@lasse Yes. It’ll only ever be a branch line, but it serves a route that is 95% in Germany and will be used enough, especially weekdays. And sure, it'll be subsidised, as all such lines in Germany are.
@jon Bentheimer Eisenbahn has looked (is still looking?) into this. They could run it on the cheap with one train set, provided they can arrive and turn in Coevorden in time. Major infra upgrades are necessary to get there, including improving line speed and modifying level crossings. So, yes, doable, but it requires a considerable investment.
@lasse No, that's exactly the point. The existing freight line to Coevorden will remain, and line speed will not be high - it's only c. 80km/h. It's just that the bridge at Coevorden for freight is the wrong way (towards the south west) for passenger trains, hence the other one needs to be repaired. The route after the minor upgrades will not be very fast, but the works are cheap as a result.
@lasse Yeah that's what was quoted in my original toot, but not much money - this is cheap by rail project standards.
And Neuenhaus - Bad Bentheim is good enough now, just about, but when you take it you can tell the tracks are not in great condition. (I was there in May last year)
@jon I had totally missed the original toot, sorry. Other than that, I now see that this is indeed a viable project. It is not that much of an investment to make it work.
@lasse Right. It's not amazing, but it’s solid and good enough. A little investment, for an international branch line that will help the towns either side of the border a bit, and help some people get to work, or have a weekend on the other side of the border. It's appropriate for the setting I think!
@lasse And also bear in mind that other than Coevorden it serves pretty much nothing else, Dutch side. Because Coevorden itself is not very well connected. But there is still enough cross border commuting potential to do it, given most of the infra is present already.
@jon True, though there is talk about building Veendam - Stadskanaal - Emmen. This would link Coevorden directly to Groningen, which would make a difference. Veendam to Stadskanaal already has tracks, but in disrepair.
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