn opened the first section from the Witten Hauptbahnhof via Witten-Höhe to Wengern Ost on 4 October 1926 with connections to the Ruhr Valley Railway from Hattingen to Hagen. It was then used exclusively for freight for about ten years, relieving the Elberfeld–Dortmund railway. The economic decline during and after the war was the reason for the drawn-out construction of the main part of the line, with most works carried out before 1914.〔 The necessary work to complete the line was implemented in the early 1930s as a job creation measure. The cost of building the line eventually amounted to 50 million Reichsmarks. In the period from 1934 to 1939, a total of 23 passenger trains, including five express trains, operated on the line daily. In addition, there was a considerable amount of freight. During the Second World War, the Silschede Tunnel and the Klosterholz Tunnel were used under the code names of ''Buchfink'' and ''Goldammer'' as underground factories under the ''U-Verlagerung'' Program for the production of weapons, using forced labour.〔 The operation of the railway was resumed after 1945,〔 but traffic decreased steadily in the postwar period. As a result of this decrease, passenger services were closed on the middle section from Witten-Höhe via Wengern West and Albringhausen to Gevelsberg West on 30 November 1979. All traffic on this section ended on 14 January 1980 and the line was formally closed on 1 January 1983.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Witten–Schwelm railway」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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