Mannheim – Saarbrücken railway line

The articles Palatine Ludwig Railway and the Mannheim – Saarbrücken railway line overlap thematically. Help me to better differentiate or merge the articles (→  instructions ) . To do this, take part in the relevant redundancy discussion . Please remove this module only after the redundancy has been completely processed and do not forget to include the relevant entry on the redundancy discussion page{{ Done | 1 = ~~~~}}to mark. a × p de Hello! 12:06 pm, Dec. 19, 2015 (CET)

map

Mannheim Hbf – Saarbrücken Hbf
Route number (DB) :	3250 (Saarbrücken Hbf - Homburg (Saar) Hbf) 3280 (Homburg (Saar) Hbf - Ludwigsh. (Rh) ÜbS) 3401 (Böhl-Iggelh Abzw - Mannheim Hbf)
Course book section (DB) :	279 (1949–1972) 670 (since 1972)
Route length:	130.5 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Route class :	D4
Power system :	15 kV 16.7 Hz  ~
Maximum slope :	(Saarbrücken - Ludwigshafen) 10.9 ‰ (Ludwigshafen - Mannheim) 16.9  ‰
Minimum radius :	281 m
Top speed:	160 km / h
Train control :	PZB (continuous) ZUB 262 (Saarbrücken - Kaiserslautern) ZUB 122 (Kaiserslautern - Neustadt)
Dual track :	continuous, except 3280 Limburghof Abzw - Ludwigsh. (Rh) UbS
Legend from Heidelberg , Stuttgart , Karlsruhe , and Frankfurt am Main Stadion 107.900 Mannheim Central Station 95  m Western introduction of the Riedbahn to Frankfurt,   route to Mannheim Hgbf 107.041 B 36 107.005 Konrad Adenauer Bridge 106.885 Rhine , state border Baden-Württemberg / Rhineland-Palatinate 106.737 106.535 Ludwigshafen (Rhein) Hbf (until 1969) 106,442 Ludwigshafen (Rhine) center 102  m 105.800 Bundesstrasse 38 Approach routes to the terminus 105.758 Ludwigshafen (Rhine) crossing south (Bft) to Mainz 105.5000 105.4890 Mileage jump from BASF and from Mainz 105.000 Ludwigshafen (Rhein) Hbf deep (Bft, since 1969) 92  m 104.275 Ludwigshafen (Rhine) T51 / 52/53 (Bft) Line from the Ludwigshafen freight yard 103.171 Ludwigshafen-Mundenheim (Bft) 96  m Route to the port of Ludwigshafen 101.392 Ludwigshafen- Rheingönheim (Bft) 97  m 99.700 B 9 99.337 Limburgerhof junction 97  m 98.600 L 533 98.475 Limburgerhof 97  m 96.800 Raft ditch Schifferstadt bypass (since 2003) 97.000 Acorn Garden (Bk) 96.036 95.706 Kilometer jump (+330 m) G-Bahn flyover structure (1907–1945) 95.7 L 532 95.455 L 532 94.497 Schifferstadt 103  m to Germersheim 92.500 Federal motorway 61 92.400 Federal motorway 61 91.800 L 532 91.800 L 532 90.918 Böhl-Iggelheim Abzw 106  m 90.000 L 528 89.703 Böhl-Iggelheim 107  m 89.330 Holzweg (Üst) 86.700 L 530 85.940 Hassloch (Palatinate) 115  m 82.836 Hinkelpfad (Üst) 82.370 Bk Pfalzmühle 81.800 Federal motorway 65 81.100 L 530 80.500 Mustbach 79.692 Bundesstrasse 38 Palatine Northern Railway from Monsheim 78.979 Neustadt (Weinstr) Ülp Ost (Bft, formerly Bk) 78.978 Rehbach 78.910 Speyerbach 78.560 Neustadt (Weinstr) -Böbig (Bft) 136  m 77.400 Palatine Maximiliansbahn from Wissembourg 77,600 B 39 77.203 Neustadt (Weinstr) central station 142  m Palatinate Oberland Railway 77.000 Landesstrasse 512 ( German Wine Route ) 75.097 B 39 74.811 Neustadt (Weinstrasse) Schonthal 156  m 74.646 Hochspeyerbach 74.382 Wolfsberg Tunnel (320 m) 74,062 73.298 Wolfsberg 72,600 Lindenberg Knöckel 70.747 Lambrecht (Palatinate) 177  m 70.500 to Elmstein 68.707 B 39 68.600 Hochspeyerbach 67.995 Neidenfels Hp 183  m 67.429 Hochspeyerbach 67.417 Weidenthal Glatz II (Awanst paper mill) 67.390 B 39 67.347 Lichtenstein Head Tunnel (92 m) 67.255 67.182 Hochspeyerbach 67.141 B 39 66,436 Bk item 95 66,100 Neidenfels Üst 196  m 66.021 B 39 65.969 Retschbach tunnel (196 m) 65.773 65.705 B 39, Hochspeyerbach 65,536 Hochspeyerbach 65.504 B 39 65.369 B 39 65,343 Hochspeyerbach 65.290 Schönberg-Langeck-Tunnel (366 m) 64,924 64.877 Hochspeyerbach 64.509 Hochspeyerbach 64.111 B 39, Hochspeyerbach 64.074 Mainzer Berg Tunnel (212 m) 63,863 63.834 B 39 62.666 Weidenthal 217  m 62.145 Gipp tunnel (217 m) 61.928 61.857 Köpfle Tunnel (158 m) 61.699 61,146 Iron wedge tunnel (65 m) 61,081 60.990 B 39 60,569 B 39 60,488 Bend tunnel (302 m) 60.186 59.682 Schlossberg tunnel (208 m) 59.474 59.226 Frankenstein (Palatinate) 242  m 56.132 Franzosenwoog tunnel (79 m) 56.053 55,152 Hochspeyer East 54.350 from / to Bingen 54.225 Hochspeyer 266  m 53,572 B 48 52.300 Althochspeyer 276  m 51.415 Heiligenberg Tunnel (1347 m) 50.066 49.580 Beilstein (Bk) 47.700 volume up 47.700 L 504 from Enkenbach 43.985 Bundesstrasse 37 43,701 Kaiserslautern Hbf 250  m 42.900 to Pirmasens to Lauterecken 41.300 L 395 to the AW Kaiserslautern 40.9 + 75.7 40.8 + 243.4 40.8 + 160 Kennel garden 250  m 40.194 Kaiserslautern AW (Üst) 40.230 Kaiserslautern repair shop 249  m from AW Kaiserslautern 39.240 Kaiserslautern city ​​connection ( Awanst ) 39.100 B 270 38,960 Birdache 246  m 37.870 Einsiedlerhof exit district Einsiedlerhof marshalling yard 246  m 36.150 Einsiedlerhof entrance area 35.658 Einsiedlerhof 246  m 32, 000 Kindsbacher Graben 31,841 Kindsbach 246  m 28.376 Landstuhl 248  m 28.200 after Kusel 26.100 Federal motorway 62 25,600 Neubauer Hübel (Üst) 22.670 Main chair 236 m 22.000 Siding Miesau Army Depot 20,300 Mühlbach 20,182 Frohnbach 18.632 Bruchmühlbach-Miesau 236  m 18.200 L 358 17.300 Vogelbach (Üst) 14.963 State border Rhineland-Palatinate / Saarland 13.500 L 223 13.600 Eichelscheid 243  m 13.410 Bruchhof (Üst) from Glan-Münchweiler 9.441 Erbach 8.500 L 118 8,376 31,098 Homburg (Saar) Hbf 243  m 30.405 B 423 30.800 to Zweibrücken Route to Neunkirchen 29.800 28.400 Homburg (Saar) West 233  m 27.500 L 114 27.450 Büchenloch ( Abzw ) 27.100 Blew (Üst) 26,660 Blies and Landesstrasse 222 26,369 Limbach (b Homburg, Saar) 233  m 25.100 Federal motorway 8 21,442 Kirkel 258  m 20.4119 20.3491 Mileage jump 20.200 Use Kirkel 19.600 L 119 Route 1904–2002 or since 2002 18th, 000 Geissbach 17.100 Federal motorway 6 16.600 Schwarzbachtalbahn from Landau 16,039 Rohrbach (Saar) 259  m former Würzbachbahn from Schwarzenacker (until 1895) 12,537 St. Ingbert 229  m 11.066 L 126r 10.600 L 126 former state border Bavaria-Prussia 9,482 Rentrisch 216  m 9.102 Kaiserstrasse / L 119 9.005 Rohrbach 6,950 Scheidt (Saar) 204  m 6.144 Rohrbach 5.129 Sheep bridge 201  m 4,971 Rohrbach 3.700 Halberg ( Abzw , until 1945) 205  m 2.700 to Sarreguemines 2.700 Route from Sarreguemines 2.602 Saarbrücken East 201  m 1.136 Saarbrücken Central Station So (Bft) 208  m to the Nahe Valley Railway 0.816 Bundesstrasse 41 Nahe Valley Railway from Neunkirchen (level free) 0.000 Saarbrücken Central Station 208  m to Trier Swell:

The Mannheim – Saarbrücken railway is a double-track, electrified main line in Baden-Württemberg , Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland . It runs from Mannheim via Ludwigshafen am Rhein , Neustadt an der Weinstrasse , Kaiserslautern , Homburg and St. Ingbert to Saarbrücken . It is the most important railway line leading through the Palatinate . It serves both passenger and freight traffic and functions as an international east-west railway line . It is part of the Magistrale POS (Paris - Eastern France - Southern Germany) North.

The route essentially emerged from the Palatinate Ludwigshafen - Bexbach Railway, which was opened between 1847 and 1849 and is identical to that between Ludwigshafen and Homburg. For this reason it is often equated with this one. The remaining sections went into operation in the period from 1867 to 1904. The line was electrified from 1960 to 1964. The line has existed in its current form since 1969, when the Deutsche Bundesbahn moved the Ludwigshafen main station to its current location. The German Bahn AG , the route in the course book under the number 670. Some sections had it rebuilt for the top speed of 200 kilometers per hour. In 2003 and 2006, the Mannheim - Homburg section was integrated into the RheinNeckar S-Bahn network in two stages .

history

Overview

In terms of architectural history, the main line from Mannheim to Saarbrücken is a conglomerate of different routes, as the former Bavarian-Prussian state border and later the interests of the places along the Blies and Würzbach rivers prevented the shortest possible connection between Homburg and Saarbrücken. The Rhine , which formed the state border between Baden and Bavaria , had to be crossed between Ludwigshafen and Mannheim . For these reasons, the route in its current form was not completed until 1904, with the exception of the relocation of Ludwigshafen main station in 1969. This is reflected in the number of kilometers . The nucleus of the line was the Palatinate Ludwigshafen - Bexbach , which opened gradually from 1847 to 1849 . With the exception of the western Homburg - Bexbach section, it is now part of the Mannheim - Saarbrücken main line.

Ludwigshafen - Homburg

→ Main article : Palatine Ludwig Railway

The initial plans for a railway line in north-south direction within the Palatinate , which had belonged to Bavaria since 1816 , were postponed in favor of one in east-west direction, which was mainly promoted by Palatinate entrepreneurs, as it was primarily intended to facilitate the transport of coal from the Saar to the Rhine . Under pressure from Prussia, the planners revised their initial considerations to define St. Ingbert as the western end point, since Prussia wanted to have the long-term connection to Saarbrücken over its own territory for as long as possible. That is why the planners aimed at Bexbach; from there the extension was to take place later via Neunkirchen and the Sulzbachtal. A proposal to run the railway line via Zweibrücken and from there along the Schwarzbach via Rodalben , Annweiler and Langenkandel to the Rhine did not succeed. The capital Speyer and the up-and-coming port and trading center Rheinschanze came into question as eastern endpoints . A corresponding memorandum argued that Speyer was an old trading center, while the Rheinschanze, as a mere military base, would only serve to transfer goods. The efforts were unsuccessful because the right bank of the up-and-coming Rhine-Neckar region, especially Mannheim , was the focus of attention and the export of coal to the area beyond the Rhine was considered more important. Neither have plans been implemented to run the route along the Dürkheimer Valley , as its side valleys were too deep and, above all, the Frankensteiner Steige had too high a gradient. Corresponding alignment would have required stationary machines with rope hoists in order to overcome the height differences. For this reason, the choice fell in favor of the course along the Neustadter Valley.

On March 30, 1838, the entrepreneurs founded the Bavarian Railway Company of the Pfalz-Rheinschanz-Bexbacher Bahn, from 1844 the Palatinate Ludwig Railway Company , which was supposed to promote the railway project. Construction began in March 1845 under the direction of Paul Denis . Coal from the Bexbacher Revier was supposed to reach the industrial centers in southern Germany and Switzerland via the Rheinschanze . The Bavarian King Ludwig I gave its name to both the route and the city of Ludwigshafen am Rhein, which subsequently emerged from the Rheinschanze . The opening of the Ludwigshafen - Neustadt section took place on June 11, 1847, the Homburg - Kaiserslautern section followed on July 2, 1848 and on December 2 of that year the connection to Frankenstein. On June 6 of the following year, the Ludwigsbahn reached Bexbach in a westerly direction. From August 1849 it was continuously passable from Ludwigshafen via Neustadt, Kaiserslautern and Homburg to Bexbach. In 1850 the main line to Neunkirchen and two years later to Saarbrücken was completed. The second track between Ludwigshafen and Homburg was laid continuously in 1856.

Mannheim - Ludwigshafen

→ Main article : Konrad Adenauer Bridge (Ludwigshafen am Rhein – Mannheim)

Because the volume of traffic increased rapidly on both sides of the Rhine, the need for a route between Ludwigshafen and Mannheim in Baden arose from the late 1850s. There were also plans for a Badische Odenwaldbahn Heidelberg  - Würzburg , which went into full operation in 1866. In combination with this, a rail connection over the Rhine was supposed to connect the Ludwigsbahn with the Bavarian Lower Franconia without crossing the Württemberg area . In addition, the Ludwigsbahn threatened to lose its competitiveness through the construction of the Mainz ship bridge and the extension of the Appenweier - Kehl railway to Strasbourg in 1861.

The opening train of the Mannheim – Ludwigshafen section on February 25, 1867

In a state treaty concluded at the beginning of 1862, the two states agreed that Baden would take over the erection of the river pillars and abutments. Bavaria was responsible for the superstructure with tracks and flooring. In July of that year, representatives from Baden and Bavaria reached an agreement on the location of the bridge. Closing the gap made it necessary to relocate the Mannheim station at Tattersall , which had existed since 1840 and which had been the western terminus of the Baden main line since 1840 . At first there was no consensus on this measure, so that further plans could only be implemented in early 1864. The Ludwigshafen – Mannheim route had served as a temporary solution since 1863 . The ferry connection quickly reached its limits, so that efforts were made to establish a permanent connection in both cities. Construction began in February 1865 and work was progressing well. The material for the masonry came from the quarries along the Haardt ; the railway covered around 24,000 cubic meters of cuboid. The iron superstructure was installed in July 1866. On January 21 and 22, 1867, the bridge was put to the test and on February 25 the first train crossed the Rhine. However, there were no festivities. The Rhine bridge was initially single-track before the second track was added on August 10, 1867. The southern part of the bridge was used for rail traffic, the northern part of the road connection. With the new line, Mannheim received a new train station in 1876 .

St. Ingbert - Saarbrücken

As early as the late 1860s, local committees were committed to establishing a connection from St. Ingbert to Saarbrücken. St. Ingbert had already since 1867 by the in Schwarzenacker beginning Würzbachbahn get connection to the rail network. In 1869, both the Bavarian and the Prussian governments confronted the committees with corresponding plans. Due to financial bottlenecks, Bavaria refused to intervene directly. However, the Saarbrücken Committee agreed to assume the costs on condition that the line be connected to the Saarbrücken – Sarreguemines railway line. However, the Franco-German War prevented the conclusion of a state treaty.

After the end of the war, the construction of a main line from Bruchsal via Germersheim , Landau and Zweibrücken to St. Ingbert was planned, which was finally built between 1872 and 1877. The Palatinate Railways , to which the Ludwigsbahn-Gesellschaft had belonged since 1870, brought about the passage of an interest guarantee law on April 28, 1872. However, the talks with Saarbrücken turned out to be difficult, as the introduction to the very busy St. Johann-Saarbrücken station and the division of rail operations caused problems. In 1877 a state treaty was signed that guaranteed the construction of the line. This made a fundamental renovation of the St. Ingbert train station necessary. This received a new station building, its tracks were raised one meter. The land was purchased in the winter of that year and construction work began in March of the following year. The connection was a total of 12.568 kilometers. Part of the terrain lay on rocks, and major interventions in the massif were necessary.

The connection was opened on October 15, 1879. It initially formed the immediate continuation of the Würzbach Railway Schwarzenacker - St. Ingbert, which was completed in 1866 and 1867 and branched off from the Homburg – Zweibrücken railway . Its main function was to spare the coal trains from the Saarbrücken area, which ran over the Landau - Zweibrücken southern Palatinate line, which was opened in 1875 , the detour via Neunkirchen and Bexbach and the change of direction at Homburg station . In this way, the transport of coal became shorter and cheaper. The same applied to products from the industrial locations of Dillingen and Saarlouis as well as from neighboring Lorraine . This also resulted in a shorter connection between Homburg and Saarbrücken than the previous route via Bexbach and Neunkirchen.

Homburg - St. Ingbert

St. Ingbert station around 1900

Along the Würzbach Railway, the Hasseler Tunnel east of St. Ingbert was increasingly posing an operational problem due to its geological instability. A total of three options were available: The first required a new lining of the existing tunnel, the second a new tunnel and the third a completely new one Route that would have done without a tunnel via Rohrbach . Due to the strategic importance of the route, the imperial government interfered in the matter; under their pressure, the latter option was chosen. Since the Palatinate Railways were unable to fully finance them, the German Empire subsidized the project. Between Würzbach and St. Ingbert, a 5.7 kilometer bypass was built via Rohrbach, which went into operation on September 7, 1895. This was followed by the closure and dismantling of the direct connection from Würzbach to St. Ingbert, and from then on all trains ran over the new connection between Hassel and Rohrbach.

In the course of the planning of the Würzbach route, both Homburg and St. Ingbert had originally envisaged a connection using the shortest route, which the communities along the Blies and Würzbach had prevented. For strategic reasons , the decision was made at the turn of the century to create a direct connection from Homburg via Limbach and Kirkel to Rohrbach. It was opened on January 1, 1904; At the same time, the Scheidt - Rohrbach section received a second track. The connection initially formed a unit with the Glantalbahn, which opened on May 1st of the same year and was also built as a strategic route .

Further development (1904–1919)

On July 29, 1905, a connecting curve to Brebach on the route to Saargemünd (formerly Sarreguemines) was opened between Scheidt and the Saarbrücken district of Halberg . In 1907, a flyover was put into operation for the Schifferstadt - Ludwigshafen section between the Mutterstadt and Schifferstadt stations, which had been expanded to four tracks since 1899 . This avoided the waiting times for several trains in Schifferstadt that had been required up until then. During this time, line telephones were installed on the Kaiserslautern - Homburg and St. Ingbert - Saarbrücken sections. On January 1, 1909, the Ludwigshafen - St. Ingbert section, together with the other railway lines within the Palatinate, became the property of the Bavarian State Railways .

Railway workers in Einsiedlerhof station in 1914

In 1914 there were plans to expand the entire main line to four tracks. The outbreak of the First World War prevented this. At the start of the war, numerous military trains ran over the route from August 9th to 16th. 40 trains came daily from Mannheim, 20 of them went to Saarbrücken, the rest changed to the Maximiliansbahn in Neustadt. There were 20 trains a day from Worms between Kaiserslautern and Saarbrücken . The same number of trains came from the Glantal that reached Saarbrücken. 40 trains started daily in Germersheim and traveled the Rohrbach - Saarbrücken section. Scheduled traffic had to stand back for a time, especially in the Saarbrücken catchment area. Only after the troop transports had subsided did passenger traffic resume. The further course of the war affected the route and some of its engineering structures.

After Germany lost the war and the French military marched in, the section west of Hauptstuhl was closed to passenger traffic on December 1, 1918, but was reopened three days later. From December 6th, traffic across the Rhine to Mannheim was blocked. From May of the following year, freight traffic to Baden was allowed again, and from August 10th passenger trains ran again between Mannheim and Ludwigshafen.

Between the wars and the Second World War (1920–1945)

Homburg (Saar) West customs station

With effect from March 10, 1920, the Homburg –Saarbrücken section became part of the newly created Saar area , which, on the initiative of the victorious powers, was under the control of the League of Nations for a period of 15 years and during this time was a French customs area. Consequently, the Saareisenbahn was responsible for him , which emerged from the former Prussian Railway Directorate Saarbrücken. In this context, the Homburg (Saar) West customs station responsible for goods traffic was created . Customs controls took place in the train stations of Homburg and Eichelscheid. The newly founded Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR) managed the rest of the route and two years later incorporated it into the newly founded Reichsbahndirektion Ludwigshafen . As early as 1920, the DR had put the Einsiedlerhof marshalling yard into operation, replacing the one in Kaiserslautern. The two main tracks immediately west of Kaiserslautern were given a new route immediately north of the marshalling yard due to the limited space available.

On March 7, 1923, the so-called Regiebetrieb , which lasted until the beginning of 1924 and for which France was responsible, followed. In this context, the Rhine Bridge was closed from May 30th to June 7th. In 1926, a double-track freight line was built between Kaiserslautern and the Einsiedlerhof marshalling yard. Several stops followed, which were mainly of importance for rail services. It turned out that the Rhine bridge was no longer able to cope with the heavier locomotives. For this reason, a new railway bridge was built from 1930 next to the one from 1867; It was opened in 1932. From 1933 communist resistance fighters against National Socialism primarily used the Homburg (Saar) West customs station for their purposes. When the Saar area was reintegrated into the German Reich in 1935, the Reichsbahn was responsible for the entire route; customs controls were no longer applicable. The Saareisenbahn operated from then on as Reichsbahndirektion Saarbrücken. This led to the gradual dissolution of the Ludwigshafen management in the two following years. The Saarbrücken - Hochspeyer section came to the Saarbrücken Directorate in 1936, the rest to the Reichsbahndirektion Mainz with effect from April 1, 1937.

After the outbreak of World War II on September 1, 1939, the route was again used for numerous military transports; Deportations to Dachau had already taken place in Kaiserslautern and Ludwigshafen in 1938 . From 1943 the line was regularly exposed to bombardments, initially the tracks in Saarbrücken and Ludwigshafen were affected. In 1944 followed those in Kaiserslautern and Homburg and towards the end of the year in St. Ingbert. The railway systems suffered considerably as a result. For example, the reception building of the Kaiserslautern main station was almost completely destroyed by attacks on September 28 and December 18 in 1944. The same applied to Homburg Central Station . The Lambrecht (Pfalz) train station was destroyed by arson in March 1945.

On March 20, 1945, the Wehrmacht blew up the Rhine bridge to make it difficult for the Allies to advance. After the western front had reached the Palatinate in March 1945, the US Army re-established traffic on the section of the route on the left bank of the Rhine in order to secure supplies. The first trains ran from Pirmasens via Landau and Neustadt on March 25th to reach Ludwigshafen. From the end of March a single-track Pfahljoch bridge for rail traffic was built between Mannheim and Ludwigshafen, which the Seventh United States Army put into operation at the end of April. From June the bridge from 1867 had to temporarily take over the rail traffic again. The overpass structure between Schifferstadt and Limburgerhof, which was affected by the fighting, was decommissioned, and from then on the line was only passable on two tracks in this area. The Halberg - Brebach connecting curve east of Saarbrücken, which had existed since 1905, was shut down and subsequently dismantled.

Post-war period, electrification and renovation in Ludwigshafen (1945–1971)

In August 1945 the line was opened for passenger traffic. The section on the left bank of the Rhine was merged with the Southwest German Railways. The section Homburg -Saarbrücken was 1947 again the part henceforth Saarland mentioned territory and was given its own administration, which initially Saarland Railways (SEB) and from 1951 Railways Saarland called (ESS). Homburg became a customs station again. The German Federal Railroad (DB) administered the section east of Homburg from 1949 and incorporated it into the Mainz Federal Railway Directorate, to which it allocated all railway lines within the newly created state of Rhineland-Palatinate .

Old central station of Ludwigshafen in 1958. 1969 was the previous head station by a built further west through station replaced.

At the turn of the year 1954/1955, the DB restored the state of 1932 when crossing the Rhine. With the incorporation of the Saarland into the Federal Republic of Germany , she was responsible for the entire route; the Federal Railway Directorate Saarbrücken took the place of the EdS. The Germersheim Rhine Bridge , which was blown up in March 1945 and was only rebuilt in 1967, contributed to the fact that transit traffic was increasingly concentrated on the main line from Mannheim to Saarbrücken. In May 1959, the Federal Railroad put a connecting curve between Mundenheim and Mannheim to bypass Ludwigshafen Central Station into operation.

Due to its great importance for long-distance traffic, the electrification of the line began in 1960. Corresponding plans were already in place on the French side immediately after the war for the Saarland section to connect it more closely with their own country. From March 8, 1960, electric locomotives were able to use the Saarbrücken - Homburg section, the Homburg - Kaiserslautern section followed on May 18, 1961. The electrification of the remaining section was mainly due to the numerous tunnels between Kaiserslautern and Neustadt that had to be widened , delayed. This section was therefore temporarily only passable on a single track; the trains were allowed to travel a maximum of 40 kilometers per hour in places. From March 20, 1960, several freight trains were diverted to Worms on the Landau - Rohrbach and Langmeil - Monsheim lines due to the limited capacity . From March 12, 1964, the entire length of the route was electrically accessible. With the electrification, the overpass structure north of Schifferstadt, which had existed since 1907, disappeared. At this point in time, the tracks between Limburgerhof and Ludwigshafen, which had been used exclusively for through freight traffic since 1899, were already open and were used to park freight wagons.

Ludwigshafen (Rhein) Hauptbahnhof before and after its relocation in 1969

The Ludwigshafen main station was an operational obstacle due to its design as a terminal station . In the early 1960s, construction work began on a through station at a new location. The DB put it into operation in May 1969 and it was officially opened on June 1st. Its predecessor was then demolished along with the associated track systems. With the dissolution of the Mainz head office on June 1, 1971, the Ludwigshafen - Frankenstein section moved to the Karlsruhe head office. As of August 1 of that year, the Saarbrücken authority was responsible for the entire section of the route immediately west of Frankenstein.

Expansion plans in the 1970s to 1990s

The expansion program presented in 1970 for the network of the Deutsche Bundesbahn envisaged a new stretch of line between Hochspeyer and Ludwigshafen until 1985. It should be ten kilometers shorter than the existing route. In the Frankenthal area , a link was to be established with the Mainz - Ludwigshafen railway line . In the planning from mid-1971, the new building project, which was to be completed by 1985, was part of the second-highest priority level. The 1973 Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan also contained plans for a new line between Kaiserslautern and Ludwigshafen. There was no realization.

In 1985 and 1986, a Franco-German working group developed six variants for the routing of the LGV Est européenne and the connecting routes from Germany. She examined various new and expansion variants between Saarbrücken and Ludwigshafen. The sole expansion of the existing route should enable a journey time reduction of 21 minutes with investments of 415 million D-Marks . A second variant envisaged an additional new line in the Palatinate Forest with several tunnels; A further seven-minute reduction in travel time would have been offset by estimated additional costs of 865 million D-Marks. A third variant with a new line between Saarbrücken and Hochspeyer largely parallel to Federal Motorway 6 promised a travel time gain of 18 minutes with additional investments of 1.8 billion D-Marks. These plans were not implemented. The Rhein-Neckar Transport Association (VRN), founded in 1989, integrated the Mannheim - Weidenthal section. From September 12th to 18th, 1990, the Lindwurm campaign took place between Hauptstuhl and Ludwigshafen .

The transport ministers of Germany and France agreed on May 22, 1992 to implement the Paris - Eastern France - Southern Germany (POS) high-speed rail line, including the Mannheim - Saarbrücken route. In the period that followed, there was limited expansion. In mid-1993, another report was submitted on behalf of the State of Rhineland-Palatinate and the Federal Ministry of Transport, which examined four different new and expansion variants for the Hochspeyer - Neustadt section. The improvements in travel time that can be achieved were between 1.43 minutes for selective extensions with costs of 10 million D-Marks and up to eight minutes for a new construction of 1.39 billion D-Marks.

Development since the rail reform

As part of the rail reform , the line became the property of Deutsche Bahn on January 1, 1994 . From 1995 the Neustadt (Weinstr) Böbig stop , which had existed since 1974 and was located in the eastern area of Neustadt main station , was accessible to trains on the Ludwigshafen - Neustadt route, whereas previously this was reserved exclusively for the northern line branching off to the north. In 1996 the VRN tariff was recognized as far as Kaiserslautern. From 1993 to 1999 this increased the number of passengers in the Weidenthal - Neustadt section from 1500 to 3270 per day. In 1998 the Neidenfels stop between Lambrecht and Weidenthal went into operation. In May of the same year, the federal government and Deutsche Bahn signed a financing agreement for DM 351.4 million to expand the line between Mannheim and Saarbrücken. They expected completion by 2004. The first expansion stage envisaged upgrading tilting trains with a maximum speed of 160 km / h. The superstructure in the St. Ingbert  - Kirkel and Neustadt an der Weinstrasse  - Ludwigshafen sections enabled a line speed of 200 kilometers per hour. A bypass route was created that has allowed long-distance and freight trains to bypass Schifferstadt since 2003.

Train of line S1 of the S-Bahn RheinNeckar on the way to Mosbach (Baden) in Neustadt main station

In 2000, the Bruchmühlbach-Miesau - Frankenstein section became part of the newly established West Palatinate Transport Association (WVV) . This went into the VRN in 2006. The curve at Geistkircher Hof , which belongs to Kirkel, was defused as early as 2002 . In December 2003, the RheinNeckar S-Bahn went into operation, into which the Mannheim - Kaiserslautern section was integrated. Construction of a second double-track Rhine bridge between Mannheim and Ludwigshafen had already started in 1997. In 2006 the S-Bahn reached Homburg, which has since been the western end of the VRN. The introduction of the S-Bahn service entailed the modernization of the train stations and stops along the route; Since then, the platforms have been 76 centimeters high to enable level entry into the trains. The platforms are on average 210 meters between Ludwigshafen and Kaiserslautern and 140 meters from Kaiserslautern. The Ludwigshafen (Rhein) Mitte train station was built between the main train stations in Mannheim and Ludwigshafen and was designed to compensate for the great distance between the main train station , which was moved in 1969, from the city center. Within the Weidenthal train station , two new platforms were built about 800 meters in the direction of Frankenstein.

On May 14, 2004, DB and the then French infrastructure operator RFF signed a letter of intent to equip the Paris - Saarbrücken - Ludwigshafen corridor (later on to Frankfurt) with ERTMS and ETCS . The installation of the train protection with ETCS Level 2 required for speeds above 160 km / h should take place by the end of 2008 and was postponed until later. The plans at that time provided for remote control of the route from the Karlsruhe operations center . The ETCS equipment for the line was awarded to Ansaldo in December 2007.

In 2007 around 50 million euros were invested in the expansion. Contrary to the original plans, the route through the Palatinate Forest with its numerous tunnels between Neustadt an der Weinstrasse and Kaiserslautern remained structurally unchanged. At the beginning of 2005, the Saarland Transport Association (SaarVV) was founded, which is responsible for the Homburg - Saarbrücken section. From mid-2010, the section between Ludwigshafen and Limburgerhof received a third track, which went into operation at the end of 2014. The freight tracks that had existed since 1900 were dismantled.

The equipping of the line with ETCS Level 2 was postponed in favor of the German Unity Transport Project No. 8 and the freight transport corridor A. The planning is currently being revised (status: 2014). The ETCS equipment is now only to take place in 2025.

traffic

passenger traffic

Time to complete the route

Since the Ludwig Railway was not opened continuously from east to west, carriages, then known as omnibuses , had to take over the traffic between the two sections of the route until the gap was closed in 1849 . From 1850 the trains ran in the west to Neunkirchen and two years later to Saarbrücken. After the Mainz - Ludwigshafen railway was completed in 1853, three passenger trains on the Mainz - Paris route ran between Homburg and Ludwigshafen every day , before Prussia took over in 1860 when the Rhine-Nahe Railway went into operation . From then on, the trains of the Ludwig Railway ended in Neunkirchen. There was no question of supra-regional traffic in the east-west direction in the following decades, as the express trains on the Ludwigshafen - Neunkirchen route stopped at almost all subway stations. In 1860, express trains ran for the first time between Ludwigshafen and Neustadt on the Basel  - Cologne route . With the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War , train traffic came to a standstill on July 23, 1870. On August 19, the Palatinate Railways took him back with restrictions; Express trains were only allowed to run if no military trains were occupying the route. Local trains had to run in the intervals that the military trains kept free.

Timetable in 1884

From mid-1872, the express trains between Cologne and Basel drove partly over the Neustadt - Hochspeyer section and along the Alsenz Valley Railway, which was completed a year earlier . In 1875 there was an express train on the Ludwigshafen - Neustadt - Metz - Paris route. Since the Ludwigshafen - Mannheim section, which was opened in 1867, was primarily used for freight traffic , there were only shuttles between the two stations. With the opening of the St. Ingbert - Saarbrücken route via Schwarzenacker and Bierbach in 1879, there was a shorter connection to Saarbrücken, which was used by trains on the Ludwigshafen - Saarbrücken route. Nevertheless, there were connections to Neunkirchen via the old Ludwig Railway. Most express trains were limited to the Mainz - Ludwigshafen - Homburg - Neunkirchen route. In the period that followed, long-distance trains on the Munich - Ostend route ran between Saarbrücken and St. Ingbert on the Landau - Zweibrücken railway line, which was released in 1875 . In 1884 the local trains on the Neunkirchen - Worms route ran between Homburg and Ludwigshafen.

After completing the route

After completion of the shortest possible connection from Homburg to Saarbrücken via Limbach and Kirkel, this attracted through traffic. The number of passenger trains increased significantly as a result. Trains from Neunkirchen only reached Kaiserslautern. On the Saarbrücken - St. Ingbert - Rohrbach section, express trains ran to Landau and beyond. From 1906, the line branching off in Schifferstadt to Wörth, including its continuation to Strasbourg, was double-tracked. Most of the express trains to Strasbourg, which previously went to Neustadt and there after a change of direction via the Maximiliansbahn into Alsace, used the route via Speyer, Germersheim, Wörth and Lauterburg from Schifferstadt. The passenger trains on the line to Kusel branching off in Landstuhl mostly went to Kaiserslautern. During the First World War, the availability of trains decreased significantly due to the prevailing priorities. For example, there was no continuous passenger train from Ludwigshafen to Saarbrücken. Local traffic was largely limited to the individual sections Homburg - Kaiserslautern and Kaiserslautern - Neustadt, with some of them continuing to Ludwigshafen. The regional trains ran between Homburg and Saarbrücken both on the connection via Limbach and Kirkel, which had existed since 1904, and on the older route on the Schwarzenacker - Bierbach route .

In 1920 trains ran between Saarbrücken and Homburg, which then took the Glantalbahn to Bad Münster am Stein or Kusel . The annexation of the Saar area in 1935 brought about an upswing in local passenger transport, as the train routes no longer had to be broken in Homburg.

From the 1930s on, long-distance trains ran again, initially on the Berlin - Neunkirchen route in an east-west direction. The outbreak of World War II initially had no impact on passenger traffic. In 1941 an express train drove from Berlin via Paris to Madrid over the route. In 1944 there were connections between Stuttgart - Saarbrücken, Frankfurt - Paris, Stuttgart - Calais and Vienna - Metz via the main line from Mannheim to Saarbrücken. During the Second World War, with few exceptions, there were no through local trains from Ludwigshafen to Saarbrücken. Between the Kaiserslautern main station and Einsiedlerhof, there were rail service shuttle trips, which the Reichsbahn designated with the course book number 279d.

Post-war period and German Federal Railroad

With the renewed separation of the area, henceforth called Saarland, in which the Eichelscheid - Saarbrücken section was located, only a few trains ran that passed the border between Bruchmühlbach and Eichelscheid. They only served the workers employed in Saarland. As in the First World War, regional trains ran between Homburg and Saarbrücken via Limbach and Kirkel as well as via Schwarzenacker and Bierbach. At the beginning of the 1950s, a so-called “city express train” ran on the Kusel - Heidelberg route between Landstuhl and Mannheim in the morning. As early as 1954, the DB downgraded it as an express train. In 1979 he was hired. The "Bundenthaler", which was reactivated in 1951 and operated until 1976, which had its starting point in Neustadt before the Second World War, from Ludwigshafen went from Ludwigshafen to Neustadt, then after a change of direction to Landau, the Maximiliansbahn and then used the Landau - Rohrbach railway to Hinterweidenthal . He served all stops on the way between Ludwigshafen and Neustadt. From the end of the 1950s, the DB moved the express train service to Paris on the Alsenz Valley Railway east of Kaiserslautern. At the same time through coaches ran to Rome. There was an express train from Heidelberg to Saarbrücken.

At first there was still no regular traffic in the actual sense. There was an express train connection between Mannheim and Kaiserslautern on the Würzburg - Pirmasens route. From 1970 to 1975 the TEE 50/51 Goethe operated on the route . A significant improvement there was in long-distance traffic from May 1985. The Saar-Pfalz-time with the hour between Mannheim and Saarbrücken was Intercity trains , express trains and express trains introduced. In 1989, based on a framework agreement between Saarland and DB, the Saarbrücken – Kaiserslautern CityBahn line with fewer stops and a Saarbrücken – Homburg city train line with stops at all stations brought new local transport offers. From 1991 the interregional line IR 27 ran Saarbrücken - Stuttgart with continuation to Lindau and Bregenz every two hours. At the same time there were the first IC trains on the Saarbrücken - Dresden route and EuroCity trains between Paris and Frankfurt am Main. Both long-distance lines together also formed a two-hour cycle. A year later, IC trains replaced all D trains.

Deutsche Bahn (since 1994)

RE in the Kaiserslautern main station

The Mannheim - Homburg section is part of the S1 ( Homburg  - Kaiserslautern  - Neustadt  - Schifferstadt  - Ludwigshafen  - Mannheim  - Heidelberg  - Neckargemünd  - Eberbach  - Mosbach  - Osterburken ) and S2 (same route, but only from Kaiserslautern and only to Mosbach) of the S -Bahn RheinNeckar . This means that there is a half-hourly service between Mannheim and Kaiserslautern. A regional train runs between Kaiserslautern and Merzig, but it does not stop between Kaiserslautern and Kindsbach. The SÜWEX , a regional express that runs every hour with a four-hour journey via Kaiserslautern, Saarbrücken and Trier, has been operating between Mannheim and Koblenz since 2014 .

Regional long-distance and excursion train pairs run on Sundays and public holidays from May to October
Surname	Route section traveled on	starting point	End point
Bundenthaler	Mannheim – Neustadt	Mannheim	Bundenthal-Rumbach
Wine Route Express	Neustadt – Hochspeyer	Koblenz	Wissembourg
Rheintal Express	Neustadt – Hochspeyer	Karlsruhe	Koblenz
Glantal Express	Neustadt – Landstuhl	Neustadt	Kusel
Cuckoo horse	Neustadt – Lambrecht	Neustadt	Elmstein

From November 2000 onwards, the line was operated with Intercity Express trains with tilting technology trains. When the timetable changed in May 2001, the hourly service was thinned out by the DB and only operated every hour in the main load direction (in the morning to Mannheim, in the evening to Saarbrücken). Some IR trains have been replaced by RE trains. From December 14, 2002, IC trains replaced the last IR trains, and long-distance services were again reduced. The route was upgraded from June 2007 onwards with ICE trains on the Frankfurt am Main  - Paris route . The stops in Neustadt and Homburg were omitted. As a result of the low travel speed (between Mannheim and Saarbrücken only around 100 km / h), the guidance of these high-speed trains over this route is not guaranteed in the long term. A tour of Strasbourg and Karlsruhe will be considered as soon as the TGV route between Metz and Strasbourg is completed.

ICE, EC and Intercity operate on the route from Saarbrücken in the direction of Frankfurt and Stuttgart with stops in Homburg, Landstuhl, Kaiserslautern and Neustadt (not all IC or ICE stop at all of the above-mentioned subway stations). Since December 9, 2007, the ICE 3 has been running alternately with the TGV from Frankfurt to Paris , which stops between Mannheim and Saarbrücken exclusively in Kaiserslautern; Neustadt and Homburg lost their importance as long-distance train stations. At times, the line was the only one within the Palatinate where long-distance trains ran. The ICE trains run on the Frankfurt - Saarbrücken - Paris route, some ICE and IC trains go to Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Munich.

Freight transport

In the first decades, the former Ludwigsbahn served primarily as a transport route for coal from the Saar area. After that, the main line developed into a focus of mining traffic between France and Germany. The railway line from Mannheim to Saarbrücken is one of the busiest freight transport routes in Germany. In the meantime, the trains of the combined cargo traffic dominate within the European Union with containers, swap bodies, trailers and other high-tariff goods. Freight trains run between Mannheim and Homburg to and from Neunkirchen and completely along the historic Ludwig Railway. While the trains used to transport coal from the Saar area to the Rhine, this is now done in the opposite direction. More than 120 freight trains run on the route every day.

The regional freight traffic along the route declined after the Second World War. As early as the 1980s, handovers dominated operations there. Until the beginning of the 1990s, the train stations between Ludwigshafen and Neustadt and between Landstuhl and Bruchmühlbach-Miesau were of great importance for the transport of beet. The decline in freight traffic led, among other things, to the dismantling of the Einsiedlerhof marshalling yard from 1990 onwards . Other marshalling yards that were the starting point for local freight trains were located in Saarbrücken, Homburg, Neustadt and Ludwigshafen. In Neustadt an der Weinstrasse, Kaiserslautern - mainly due to the Opel plant -, Homburg (Saar) and at the end in Saarbrücken there are large freight transport facilities. All cargo handling halls have now been closed. Along the Ludwigshafen - Schifferstadt section, BASF freight trains also run to Speyer and Germersheim . The Glatz II siding is located between Weidenthal and Neidenfels and supplies the Neidenfels paper mill of the same name. East of the Neidenfels stop, the line used to have another siding, called Glatz I. The Homburg - Saarbrücken section has little traffic. Handovers arrive in St. Ingbert, which has facilities for freight traffic. Occasionally, transports take place within the Kaiserslautern Military Community over the route.

Incidents

• On October 28, 1863, in the Frankenstein railway accident, a passenger train ran into an approaching freight train. At the end of the freight train there was a baggage car with 50 workers. The accident claimed seven lives.
• 

  Railway accident in Weidenthal in 1912
  In 1912 a railway accident occurred in Weidenthal. One person died and there were several injured.
• In Homburg (Saar) on 9 February 1917, the D 32 derailed after an air raid .
• On January 7, 1918, a holiday train drove onto a freight train near Bruchmühlbach in a heavy snowstorm . The information on the number of victims varies. Some sources name 33 dead and 121 injured, others 12 dead and 87 injured.
• In 1968, shortly before midnight, the D-Zug Frankfurt - Paris pulled into the siding of the Miesau Army Depot because of an incorrectly set switch in Hauptstuhl . In this curve he derailed due to his driving speed. There was one dead and four injured.
• On June 28, 1988 a railway accident occurred in the Heiligenberg tunnel . In Express D 2754 Heidelberg - Saarbrücken by a passenger came to death, there were 10 heavy and 28 slightly injured. After a heavy thunderstorm , part of the retaining wall to the east of the Heiligenberg tunnel fell onto the tracks in the direction of Mannheim. A freight train from Saarbrücken loaded with bulk goods drove into the rubble and partly derailed; the locomotive and three wagons pushed onto the opposite track. Immediately thereafter, the oncoming express train drove into the damaged vehicles.
• On August 17, 2010, near Lambrecht in the Palatinate region, the 4681 multiple unit as ICE 9556 Frankfurt / Main – Paris crashed into a garbage truck that had just fallen into the track bed . Two ICE wagons derailed and damaged property, the leading wagon was slit open along its entire length. 15 of the 320 passengers were injured; the driver of the garbage truck was able to escape from his vehicle despite serious injuries from the impact. As a result of the accident there were major operational disruptions and diversions in long-distance and freight traffic.

Vehicle use

Steam locomotives

The respective railway administrations always use powerful locomotives on this route. In the early days between Homburg and Ludwigshafen along the then Ludwigsbahn, the workshops, later the depot, in Kaiserslautern , Ludwigshafen and Neustadt were responsible .

Others were added in Homburg , Mannheim and Saarbrücken . In the first years after the opening of what was then the Ludwigsbahn, locomotives from the machine works Emil Keßler or Maffei were running , with the numbers 1 to 8 and 21 and 9 to 20 . They had names like Haardt, Vogesus, Denis and Alwens. In the 1850s, Crampton locomotives with numbers 26 to 63 were added. The G 1.I and G 2.II , among others, were used for freight traffic . The T 1 was used for suburban and freight traffic .

Steam locomotives of the P 2.II and P 3.1 series passing through Lambrecht

At the beginning of the 20th century, the P 2.I , P 2.II , P 3 , P 4 and P 5 series were mainly used for long-distance trains, some of them also as local trains. The P 1.I , P 1.II , P 1.III and T 1 were used specifically for local transport . Freight traffic was handled by the G 2.I , G 2.II, G 4.I , G 4.II and G 5 . Class T 3 locomotives were used for this between Mannheim and Ludwigshafen .

In the time of the Reichsbahn , the steam series of the old Palatinate Railways continued to be used. The standard locomotives of the series 01 , 03 , 44 and 64 were added , and the series 58.0 , 75.0 and 75.4 also ran . These steam locomotives determined the events between Mannheim and Saarbrücken after the Second World War. In the 1950s there were 01 series express trains from Trier and 03 series from Ludwigshafen and Kaiserslautern. Class 23 , 38 , 71 and 78 steam locomotives dominated local transport, and the 44 and 50 series in freight transport . The 93.5-12 94.5 series were used in the shunting service .

Electric vehicles

With the electrification, which led to the closure of the factories in Neustadt and Homburg, the new DB locomotives came to this route. For decades, locomotives of the E 40 series dominated freight transport, and E 41 series electric locomotives with push- pull trains with the then new Silberling local wagons in local transport . The locomotives of the class E 10/110 mainly pulled express trains. From 1966, the two-system prototypes of the E 310 / 181.0 series from the Saarbrücken depot were mostly used in front of express trains to France. From 1971 the class 103 was used in front of some trains .

Class 101 electric locomotive in front of an IC train in Saarbrücken Central Station

When the two-system locomotives of the class 181.2, which were also based in Saarbrücken until 2006, were put into service from 1974 onwards, these machines were in use on almost all express trains between Metz, Saarbrücken , Mannheim , Frankfurt and Heidelberg . After the introduction of the ICE transport from Frankfurt to Saarbrücken to Paris , they became increasingly less important. Locomotives of the 101 series and partly Austrian locomotives of the 1016/1116 series are responsible for IC traffic, the domestic German ICE traffic is handled with tilting multiple units of the series 411/415 , the international with multi-system ICE of the series 406 . French TGV multiple units can often be found as a replacement for ICEs between Mannheim and Saarbrücken. Class 425 and 426 multiple units are predominant in local and regional transport . With the commissioning of the DB class 407 , it will be used on the Frankfurt – Paris line.

In the cargo area, DB Schenker prefers to use two-system technology with class 185 electric locomotives . Today these transport freight trains continuously from Mannheim to Metz, sometimes to the gates of Lyon and Paris. The previously usual border and substation stays in Saarbrücken Rbf and Forbach are no longer applicable. The Swiss Federal Railways (SBB), which are also well represented on this route , mainly use locomotives of the Re 4/4 series in addition to the Re 482 series for freight traffic. Locomotives of the class E 40, class 155 and Siemens ES64F are used for freight trains that serve the Opel plant in Kaiserslautern and deliveries to Saarbrücken, Homburg, Einsiedlerhof, Neustadt and Mannheim.

other vehicles

Class 611 railcars in Kaiserslautern

From 1897 motor coaches of the types MC and MBCC were used between Ludwigshafen and Neustadt . From 1926 to around 1952, Wittfeld accumulator railcars , which were stationed in Kaiserslautern, drove mainly between Kaiserslautern and Landstuhl .

In the 1950s and 1960s, multiple units of the VT 08 and VT 12.5 series were used for express trains . From 1956 to 1989 the series 515 was to be found on sections . From 1964 to 1980, the VT 24 series took over part of the local transport services. From the 1980s onwards, class 628 diesel multiple units were in operation for school traffic around noon . From 1967 to 1973 diesel locomotives of the class 220 operated between Neustadt and Hochspeyer . The 212 and 218 series were used for some of the freight trains that used to run between Ludwigshafen and Schifferstadt and between Neustadt and Hochspeyer . Diesel locomotives of the V 60 and V 90 series were used to operate the sidings, which are not electrified . A separate locomotive is responsible for the shunting service in Neidelfels. In St. Ingbert, a private company does it with a small diesel locomotive imported from the Czech Republic . The Stadler Flirt has been used on the RE1 line of the SÜWEX since 2014 .

Route

Geographical course

Mannheim - Neustadt

The route begins in Mannheim's main train station and initially has four tracks for several kilometers. Shortly after the main train station, it leads past Mannheim Palace , where it branches off from the western entrance of the Riedbahn , and then after a narrow bend it crosses the Rhine and thus the border between Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate . At the level of the rolling mill (Ludwigshafen) , it passes the Ludwigshafen (Rhein) Mitte stop, which has existed since 2003, and then the main train station; from the north the line from Mainz joins there . After passing through Ludwigshafen , the route turns to the southwest and runs in a straight line to Schifferstadt .

The Schifferstadt bypass, opened in 2003, branches off north of Limburgerhof and initially runs parallel to the local traffic tracks. To the south of Limburgerhof, however, it shortens the loop that runs over Schifferstadt. After the Schifferstadt train station , where the line to Wörth branches off to the left, the route turns west. Shortly before the Böhl-Iggelheim station , the new line joins the old line again. The latter leads in a longer straight line to shortly before the Neustadt (Weinstr) Böbig stop . This is where the Palatinate Northern Railway from Monsheim joins and before the Neustadt main station is reached, the Maximiliansbahn from Wissembourg comes from the south . Behind Neustadt the route leads into the Palatinate Forest and thus leaves the Upper Rhine Plain .

Neustadt - Kaiserslautern

Route within Weidenthal , with the Gipp tunnel in the background

Within the Palatinate Forest, the number of curves increases significantly along the route. The federal road 39 runs through the low mountain range parallel to the route , and is bridged several times in this area. On the 33.5-kilometer section between Neustadt an der Weinstrasse and Kaiserslautern , the railway line overcomes a height difference of 109 meters and passes a total of twelve tunnels. Along this section, several sandstone cliffs line the route. To the west of Neustadt, the route first crosses the Wolfsberg Tunnel . The route runs along the Speyerbach to Lambrecht, where the Kuckucksbähnel , operated as a museum route since 1984 , branches off .

West of Lambrecht, the route follows the valley of the Hochspeyerbach in the form of several cuts , the loops of which it shortens using the Lichtensteiner-Kopf , Retschbach , Schönberg-Langeck , Mainzer Berg , Gipp , Köpfle , Eisenkeil , Kehre tunnels. In this area there are also several bridges over the river in question and the federal highway 39 . At Neidenfels she passes the castle of the same name and Lichtenstein Castle . In this area is the transfer point (Üst) Neidenfels as a remnant of construction points. Just before Frankenstein includes the Schlossberg tunnel with the Frankenstein Castle on. West of Frankenstein the direction of travel changes from northwest to west, the valley is wider in this area. The Franzosenwoog tunnel is located there . The Alsenz Valley Railway branches off to the north between Frankenstein and Hochspeyer . To the west of the Hochspeyer train station , the line spans federal highway 48 and, a few kilometers further, crosses under the watershed between Speyerbach and Lauter , which is often considered part of the Palatinate main watershed , in the form of the longest railway tunnel within the Palatinate , the Heiligenberg Tunnel . Shortly before reaching the Kaiserslautern main station, the route from Enkenbach joins from the north .

Kaiserslautern - Saarbrücken

Immediately west of Kaiserslautern, the Lautertalbahn branches off to the north and the Biebermühlbahn to the south. The route is straight again in this area and passes the Einsiedlerhof marshalling yard . There it emerges from the Palatinate Forest and leads through the West Palatinate Moorniederung via Landstuhl . Shortly before Hauptstuhl , it leads along a protected wet meadow . In the north, the federal motorway 6 runs parallel to the route. After she has passed the Bruchmühlbach-Miesau train station and the Vogelbach transfer point, which has now been dismantled, she crosses the border between Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland .

Saarbrücken Ost stop

West of the now abandoned Eichelscheid station was the Bruchhof transfer point, which was also the result of construction switches. Behind Homburg, the Mannheim - Saarbrücken railway separates from the historic Ludwigsbahn , which turns right and leads via Bexbach to Neunkirchen (Saar) . The Homburg - Zweibrücken railway, which has since been closed, branches off towards the south . The route to Saarbrücken passes the disused customs station Homburg (Saar) West and crosses the Blies . In this area it runs along the northern edge of the Sankt Ingbert-Kirkeler forest area . She then reached through Limbach and Kirkel to Rohrbach Station . Coming from the southeast, the line from Landau joins Rohrbach , shortly before that the main road crosses under the motorway, which then continues to run parallel in a southerly direction. Then the railway leads through a densely populated valley via St. Ingbert, Rentrisch and Scheidt along the Rohrbach , which is crossed three times. At Halberg it joins the Saarbrücken - Sarreguemines railway line and reaches its terminus at Saarbrücken Hauptbahnhof .

Elevation

After the last switch at Saarbrücken Hbf (208 m above sea level), shortly after Bft Saarbrücken Hbf So to the Saarbrücken Ost stop, the line drops by up to 6.5 ‰ and on the last third of the platform area it reaches the maximum longitudinal slope of 10.9 ‰. The section to Scheidt (Saar) is largely flat, followed by a longer ascent with a maximum of 10.5 ‰ gradient from the eastern end of the St. Ingbert station, until the first apex in a deep cut at approx. 272 ​​m above sea level. NN between Rohrbach (Saar) and Kirkel (both approx. 258 m above sea level) is reached. The following gradient of up to 10.5 ‰ goes over shortly before Limbach (near Homburg / Saar) (233 m. Above sea level) into a flat section that then rises up to 8.5 ‰ until the Homburg (Saar) Central station (243 m above sea level) is reached. The elevation between Homburg (Saar) and Kaiserslautern is largely flat due to a slight gradient to Bruchmühlbach-Miesau (235 m above sea level) and the slight ascent from Hauptstuhl to Kindsbach (247 m above sea level) to Kaiserslautern Hbf (250 m above sea level).

Between Kaiserslautern and the at approx. 278 m above sea level. NN shortly after the Heiligenberg tunnel , the second vertex, which is also the highest point of the route, there is a maximum positive longitudinal gradient of 4.3 ‰. Following a short, flat section, the longest slope of the route begins. Between the second vertex and the Neustadt (Weinstr) Hbf train station (142 m above sea level), gradients of up to 8 ‰ 135 meters in altitude are overcome in the Palatinate Forest . In the Neustadt (Weinstr) - Mannheim section, there is an overall slight gradient. The long-distance railway via the Schifferstadt bypass rises with a maximum of 8 ‰ on the new section and, after the parallel route with the S-Bahn ( Schifferstadt is 103 m above sea level), it first descends with over 7 ‰ and then a slight gradient. The steep rise in Ludwigshafen (Rhein) Hbf (94 m above sea level) is followed by the ramp from the Rhine bridge to Mannheim's main station , which overcomes the difference in height of around seven meters with a gradient of between 20 ‰ and 25 ‰.

Kilometrage

Due to the fact that the main line from Mannheim to Saarbrücken is a conglomerate of several railway lines in terms of architectural history, it does not have a uniform kilometer structure. It shows a jump from 31.1 to 8.3 at Homburg Central Station . The zero point of the kilometers from Homburg is on the former border between Bavaria and Prussia west of Bexbach along the Homburg - Neunkirchen railway line.

Top speeds

Saarbrücken - Kaiserslautern

A maximum of 60 km / h is generally permitted in Saarbrücken Hauptbahnhof station. In the following sections Saarbrücken - Schafbrücke and Rentrisch - St. Ingbert, the maximum permitted speed is 90 km / h. Between Schafbrücke and Rentrisch 100 km / h and from Scheidt (Saar) 110 km / h are permitted. Shortly after the St. Ingbert train station, the maximum speed limit is gradually increased from 120 km / h and 140 km / h to 160 km / h. Shortly after Limbach (b, Homburg / Saar), the permissible maximum speed will be reduced to 150 km / h and due to a narrow curve in front of the Homburg (Saar) Hauptbahnhof station to 110 km / h (opposite direction 120 km / h). After this curve, the maximum permissible speed is increased again to 160 km / h and only reduced to 140 km / h in Einsiedlerhof . From Esig Kaiserslautern main station, only 100 km / h (opposite direction 90 km / h) are permitted, but the maximum speed is increased again to 140 km / h after the next left-hand curve and again to 150 km / h outside the station.

Kaiserslautern - Mannheim

The Kaiserslautern - Hochspeyer section can be driven at up to 150 km / h up to the first right curve after the end of the Heiligenberg tunnel. The top speed is then reduced from 130 km / h to 100 km / h. The section between Hochspeyer and Neustadt (Weinstr) is largely passable at 90–100 km / h, with the exception of the section near Frankenstein (Palatinate), which is passable at 80 km / h.

At Neustadt (Weinstr) Hauptbahnhof station, the maximum speed limit will be increased from 100 km / h (opposite direction 90 km / h) over 130 km / h to 140 km / h and after a subsequent tight right turn it will be upgraded to 160 km / h. This maximum speed applies up to the Ludwigshafen-Mundenheim Bft , where the maximum speed is reduced from 130 km / h to 80 km / h or 60 km / h. In the Ludwigshafen (Rhine) - Mannheim section, the selected route is decisive for the permissible Hg. 20, 30 (cover signal pointing at Hp 0 in Mannheim Hbf), 40, 60, 70 or 80 km / h can be permissible. The signaling is basically done via the speed indicators of the signals.

Signal and security systems

With the modernization of numerous interlockings to ESTW technology from the end of the 1990s and the subsequent expansion of the route, the shape and H / V light signals largely disappeared . The Saarbrücken - Kaiserslautern and Hochspeyer - Ludwigshafen (Rhine) sections are almost completely equipped with new Ks signals . Exceptions to this are the sections Kaiserslautern - Hochspeyer and Ludwigshafen (Rhine) - Mannheim, the Landstuhl and Schifferstadt stations. Here, as before, there are H / V signals in standard and compact versions.

The Ks signals are controlled by the Karlsruhe operations center via the four sub-centers Saarbrücken, Homburg, Einsiedlerhof and Neustadt (Weinstr). Exceptions are once again the Landstuhl and Hochspeyer stations, which are connected to the Einsiedlerhof and Neustadt (Weinstrasse) sub-centers via an adaptation computer. In addition to the Ludwigshafen - Mannheim section, only the Kaiserslautern Hauptbahnhof and Schifferstadt stations are still occupied.

The Landstuhl station, which is currently under renovation, is to receive an electronic signal box by 2019. The existing signals are to be replaced by Ks signals. There are currently no plans to replace the remaining pushbutton interlockings with new electronic interlockings.

The entire length of the line is equipped with punctual train control and is also equipped with ZUB 262 on the Saarbrücken - Kaiserslautern section and with ZUB 122 on the Kaiserslautern - Neustadt (Weinstr) section.

Operating points

Mannheim Central Station

Mannheim Central Station

→ Main article : Mannheim Central Station

The Mannheim main station in the western part of the city of Mannheim is the only operating point along the route within Baden-Württemberg . It was created in 1876, nine years after the link to Ludwigshafen was built. It replaced the original terminus at Tattersall . Other railway lines originating from him are the Rhine Valley Railway to Basel , the Rhein Railway to Rastatt , the Ried Railway to Frankfurt, including the western route that opened in 1985, and the Mannheim – Stuttgart high-speed line . The station building was renovated in 2001.

Ludwigshafen (Rhine) center

Ludwigshafen (Rhein) Mitte train station

→ Main article : Ludwigshafen (Rhein) Mitte train station

The DB put the Ludwigshafen (Rhein) Mitte stop into operation in the course of the opening of the RheinNeckar S-Bahn . It is located immediately west of the Konrad-Adenauer-Brücke and not far from Berliner Platz . Its purpose is to compensate for the central station's location, which has existed since 1969. It has four tracks and a futuristic platform roof.

Ludwigshafen (Rhine) Central Station

Ludwigshafen (Rhine) Central Station

→ Main article : Ludwigshafen (Rhein) Hauptbahnhof

At the time of the opening of the Ludwigsbahn, what was then the Ludwigshafen station was the terminus in the city center not far from the Rhine. There the coal, for which the route was primarily built, was reloaded onto ships for onward transport. With the opening of the line to Mainz in 1853 and the connection to Mannheim in 1867, it became a railway junction . Later it was named Ludwigshafen (Rhein) Hauptbahnhof as a reaction to the incorporation of surrounding places that had also received a rail connection. The fact that it was a terminus station increasingly turned out to be an operational obstacle. For this reason there were plans to move it to another location as early as the beginning of the 20th century.

The corresponding construction work began in 1962, the station has existed in its current form since 1969. Since then it has been a separating and triangular station . In 1971, the demolition work on the tracks and other railway structures at the previous location was completed. As a result of the relocation, however, the station lost its importance. Most long-distance trains pass through it without stopping due to the short distance to Mannheim main station. Another loss of importance occurred when the Ludwigshafen (Rhein) Mitte stop went into operation, as individual local trains have also no longer served it since then.

Ludwigshafen-Mundenheim

Ludwigshafen-Mundenheim train station

→ Main article : Ludwigshafen-Mundenheim train station

Ludwigshafen-Mundenheim train station is located in the southwest of the Ludwigshafen district of Mundenheim . It was created in 1886 and was initially just called Mundenheim . From 1890 a narrow-gauge railway branched off there to Dannstadt , which from 1911 led to Meckenheim. In connection with the four-track expansion of the main line between Schifferstadt and Ludwigshafen, it received a new station building. As a result of the incorporation of Mundenheim into Ludwigshafen, it was renamed Ludwigshafen-Mundenheim . The closure of the narrow-gauge railway to Meckenheim followed in 1955. In operational terms, the station has officially been part of it since the new Ludwigshafen main station opened in 1969. A freight line branches off from it, which meanders along the Rhine and leads to BASF .

Ludwigshafen-Rheingönheim

Ludwigshafen-Rheingönheim station

The Ludwigshafen-Rheingönheim station is located in the west of the Ludwigshafen district of Rheingönheim and was built around 1870. Originally it was only called Rheingönheim . In connection with the four-track expansion of the main line between Schifferstadt and Ludwigshafen, it received a new station building. The Reichsbahn renamed it to Ludwigshafen-Rheingönheim on May 15, 1939 after the town was incorporated into Ludwigshafen. In operational terms, the station has officially been part of it since the new Ludwigshafen main station opened in 1969. The local freight traffic was temporarily carried out with the help of an MB-Tracs , to which rail wheels were also attached. Since the end of 2010 a siding of a local company has branched off from it. This was the first time in decades that a new one was built along the main line from Mannheim to Saarbrücken.

Limburgerhof

Limburgerhof train station

→ Main article : Limburgerhof train station

The former train station and today's Limburgerhof stop is located in the middle of the Limburgerhof settlement area . It was originally called Mother City, but the community is a few kilometers to the west. Since Mutterstadt was connected to the narrow-gauge railway line Ludwigshafen - Dannstadt from 1890, the name "Mutterstadt Hauptbahnhof" was unofficially used for the former station. With the four-track expansion of the main line, he received a new station building on the west side of the track system, which was used for passenger traffic, while the predecessor, now a listed building, was henceforth exclusively responsible for freight traffic. In connection with the electrification, the station building was demolished; a successor building took its place. The station got its current name around 1930, when the Limburgerhof settlement, which had meanwhile developed in its immediate vicinity, became an independent municipality.

Schifferstadt

Schifferstadt station

→ Main article : Schifferstadt railway station

The Schifferstadt station is located on the north-western outskirts of Schifferstadt and belongs to station category 3. It was opened on June 11, 1847 as part of the Ludwigshafen-Neustadt section of the Ludwigshafen Railway. At the same time, the branch line to Speyer went into operation. Schifferstadt thus became the first railway junction within the Palatinate. The branch line to Speyer was extended to Germersheim in 1864 and to Wörth in 1876 . In the course of their double-track expansion at the beginning of the 20th century, the track systems had to be converted. The station formed a locomotive station as a branch of the Neustadt depot . The original station building was demolished in 1964 and replaced by a new one. Parts of the platform roof from the early days of the station are under monument protection.

Böhl-Iggelheim

Böhl-Iggelheim station

→ Main article : Böhl-Iggelheim station

The former train station and today's stopping point Böhl-Iggelheim is located on the south-eastern edge of Böhl; Iggelheim is one kilometer away to the south. In the first years of its existence it was called Böhl. Its reception building is a listed building.

Hassloch (Palatinate)

The Haßloch (Pfalz) train station is located on the northern outskirts of Haßloch . Since the original station building was damaged in World War II, it was replaced by a new one in 1961.

Neustadt (Weinstrasse) Böbig

The breakpoint is located in the northeast of the core town of Neustadt an der Weinstrasse and mainly serves the Böbig school center, which gives it its name. It is part of the Neustadt main station. The line to Mannheim and the northern line to Monsheim branch off at it. The first plans for its construction existed as early as 1965. Its commissioning took place in 1974 in order to shift some of the school traffic that had previously been taken over by buses to the railways. The driving force behind its creation was the teacher at the time and later VRN functionary Werner Schreiner .

Neustadt (Weinstr) Central Station

Neustadt (Weinstrasse) Central Station

→ Main article : Neustadt (Weinstrasse) central station

From 1847 the station, which was called "Neustadt (Haardt)" in the first decades of its existence, was the terminus of the eastern Ludwigsbahn section, from which the current Mannheim - Saarbrücken line later emerged. With the opening of the Maximiliansbahn it became the third railway junction within the Palatinate after Schifferstadt (1847) and Ludwigshafen (1853). Later the Palatinate Northern Railway was added, which initially ended in Bad Dürkheim and since 1873 has led to Monsheim. For them, the railway facilities had to be expanded, which had to give way to the original station building. Its successor is a listed building.

After the Alsenz Valley Railway was completed, the station developed into an important long-distance transport hub. After the First World War, the north-south traffic lost its importance, the supra-regional traffic remained in the east-west direction. The station has been electrified since March 12, 1964. In 2003 it was modernized with the integration into the RheinNeckar S-Bahn .

Schöntal

The Schöntal loading point was located in the Schöntal settlement, which belongs to Neustadt, immediately east of the Wolfsberg tunnel and was used exclusively for freight traffic . As early as 1869 there was a goods loading point on site. In the period that followed, there were calls for this to be expanded into a fully-fledged station, which the Palatinate Railways rejected, however, with reference to the short distance to Neustadt station. The Bavarian State Railways elevated it to a freight yard . Later the operating point was officially an alternate connection point. A siding branched off from it to the agate mill, which led around the Wolfsberg . The track had been idle for decades and the loading point was abandoned in 2005.

Lindenberg Knöckel

This alternative connection point was located on the southern outskirts of Lindenberg (Palatinate) and served the paper mill Knöckel, Schmidt & Cie . It was only possible to operate them by driving on the main track in the direction of Neustadt, but in the westerly direction of travel. It was primarily used to deliver coal before the company went bankrupt in 2005. The corresponding points were dismantled in 2011.

Lambrecht (Palatinate)

Lambrecht railway station (Pfalz) with the relocating locomotive of the Kuckucksbähnel

→ Main article : Lambrecht railway station (Pfalz)

The Lambrecht (Pfalz) train station is located on the northern outskirts of Lambrecht (Pfalz) . The Kuckucksbähnel has been branching off from him since 1909 and a museum train since 1984 . The original station building was stylistically the same as the train stations that were built in the Palatinate, especially in the second half of the 19th century. It fell victim to fighting during World War II. The current station building dates from 1957, but is no longer of any direct importance for rail operations. The station has been electrified since March 12, 1964.

The former goods handling facility , which last served as a residential building, was demolished in 1999 to create parking space. When the electronic interlocking in Neustadt went into operation on May 16 of the same year, the last job at the station was lost. In addition, the Federal Railroad dismantled several tracks so that the station has only had three tracks since then.

Neidenfels

The Neidenfels stop is located on the southern outskirts of Neidenfels within an S-curve and belongs to station category 6. Its commissioning took place on January 31, 1998. Appropriate efforts were made as early as the 19th century, but the railway administration pointed out the gradient of the line in this area, which made it difficult for the trains to brake.

Just a few years after the RheinNeckar S-Bahn went into operation, trains had to run in triple traction between Neustadt and Kaiserslautern due to the high demand. Due to the short length of the platform, they could not stop in Neidenfels at first. For this reason, the platforms were extended northwards to a total of 210 meters within five months. The opening took place in November of that year. There are several hiking trails in the immediate catchment area .

Weidenthal

Weidenthal stop

→ Main article : Weidenthal train station

The three-track Weidenthal station is located in the south of the municipality of Weidenthal and belongs to station category 5. The platforms of the station used to be in the southern station area, where the former reception building, which is listed as a historic monument, is located. In the course of the construction work for the RheinNeckar S-Bahn , new platforms were built around 800 meters further in a closer location in the northern area of ​​the station.

The station has three tracks, of which the middle one serves as a passing track. It represents one of a total of three options for train overtaking between Neustadt and Kaiserslautern.

The local quarry, with its own sidings, was an important freight customer. Grindstones and millstones were produced and loaded there for the first few decades . Weidenthal is currently serving the siding of the Glatz fine paper mill in neighboring Neidenfels .

Frankenstein (Palatinate)

Frankenstein station

→ Main article : Frankenstein railway station (Pfalz)

The interests of Paul Camille Denis , the builder of the Ludwig Railway , played a major role in the development of the former Frankenstein (Pfalz) station . He settled there for a while, bought Diemerstein Castle and built the so-called Villa Denis in the immediate vicinity . From December 2, 1848 to August 25, 1949, the station was the eastern end point of the western Ludwigsbahn section coming from Bexbach. It is located on the western edge of the settlement of Frankenstein . Immediately to the east of this is the Schlossberg tunnel . The district of Diemerstein extends to the north .

In view of the size of Frankenstein, the listed reception building turned out to be architecturally very demanding, which is also due to Denis' influence. The construction resembles a castle . Since the abandonment of local freight traffic, it has been an operational stopping point.

Hochspeyer East

The Hochspeyer Ost operating point (SHY O) is part of the Hochspeyer train station and is located in the east of the municipality of Hochspeyer . From here the connecting curve branches off to the Alsenz Valley Railway , which was used by long-distance trains on the Bingerbrück  - Neustadt - Strasbourg route . It is rarely used at the moment.

Hochspeyer

Hochspeyer station

→ Main article : Hochspeyer station

The Hochspeyer station - located in the east of the local community - was built at the same time as the branching Alsenz Valley Railway was opened in 1870 and 1871. In this way, it became the eighth railway junction within the Palatinate. Its station building, which is no longer of any importance for rail operations, corresponds to the architectural style that is found along the rest of the stations along the Alsenz and those between Landau and Zweibrücken. Despite its status as a railway junction, it partially lost this importance again when the Kaiserslautern – Enkenbach railway line opened in 1875 .

On May 1, 2007, the signal box that was housed in the reception building was added to the electronic signal box (ESTW) in Karlsruhe , eliminating the need for the local dispatcher . Other signal boxes used to belong to the station. One of them was on the flyover of Bundesstraße 48 . This has meanwhile been renovated and converted into a restaurant. This was built at the time of the Deutsche Reichsbahn .

Althochspeyer

The Althochspeyer train station was located in the west of Hochspeyer near Heidestrasse. It was the original station of the municipality of Hochspeyer. Its construction was only decided afterwards. In the statistical yearbooks it was often listed as "Bahnhof am Kreuz". With the commissioning of the Alsenz Valley Railway and the new Hochspeyer station, it lost its function for passenger transport and was given the new name Althochspeyer. Out of consideration for a chemical company that had settled in its area and because of its importance for the wood industry, it was retained as a freight yard . During the time of the Royal Bavarian State Railways, it was assigned to category 4. In the 1930s the Deutsche Reichsbahn opened it. His former station building now housed apartments for railway workers .

Kaiserslautern Central Station

Kaiserslautern Central Station

→ Main article : Kaiserslautern Hauptbahnhof

The opening of the Kaiserslautern main station took place on July 1, 1848, when the Ludwig Railway Company opened the Homburg - Kaiserslautern section. Half a year later it was extended to Frankenstein, before the stretch from the Rheinschanze to Bexbach was open to traffic in 1849 . Despite its great importance, it did not become a railway junction until 1875 with the opening of the Kaiserslautern - Enkenbach railway line , which served as a feeder line to the Alsenz Valley Railway and the Donnersberg Railway, making it a comparatively late one. In 1879 he received a new reception building. The station gained additional importance with the opening of the Lautertalbahn in 1883 and the completion of the Biebermühlbahn to Pirmasens in 1913. The second station building was badly damaged in World War II and demolished in the post-war period .

Kennel garden

The Kennelgarten stop is in the west of the city of Kaiserslautern. The Deutsche Reichsbahn put it into operation on January 1, 1927. It served primarily the Bahnheim settlement built for railway workers .

Kaiserslautern repair shop

The former Kaiserslautern repair shop, like the Kaiserslautern repair shop, was located in the Vogelweh district of Kaiserslautern and had a central platform . It was used exclusively for company traffic and there was no public access. After the work lost its importance, the stop was given up. The central platform and the roofing were demolished in mid-2015.

Vogelweh, Einsiedlerhof and Einsiedlerhof marshalling yard

Einsiedlerhof station

→ Main article : Einsiedlerhof marshalling yard

The Einsiedlerhof marshalling yard was completed in 1921 because its predecessor at the Kaiserslautern main station had reached the limits of its capabilities. Since then it has been a train formation station for freight trains within the West Palatinate . In the last few decades it has lost importance due to the increasing shift in freight transport to the road.

In its catchment area there are two passenger train stops, Einsiedlerhof and Vogelweh.

Einsiedlerhof station was built around 1900 as a stopping point. In connection with the construction of the marshalling yard of the same name, it was expanded as a train station and received a new reception building, which has since become inoperable. The station was rebuilt to be barrier-free (around 2012) and now has three tracks that are used by passenger trains. Einsiedlerhof train station is centrally located within the Kaiserslautern district .

Vogelweh station (new building 2018)

The Vogelweh stop is located on the north-western edge of the Kaiserslautern district of the same name and was created after the Second World War. The station was an island station where the platform is between the tracks. After renovation in spring 2018, it is barrier-free.

Kindsbach

The Kindsbach train station was built after 1871 and is located in the northwest of the local community of Kindsbach. It belongs to station category 6 and is served by the trains of the S-Bahn RheinNeckar , the Kaiserslautern - Kusel route and the RE 60 Kaiserslautern - Saarbrücken regional express line. An important freight customer from the 1920s was the company Formsandwerke Ludwigshafen am Rhein, which mined molding sand on site and transported it to the train station by cable car.

Landstuhl

Landstuhl train station

→ Main article : Landstuhl train station

Landstuhl train station is located on the northern outskirts and has four tracks. Its commissioning took place in 1848 with the Ludwigsbahn section Kaiserslautern - Homburg. In this section it was always the most important station on the way. Since 1868, the line to Kusel branches off northwest of the station. This made the station the seventh railway junction within the Palatinate after Schifferstadt (1847), Ludwigshafen (1853), Neustadt an der Haardt (1855), Homburg (1857), Winden (1864) and Schwarzenacker (1866). Occasional intercity buses stop at the train station. Freight traffic came to a standstill in the meantime.

Main chair

Hauptstuhl station

Hauptstuhl train station is located in the north of the Hauptstuhl parish . It belongs to station category 6. The reconstruction of the station for the operation of the S-Bahn RheinNeckar resulted in a shortening of the platform length. The no longer existing facilities for freight traffic were located in the northern area of ​​the station . The former station building no longer plays a role in rail operations. The community bought it and converted it into a town house . From the station, the branches siding to Miesau Army Depot from.

Bruchmühlbach-Miesau

Bruchmühlbach-Miesau train station

The former Bruchmühlbach-Miesau train station, which has since been dismantled to the halt, was originally only called Bruchmühlbach . During the time when the Saarland was not yet part of the Federal Republic of Germany , border controls (police and customs controls) took place here. After the new local community of Bruchmühlbach-Miesau was formed in the Rhineland-Palatinate administrative reform , the breakpoint was given its current name. It is located at the western end of Bruchmühlbach and belongs to station category 6. With the expansion of the line for long-distance traffic and its integration into the network of the Rhein-Neckar S-Bahn, a neighboring level crossing was removed and the pedestrian overpass dismantled.

Eichelscheid

Eichelscheid station was located in the area of ​​the Bruchhof-Sanddorf district of Homburg . It was created in the early 1890s and was initially called Eichelscheid- Lambsborn . In terms of passenger transport , it mainly served residents of the communities of Bechhofen , Lambsborn, Rosenkopf and Wiesbach . The unloading of fertilizer played a major role in freight transport . From 1947, due to the separation of the Saar area , it had the function of a customs station . With the reorganization of Saarland in 1959, the Federal Railroad left him on.

Homburg (Saar) central station

Homburg (Saar) central station

→ Main article : Homburg (Saar) Hauptbahnhof

Until 1923 the station was called Homburg (Pfalz). It was opened in 1848 with the Ludwigsbahn section Kaiserslautern - Homburg. In 1857, the Homburg - Zweibrücken railway line, which had now been closed, was added. After Schifferstadt (1847), Ludwigshafen (1853) and Neustadt (1855) it became the fourth railway junction within what was then Palatinate (Bavaria) .

On January 1, 1904, the Homburg - Limbach - Kirkel - Rohrbach line followed, which, like the Glantalbahn , which was completed four months later, was built for strategic reasons . After the First World War, the station was part of the Saar area and after the Second World War it was part of the Saarland, which is why it has been called Homburg (Saar) since then. As a result of this development, the trains of the Bliestalbahn mostly ran to Homburg instead of to Zweibrücken as before. Passenger traffic to Zweibrücken ended in 1989, that to Bliestal in 1991. In addition to its location on the main line from Mannheim to Saarbrücken, the station is the eastern end of the line from Neunkirchen , which is also part of the historic Ludwigsbahn from Bexbach.

Homburg (Saar) West customs station

→ Main article : Customs station Homburg (Saar) West

The Homburg (Saar) West customs station can be traced back to the Saar area newly created in 1920 . It was built north of the line that has existed since 1904 on the districts of Homburg and the municipalities of Limbach and Altstadt. There were connecting curves to the routes to Neunkirchen and Zweibrücken. The Homburg (Saar) West stop at the level of the customs station served the workers there along the existing route.

Limbach (b Homburg, Saar)

Originally the train station was called Limbach-Altstadt. With the modernization of the Mannheim - Saarbrücken railway line, the DB dismantled it as a stopping point . It is centrally located within Limbach and belongs to station category 6. In 2007, two outer platforms replaced the previous central platform. The former station building no longer plays a role in rail operations.

Kirkel

Kirkel train station

→ Main article : Kirkel train station

The Kirkel station is located on the north-western outskirts of Kirkel and belongs to station category 6. It was built on January 1, 1904 with the opening of the Homburg - Rohrbach section. In the first few years it was called Kirkel-Neuhäusel.

Rohrbach (Saar)

→ Main article : Rohrbach (Saar) train station

The Rohrbach (Saar) station is located on the southwestern outskirts of Rohrbach and belongs to station category 6. It was built in 1895 as part of the bypass route of the Schwarzenacker - St. Ingbert Würzbachbahn, which opened in 1867 , because the Hasseler tunnel turned out to be a problem for rail operations would have. Since the opening of the Homburg - Rohrbach section in 1904, it has had the status of a railway junction. From the Würzbach Railway and a few other lines further east, today's Landau - Rohrbach line emerged, the western end of which is the train station since then.

St. Ingbert

St. Ingbert train station

→ Main article : St. Ingbert train station

The St. Ingbert station belongs to station category 3. It was built in 1867 as the western end point of the Würzbach Railway, which began in Schwarzenacker, and was at that time the westernmost station within what was then the Palatinate . With the extension of the line to Saarbrücken in 1879 it became a through station. At the same time it received its present reception building, which has been rebuilt over the years. To the east of the station, the line was re-routed in 1895 due to the problems of the Hasseler tunnel . Between Rohrbach and Saarbrücken, the station is the only stop on the way for the Saarbrücken - Pirmasens regional trains.

Rentrisch

The former Rentrisch station is located on the western edge of the St. Ingbert district of Rentrisch and belongs to station category 6. Its opening took place on February 7, 1932. It has since been dismantled as a breakpoint. He has a central platform.

Scheidt (Saar)

Scheidt (Saar) railway station

The Scheidt (Saar) stop is centrally located within the Scheidt district of Saarbrücken and belongs to station category 6. It was created in 1879 with the opening of the St. Ingbert - Saarbrücken section.

Sheep bridge

The former Schafbrücke station, which has since been dismantled to the halt, was originally called Bischmisheim . After the Schafbrücke district was created in its current form, it was given its current name. A connecting curve to Brebach on the Saarbrücken - Sarreguemines railway line once branched off from it, which was built for strategic reasons . It belongs to station category 6.

Saarbrücken East

→ Main article : Saarbrücken Ost stop

The Saarbrücken Ost stop primarily serves the Saarbrücken districts of Rotenbühl , Rabbitberg , Sankt Arnual and Eschberg . It was created after the Second World War and belongs to station category 5. This is where the railway to Sarreguemines branches off.

Saarbrücken main station

Saarbrücken main station

→ Main article : Saarbrücken Hauptbahnhof

Saarbrücken main station has existed since 1852 and was initially called St. Johann-Saarbrücken. At that time it was the western terminus of the Ludwigshafen - Homburg - Neunkirchen - Saarbrücken main line. Today it is the most important train station in Saarland . It is the end point of several other railway lines such as the Fischbachtalbahn , the Forbacher Bahn , the Nahe Valleybahn , the Saar line and the Saarbrücken - Sarreguemines line. The original station building was located between the tracks, so the operation center was an "island station". The DB had it torn down in 1960 and replaced with a new one.

literature

• Fritz Engbarth: From the Ludwig Railway to the Integral Timed Timetable - 160 Years of the Railway in the Palatinate . 2007 ( zspnv-sued.de [PDF; 4.1 MB ; accessed on December 3, 2013]).
• Klaus D. Holzborn : Railway areas Palatinate . Verlag Transpress, Berlin 1993, ISBN 3-344-70790-6 , p. 57-91 .
• Albert Mühl: The Pfalzbahn. History, operation and vehicles of the Palatinate Railways . Theiss Verlag, Stuttgart 1982, ISBN 3-8062-0301-6 .
• Andreas M. Räntzsch: The railway in the Palatinate. Documentation of their creation and development . Verlag Wolfgang Bleiweis, Aalen 1997, ISBN 3-928786-61-X .
• Werner Schreiner : Paul Camille von Denis . European transport pioneer and builder of the Palatinate railways. pro MESSAGE, Ludwigshafen am Rhein 2010, ISBN 978-3-934845-49-7 .
• Heinz Sturm: The Palatinate Railways (= publications of the Palatinate Society for the Advancement of Science. Volume 53). New edition. pro MESSAGE, Ludwigshafen am Rhein 2005, ISBN 3-934845-26-6 , pp. 85–117, 116, 170–172, 228–230, 232–236, 238.
• Helmut Röth: On rails between the Odenwald and the Palatinate . Photographs 1955–1976. pro MESSAGE, Ludwigshafen am Rhein 2010, ISBN 978-3-934845-18-3 , p. 105-111, 137-146, 151-164 .
• Hansjürgen Wenzel: The southwest German railways in the French zones (SWDE) . Eisenbahn-Kurier e. V., Wuppertal 1976.

Web links

• Information about the route at kbs-670.de

Individual evidence

1. ^ Course book route numbers of Deutsche Bahn. In: bahnseite.de. December 13, 2009, accessed April 11, 2014 .  
2. ↑ DB Netze - Infrastructure Register
3. ↑ Railway Atlas Germany . 9th edition. Schweers + Wall, Aachen 2014, ISBN 978-3-89494-145-1 .
4. ↑ Werner Schreiner: Paul Camille von Denis. European transport pioneer and builder of the Palatinate railways . 2010, p. 142 ff .
5. ^ Klaus Detlef Holzborn: Railway Reviere Pfalz . 1993, p. 88 .
6. ↑ ^{a b} Fritz Engbarth: From the Ludwig Railway to the Integral Timetable. 160 years of railways in the Palatinate . 2007, p. 7 .
7. ↑ Heinz Sturm: The Palatinate Railways . 2005, p. 166 f .
8. ^ The course book route 670 - route - kilometrage. In: kbs-670.de. Retrieved December 4, 2013 .  
9. ^ Albert Mühl: The Pfalzbahn . 1982, p. 11 .
10. ↑ Heinz Sturm: The Palatinate Railways . 2005, p. 165 .
11. ↑ Heinz Sturm: The Palatinate Railways . 2005, p. 54 .
12. ↑ Heinz Sturm: The Palatinate Railways . 2005, p. 58 f .
13. ↑ Heinz Sturm: The Palatinate Railways . 2005, p. 67 f .
14. ↑ Mühl, p. 16.
15. ↑ Heinz Sturm: The Palatinate Railways . 2005, p. 170 .
16. ↑ Heinz Sturm: The Palatinate Railways . 2005, p. 170 ff .
17. ↑ Werner Schreiner: Paul Camille von Denis. European transport pioneer and builder of the Palatinate railways . 2010, p. 72 .
18. ↑ Erich Fein: The western introduction of the Riedbahn in Mannheim Central Station . In: The Federal Railroad . No. 61 , 1985, pp. 401-408 .
19. ↑ City Points. Mannheim history on site - main station. (PDF) mannheim.de, accessed on February 27, 2015 . 
20. ↑ Heinz Sturm: The Palatinate Railways . 2005, p. 228 f .
21. ^ ^{A b} Heinz Sturm: The Palatinate Railways . 2005, p. 229 .
22. ↑ The course book section 670 - Chronicle - 1876 to 1885. kbs-670.de, accessed on November 16, 2014 . 
23. ↑ Heinz Sturm: The Palatinate Railways . 2005, p. 230 .
24. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i} The course book route 670 - Description - After completion and First World War. kbs-670.de, accessed on November 26, 2013 . 
25. ^ Friedrich Müller: The railroad in Rohrbach - a result of military strategy . 1996, p. 20th ff .
26. ↑ Heinz Sturm: The Palatinate Railways . 2005, p. 238 .
27. ↑ Hans-Joachim Emich, Rolf Becker: The railways to Glan and Lauter . 1996, p. 22 .
28. ↑ Heinz Sturm: The Palatinate Railways . 2005, p. 236 .
29. ↑ ^{a b c} The course book route 670 - description - prehistory, planning and construction. kbs-670.de, accessed on February 12, 2015 . 
30. ↑ Heinz Sturm: The Palatinate Railways . 2005, p. 265 .
31. ↑ The course book section 670 - Chronicle - 1906 to 1915. kbs-670.de, accessed on August 12, 2015 . 
32. ^ Albert Mühl: The Pfalzbahn . 1982, p. 145 .
33. ↑ ^{a b} The course book section 670 - Chronicle - 1916 to 1925. kbs-670.de, accessed on November 16, 2014 . 
34. ↑ Werner Schreiner: Paul Camille von Denis. European transport pioneer and builder of the Palatinate railways . 2010, p. 126 ff .
35. ^ Walter Weber: The Bliestalbahn. From start to finish . 2000, p. 38 .
36. ^ The course book route 670 - Extras - The Einsiedlerhof operations center. (No longer available online.) Kbs-670.de, archived from the original on December 11, 2013 ; Retrieved December 3, 2013 . 
37. ↑ Michael Heilmann, Werner Schreiner: 150 years Maximiliansbahn Neustadt-Strasbourg . 2005, p. 46 .
38. ↑ ^{a b} Fritz Engbarth: From the Ludwig Railway to the Integral Timed Timetable - 160 Years of the Railway in the Palatinate . 2007, p. 12 .
39. ^ ^{A b} Heinz Sturm: The Palatinate Railways . 2005, p. 209 .
40. ↑ ^{a b} The course book route 670 - Description - The Second World War. kbs-670.de, accessed on October 25, 2015 . 
41. ^ Royal Bavarian Railway Directorate Ludwigshafen a. Rhine - Timeline: Establishments - Designations - Dissolutions. bahnstatistik.de, accessed on November 26, 2013 . 
42. ^ Eisenbahndirektion Mainz - Timetable: Establishments - Designations - Resolutions. bahnstatistik.de, accessed on November 26, 2013 . 
43. ↑ Hans-Joachim Emich, Rolf Becker: The railways to Glan and Lauter . 1996, p. 164 f .
44. ↑ Reiner Frank: Railway in the Elmsteiner Valley then and now . 2001, p. 25 .
45. ↑ The course book section 670 - Chronicle - 1936 to 1945. kbs-670.de, accessed on November 16, 2014 . 
46. ↑ Michael Heilmann, Werner Schreiner: 150 years Maximiliansbahn Neustadt-Strasbourg . 2005, p. 69 .
47. ↑ Werner Schreiner: Paul Camille von Denis. European transport pioneer and builder of the Palatinate railways . 2010, p. 135 .
48. ^ Klaus Detlef Holzborn: Railway Reviere Pfalz . 1993, p. 13 .
49. ↑ V.14, about railway lines in Saarbrücken. bahnarchiv.de, accessed on February 27, 2015 . 
50. ↑ Werner Schreiner: Paul Camille von Denis. European transport pioneer and builder of the Palatinate railways . 2010, p. 135 f .
51. ^ Heinz Sturm: History of the Maxbahn 1855-1945 . In: Model and Railway Club Landau in der Pfalz e. V. (Ed.): 125 years of Maximiliansbahn Neustadt / Weinstrasse-Landau / Pfalz . 1980, p. 66 .
52. ^ ^{A b} Railway Directorate Mainz - Timeline: Establishments - Designations - Dissolutions. bahnstatistik.de, accessed on April 13, 2014 .  
53. ↑ Fritz Engbarth: From the Ludwig Railway to the Integral Timed Timetable - 160 Years of the Railway in the Palatinate . 2007, p. 22nd f .
54. ^ The course book section 670 - Chronicle - 1956 to 1965. kbs-670.de, accessed on November 16, 2014 . 
55. ^ Klaus Detlef Holzborn: Railway Reviere Pfalz . 1993, p. 88 f .
56. ↑ Werner Schreiner: Paul Camille von Denis. European transport pioneer and builder of the Palatinate railways . 2010, p. 140 .
57. ↑ The course book section 670 - Chronicle - 1966 to 1975. kbs-670.de, accessed on November 16, 2014 . 
58. ↑ Royal Direction of the Saarbrücken Railway - Timeline: Establishments - Designations - Dissolutions. bahnstatistik.de, accessed on November 16, 2014 . 
59. ↑ Paul Werner: Expansion and supplementation of the route network of the German Federal Railroad . In: Eisenbahntechnische Rundschau , issue 1/1971, January / February 1971, pp. 16-20
60. ^ Paul Werner: The tasks of the planning department within the ZTL . In: Die Bundesbahn , year 45 (1971), issue 19/20, ISSN  0007-5876 , pp. 987-994.
61. ^ Rüdiger Block: On New Paths. The new lines of the Deutsche Bundesbahn . In: Eisenbahn-Kurier Special: High-speed traffic . No. 21, 1991, excluding ISSN, pp. 30-35.
62. ↑ Jürgen Grübmeier, Georg Fischer: rapid train connection Paris – Eastern France – Southwest Germany . In: Die Bundesbahn , Vol. 65, No. 5, 1989, ISSN  0007-5876 , pp. 383-388.
63. ↑ Paris is worth a (day) trip . In: Die Bahn informs , ZDB -ID 2003143-9 , issue 3/1989, pp. 12-14.
64. ↑ ^{a b} hinundweg - the customer magazine of the Rhein-Neckar transport association. (PDF) (No longer available online.) Vrn.de, archived from the original on May 29, 2012 ; Retrieved April 14, 2014 . 
65. ↑ Fritz Engbarth: From the Ludwig Railway to the Integral Timed Timetable - 160 Years of the Railway in the Palatinate . 2007, p. 41 .
66. ↑ Message TGV connection slowed down . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International , issue 1/2000, ISSN  1421-2811 , p. 4
67. ↑ Engineering firm BGS: Schnellbahn connection POS / Nord: Saarbrücken – Ludwigshafen / Mannheim. Investigation to improve driving time in the section Hochspeyer – Neustadt / W. Frankfurt 1993
68. ↑ Werner Schreiner: Paul Camille von Denis. European transport pioneer and builder of the Palatinate railways . 2010, p. 158 .
69. ↑ http://www.pro-bahn.de/ffekten/fahrgastzahlen.htm
70. ↑ Announcement expansion of the POS . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International , issue 11/1998, ISSN  1421-2811 , p. 451.
71. ↑ Expansion of the infrastructure for the Rhein-Neckar S-Bahn . In: DB ProjektBau (ed.): Infrastructure projects 2012: Building at Deutsche Bahn . Eurailpress, Hamburg 2012, ISBN 978-3-7771-0445-4 , pp.  136-139 .
72. ↑ New ETCS projects in Europe . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International , issue 7/2004, ISSN  1421-2811 , p. 311.
73. ↑ Letter of Intent signed for ETCS project . In: signal + wire . tape  96 , no. 6 , 2004, ISSN  0037-4997 , p. 42 .
74. ↑ Report ETCS for ICE routes . In: Signal + Draht , issue 1 + 2/2007, page 45.
75. ↑ Joseph Ramerth: ETCS - migration plan and commissioning of additional routes. (PDF) (No longer available online.) DB Netz AG, May 13, 2014, archived from the original on March 4, 2016 ; accessed on January 21, 2016 . 
76. ^ D-Karlsruhe: Construction site supervision . Document 2011 / S 74-121841 of April 15, 2011 in the electronic gazette of the European Union.
77. ↑ deutschebahn.com: Shortening the travel time for the upgraded route Paris - Eastern France - Southwest Germany, POS (POS) ( Memento from February 17, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
78. ^ DB Netz (Ed.): European Train Control System (ETCS) at DB Netz AG . Frankfurt am Main April 2014, p.  10 ( dbnetze.com [PDF; accessed December 30, 2015]). European Train Control System (ETCS) at DB Netz AG ( Memento from June 14, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
79. ↑ Axel Wagner: ETCS train system only in Saarland in 2025. In: sr.de. December 28, 2019, accessed January 1, 2020 . 
80. ↑ Heinz Sturm: The Palatinate Railways . 2005, p. 113 ff .
81. ↑ ^{a b c} The course book route 670 - operation - operation and traffic: long-distance traffic development. kbs704.de, accessed on April 18, 2014 . 
82. ↑ Michael Heilmann, Werner Schreiner: 150 years Maximiliansbahn Neustadt-Strasbourg . 2005, p. 21 .
83. ↑ Werner Schreiner: Paul Camille von Denis. European transport pioneer and builder of the Palatinate railways . 2010, p. 115 .
84. ^ Albert Mühl: The Pfalzbahn . 1982, p. 113 f .
85. ↑ Werner Schreiner: Paul Camille von Denis. European transport pioneer and builder of the Palatinate railways . 2010, p. 117 .
86. ^ Albert Mühl: The Pfalzbahn . 1982, p. 14 .
87. ↑ Michael Heilmann, Werner Schreiner: 150 years Maximiliansbahn Neustadt – Strasbourg . 2005, p. 114 ff .
88. ↑ Here it goes west: the Germersheim-Landau route. kbs704.de, accessed on April 13, 2014 . 
89. ↑ Heinz Sturm: The Palatinate Railways . 2005, p. 190 .
90. ^ Albert Mühl: The Pfalzbahn . 1982, p. 16 .
91. ^ Albert Mühl: The Pfalzbahn . 1982, p. 137 ff .
92. ↑ ^{a b c d} The course book route 670 - operation - operational procedures and traffic: regional traffic development. kbs-670.de, accessed on April 18, 2014 . 
93. ↑ Hans-Joachim Emich, Rolf Becker: The railways to Glan and Lauter . 1996, p. 39 .
94. ↑ Fritz Engbarth: From the Ludwig Railway to the Integral Timed Timetable - 160 Years of the Railway in the Palatinate . 2007, p. 49 .
95. ↑ 279a-e. pkjs.de, accessed on February 12, 2015 . 
96. ↑ Hans-Joachim Emich, Rolf Becker: The railways to Glan and Lauter . 1996, p. 55 .
97. ↑ Hans-Joachim Emich, Rolf Becker: The railways to Glan and Lauter . 1996, p. 54 .
98. ↑ 05.11.08 - ZSPNV Süd: 140 years of rail traffic between Landstuhl - Kusel. (No longer available online.) Der-takt.de, archived from the original on February 22, 2013 ; Retrieved April 14, 2014 . 
99. ^ Fritz Engbarth: 100 years of railways in Wieslautertal . 2011, p. 23 ff .
100. ↑ Fritz Engbarth: From the Ludwig Railway to the Integral Timed Timetable - 160 Years of the Railway in the Palatinate . 2007, p. 49 f .
101. ^ The course book route 670 - operation - operation and traffic: timetable and traffic. kbs704.de, accessed on November 22, 2014 . 
102. ↑ Helmut Röth: On rails between odenwald and Pfalz. Photographs 1955–1976 . 2010, p. 164 .
103. ↑ ^{a b c d e} The course book route 670 - operation - traction vehicle use: Güterverkehr 2014. kbs-670.de, accessed on August 12, 2015 . 
104. ↑ Fritz Engbarth: From the Ludwig Railway to the Integral Timed Timetable - 160 Years of the Railway in the Palatinate . 2007, p. 5 .
105. ↑ Michael Heilmann, Werner Schreiner: 150 years Maximiliansbahn Neustadt-Strasbourg . 2005, p. 103 .
106. ^ Klaus Detlef Holzborn: Railway Reviere Pfalz . 1993, p. 79 .
107. ↑ Fritz Engbarth: From the Ludwig Railway to the Integral Timed Timetable - 160 Years of the Railway in the Palatinate . 2007, p. 20 .
108. ↑ ^{a b} Chronology of a forest community - A piece of Weidenthaler Chronik by Arthur Eisenbarth (2004). weidenthal.de, accessed on January 9, 2014 . 
109. ↑ kbs-670.de: The course book route 670 - Chronicle - 1876 to 1885 . Retrieved November 20, 2014 . 
110. ^ ^{A b} Hans Joachim Ritzau: Railway disasters in Germany. Splinters of German history. Vol. 1: Landsberg-Pürgen 1979, p. 72.
111. ↑ Ludwig Stockert : Railway Accidents (New Series) - Another contribution to railway operations theory. Berlin 1920, no.90.
112. ↑ Heinz Friedel: Railway accidents in the district . In: Homeland yearbook of the district of Kaiserslautern 1999 . 1999, p. 67 .
113. ^ Philip Scherer: Course book section 670. Retrieved on March 28, 2014 . 
114. ^ ICE accident: Public prosecutor's office determined - 15 injured in collision with garbage truck. FAZ , August 18, 2010, accessed on July 30, 2012 . 
115. ↑ 15 injured in an ICE accident. Südwestrundfunk , SWR Mediathek, "Rheinland-Pfalz aktuell", August 17, 2010, accessed on August 20, 2010 . 
116. ↑ ICE collides with garbage truck - 15 injured. Reuters , August 17, 2010, accessed August 20, 2010 . 
117. ↑ Philip Scherer, course book route 670: The course book route 670 - operation - operational features: Railway accident in Lambrecht (Palatinate). August 17, 2010, accessed March 9, 2014 . 
118. ↑ Fritz Engbarth: From the Ludwig Railway to the Integral Timed Timetable - 160 Years of the Railway in the Palatinate . 2007, p. 10 .
119. ↑ The course book route 670 - Operation - Deployment depot: Works along the route. (No longer available online.) Kbs-670.de, archived from the original on October 20, 2013 ; Retrieved November 28, 2013 . 
120. ^ Albert Mühl: The Pfalzbahn . 1982, p. 154 .
121. ↑ ^{a b} The course book route 670 - operation - traction vehicle areas of application: steam locomotives. (No longer available online.) Kbs-670.de, archived from the original on November 4, 2014 ; accessed on November 21, 2014 . 
122. ^ Albert Mühl: The Pfalzbahn . 1982, p. 137 ff .
123. ^ ^{A b} Klaus Detlef Holzborn: Railway Reviere Pfalz . 1993, p. 90 .
124. ^ Albert Mühl: The Pfalzbahn . 1982, p. 92 ff .
125. ^ Heinz Spielhoff: Locomotives of the Palatinate Railways. History of the Palatinate railways, express, passenger and freight locomotives, tender and narrow-gauge locomotives, multiple units . 2011, p. 193 .
126. ↑ Hans-Joachim Emich, Rolf Becker: The railways to Glan and Lauter . 1996, p. 144 f .
127. ^ The course book route 670 - Operation - Locomotive application areas. (No longer available online.) Kbs-670.de, archived from the original on July 4, 2015 ; accessed on July 21, 2015 . 
128. ↑ Werner Schreiner: Paul Camille von Denis. European transport pioneer and builder of the Palatinate railways . 2010, p. 120 .
129. ↑ Fritz Engbarth: From the Ludwig Railway to the Integral Timed Timetable - 160 Years of the Railway in the Palatinate . 2007, p. 27, 103 .
130. ^ Klaus Detlef Holzborn: Railway Reviere Pfalz . 1993, p. 58 .
131. ^ Klaus Detlef Holzborn: Railway Reviere Pfalz . 1993, p. 76 .
132. ^ Klaus Detlef Holzborn: Railway Reviere Pfalz . 1993, p. 80 .
133. ↑ ^{a b c d} The course book route 670 - route - operating points. kbs-670.de, accessed on September 4, 2015 . 
134. ^ Klaus Detlef Holzborn: Railway Reviere Pfalz . 1993, p. 82 .
135. ^ Klaus Detlef Holzborn: Railway Reviere Pfalz . 1993, p. 85 .
136. ↑ Heinz Sturm: The Palatinate Railways . 2005, p. 285 .
137. ↑ The course book route 670 - route - trip report. kbs-670.de, accessed December 19, 2014 . 
138. ↑ ^{a b c} Werner Schreiner: Paul Camille von Denis. European transport pioneer and builder of the Palatinate railways . 2010, p. 125 .
139. ^ Deutsche Reichsbahn - Change of station names in 1939. hs-merseburg.de, accessed on March 9, 2015 . 
140. ^ Klaus Detlef Holzborn: Railway Reviere Pfalz . 1993, p. 63 .
141. ↑ ^{a b c} General Directorate for Cultural Heritage Rhineland-Palatinate (ed.): Informational directory of cultural monuments - Rhein-Pfalz-Kreis. Mainz 2017 (PDF; 6.5 MB).
142. ^ Eisenbahndirektion Mainz - Timetable: Establishments - Designations - Resolutions. bahnstatistik.de, accessed on December 20, 2013 . 
143. ↑ Heinz Sturm: The Palatinate Railways . 2005, p. 107 .
144. ↑ Andreas Räntzsch: The railway in the Palatinate. Documentation of their creation and development . 1997, p. 16 .
145. ↑ Werner Schreiner: Paul Camille von Denis. European transport pioneer and builder of the Palatinate railways . 2010, p. 139 .
146. ↑ Werner Schreiner: Paul Camille von Denis. European transport pioneer and builder of the Palatinate railways . 2010, p. 152 .
147. ^ Fritz Engbarth: From the Ludwig Railway to the Integral Timed Timetable - 160 Years of the Railway in the Palatinate (2007) . 2007, p. 61 .
148. ^ General Directorate for Cultural Heritage Rhineland-Palatinate (ed.): Informational directory of cultural monuments - district-free town of Neustadt an der Weinstrasse. Mainz 2020, p. 4 (PDF; 4.8 MB).
149. ↑ Werner Schreiner: Paul Camille von Denis. European transport pioneer and builder of the Palatinate railways . 2010, p. 119 .
150. ↑ Fritz Engbarth: From the Ludwig Railway to the Integral Timed Timetable - 160 Years of the Railway in the Palatinate . 2007, p. 23 f .
151. ↑ ^{a b} Reiner Frank: Railway in the Elmsteiner Valley then and now . 2001, p. 11 .
152. ↑ The railway stations of the Royal Bavarian State Railways - on the left bank of the Rhine (Bavarian Palatinate) - Pirmasens to Steinenken. kbaystb.de, accessed on November 26, 2013 . 
153. ↑ Reiner Frank: Railway in the Elmsteiner Valley then and now . 2001, p. 22nd ff .
154. ^ Klaus Detlef Holzborn: Railway Reviere Pfalz . 1993, p. 90 .
155. ↑ Reiner Frank: Railway in the Elmsteiner Valley then and now . 2001, p. 26th f .
156. ↑ Photo gallery - train stations and stops - Neidenfels. kbs-670.de, accessed on January 9, 2014 . 
157. ↑ ^{a b} Neidenfels stop. (No longer available online.) Vrn.de, archived from the original on January 13, 2014 ; accessed on January 9, 2014 . 
158. ↑ Neidenfels inauguration of platforms 11-2010. (No longer available online.) Vrn.de, archived from the original on January 13, 2014 ; accessed on January 9, 2014 . 
159. ^ General Directorate for Cultural Heritage Rhineland-Palatinate (ed.): Informational directory of cultural monuments - Bad Dürkheim district. Mainz 2020, p. 97 (PDF; 5.1 MB).
160. ↑ Photo gallery - train stations and stops - Weidenthal. kbs-670.de, accessed on January 9, 2014 . 
161. ↑ The course book route 670 - route - trip report. kbs-670.de, accessed on January 14, 2014 . 
162. ↑ Route 3280: Lichtenstein Head Tunnel. eisenbahn-tunnelportale.de, accessed on December 10, 2013 . 
163. ^ Franz Neumer: 150 years ago the first train passed through Hochspeyer . In: Homeland yearbook of the district of Kaiserslautern 1999 . 1999, p. 117 .
164. ↑ Werner Schreiner: Paul Camille von Denis. European transport pioneer and builder of the Palatinate railways . 2010, p. 84 .
165. ↑ General Directorate for Cultural Heritage Rhineland-Palatinate (Ed.): Informational directory of cultural monuments - District of Kaiserslautern. Mainz 2019, p. 7 (PDF; 5.4 MB).
166. ^ Klaus Detlef Holzborn: Railway Reviere Pfalz . 1993, p. 82 .
167. ^ Klaus Detlef Holzborn: Railway Reviere Pfalz . 1993, p. 139 .
168. ↑ Railway official operating point directory. bahnstatistik.de, accessed on May 31, 2015 . 
169. ↑ Franz Neumer: 150 years ago the first train ran through Hochspeyer . In: Homeland yearbook of the district of Kaiserslautern 1999 . 1999, p. 118 .
170. ↑ Martin Wenz: Type stations of the Palatinate Railways on the Southern Wine Route . In: Landkreis Südliche Weinstrasse (Ed.): Fascination Railway. Homeland yearbook . 2008, p. 17 .
171. ↑ Fritz Engbarth: From the Ludwig Railway to the Integral Timed Timetable - 160 Years of the Railway in the Palatinate . 2007, p. 26 .
172. ^ Klaus Detlef Holzborn: Railway Reviere Pfalz . 1993, p. 85 .
173. ↑ Welcome to STELLWERK 2000. stellwerk2000.npage.de, accessed on May 30, 2015 . 
174. ^ The railway stations of the Royal Bavarian State Railways - left bank of the Rhine (Bavarian Palatinate) - Albersweil.-St. Johann to Burgalben. kbaystb.de, accessed on November 26, 2013 . 
175. ↑ Franz Neumer: 150 years ago the first train ran through Hochspeyer . In: Homeland yearbook of the district of Kaiserslautern 1999 . 1999, p. 116 ff .
176. ↑ Photo gallery - train stations and stops - Kindsbach. kbs-670.de, accessed on January 11, 2014 . 
177. ↑ With VRN-Ticket in the Intercity-Zug Neu from Landstuhl cheap to the metropolitan region. (No longer available online.) In: vrn.de. VRN, June 12, 2007, archived from the original on November 13, 2013 ; Retrieved November 26, 2013 . 
178. ↑ Photo gallery - train stations and stops - main chair. kbs-670.de, accessed on January 11, 2014 . 
179. ↑ swr.de: Hauptstuhl - A portrait of Thomas Keck . Retrieved January 11, 2014 . 
180. ^ Peter Goette: Light F-Trains of the Deutsche Bundesbahn . Freiburg 2011. ISBN 978-3-88255-729-9 , p. 122.
181. ↑ Photo gallery - train stations and stops - Bruchmühlbach-Miesau. kbs-670.de, accessed on January 13, 2014 . 
182. ^ The Eichelscheid train station and its importance for Bechhofen. (No longer available online.) Bechhofen-pfalz.de, archived from the original on January 13, 2014 ; Retrieved July 6, 2013 .  Text from: Historical Working Group Bechhofen-Pfalz (Hrsg.): 800 years of Bechhofen. Contributions to village history , Zweibrücken 1991, pages 322-325
183. ↑ Photo gallery - train stations and stops - Limbach near Homburg (Saar). kbs-670.de, accessed on January 13, 2014 . 
184. ↑ Historical pictures from Kirkel. (No longer available online.) Kirkel-genealogie.de, archived from the original on January 26, 2016 ; Retrieved September 4, 2015 . 
185. ↑ Alex Burkard. (No longer available online.) Ahrdorf.de, archived from the original on January 14, 2014 ; accessed on January 13, 2014 . 
186. ↑ The course book section 670 - Chronicle - 1926 to 1935. kbs-670.de, accessed on August 12, 2014 . 
187. ↑ Photo gallery - train stations and stops - Rentrisch. kbs-670.de, accessed on January 13, 2014 . 
188. ^ Map of the Mainz Railway Directorate from January 1, 1940