Railway line Kreuztal – Cölbe

Kreuztal – Cölbe
Route number (DB) :	2870
Course book section (DB) :	443, 623
Route length:	88.428 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Route class :	D4
Top speed:	Erndtebrück – Wallau: 60 km / h Wallau – Cölbe: 80 km / h
Dual track :	-
Legend of victories 0.065 Kreuztal Ferndorfbach to Hagen 0.800 Kreuztal East Ferndorfbach Ferndorfbach 1.734 Ferndorf (Kr Siegen) Ferndorfbach 4,500 Kredenbach 5.651 Dahlbruch 6,930 Hill huts 8,470 Keppel Abbey - Allenbach Ferndorfbach 10.057 Hilchenbach Ferndorfbach 11,850 Vormwald village 12.305 Vormwalder Tunnel (193 m) 17.967 Vormwald Bundesstrasse 508 18,550 Schloßberg Tunnel (270 m) 19,514 Kronprinz-Eiche -Tunnel (213 m) 21,951 Lützel Bundesstrasse 62 Erndtebrücker Eisenwerke (Anst) 28.821 Erndtebrück 481  m 29.700 to Bad Berleburg 30.100 Eder B 62 32.000 Gebr Wahl (Anst) 32,136 Erndtebrück-Schameder 505  m 32.7 Bundesstrasse 62 Bundesstrasse 62 34.676 Erndtebrück-Leimstruth 35.275 Leimstruther Tunnel (320 m) 542  m 37.1 Amtshausen 40.088 Bad Laasphe-Oberndorf 450  m 43.210 Bad Laasphe-Feudingen 388  m 45.000 Bermershausen 46.500 Saßmannshausen Bundesstrasse 62 (road relocated) Bundesstrasse 62 (road relocated) 47.5 Lahn 5100 VEW Laasphe (Anst) 51.200 Friedrichshütte -Laasphe 52.000 Lahn 52,953 Bad Laasphe 317  m 54.500 Amalienhütte Achenbach (Anst) 54.757 Bad Laasphe - Niederlaasphe (since 2009) 55.400 Amalienhütte 56.100 North Rhine-Westphalia / Hessen Schelden Valley Railway from Dillenburg Bundesstrasse 62 57.146 Biedenkopf-Wallau (until 2001 train station) 294  m 57.200 Lahn 59.700 Ludwigshütte Bundesstrasse 253 59.800 Lahn 61.100 Biedenkopf Campus (since 2003) 62.108 Biedenkopf 271  m Bundesstrasse 62 63.800 Lahn 65.600 Eckelshausen Bundesstrasse 453 67.167 Wilhelmshütte (Lahn) 68.575 Friedensdorf (Lahn) 248  m 70.600 Carlshütte 72.196 Buchenau (Lahn) 72.400 Lahn 74.9 Brungershausen 77.558 Calder 80.525 Sterzhausen 82.770 Goßfelden 84.025 Lahntal-Sarnau 84.9 from Warburg (Westf) 84,982 Sarnau Bbf 195  m 85.600 Lahn 88.300 from Kassel 88.493 Cölbe 198  m after casting Swell:

The Kreuztal – Cölbe railway line is an 88.5 kilometer long, single-track branch line from Kreuztal in North Rhine-Westphalia via Erndtebrück , Bad Laasphe , Biedenkopf to Cölbe in Hesse . Operationally, the route is now divided into two parts, the Kreuztal – Erndtebrück section is used together with the Erndtebrück – Bad Berleburg railway under the name Rothaar-Bahn and the subsequent section to Cölbe from the Kurhessenbahn is called the Obere Lahntalbahn . Trains at the eastern end of the line are tied through to Marburg .

history

Entrance building of the Cölbe train station

Class 628 railcar in the direction of Marburg

Biedenkopf station (2007)

Friedensdorf (Lahn) train station

Route near Wallau (Lahn)

Feudingen stop (2008)

The necessity of a rail connection between the (upper) Lahn valley and the Ruhr area was first formulated in 1847 by the then Kurhessian chief engineer Splingard. His intention was to build a main line from Cologne to Marburg, in order to enable a direct east-west connection between Breslau  - Dresden  - Leipzig  - Halle  - Kassel  - Marburg  - Cologne  - Ostend and, by steamship, London . For the entire route from Marburg via Biedenkopf and Siegen to Cologne, including the branch lines to the coal mines, around 28 million guilders were estimated, with just under 900,000 guilders having to be raised for the route, as expensive tunnels, dams or other things could be largely dispensed with. The planning phase was interrupted by the effects of the March Revolution in 1848 . Further memoranda and publications then repeatedly brought up an Oberlahn Railway , Lenne-Lahn Railway through the Oberlahnthal or Ruhr-Lenne- (Sieg-) Oberlahn Railway between Siegen and Marburg, which gave the Upper Lahn Valley Railway its name. It was not until 1863 that the State Treaty between Hesse, Prussia and Electorate Hesse came about to build a connection.

After the plans for this main line were not implemented, a line between Kreuztal and Marburg should serve to strengthen the structurally weak districts of Wittgenstein and Biedenkopf . In particular, it should supply the numerous hammer mills , ironworks and foundries along the route and in the hinterland with hard coal and coke from the Ruhr area for the blast furnaces and cupolas (charcoal had become scarce) and enable the inexpensive dispatch of metallurgical products to there.

The first section from Laasphe to Cölbe was opened for freight traffic on March 19, 1883 , and passenger traffic began on April 2 of the same year. The line was thus one of the first branch lines in Prussia. The continuation of the route to Kreuztal and thus a continuous connection from Marburg to Siegen was planned from the start.

The Kreuztal – Hilchenbach section was opened in March 1884, followed by the Feudingen – Laasphe section on July 1, 1888. In the same year, October 1, 1888, the Hilchenbach – Erndtebrück section was also put into operation. After the Erndtebrück – Leimstruth section and the Leimstruth – Feudingen section on October 1, 1889, were opened to traffic on December 20, 1888, the line was continuously passable.

After the continuous opening, traffic initially developed extremely positively. In the 1930s there was also long-distance traffic on the Kreuztal - Cölbe route (KBS No. 174n). Since the 1950s there has even been a pair of express trains from Frankfurt am Main via Biedenkopf and Siegen to Cologne . Its discontinuation in 1979 was accompanied by a sharp drop in demand in passenger transport. In the 1980s there was an offer that ran almost every hour on weekdays. The trains, which consisted of two n-cars and a class 211 , were practically only in demand during work and school traffic times. Freight traffic also declined sharply in the 1970s. It was completely discontinued in the mid-1990s.

In 1994, the rail buses and locomotive-hauled wagon trains between Siegen and Bad Berleburg were replaced by type 628 multiple units. At the same time, the range of services was expanded and a regular timetable with standardized routes was introduced. The local transport line, which was advertised as the “Rothaar Express” when it was launched, has been running every hour between Bad Berleburg and Siegen since then. The Erndtebrück – Marburg line was also equipped with the new railcar model and synchronized. At the turn of the millennium, multiple units of the type 640 were used on the RB 93 line, which were retained even after the Dreiländerbahn was first awarded.

Since the Kurhessenbahn took over passenger transport in 2002, the previously declining passenger numbers have risen again. In recent years, the Kurhessenbahn has paved all the platforms of the train stations and stops (except Wallau) between Marburg and Bad Laasphe and raised them to 38 or 55 centimeters. In addition, the new Biedenkopf Schulzentrum (2003, since 2018 Biedenkopf Campus) , Niederlaasphe (2009) and Lahntal-Sarnau (2010) stops were built.

The modernization of the Erndtebrück junction was completed in 2017. The modernization included the track systems, the barrier-free expansion of the platforms and the construction of an electronic signal box. The railways, the federal government and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia invested a total of 13.8 million euros in the modernization.

The hinterland railway

From 1866 there were Hessian and Prussian plans to build a connection between the south and the north of the Hessian hinterland . For a long time, however, nothing happened in this area. In 1912 a memorandum was drawn up on the importance of a "hinterland railway". The first section should run from Wetzlar to Weidenhausen and then to reach Gladenbach via the Aar-Salzböde-Bahn . From there, the next section from Gladenbach to Friedensdorf was supposed to connect the Aar-Salzböde-Bahn with the Oberen Lahntalbahn, in order to finally reach the last section from Biedenkopf into the Edertal. The importance for the development of the Biedenkopf district was highlighted and further preparations were made. The plan then failed when the First World War broke out.

See also : Hessian hinterland - the not realized hinterland railway

Route

The Rothaarbahn from Ginsburg , view towards the upper bend and the Vormwald train station

The steam locomotive 52 8134 with a special train in Hilchenbach-Lützel

The single-track route runs between Kreuztal and Hilchenbach on the southern slope of the Ferndorf valley and meanders through the Rothaargebirge with two large hairpin bends between Hilchenbach and Erndtebrück in order to gain altitude. The tunneling under the Ginsburg through the "Schloßberg-Tunnel" directly on the Rothaarsteig looks particularly picturesque . Directly in front of the 555  m above sea level. NN, the highest Lützel train station, is the apex of the route. From here the route follows the Edertal. Shortly before Erndtebrück, the last few kilometers run right next to federal highway 62 . Due to the large number of unsecured level crossings, the maximum speed on this section is greatly reduced.

After Erndtebrück , where the track branches off to Bad Berleburg , the Eder is crossed, after which the route runs south-east. From Feudingen, the railway follows the upper course of the Lahn via Biedenkopf to the east. The line from the direction of Korbach joins the Sarnau train station , and after a further four kilometers the Cölbe train station is reached. The trains will be tied to Marburg .

The federal road 62 , which crossed the railway line twice at the same height southeast of Saßmannshausen, was relocated by 2015 in such a way that these level crossings could be omitted. In order to secure the further connection of the trade south of the railway line, however, a new level crossing had to be set up.

The route from Kreuztal to Cölbe is 88 kilometers long and classified as a branch line , the maximum speed between Kreuztal and Wallau is 60 km / h and between Wallau and Cölbe 80 km / h.

In December 2014, an electronic signal box (ESTW) was put into operation in Lützel train station .

Route structures

In addition to many smaller culverts or retaining walls, there are the following larger structures along the route:

bridges

About the Lahn :

• Cölbe - Sarnau
• Caldern - Buchenau
• Wilhelmshütte - Biedenkopf
• Biedenkopf Campus - Wallau
• Bad Laasphe - Feudingen

About the Eder:

• Schameder - Erndtebrück

tunnel

Leimstruther Tunnel (321 m): between Oberndorf and Leimstruth.

Planning

Train at the exhibition center during the exhibition Wir in Wittgenstein 2018

Some measures to upgrade the route, such as the construction of new stops in Biedenkopf, Niederlaasphe and Sarnau, have already been carried out. In addition, a Bad Laasphe Kurpark stop was planned, but the plan has since been discarded.

The platforms of all stops will be successively renewed and brought to a uniform height of 55 centimeters. In addition, a large number of level crossings are to be technically secured or removed in order to increase the line speed to 80 km / h.

During a four-month full closure of the Friedensdorf – Cölbe section due to the construction of the B 252 bypass road, electronic interlockings will be built in 2020 in the Sarnau and Buchenau stations , which will be operated by the dispatcher in Friedensdorf in the future. New platforms are also being built in Buchenau, Sterzhausen and Goßfelden and several level crossings are being renewed or closed.

The Zweckverband Nahverkehr Westfalen-Lippe (NWL) would like to take the decision in its association meeting in December 2019 ^{[out of date]} to conclude a declaration of intent with the Kurhessenbahn to further expand the service on the RB 94 line. This provides for the construction of a new Saßmannshausen crossing station, so that the Erndtebrück - Bad Laasphe section can be operated every hour. The Erndtebrück - Bad Berleburg line is also to be accelerated and a new switch connection including a passenger system is to be installed in Erndtebrück station. This should enable wings in Erndtebrück so that hourly direct connections Siegen - Bad Berleburg and Siegen - Marburg can be offered at the same time. The cost of the measure is estimated at 6 million euros. To avoid a double full closure, the renovation is to be implemented in 2027 together with the renovation of the Leimstruther Tunnel. From December 2019, two pairs of trains of the Kurhessenbahn will initially only run on Saturdays via Siegen to Betzdorf (Sieg) and back. This means that the entire route from Cölbe to Kreuztal will be used again for the first time in 37 years.

Railway stations and stops

The route once had 25 stations between Erndtebrück and Cölbe, now there are only 18. As early as the 1960s, the first stops were abandoned due to the decline in passenger numbers. In the 1980s in particular, however, further stops and train stations were abandoned and dismantled, although many former stops / train stations were only equipped with simple buildings or were mainly used for freight transport, such as the Carlshütte , Ludwigshütte or Amalienhütte stops .

Operating office	Municipality / state	Platform tracks	Tariff	Distances - km	annotation
Kreuztal	City of Kreuztal North Rhine-Westphalia	3	NWL	0.0	Connection to the Ruhr-Sieg route
Ferndorf		1 (previously 2)			Crossing station
Kredenbach		1			Needs stop
Dahlbruch		2		5.7	Crossing station
Hill huts	City of Hilchenbach, North Rhine-Westphalia	1	VGWS	6.9	Needs stop
Keppel Abbey - Allenbach		1	VGWS	8.5	up to 198? railway station
Hilchenbach		2	VGWS / NWL	10.0	Scheduled train crossing of the RB 93
Vormwald village		1	VGWS	11.9	Needs stop
Vormwald		1 (previously 2)	VGWS	18.0	Need stop until 198? railway station
Lützel		2	VGWS / NWL	22.0	Crossing station, electronic signal box (ESTW) since December 2014
Erndtebrück	Erndtebrück municipality in North Rhine-Westphalia	4th	VGWS	28.8	Connection to the Erndtebrück – Bad Berleburg railway line
Erndtebrück-Schameder		1	VGWS	32.1	Needs stop
Erndtebrück-Leimstruth		1 (previously 2)	VGWS	34.7	Need stop until 198? railway station
Amtshausen	City of Bad Laasphe North Rhine-Westphalia	1	-	37.1	May 23, 1954 to May 26, 1962
Bad Laasphe-Oberndorf		1 (previously 2)	VGWS	40.1	Need stop until 198? railway station
Bad Laasphe-Feudingen		1 (previously 2)	VGWS	43.3	In the summer starting point of the bicycle trains up to 199? railway station
Bermershausen		1	-	45.0	May 23, 1954 to May 26, 1962
Saßmannshausen		2	-	46.5	closed on June 2, 1996
Friedrichshütte-Laasphe		2	-	51.2	closed on June 2, 1996
Bad Laasphe		2	RMV and VGWS	52.8	Entrance building 2010 partially modernized the starting station
Bad Laasphe-Niederlaasphe		1	RMV and VGWS	54.8	Requirement stop since December 6, 2009
Amalienhütte		1	-	55.4	closed on May 26, 1978
Biedenkopf-Wallau	City of Biedenkopf Hessen	1 (previously 3)	RMV and VGWS	56.9	Branch of the Schelden Valley Railway, station until 2001, station building demolished in 2010
Ludwigshütte		1	-	59.7	closed on May 26, 1985
Biedenkopf Campus		1	RMV and VGWS	60.9	since August 31, 2003, until 2018 Biedenkopf School Center
Biedenkopf		2 (previously 3)	RMV and VGWS	62.3	Crossing station
Eckelshausen		1	-	65.6	May 23, 1954 to May 27, 1979
Wilhelmshütte (Lahn)	Community of Dautphetal Hessen	1	RMV	67.3	Required stop until 19 ?? railway station
Friedensdorf (Lahn)		2 (previously 3)	RMV	68.6	Junction station Completely rebuilt in summer 2011
Carlshütte		1	-	70.6	closed on May 26, 1985
Buchenau (Lahn)		2	RMV	72.2	Crossing station 1987 to 1998 only stopping point
Brungershausen	Community of Lahntal Hessen	1	-	74.9	until 1987 station closed on May 28, 1989
Calder		1 (previously 2)	RMV	77.6	Need stop until 198? railway station
Sterzhausen		1 (previously 2)	RMV	80.5	up to 198? railway station
Goßfelden		1	RMV	82.8	until 19?? railway station
Lahntal-Sarnau		1	RMV	84.0	Requirement stop, since July 4, 2010
Sarnau		0 (previously 3)	-	85.0	Branch of the Burgwaldbahn , passenger traffic until July 3, 2010
Cölbe	Community of Cölbe Hessen	4th	RMV	88.5	Branch from the Main-Weser-Bahn

Bad Laasphe-Niederlaasphe stop (2010)

On September 1, 2003, the Biedenkopf School Center stop was opened due to the high number of schoolchildren, the meanwhile increased number of passengers and the better accessibility of the authorities and health facilities in Biedenkopf . With the timetable change in mid-December 2009, the Bad Laasphe-Niederlaasphe stop on demand and the Lahntal-Sarnau stop on July 4, 2010 were opened. The previous train station outside of Sarnau was closed for passenger traffic. After the platforms, lamps, shelters and underpass have been dismantled, it serves as a depot.

In the summer of 2011, the route between Buchenau and Biedenkopf was closed for six weeks. During this time, tracks, points and signals were renewed in the Friedensdorf train station. In addition, the side platform, which was only renovated in 2004, and the intermediate platform were replaced by a barrier-free central platform equipped with tactile guide strips for the blind.

Accidents

On June 22, 2013 there was a serious accident between Bad Laasphe and Feudingen. A truck collided with a train at an open level crossing. The truck driver died and 32 passengers were injured, three of them seriously. The federal highway 62 running there was later redesigned. Before that, there were two level crossings on the main road. Due to the re-routing, only one level crossing is required for the industrial park. This was better secured by a modern traffic light control and half barriers.

On December 9, 1907, four passenger cars of a train going in the direction of Hilchenbach derailed at the Vormwald station and slid down the embankment a little. The reason was the flank journey of a freight locomotive; the accident turned out to be mild, there were only a few (slightly) injured.

Service offer

Rothaarbahn

In Kreuztal-Ferndorf there are still two industrial connections (Bender Eisen- und Metallwerke Ferndorf and strip-galvanizing of Thyssen Krupp Stahl AG) with considerable freight traffic. In Dahlbruch, three connections are regularly served by DB Cargo (Eisenbau Krämer, SMS, scrap dealer). In Erndtebrück-Grünewald, the Siegen-Wittgenstein circuit runs along the remaining connection to the Erndtebrück ironworks. Occasionally, wagons for timber loading are delivered to Erndtebrück station.

The Rothaarbahn is in rail transport throughout every hour, on Saturday and Sunday night but only every two hours from the same red hair train (RB 93) with quick connections to the Rhein-Sieg-Express (RE 9) and the Westerwald-win-path (RB 90) in Siegen and on the Ruhr-Sieg-Bahn (RB 91) in Kreuztal in both directions.

The train crossings take place about two minutes before the usual symmetry time in Erndtebrück and at half an hour in Hilchenbach.

In Erndtebrück there is a connection to the Obere Lahntalbahn (RB 94) to Bad Laasphe  - Marburg every two hours .

Local rail passenger transport is carried out by the three-country railway of HLB, which uses class 640 , class 648 and class 1648 diesel multiple units for the Rothaar Bahn for speeds of up to 120 (1648: 140) km / h.

With the winning tender for the Eifel-Westerwald-Sieg diesel network, the Hessische Landesbahn took over the operation of the RB 93 line from DB Regio at the time of the timetable change in December 2014. The start of operations was originally planned for August 2015. However, since negotiations on a necessary transition concept showed that an early start of HLB operations is better than an extension of the contract with DB Regio, the transfer of operations was brought forward accordingly. For this purpose, locomotives of the Regio-Shuttle type were temporarily used, which were rented by the East German Railway . As part of the transitional concept, the line was operated between Bad Berleburg and Siegen until December 2015, after which the line was extended beyond the previous terminus in Siegen to Betzdorf.

Since the timetable change in December 2015, the RB 93 has suffered from a punctuality problem caused by a new timetable concept. Since then, the line has been running beyond the previous endpoint in Siegen to Betzdorf, with travel times in the Hilchenbach - Siegen section shortened without any changes to the infrastructure. In Betzdorf, the line also starts at a block distance from the RE 9 line, which is prone to delays. Delay transmissions from this line cannot be dismantled in the further course of the route due to the tight schedule and are transferred to other trains from Kreuztal through the single-track infrastructure. Punctuality is to be improved through lengthy infrastructure measures. In order to eliminate the lack of punctuality, the local transport association Westphalia-Lippe plans to have the RB 93 end in Siegen again in the future and to transfer the service of the Siegen - Betzdorf section to a different line. In the Siegen - Hilchenbach section, the offer is to be condensed to a half-hourly service by extending the RB 90 from Limburg.

Originally, the hourly service on Sundays was to be introduced with the timetable change on December 11, 2016. Due to the tense personnel situation at HLB, the introduction date had to be postponed to January 15. Thus, on Sundays, the unfavorable connection situation in Erndtebrück from the direction of Bad Laasphe to Siegen should be eliminated with an hour's waiting time. The unfavorable connection situation has only existed since December 2015. In order to reduce downtime in Bad Berleburg, the two-hour service in the direction of Siegen was postponed by one hour.

Upper Lahn Valley Railway

Oberndorf stop (2008)

Shameder stop

Passenger traffic on the route is operated by the Kurhessenbahn ( KBS 623), one of the five regional networks of Deutsche Bahn AG with a total route network of 245 kilometers.

The rail transport is on behalf of the Rhine-Main Transport Association (Marburg-Wallau) and the Westfalen-Lippe Zweckverband transport (low-Laasphe Erndtebrück) from the Kurhessenbahn of Deutsche Bahn AG performed. In 2010, around 3,000 passengers used the route per day, which corresponds to a passenger increase of 20% since 2007.

The Obere Lahntalbahn will run every two hours in 2011 with a connection in Marburg to the Main-Weser-Bahn ( RMV line 30 ) and in Erndtebrück to the Rothaar-Bahn ( RB 93 ) from the RB 94 of the same name. The symmetry time is two to three minutes before the usual one. Train crossings usually take place in Friedensdorf, with only the train going in the direction of Marburg having a four-minute stop. There is an hourly service between Marburg and Bad Laasphe.

The Kurhessenbahn increased the offer with the timetable change on June 15, 2008 and with the 2011 timetable provides thirteen pairs of trains between Marburg and Bad Laasphe, seven of which are connected to Erndtebrück.

From 1995 until the 2018/2019 timetable change, diesel railcars of the 628 series were predominantly used. Some of them have been converted for bicycle transport, each of which can hold up to 65 bicycles. For this purpose, a four-seater seating group was removed on one side, instead two folding seats were attached below each window . This area can be used to park bicycles during the train journey. The KHB diesel locomotive 218 387 is used on special occasions (e.g. “ Lahntal Total ”) .

The transport services of the "Nordwesthessen" diesel network were awarded to the Kurhessenbahn for a further 15 years with the start of the contract in December 2017. Originally, the transport services were to be re-awarded as early as December 2015, so that a two-year bridging contract with the Kurhessenbahn was necessary. With the start of operations, operations should be completely converted to used and modernized low-floor multiple units. However, this project was delayed. In addition, with the start of operations on the RB 94 on Saturdays between Bad Laasphe and Marburg, the hourly service was introduced. Since the 2017/2018 timetable change, the Kurhessenbahn has gradually switched its offer to class 642 multiple units , which are gradually being transferred from different regional areas and modernized for the Kurhessenbahn.

The Obere Lahntalbahn is particularly popular with bicycle tourists , as its route with the Hessian long-distance cycle path R2 and the Lahntal cycle path have connections with many connecting routes (e.g. the Hessian long-distance cycle path R8 ) and an idyllic landscape. Many hiking trails also cross the route, for example the Lahnhöhenweg , the Rothaarsteig or the student path .

Railway simulation

Since November 29, 2009 the Obere Lahntalbahn has been available in the AddOn for the Microsoft Train Simulator (MSTS) "Marburg-Erndtebrück" as Pro Train 31 .

See also

• Railways in Northern Hesse

literature

• Heinz Schomann : Railway in Hessen . Railway buildings and routes 1839–1939. In: State Office for Monument Preservation Hessen (Ed.): Cultural monuments in Hessen. Monument topography Federal Republic of Germany . Three volumes in a slipcase. tape 2.2 . Theiss Verlag, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-8062-1917-6 , p. 615 ff . (Route 041).
• Urs Kramer : Cölbe-Sarnau-Biedenkopf-Wallau-Laasphe-Erndtebrück ; Contribution to the collective work "Secondary and narrow-gauge railways in Germany once & now", GeraMond Verlag 1997, ISSN  0949-2143
• Thomas Schüßler: 100 years of the Siegen – Marburg railway line 1889–1989 , Siegen 1989, 66 pages
• Konrad Fuchs: The development of the Siegerland by the railroad (1840-1917) , Wiesbaden 1974, 163 pages, Die Eisenbahn Cölbe - Laasphe, p. 124–130, Die Eisenbahn Hilchenbach-Erndtebrück - Laasphe or Raumland (Berleburg), p. 130-134
• Wilhelm Hartnack: The Siegen – Marburg Railway , Wittgensteiner Volumes 25/1961, Issue 4, pp. 126–129
• NN: Memorandum about the construction of a railway to connect Cologne with the Main Weser Railway near Marburg , Elwert, Marburg 1853, digital text from the library of the seminar for economic and social history at the University of Cologne
• JPK: Project of a Ruhr-Lenne (Sieg) Oberlahn railway, from the Bergisch-Märkische and Hagen-Dortmunder to the Main-Weser railway, to connect the Lower Rhine and the North Sea (Emden) with the east and south ( Frankfurt a / M.), In the shortest, most horizontal and cheapest direction , Oberlahntal 1852, digital text from the library of the seminar for economic and social history at the University of Cologne

Web links

Commons : Obere Lahntalbahn  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Wikisource: Obere Lahntalbahn  - Sources and full texts

• Description of route 2870 in the NRWbahnarchiv by André Joost (only NRW part)
• Many historical pictures of the Laasphe – Erndtebrück section
• History and pictures of the Upper Lahn Valley Railway (private site)
• The railways in the Rothaargebirge , The Rail Bus, lead article 4/2010, p. 6f (PDF; 402 KiB)
• Page of the "Kurhessenbahn" on www.bahn.de of the Deutsche Bahn AG

Individual evidence

1. ↑ DB Netze - Infrastructure Register
2. ↑ Railway Atlas Germany . 9th edition. Schweers + Wall, Aachen 2014, ISBN 978-3-89494-145-1 .
3. ^ Frans Splingard: Chemin de fer direct de Cologne à Marbourg. Avec embranchements sur Siegen, et la bassin Houiller de la Ruhr à Hagen. Mémoire à l'appui du project. Representation of a direct railway connection between Cöln and Marburg together with branch lines to Siegen and the coal mining districts of the Ruhr near Hagen. A memorandum , printed by Theodor Fischer, Cassel 1847, digital text from the library of the seminar for economic and social history
4. ↑ JPK: Project of a Ruhr-Lenne (Sieg) Oberlahn railway, from the Bergisch-Märkische and Hagen-Dortmunder to the Main-Weser railway, to connect the Lower Rhine and the North Sea (Emden) with the east and south (Frankfurt a / M.), In the shortest, most horizontal and cheapest direction , Oberlahntal 1852
5. ^ NN: Memorandum about the installation of a railway to connect Cologne with the Main Weser Railway near Marburg , Elwert, Marburg 1853, digital text from the library of the seminar for economic and social history
6. ^ ^{A b} Karl Huth: Biedenkopf. Castle and town through the centuries. Biedenkopf 1977.
7. ^ Eduard Groos: Memorandum on the necessity of the imminent implementation of the Lenne-Lahn-Lahn-Bahn, a connecting line between the Ruhr-Sieg- and Main-Weser-Bahn, from Altenhunden via Laasphe and Biedenkopf to Marburg, in a special relation to the district of Wittgenstein , Laasphe 1871, University of Cologne
8. ^ Münzer, Lutz: Branch and small railways around Marburg , p. 55. in: Müller, Andreas: 150 years of railways in Marburg. Impetus for urban development . [Marburg city writings on history and culture, Volume 71]. Rathaus-Verlag Marburg 2001.
9. ↑ Openings of the sections ( Memento from May 5, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
10. ↑ The rail bus lead article 4/2010 , p. 6f (PDF; 402 KiB)
11. ↑ Rolf Löttgers: 100 years "Siegerländer Semmering". In: Eisenbahn-Magazin 10/1988, p. 32 ff.
12. ↑ The station is now completely blocked. siegener-zeitung.de, July 28, 2016, accessed on November 27, 2016 . 
13. ↑ Without barriers through Sassmannshausen. derWesten.de, June 10, 2010, accessed on November 30, 2016 (removal of Saßmannshausen level crossings). 
14. ↑ https://eisenbahn-tunnelportale.de/lb/inhalt/tunnelportale/2870-leimstruth.html
15. ↑ The Rothaarbahn should start the sprint. In: Westfalenpost. July 17, 2013, accessed May 7, 2017 . 
16. ^ Münchhausen / Wetter / Lahntal (MüWeLa): Reconstruction of the Sarnau and Buchenau stations. In: kurhessenbahn.de. Retrieved January 27, 2020 . 
17. ^ Westfalenpost, New direct connection from Siegen to Marburg from December. wp.de, September 15, 2019, accessed on January 7, 2020 . 
18. ↑ After train accident in Bad Laasphe: truck driver dies of injuries. Mittelhessen.de, July 26, 2013, accessed on July 22, 2014 . 
19. ↑ Train crashes into a truck: 32 people injured. General-Anzeiger , Bonn, June 26, 2013, accessed on July 22, 2014 . 
20. ↑ Red for everyone at Saßmannshausen - because of safety. wp.de, February 23, 2017, accessed on February 23, 2017 . 
21. ↑ As if by a miracle, they all survived. derwesten.de, December 7, 2007, accessed January 26, 2015 . 
22. ↑ Line overview of the HLB. (PDF; 2.6 MiB) Hessian State Railway , archived from the original on October 6, 2014 ; accessed on September 22, 2014 . 
23. ^ Association meeting of SPNV Nord in July 2014. (PDF) July 7, 2014, p. 5 , archived from the original on September 24, 2015 ; accessed on September 22, 2014 . 
24. ↑ Award decision in the Eifel-Westerwald-Sieg diesel network: DB and HLB are awarded the contract. Zweckverband Nahverkehr Westfalen-Lippe , accessed on September 22, 2014 . 
25. ↑ Rothaarbahn is the most unreliable line in Westphalia-South. derwesten.de, September 28, 2016, accessed May 7, 2017 . 
26. ↑ Zweckverband Personennahverkehr Westfalen-Süd (ZWS), 24th Association Assembly, Item 5: SPNV offer conception in DreiLänderEck20XX, June 3, 2020
27. ↑ Zweckverband Personennahverkehr Westfalen-Süd (ZWS), 24th Association Assembly, Item 5: SPNV conception in the DreiLänderEck20XX enclosure, June 3, 2020
28. ↑ Wittgenstein will soon be approached every hour on Sundays. derwesten.de, November 23, 2016, accessed on November 27, 2016 . 
29. ↑ Hessenschiene 79. (PDF; 2.0 MiB) probahn-bus.org, accessed on November 30, 2016 (passenger newspaper from Pro Bahn & Bus). 
30. ↑ First Hessian station for storm wood built near Biedenkopf. (No longer available online.) In: giessener-anzeiger.de. Gießener Anzeiger , May 3, 2007, formerly in the original ; accessed November 30, 2016 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  
31. ↑ Timetable 2011 of the Kurhessenbahn. bahn.de, archived from the original on January 16, 2016 ; accessed November 30, 2016 . 
32. ^ Station festival of the Kurhessenbahn in Bad Laasphe. pressrelations.de, August 21, 2009, accessed on November 30, 2016 (Deutsche Bahn press release). 
33. ↑ Preliminary information on the competitive award of the regional rail network North-West Hesse. ted.europa.eu, accessed on September 22, 2014 . 
34. ↑ NVV plans direct award to Kurhessenbahn. bahnmarkt.eu, May 26, 2014, accessed on September 22, 2014 . 
35. ↑ Kurhessenbahn (KHB) wins EU-wide tender for transport services in the north-west Hessian network - operations start in December 2017 when the timetable changes, Kurhessenbahn. Kurhessenbahn, March 2016, accessed on July 24, 2016 . 
36. ↑ 44th Association Assembly of the NWL, Item 3, Annex 1, SPNV service changes 2018. NWL, July 13, 2017, accessed on July 16, 2017 .