Stadtwerke Neuss

Stadtwerke Neuss GmbH (swn) is the municipal utility and service group of the city of Neuss in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It supplies households and businesses with electricity, natural gas, district heating and drinking water, and it also operates public transport, three swimming pools and an ice rink in the city. The transport arm is a member of the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr (VRR), the regional public transport authority. The company was founded on 19 June 1923. In the 1980s it was spun out as an Eigenbetrieb (a municipal enterprise) of the city, and on 8 July 1991 it was converted into a GmbH (limited liability company). It currently employs around 705 people. Energy and water services are handled by the subsidiary Stadtwerke Neuss Energie und Wasser GmbH (EuW). The shareholders of EuW are Stadtwerke Neuss with 60.1%, RWE with 24.9% and Thüga AG with 15%. EuW holds the concession for the electricity networks in Neuss; since 1 January 2014 those networks have been leased to RWE Deutschland AG. The company also operates a gas network of 496 kilometres with 32,788 installed meters, and a district heating network in the Allerheiligen district that recovers heat from the Aluminium Norf GmbH rolling mill. Drinking water is supplied to more than 114,000 residents, about half of it from the Broichhof waterworks. On the transport side, Stadtwerke Neuss traces its tram history to the early 20th century, when the first tram line in Neuss opened in 1901 and the city built its own tram network from 1910. Today the company focuses on bus services and related mobility offerings within the VRR fare network, alongside its leisure facilities.

Stadtwerke Neuss was founded on 19 June 1923. Its origins are closely tied to the city's early tramway and electricity infrastructure: the first tram connection in Neuss had opened on 21 December 1901 as line B of the Rheinbahn AG, and because that route carried around one million passengers a year, the city decided in 1903 to build its own tram. An electricity works was built for this purpose in 1904, and after the tracks of the Prussian State Railway at the main station were raised in early 1909, the city decided on 12 January to build a tramway. On 24 December 1910 the roughly 4.7 km line opened from the Neusserfurth depot via Venloer Straße, Further Straße, the station, Krefelder Straße, Niederstraße, Oberstraße and Augustinusstraße to Alexianerplatz. Extensions followed in the 1920s. In August 1924 construction began on connections to Kaarst in the northwest and Grimlinghausen in the southeast. The 3.5 km section to Kaarst opened on 7 February 1925 with its own track bed beside the road. On 19 June the 2.8 km section to Leuchtenberg (today's Sporthafen) was handed over to traffic. Two months later, on 29 August, the necessary bridge over the Erft was completed and the last roughly 0.75 km section to Grimlinghausen went into operation. In November a short stub track was installed in front of the main station building, used by line 3 as a terminus. By the end of 1925 there were three lines of the city of Neuss. Further plans included an extension from Kaarst to Schiefbahn, which was never realised. In 1926 the route between Neusserfurth and the station and between Obertor and Alexianerplatz was doubled. Additional routes were planned to the south and west, one via Reuschenberg, Glehn and Liedberg and another via Holzheim, Hülchrath, Grevenbroich, Schelsen and Giesenkirchen to Rheydt. Of these, only a short section via Bergheimer Straße to Eichendorffstraße was built. After opening on 6 December 1928, line 3 ran there, and its terminus was moved from the station to Neusserfurth. Another never-realised plan was an extension from Grimlinghausen via Uedesheim and Dormagen to Cologne. On 12 October 1925 the Rhine bridge south of Neuss was opened to traffic. The Rheinbahn now operated line 16 as a ring line between Düsseldorf and Neuss. Because the city of Neuss had secured a participation in the Rheinbahn, line 16 now ran as a joint line. Until 1957 nothing changed in the city's public transport. On 20 August 1957 new tracks for a terminal loop were laid in Eichendorffstraße. The route was extended by a few metres and was later to be continued to Schillerstraße/Weberstraße, which never happened. On 22 November of that year line 3 was discontinued instead. After considerable citizen protests it had to be reactivated on 11 August 1959. Plans as early as 1957 envisaged connecting the emerging Vogelsang residential area by tram, extending the line by 600 metres through Furtherhofstraße and ending in a turning loop; this was not realised. After the citizens of Kaarst turned against the tram and the operating licence in 1961 was only valid until 1964, the tram era in Neuss came to an end. In the 1980s the Stadtwerke were spun out as an Eigenbetrieb of the city, and on 8 July 1991 they were converted into a GmbH. Today the group employs around 705 people. Energy and water services are bundled in Stadtwerke Neuss Energie und Wasser GmbH (EuW), in which Stadtwerke Neuss holds 60.1%, RWE 24.9% and Thüga AG 15%. EuW is the concession holder for the electricity networks in Neuss, which since 1 January 2014 have been leased to RWE Deutschland AG. The gas network is 496 km long with 32,788 meters. District heating exists for the Allerheiligen district, recovering heat from the Aluminium Norf GmbH rolling mill. Drinking water reaches more than 114,000 residents, about half from the Broichhof waterworks.

• 2014

  On 1 January the electricity networks in Neuss are leased to RWE Deutschland AG.

• 1991

  On 8 July the Stadtwerke are converted into a GmbH.

• 1980

  Stadtwerke are spun out as an Eigenbetrieb of the city.

• 1959

  On 11 August line 3 is reactivated after citizen protests.

• 1957

  On 22 November line 3 is discontinued.

• 1928

  On 6 December a short section via Bergheimer Straße to Eichendorffstraße opens for line 3.

• 1925

  Extensions to Kaarst (7 February), Leuchtenberg (19 June) and Grimlinghausen (29 August) open.

• 1925

  On 12 October the Rhine bridge south of Neuss opens; line 16 runs as a joint ring line with Rheinbahn.

• 1923

  Stadtwerke Neuss is founded on 19 June.

• 1910

  On 24 December the roughly 4.7 km city tram line opens from Neusserfurth to Alexianerplatz.

• 1904

  An electricity works is built for the tram project.

• 1903

  City of Neuss decides to build its own tram.

• 1901

  First tram connection in Neuss opens on 21 December as line B of Rheinbahn AG.

Municipal multi-utility and local service provider for Neuss, combining energy, water, transport and leisure services under one city-owned group.

• Electricity supply

  RECS-certified electricity for private, commercial and business customers; in 2012 deliveries were 260 GWh to private and commercial customers and 53 GWh to business customers.

• Natural gas supply

  Gas network of 496 km with 32,788 installed meters; 2012 sales were 775 GWh for tariff customers and 1,051 GWh for special-contract customers.

• District heating

  District heating for the Allerheiligen district, recovering heat from the Aluminium Norf GmbH rolling mill; network of 15 km with 789 house stations, about 22 GWh fed in and 15.4 GWh sold in 2012.

• Drinking water supply

  Supplies more than 114,000 residents; about half from the Broichhof waterworks, total network input around 6.7 million m³ in 2012.

• Public transport

  Operates public transport in Neuss as a member of the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr (VRR).

• Leisure facilities

  Operates three swimming pools and an ice rink in the city.

1. 1Stadtwerke Neuss official websitestadtwerke-neuss.de
2. 2Stadtwerke Neuss on Wikidatawikidata.org
3. 3Stadtwerke Neuss on German Wikipediade.wikipedia.org