Many regional railway lines in Germany were closed between the 1950s and 1990s, or only low-speed freight transport remained on a stripped-down railway line. This also applies to the railway line from Coevorden to Bad Bentheim.
But that changed about ten years ago. Road traffic increased and public transport became so busy that the maximum capacity of buses came into view. Add to this the higher emissions and nuisance from road traffic. All this made Germany think about putting the closed railway lines back into use. This also applies to Bad Bentheim-Coevorden.
The trains on the Bad Bentheim-Neuenhaus section have been running again since 2019, with success. Not the expected 1,700, but 2,200 to 2,500 travelers use it per day. On Fridays even 3,000. It is expected that driving to Coevorden will generate an additional 900 to 1,000 travelers per day.
For this purpose, 30 million euros will be invested on the Dutch side, the rest of the 65 million euros needed will come from Germany. The Province of Drenthe is contributing more than 10 million euros to this. In addition, an annual operating contribution of 500,000 euros from the province of Drenthe is taken into account.
The connection is of both regional and international importance. For the regions on both sides of the border for commuting to work and school and for regional excursions. And it provides a better and faster train connection if you want to travel further into Germany from Drenthe, towards Berlin, the Ruhr area or southern Germany. A complete detour via Zwolle, Deventer or Twente is then no longer necessary.
In Bad Bentheim the Bentheimer Eisenbahn has a transfer to the regional trains to Rheine/Osnabrück (and Hengelo) and to the ICEs to Berlin (and Amsterdam).