Ländchesbahn

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Wiesbaden – Niedernhausen (Taunus)
Route number (DB) :	3501
Course book section (DB) :	627
Route length:	19.6 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Legend Main-Lahn-Bahn from Limburg 19.6 Niedernhausen (Taunus) terminus Main-Lahn-Bahn to Frankfurt 17.8 Rhein-Main-Theater (1996–1998) Gray stone tunnel (235 m), A3 SFS Cologne-Rhine / Main 13.3 Auringen - Medenbach 9.2 Wiesbaden-Igstadt 4.9 Wiesbaden-Erbenheim 4.3 formerly from Air Base Wiesbaden (Erbenheim airfield) 2.8 Link from Breckenheim (SFS) 2.8 Wiesbaden-Kinzenberg ( Abzw ) former connection to the Taunus Railway Taunus Railway from Frankfurt Right Rhine route from Koblenz   former Aartalbahn from Diez 1.4 Wiesbaden-Waschbach North (Abzw) 0.0 Wiesbaden Hbf (since 1906) Ludwigsbahnhof (1879–1906) Swell:

The Ländchesbahn is a single-track, non-electrified branch line between Wiesbaden and Niedernhausen (Taunus) and now bears the RMV - number 21 and the DB - course book number 627. The length is about 20 kilometers.

history

Location of the Ludwigsbahnhof in Wiesbaden around 1895

The Hessian Ludwigsbahn built and operated the Main-Lahn-Bahn from 1877 , which runs through Niedernhausen. In order to get a connection from there to Wiesbaden, where the Taunus Railway and the Right Rhine Line ended, the railway line was opened together with the Ludwigsbahnhof Wiesbaden on July 1, 1879. In preparation for the construction of the new Wiesbaden main station , the route in Wiesbaden had to be rebuilt over more than six kilometers. This new section went into operation in 1904, followed by a connection to the Wiesbaden Süd express freight station in 1906 . When the Wiesbaden main train station opened in 1906, the Ludwigsbahnhof was closed and the route was shortened by about one kilometer. After the opening of the racecourse on the site of today's airfield in Erbenheim , the trains ran to Erbenheim every 10 minutes on race days.

On October 1, 1907, the line was outsourced from the responsibility of the Frankfurt Directorate and handed over to the Mainz Railway Directorate . On February 10, 1914, new “double light pre-signals ” were put into operation “when darkness fell” , which corresponded to the model of the form signal still in use today .

Route

The Wiesbaden-heritage home station at the Ländchesbahn

The originally completely single-track line begins on the west side of Wiesbaden Central Station. South of the track field belonging to the main train station, the line swings to the east in order to rise steadily following the valley of the Wasbach stream. In the area of ​​the Hammermühle and in front of the Wiesbaden Ost and Biebrich train stations , the Ländchesbahn crosses the busy main line to Frankfurt, Mainz and Koblenz. Behind the overpass structure , the freight line from Wiesbaden Ost to Wiesbaden-Erbenheim airfield originally swung to the track of the Ländchesbahn, so that two single-track lines lay next to each other on the shared embankment , which were only connected at the Erbenheim passenger station. In 2002, the freight line was shut down and the section from the main train station to shortly before Erbenheim was used for the Breckenheim – Wiesbaden junction , the Wiesbaden connection to the Cologne – Rhine / Main high-speed line. This common section is now two-pronged and electrified . It runs in a relatively flat area and therefore does not have any noteworthy engineering structures. The siding in the direction of Erbenheim airfield was also renewed in this context, but was hardly used and largely dismantled in 2011.

From Wiesbaden-Erbenheim , the route leads through the little country from which it takes its name and climbs steadily towards the north. Between the Auringen-Medenbach stop and the Niedernhausen train station , the end point of the Ländchesbahn, it first crosses under the high-speed line Cologne – Rhine / Main and then in the 197 m long “Grauer Stein” tunnel a ridge of the Taunus on which the federal autobahn 3 and the Bundesstraße 455 run. The railway tunnel , built in 1878, was completely renovated from 1998 to 2000 for reasons of operational safety. The tunnel was originally designed for double-track operation, but was only used single-track from the start. The large cross-section and the fact that the tunnel will only be used with a single track in future made it possible to build a new reinforced concrete inner tube with all-round sealing in front of the old sandstone vault . Since the renovation work could only take place during the nightly breaks and on the weekends with the maintenance of the weekday railway operations, the renovation was carried out in eight-meter blocks. The tunnel is the apex of the route, which from there drops steeply in the direction of Niedernhausen.

Between 1996 and 1998, the “ Rhein-Main-Theater ” stop , which served the musical theater of the same name , was in German on Andrew Lloyd Webber's “ Sunset Boulevard ” at kilometer 17.8 between Auringen-Medenbach and Niedernhausen (Taunus) was premiered. Continuous theater trains ran from Frankfurt (Main) Hauptbahnhof to Niedernhausen, from where they returned to the “Rhein-Main-Theater” stop as a restricted trip .

In Niedernhausen, the main line of the Ländchesbahn runs between the tracks of the Main-Lahn-Bahn without crossing , so that the trains can switch between the lines without hindrance.

Transport / operation

Railcar of the vectus Verkehrsgesellschaft mbH

The relatively short route was mainly used in shuttle traffic and is therefore predestined for railcar use . After the Second World War , the ETA 176 series accumulator railcars , which were based in Limburg, mainly operated here . Later, diesel locomotives of the V-160 family with three to four n-wagons ran on the route . In principle, all trains stopped at all subway stations, all of which had crossings. Only in the rush wrong Hasten railcars Limburg - Wiesbaden without stopping between Niedernhausen and Wiesbaden. In times of low traffic, individual railcar journeys on the Ländchesbahn via Niedernhausen to Limburg were extended to replace locomotive-hauled trains. This type of business has survived to this day. In the 1970s a pair of express railcars Au (Sieg) - Mainz was run on the Ländchesbahn, which connected the Westerwald with the provincial capitals Wiesbaden and Mainz . With the introduction of the regular timetable on the Main-Lahn-Bahn, the connecting traffic on the Ländchesbahn became more systematic, so that the possibility of crossing in Auringen-Medenbach could be dispensed with - the station was reduced to a stopping point .

From 2004 to December 2014, traffic on the Ländchesbahn was handled with LINT railcars from the company vectus based in Limburg. Since vectus transported some of its railcars to Gießen for cleaning in the evenings and on weekends until December 2011 , Deutsche Bahn took over the transport services with diesel railcars of the 628 series during this time.

Since the foundation of the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund (RMV), the route has been integrated into the uniform RMV tariff.

With the project “ Stadtbahn Wiesbaden ” the introduction of a regional light rail system based on the Karlsruhe model was discussed, in which the Ländchesbahn should also be included. These plans had come a long way, but were abandoned in 2001 when the political majorities changed.

At the beginning of November 2014 it was announced that the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund and Alstom agreed to start using new railcars with fuel cell drives on the Taunus network (12, 13, 15 and 21) from 2018 at the earliest .

The line has been operated by the Hessian State Railroad (HLB) since December 14, 2014 . The operation was carried out first on a transitional basis with Stadler GTW and another LINT-41 set the HLB about a year, until the six of HLB belonging and to date at the Kahlgrundbahn used Siemens Desiro Classic in December 2015 were released since the Kahlgrundbahn since then of the Westfrankenbahn is operated.

Train stations

All Ländchesbahn stations are in the tariff area of ​​the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund (RMV). With the exception of the train station in Niedernhausen (and the abandoned Rhein-Main-Theater stop), these are also located in the Wiesbaden urban area. Some offer direct connections to local bus routes, while others have the next bus stop a bit away and do not show any reference to a train station in the name of the stop. The start of the renovation work on the Wiesbaden train stations announced for spring 2013 was delayed. In December 2014 it was announced that the renovation work would start in spring 2016 and be completed in autumn 2016.

Wiesbaden Central Station

→ Main article : Wiesbaden Hauptbahnhof

Reception building of Wiesbaden Central Station

By 1906 the Ländchesbahn ended in Wiesbaden at the Ludwigsbahnhof . ( 50 ° 4 ′ 39 ″  N , 8 ° 14 ′ 45 ″  E ) With the renovation of the tracks in the city area, the new main station ( 50 ° 4 ′ 15 ″  N , 8 ° 14 ′ 38 ″  E ) became the end of the line. There is a connection to long-distance traffic as well as to various regional train and bus lines.

Wiesbaden-Erbenheim

The Wiesbaden-legacy home station ( 50 ° 3 '17 "  N , 8 ° 17' 44"  O ) is located about 400 meters west of the Town Hall and Kirch square of the district Erbenheim . Originally it was called Erbenheim . On October 7, 1928, it was renamed Wiesbaden-Erbenheim .

Until 2005 there were two mechanical signal boxes in Erbenheim , which were demolished when the station was dismantled to the stop. The one at the exit to Wiesbaden main train station served as a control room. The one-story, former station building used to be a ticket office and a baggage acceptance facility. As part of the renewal of the stations on the Ländchesbahn, the station is to be relocated in the direction of Berliner Straße in order to shorten the distances from the bus stop and town center to the train station.

Wiesbaden-Igstadt

Reception building of Wiesbaden-Igstadt train station (2010)

→ Main article : Wiesbaden-Igstadt train station

The Wiesbaden-Igstadt Station ( 50 ° 4 '56 "  N , 8 ° 19' 32"  O ) is located west of the district Igstadt and has a Grade II listed station building from 1926. In the future, a new access from the center to create the station. In addition to the endpoints, Igstadt station is the only station on the Ländchesbahn that has an intersection . In July 2017 the mechanical interlocking was replaced by an electronic interlocking .

Auringen-Medenbach

The Auringen-Medenbach train station ( 50 ° 6 ′ 48.9 ″  N , 8 ° 19 ′ 55.1 ″  E ) is located between the two Wiesbaden districts of Auringen and Medenbach . A stately reception building with an annex, cargo shed, laundry room , petroleum cellar and stables was built. On the first floor there was a large waiting room with wooden benches and a cannon stove, the upper floors were used by the railway officials as an apartment. Originally the station had two passenger tracks and one freight track, the points of which were operated by a signal box . The building was demolished in 1972 because it was in disrepair and replaced by a bus shelter. In the meantime, the facilities at the stop have been dismantled. The ESWE buses stop at the nearby August-Ruf-Straße . Plans are currently underway to modernize the stop and improve the connection between the train stop and the bus stop.

Niedernhausen

→ Main article : Niedernhausen train station

At the Niedernhausen train station ( 50 ° 9 ′ 34.7 ″  N , 8 ° 18 ′ 46.3 ″  E ) there is a connection to the Main-Lahn-Bahn , to the S-Bahn line S2 and to the buses of the Rhein-Nahe bus service ( ORN) and the ESWE Verkehrsgesellschaft .

literature

• Dieter Frey: From the steam locomotive to the ICE era - over 130 years of railways in Idsteiner Land . Hünstetten 2008, OCLC 611895311 .

Web links

Commons : Ländchesbahn  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Pictures of the renovated gray stone tunnel
• The Ländchesbahn at OpenStreetMap.org

1. ^ Ludwigsbahnhof , Taunusbahnhof , Rheinbahnhof

Individual evidence

1. ↑ DB Netze - Infrastructure Register
2. ↑ Railway Atlas Germany . 9th edition. Schweers + Wall, Aachen 2014, ISBN 978-3-89494-145-1 .
3. ↑ Railway Directorate Mainz (ed.): Official Gazette of the Royal Prussian and Grand Ducal Hessian Railway Directorate in Mainz from April 30, 1904, No. 22
4. ↑ Eisenbahndirektion Mainz (ed.): Official Journal of the Royal Prussian and Grand Ducal Hessian Railway Directorate in Mainz from June 23, 1906, No. 34. Announcement No. 361, p. 317.
5. ↑ Eisenbahn-Directions district Mainz (ed.): Official Gazette of the Royal Prussian and Grand Ducal Hessian Railway Directorate in Mainz of September 21, 1907, No. 47. Announcement No. 499, p. 491 and of September 26, 1907, No. 48. Announcement No. 506, pp. 495f.
6. ↑ Eisenbahndirektion Mainz (ed.): Official Journal of the Royal Prussian and Grand Ducal Hessian Railway Directorate in Mainz of January 24, 1914, No. 5. Announcement No. 50, p. 33
7. ↑ Frey, p. 44.
8. ↑ Minister Al-Wazir welcomes the pioneering work of the RMV in the use of fuel technology. Retrieved on November 4, 2014 (press release from the Hessian Ministry for Economic Affairs, Energy, Transport and Regional Development). 
9. ↑ Alstom signs first letters of intent for the use of new, emission-free rail vehicles. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on March 13, 2015 ; Retrieved November 4, 2014 (press release from Alstom). 
10. ↑ The fuel cell is coming. (No longer available online.) In: Taunus-Zeitung (FNP). November 4, 2014, archived from the original on November 7, 2017 ; Retrieved November 4, 2014 . 
11. ^ Prof Ringat: With the fuel cell in the Taunus. Interview with the spokesman for the RMV management about trains with fuel cells. Retrieved on November 4, 2014 (from House of Logistics & Mobility (HOLM) GmbH). 
12. ↑ Bertram Heide: Long-time promised conversion of the Ländchesbahn stations Igstadt, Medenbach / Auringen and Erbenheim is a long time coming. ( Memento from July 11, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ) In: Wiesbadener Tagblatt , February 20, 2013.
13. ^ Ländchesbahn: New stations, many more journeys. In: Wiesbadener Kurier , October 10, 2014.
14. ↑ Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft (ed.): Official Gazette of the Reichsbahndirektion in Mainz of October 6, 1928, No. 44. Announcement No. 547, p. 276.
15. ↑ stellwerke.de , accessed on September 17, 2011.
16. ↑ ^{a b} Gesa Fritz: Ticket to Ride. In: Frankfurter Rundschau . August 23, 2011, accessed September 17, 2011 . 
17. ^ State Office for the Preservation of Monuments Hesse (ed.): Railway in Hesse. Cultural monuments in Hessen. Monument topography Federal Republic of Germany . tape 2.2 . Theiss-Verlag, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-8062-1917-6 , p. 594 .
18. ^ VRM GmbH & Co. KG: Historical levers . ( wiesbadener-kurier.de [accessed on August 11, 2017]).
19. ↑ Dieter Hofmann: When day laborers discovered commuting. (No longer available online.) In: Wiesbadener Kurier . September 7, 2011, formerly in the original ; Retrieved September 17, 2011 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  
20. ^ Wiesbaden.de: Projects and initiatives in Auringen , accessed on September 17, 2011.