1. Missing regional transborder rail – connection Nijmegen - Kleve European Parliament, 25.January 2012, Dr. Artur Leenders, Deputy mayor of the city of Kleve

2. Only 26 km are missing

3. History  1865: Opening of the Railway Kleve – Nijmegen  1879 Railway Connection Amsterdam – Nijmegen – Köln (Bridge across the Waal) (Bridge across the Waal)  1988 Amsterdam – Köln is closed  1991 Last train Kleve - Nijmegen

4. Reasons to close the connection  Cross border fee: 10 guldens extra fee on every ticket  Low frequency: only 5 trains / day  Didn`t stop at Groesbeek and Heijendaal (University and Radbout – Hospital)  DB refused to automize the track (5 crossing keepers) (5 crossing keepers)

5. 1991 – 2012 The border is gone!  Traffic has increased in both countries  Economy and trade have become international  Kleve belongs to the region Arnhem – Nijmegen and not to the Ruhrgebiet  People of both countries live, work and study in the neighbourcountry

6. Passenger expectations  Enschede – Gronau: 1200 p./ day  Venlo – M`gladbach: 1600 p./day  Heerlen – Aachen: 800 p./day  Nijmegen – Kleve: 2000 p./day (Herman Katteler, IST Radbout Universiteit Nijmegen, 2005) (Herman Katteler, IST Radbout Universiteit Nijmegen, 2005)

7. Costs Röhr – AGV – Inquiry (1998) Röhr – AGV – Inquiry (1998) Nijmegen – Border: 17.1 Mill. Euro Border – Kleve: 14,2 Mill. Euro Total costs: 31,1 Mill. Euro CVAV – Rapport 26 (2005) CVAV – Rapport 26 (2005) Nijmegen – Border: 16,8 Mill. Euro Border – Kleve : 14,4 Mill. Euro Total costs: 31,2 Mill. Euro

8. Problems in Kleve

9. We took away one bridge

11. And we don´t want it back

12. Why does Kleve want the connection?  30% of the clients in the shops in Kleve are dutch  30% of the money on the banks in Kleve is dutch money  All the inscriptions on the shops in Kleve are bi – lingual  And:

13. We have a university

15. We checked it 2007

16. The result of Rot 8 considering the railway connection The economic benefit of the railway connection Nijmegen – Kleve for the Euregio is very much higher than the costs

17. The opinion in Kleve is:

18. Whether we get a train

19. Or a tram

20. We would welcome both, but:  To realize the connection, we need money from the Euregio, from the german government, from Düsseldorf and from the European Parliament in Brussels  Will we get it only for a train or will we get it also for a tram?