NIEBÜLL, Germany — Railroad Development Corp. — the Pittsburgh-based parent company of Iowa Interstate Railroad, as well as rail operations in Peru, Germany, France, England, and Belgium — has bought a controlling share in a short line freight and passenger operator in northwest Germany.
RDC purchased the majority share in Norddeutschen Eisenbahn Niebüll GmbH, or NEG, based in the state of Schleswig Holstein, near the border with Denmark, from Luxembourg’s national rail operator CFL, or Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Luxembourgeois. The transaction, announced Thursday, Feb. 10, is backdated to Jan. 1, 2022. Local reports say RDC has taken a 75% share in the company, while CFL retains a minority stake and intends to be involved in future business growth. Value of the deal was not disclosed.
NEG, which CFL bought in 2001, is the privatized successor to a series of mostly state- or regional government-owned firms that built the company’s main line from Niebüll to Dagebüll-Mole, originally a meter-gauge line that was converted to standard gauge in 1926. The line was built to make connections with ferries to offshore islands at Dagebüll. It continues to fulfil this role, conveying through cars from German national rail company Deutsche Bahn on the rear of NEG’s DMU trains for several months each year.
Plans to electrify the Niebüll/Dagebüll-Mole line were announced in 2021. This will enable continued operation of the DB long-distance services after 2024, when new Talgo-built ICE-L (Intercity Express Low Level) equipment is to replace conventional cars.
NEG also owns a route from Niebüll to the German/Danish border at Tønder, used by passenger services that NEG operates with Danish company Arriva Tog, plus some shorter freight-only trackage north of Hamburg. NEG operates freight services on its routes and has a maintenance shop in Niebüll.
RDC’s German Group is already largely based in Schleswig-Holstein, with a base in Niebüll alongside NEG, so the two companies know each other well, RDC chairman Henry Posner III said in a statement announcing the deal.
The RDC German operations include car- and truck-carrying trains to the island of Sylt, which is only connected to the German mainland by railway. The company has also run seasonal overnight trains connecting north Germany with Austria and Switzerland, and owns an equipment leasing company and a charter-train specialist operator.
