Attraction

Miljoenenlijn Halteplaats Station Kerkrade

Stationsstraat 70
Kerkrade
In 1934 the route Simpelveld-Kerkrade-Schaesberg was put into use. The name 'Miljoenenlijn' was created due to the high construction costs. Despite the very short length of only 12.5 kilometres, the construction cost more than 12 million guilders, which at that time was a lot of money
huge amount.

Tunnels and bridges had to be built and a total of 3.5 million cubic meters of soil was moved to compensate for the height differences. The Miljoenenlijn was initially only used for freight and coal transport. After the closure of the coal mines, the Miljoenenlijn was no longer profitable.

It was then decided to maintain the railway as a museum line. The South Limburg Stoomtrein Maatschappij (ZLSM) nowadays provides the nostalgic rides between Kerkrade-Centrum and Schin op Geul. Information about boarding places and driving days can be found on the website.

Construction started in 1925 and was carried out by the Spoorwegbouwbedrijf from Utrecht, a subsidiary of the Dutch Railways. Construction was very laborious and expensive. For example, mining could constantly cause subsidence.

In order to keep differences in height as small as possible, a lot of ground is moved in the hilly area. While in the valley of the Anstelerbeek in Kerkrade the railway embankment is raised about 32 meters, the railway line between Kerkrade and Simpelveld (so as not to
having to ascend and descend a lot) more than 18 meters below ground level.
This text has been automatically translated using an online translation service.

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