Schweinfurt – Meiningen railway line

	from Bamberg
0.095	Schweinfurt Central Station	216.0 m
	to Würzburg
0.800	former bypass curve of Würzburg
6.527	Oberwerrn	250.6 m
10,066	Poppenhausen former train station	267.8 m
13.676	Ebenhausen (Unterfr)	298.6 m
	to Bad Kissingen
18,370	Rottershausen (since 2006)
19.300	Rottershausen former train station	324.6 m
20.000	Rottershäuser Tunnel (400 m)
21.500	Abzw Rannungen
	to Stadtlauringen (1900–1960)
	to the freight station MUNA (1940-ca.1960)
21.700	Transfer station to MUNA Rottershausen
25.300	Block Thalkirche
28.900	Münnerstadt	247.6 m
31.600	Burglauer	232.9 m
34.300	Niederlauer	233.1 m
38.200	Franconian Saale (58 m)
38.757	Bad Neustadt (Saale)	232.4 m
	to Bischofsheim (1885–1989)
	to Königshofen (1893–1995)
42.600	Haystack	237.3 m
46.000	Unsleben	247.9 m
49.100	Top litter	256.2 m
52.027	Mellrichstadt train station	270.8 m
	after fladings
57.100	Mill field	314.90 m
57.680	State border Bavaria / Thuringia
	by Römhild (1893–1972)
63,170	Rentwertshausen	366.28 m
65.027	Bibra
67.711	Wölfershausen
70.175	Ritschenhausen	314.61 m
	to Neudietendorf
	from Lichtenfels
77.837	Meiningen	287.10 m
	to Eisenach

The Schweinfurt – Meiningen line is a single-track main line in Bavaria and Thuringia . It runs from Schweinfurt via Bad Neustadt an der Saale and Mellrichstadt to Meiningen . The route is part of the main connection Schweinfurt - Erfurt .

history

Bavarian train station in Meiningen

Ritschenhausen station

Schweinfurt Central Station

After the completion of the first major railway lines in the middle of the 19th century, the Bavarian government was keen to open up further Bavarian areas and to continue to set up abbreviations for the existing route network. A connection between the Bamberg – Würzburg near Schweinfurt railway and the Eisenach – Lichtenfels railway near Meiningen was sought, also in order to improve the accessibility of the state capital of Saxony-Meiningen .

The governments of Bavaria and the Duchy of Saxony-Meiningen then concluded a state treaty on March 21, 1868 for the construction of a railway line from Schweinfurt via Neustadt an der Saale to Meiningen. The Bavarian State Railway Administration took over the construction and management of the entire route, the costs for the sections on their respective national territory were borne by the two governments.

After 1871 first operation of the railway from Schweinfurt to Bad Kissingen on Ebenhausen was taken up, the start of construction of the stretch of Ebenhausen followed up Meiningen on 14 June 1872. In Meiningen was the self-operated by the Bavarian State Railways Administration Bayerische Bahnhof south leaning to the existing station of Werra Railway built. Major topographical and traffic-related changes in the urban area had become necessary due to the construction. The opening of the 64-kilometer section took place on December 15, 1874 by the Royal Bavarian State Railways , the operator of the railway line. After the completion of the Neudietendorf – Ritschenhausen railway in 1884, long-distance connections to Erfurt were set up. The trains went partly via Meiningen or directly via the connecting track Ritschenhausen - Grimmenthal to Erfurt. The Ritschenhausen station was massively expanded, as not only the bypass curve branches off here, but also the locomotive changes between the railway companies in Bavaria and Prussia took place. The second track was laid between Schweinfurt and Ritschenhausen between 1908 and 1913.

In 1885 an express train was already running on the railway line from Meiningen to Würzburg. Long-distance transport services were continuously expanded in the following years, with the locomotives being changed in the Meiningen or Ritschenhausen stations when changing from the Prussian to the Bavarian state railway or vice versa.

After taking over the Länderbahn in 1920, the Deutsche Reichsbahn operated the line and continued to use the express train connections.

In its heyday in 1939, the route had a considerable number of express trains: a total of six pairs of express trains ran the route, including the D13 Rome-Schaffhausen-Stuttgart-Halle-Berlin, the D16 Berlin-Halle-Stuttgart. In addition, the FD7 / 8 Berlin – Leipzig – Stuttgart also ran on the route. In addition, there were through-car runs from Bad Kissingen, Hamburg, Milan, Genoa (–Ventimiglia), Constance, Freudenstadt, Saarbrücken and Naples.

Another bypass curve was built near Schweinfurt in August 1944, because the tracks of the Schweinfurt main station were massively damaged by Allied bombing. This connected the Meiningen route with the Würzburg one not far from the Schweinfurt main train station. It was only used by freight and military trains and disappeared again in 1961 due to lack of demand.

At the end of the Second World War , the retreating German troops blew up some bridges in April 1945, otherwise the railway systems survived the war unscathed.

Changes after World War II

After the Second World War, the damage was repaired very quickly and traffic on the railway line resumed, but there were only a few train journeys. In July 1945, the Soviet Army occupied Thuringia under the terms of the Yalta Conference . With the subsequent division of Germany, there was no longer any rail traffic between the Rentwertshausen and Mühlfeld stations , between which the new inner German border lay.

German Reichsbahn

The Deutsche Reichsbahn then only operated the Meiningen – Rentwertshausen – Römhild line . First, in 1945/46, the second track and the connecting curve in Ritschenhausen were dismantled. The track from Rentwertshausen remaining on the territory of the GDR was dismantled in 1949. Nevertheless, the route retained its importance, as after the suspension of rail traffic on the branch from Rentwertshausen to Römhild opened in 1893, the train connection between Meiningen and Rentwertshausen remained.

German Federal Railroad

DB 211 021 in what was then the terminus in Mellrichstadt

The Deutsche Bundesbahn initially continued to operate the route to Mellrichstadt . Mühlfeld as the last stop before the border was only approached again from 1947. The second track was no longer needed due to the lack of through traffic and was dismantled between 1947 and 1950. The volume of traffic decreased more and more from the end of the 1950s and traffic to Mühlfeld was stopped again in 1971. This made the Mellrichstadt station again the last point on the route, which was still the main line despite the low traffic. Express trains to Munich also ran here until the early 1980s.

Closing the gap in 1991

After German reunification in 1990 , the Bundesbahn and Reichsbahn soon closed the gap on the railway line. The resumption of railway operations could be realized relatively quickly, as this line was largely dismantled, but was never officially shut down or even de-dedicated. Formally, it was therefore only a route rehabilitation. Recommissioning was not entirely uncomplicated, however, as some bridges had to be renovated. In 1990/1991, the tracks between Rentwertshausen and Mellrichstadt were completely renewed by the Nuremberg Railway Directorate and the Erfurt Railway Directorate. The boundaries of the directorate were not exactly on the national borders, the directorate of Erfurt still had 400 meters of track in the "west" and had to have it repaired. After only earthworks had been carried out in 1990, the new track was laid in 1991. The track position was changed slightly so that it was now possible to drive 100 km / h continuously to Rentwertshausen. The last gap was closed in August 1991, so the route could be celebrated on September 28th. a. will be reopened with a big gala event at Meiningen train station.

The development since 1991

Train route sign Berlin – Würzburg from 1992

Shortly after the reopening, long-distance trains ran again on this line with the express train connection Berlin-Lichtenberg-Halle-Erfurt-Meiningen-Schweinfurt / Würzburg. In 1993 the connecting curve in Ritschenhausen was reopened and with the 1993 summer timetable the pair of D-trains 2152/2153 Würzburg-Berlin and the pair of D-trains 2154/2155 Würzburg-Cottbus were offered. A year later the connection to Cottbus was given up again and replaced by the IR train pair 2204/2205 Würzburg-Berlin. In the 1995/96 annual timetable, only the IR 2013/2014 Binz / Stralsund – Würzburg remained, which one year later was only reduced to the route Würzburg – Berlin as IR 2202/2203 Rennsteig . For the 1997/98 timetable, the route to Stuttgart-Erfurt was changed and later completely discontinued.

The railway line itself has since been subjected to extensive construction work. The maximum speed on the route could be increased from 100 km / h to 120 km / h and finally to 160 km / h. For this purpose, the signaling was adapted and the tracks and superstructure renewed and reinforced. The side tracks were almost completely dismantled. The work on the renewal and adaptation of the signaling technology of the Ebenhausen (Unterfr) train station was provisionally concluded in October 2009. This is no longer controlled remotely by the Schweinfurt dispatcher, but by the dispatcher in Bad Neustadt, who is also already responsible for the Münnerstadt and Mellrichstadt is responsible. Track 1 in Ebenhausen station, which is no longer required in daily operations, was used as a siding in this context.

Vehicle use

Since the railway line had intersections of two different railway administrations at Meiningen and Ritschenhausen stations until 1920, many different types of locomotive were used. Only the locomotives of the Royal Bavarian State Railways were in use on the route, while the locomotives of the Prussian State Railways were also in use in the stations mentioned because of the need to change locomotives . The typical locomotives can be found in the list of Bavarian locomotives and railcars for Bavaria and the list of Prussian locomotives and railcars for Prussia .

The depots in Schweinfurt and Meiningen were responsible for the use of machines on the line from the time of the Länderbahn . From the mid-1920s, the 39 series was stationed in the adjacent depot for heavy express train service . At the time, the 57.1–3 series was mainly used in freight transport . The 78.0–5 series was also represented on the line at this time. These three machine types had previously displaced various older Länderbahn copies from operational service. Shortly before the First World War , the responsible railway depots also received some class 58 locomotives . With the Second World War, the 57 and 58 were withdrawn to other locations for military service and replaced by class 44 and class 50 locomotives.

After the Second World War, the traditional units of the 44, 50 and 78 series were initially used in the "western section", but gradually replaced by class 798 railcars for passenger transport. Ultimately, locomotives of the series 211/212 and 215 were used in front of freight and passenger trains. Other vehicles were only used sporadically or were only represented on the route for a short time. In the “eastern part”, diesel locomotives of the DR series 110, 112, 118, 119 and 132 replaced the steam locomotives. After closing the gap, class 202/112 and 212 locomotives were used in front of local trains and in local freight traffic. Class 232 machines were to be found in front of the heavy express and freight trains as well as in front of the D and IR trains. Class 219 and 228 locomotives only gave a brief guest appearance (including in front of double-decker trains). Class 614 and class 642 railcars were also used .

In addition, there are frequent transfer and test drives of the Meiningen steam locomotive works on the route .

business

Lower Franconia shuttles in Meiningen train station

The train service on the railway line between Schweinfurt and Meiningen has been operated by the Erfurter Bahn (EB) since 2004 with the Unterfranken-Shuttle (line EB 40) every two hours, between Schweinfurt and Mellrichstadt Monday to Friday, Saturday mornings and Sunday afternoons every almost hour. In addition, regional express trains run every two hours Erfurt / Bad Kissingen-Schweinfurt-Würzburg (RE 7) of the Deutsche Bahn (on this route from Ritschenhausen). Since December 2008, Deutsche Bahn has been using tilting technology trains from the 612 series , which can reach speeds of up to 160 km / h.

In addition, the Erfurter Bahn operates the regional train line EB 50 ( Franconian Saale Valley Railway) with the Lower Franconia Shuttle on the Schweinfurt – Ebenhausen section to continue to Bad Kissingen and Gemünden am Main . The "Lower Franconia shuttle" operate on the Schweinfurt Hauptbahnhof addition, the breakpoint Schweinfurt center and Schweinfurt Stadt station . The Erfurt Railway uses Stadler Regio-Shuttle RS1 locomotives .

Both the Deutsche Bahn and the Erfurt Bahn trains are “winged” at Ebenhausen station: The train sections to Bad Kissingen (–Gemünden) and Meiningen / Erfurt run together between (Würzburg–) Schweinfurt and Ebenhausen and are separated or combined there.

Regional traffic

In local rail passenger transport there is the following tourist traffic on the Schweinfurt – Meiningen railway line:

line	Line course		operator	Tact
RE7 Mainfranken-Thuringia Express	Erfurt - Mellrichstadt - Bad Neustadt -	Ebenhausen - Schweinfurt - Würzburg	DB Regio	Every two hours
RE7 Mainfranken-Thuringia Express	Bad Kissingen -	Ebenhausen - Schweinfurt - Würzburg	DB Regio	Every two hours
EB40 / EB50 Lower Franconia shuttle	Meiningen - Mellrichstadt - Bad Neustadt -	Ebenhausen - Schweinfurt (- Schweinfurt city )	Erfurt Railway	Every two hours with compressors
EB40 / EB50 Lower Franconia shuttle	Gemünden - Bad Kissingen -	Ebenhausen - Schweinfurt (- Schweinfurt city )	Erfurt Railway	Every two hours with compressors

Freight transport

Freight traffic developed very well until the Second World War. In addition to local traffic, there were also interregional freight trains. After the end of the war, only local freight traffic remained between Mellrichstadt and Schweinfurt or Rentwertshausen and Meiningen. However, the volume of goods by rail fell significantly in the western section in particular. Due to the rationalization policy of the railway, only the station in Bad Neustadt is now available for freight traffic. Products from the local paper and electrical industries as well as raw wood are loaded here. Also at the beginning of the route is the freight station in Schweinfurt main station with a container terminal . The Bad Neustadt railway station is operated on weekdays (except Saturdays) with a pair of freight trains at lunchtime, pulled by a class 294 locomotive .

literature

Tino Avemark: Meininger Bahnhof through the ages . Bielsteinverlag, Meiningen 2008, ISBN 978-3-9809504-3-5 .

Thomas Mäusers, H.-J. Knopp: From the Main to Thuringia. Hermann Merker Verlag, Fürstenfeldbruck 1991, ISBN 3-922404-23-5 .

Georg Thielmann, Markus Schmidt: From Erfurt to Schweinfurt. EK-Verlag, Freiburg 1999, ISBN 3-88255-441-X .

Web links

Commons : Schweinfurt – Meiningen railway line - collection of images, videos and audio files

Schweinfurt – Meiningen route on klauserbeck.de
Reopening of the Schweinfurt-Meiningen railway line in 1991 on YouTube.
Driver's cab ride BR 612 Schweinfurt − Erfurt, part 1: Schweinfurt − Grimmenthal .

Individual evidence

^ Infrastructure register
↑ Railway Atlas Germany . 9th edition. Schweers + Wall, Aachen 2014, ISBN 978-3-89494-145-1 .

[1] Infrastructure register

[2] Railway Atlas Germany . 9th edition. Schweers + Wall, Aachen 2014, ISBN 978-3-89494-145-1 .