Aartalbahn

This article describes the railway line between Wiesbaden and Diez. It should not be confused with the Ahr Valley Railway between Remagen and Ahrbrück and the Aar-Salzböde Railway between Herborn and Niederwalgern.

Wiesbaden – Diez
Route of the Aartalbahn
Route number (DB) :	3500 (Wiesbaden Hbf Aartalbahn – Diez) 3504 (Wiesbaden East – Wiesbaden West)
Course book section (DB) :	12628, to 1986: 548
Route length:	53.7 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Maximum slope :	33.3  ‰
Minimum radius :	200 m
Top speed:	30 km / h
Legend Lahn Valley Railway from Koblenz 53.7 Diez ⊙ Lahn Valley Railway to Limburg ⊙ Freiendiez Holzheim 49.6 Flat ⊙ Niederneisen 47.2 Top iron ⊙ 45.1 Hahnstätten planned Hahnstätten Mitte ⊙ 42.8 Customs House (Nassau) ⊙ former Nassau small train to Nastätten State border Rhineland-Palatinate / Hesse 39.6 Rückershausen ⊙ 37.5 Kettenbach ⊙ 35.5 Michelbach (Nassau) ⊙ 34.0 Michelbacher Tunnel (156 m) ⊙ B 54 State border Hesse / Rhineland-Palatinate State border Rhineland-Palatinate / Hesse 33.0 Laufenselden tunnel (287 m) ⊙ 31.5 Laufenselden ⊙ 30.1 Hohenstein ⊙ 235  m 30.0 Hohenstein Tunnel (169 m) ⊙ 28.3 Breithardt ⊙ Upper German Limes 24.9 Adolfsecker Tunnel (150 m) ⊙ 24.8 Bad Schwalbach- Adolfseck ⊙ 23.5 Bad Schwalbach ⊙ 290  m 18.3 Bleidenstadt ⊙ 16.6 Rooster labor ⊙ 350  m 14.1 Iron Hand ⊙ (formerly Bf) 420  m 10.0 Chausseehaus ⊙ 290  m 6.1 Wiesbaden-Dotzheim ⊙ 195  m 5.4 Wiesbaden West Gbf ⊙ 5.0 Lindsey Air Station (Anst) 4.4 Wiesbaden Aartalbahn (junction) ⊙ Schiersteiner Strasse ( A 643 / B 262 ) ⊙ 3.3 Forest road ⊙ 2.2 Wiesbaden East Henkell (Anst) ⊙ 2.2 State monument ⊙ Wiesbaden Rheinbahnhof (until 1906) ⊙ 0.0 Wiesbaden central station ⊙ 1.4 Wiesbaden Waschbach Nord (Abzw)   Ländchesbahn , connecting route to the SFS ⊙ Right Rhine route to Koblenz ⊙ Former connecting line from Ländchesbahn ⊙ Right section of the Rhine from Koblenz ⊙ 0.0 Wiesbaden East ⊙ Taunus Railway to Frankfurt Swell:

The Aartalbahn is a 53.7 kilometer long railway line between Wiesbaden in Hesse and Diez in Rhineland-Palatinate and is a listed building . The route between Wiesbaden Ost and Eiserne Hand is currently being repaired in order to resume museum railway traffic.

course

The route leads through western parts of Wiesbaden into the Taunus , crosses it over the Eiserne Hand , descends on the north side to Hahn (since 1977 part of Taunusstein ) and from there follows the Aar valley in western Hintertaunus via Bad Schwalbach (until 1927: Langenschwalbach), Aarbergen and Hahnstätten . Its southern section runs in Hesse , the section between Diez and Zollhaus is in Rhineland-Palatinate .

In Diez there was a connection to the Lahn Valley Railway between Limburg an der Lahn and Koblenz . However, the majority of the passenger trains on the Aartalbahn did not end in Diez, but continued to travel to Limburg with a change of direction .

In Zollhaus there was a connection to St. Goarshausen and Braubach am Rhein until the Nassauische Kleinbahn (NKB) ceased passenger traffic in 1951 .

In Wiesbaden there was a connection to the trains in the directions Darmstadt , Aschaffenburg , Mainz , Koblenz , Niedernhausen , Frankfurt am Main and today theoretically via the high-speed route Cologne – Rhine / Main to Cologne .

history

After the annexation of the Duchy of Nassau by the Kingdom of Prussia in 1866, the Prussian State Railways took up ideas from the Nassau period to build a rail link between Wiesbaden and the Limburg area. Moritz Hilf , who had been the technical director of the Nassau State Railways since 1862, was entrusted with the railway line over the Taunuskamm and through the Aartal . The project was implemented in three large construction phases between 1869/70 and 1894.

On June 1, 1870, the first section between Limburg and Zollhaus was put into operation. This section was mainly used to transport the mining products that were extracted in the Zollhaus area ( iron ore , limestone , marble and porphyry ). The route, which today is mostly in the area of ​​the municipalities of Aar-Einrich and Diez , follows the relatively wide and flat lower part of the Aartal. The section, which was built as the main line, was designed with curve radii greater than 300 meters for a maximum speed of 80 km / h; it was downgraded to the secondary / branch line on April 19, 1881.

Loan from the city of Langenschwalbach dated March 30, 1887 to finance the "secondary railway" from Wiesbaden to Langenschwalbach.

On November 15, 1889, the southern section between the Wiesbaden Rheinbahnhof and the Langenschwalbach spa was put into operation. The Taunus main ridge between the valleys of the Aar and Rhine had to be overcome. At the 420 m high pass, the Eiserne Hand station, the highest station in the low mountain range, was built. When it opened , the ascent from Chausseehaus station to Eiserne Hand was the steepest section of track in the German Reich with an incline of 1:30 that could do without a toothed rail. In addition, the route had very tight curve radii of 180 meters, which limited the top speed to 40 km / h. On the other hand, there was no need to build expensive and complex tunnels and bridges . Only between 1907 and 1911 was the minimum curve radius increased to 200 meters and thus the maximum speed to 50 km / h.

The third construction phase closed the gap between Langenschwalbach and Zollhaus in 1894. This happened mainly at the instigation of the industrialist Adolph Passavant in Kettenbach , who ran the Michelbacher Hütte . Since the Aartal is narrow and winding here, four tunnels were built to shorten valley loops. This made a minimum radius of 250 meters possible, which allowed a maximum speed of 60 km / h.

Line in Wiesbaden around 1890

In Wiesbaden, the route originally led from the Rheinbahnhof in a narrow curve to the west (along Niederwalderstraße and Aßmannshäuser Straße , the former railway line) and then parallel to Dotzheimer Straße to Dotzheimer Bahnhof . For the reopening of the main train station in 1906 and the construction of the Wiesbaden West freight station , the connection had to be re-routed. The new line went into operation on May 2, 1904 and passed through the Landesdenkmal station . The Waldstrasse station , which is also located in this section of the route, was only opened later in 1905. On November 28, 1904, the Wiesbaden West freight yard was opened and the access was via the new route. The connection to the Curve station (today: Wiesbaden Ost), which is important for freight traffic , was not opened to traffic until October 1, 1906.

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, “when darkness fell” between Wiesbaden and Langenschwalbach, new “double light pre-signals ” were put into operation, which corresponded to the model of the form signal still in use today .

At the turn of the year 1985/1986, the line was used again with (rented) locomotives and wagons for the first time after the closure. These first museum train trips were very popular and led to the foundation of the association “Nassauische Touristik-Bahn e. V. ". In 1986 passenger transport with museum trains was taken over by the Nassauische Touristik-Bahn (NTB), which is based in Dotzheimer Bahnhof . A year later it became known that the buildings and technical systems of the line and the stations of the Hessian part of the line are cultural monuments according to the Hessian Monument Protection Act . The stretch between Wiesbaden Ost train station and the state border near Aarbergen - Rückershausen is 40 kilometers long by rail , making it the longest monument in Hesse, only the Roman Limes (a monument in the ground ) is longer. It crosses the railway line between Breithardt and Adolfseck . Almost all of the station buildings were sold, and apart from necessary repairs, most of the line was left in its original condition.

Operating time of individual route sections

section	Installation	passenger traffic	Freight transport	reactivation
Diez - Customs House	June 1, 1870	until September 28, 1986	until June 1, 1999
Customs house - Kettenbach	May 1, 1894
Kettenbach - Hohenstein			until December 1, 1992
Hohenstein - Bad Schwalbach			until December 28, 1990	April 29, 1994
Bad Schwalbach - Hahn-Wehen	November 15, 1889	until September 24, 1983	until September 24, 1983	March 28, 1991
Hahn-Wehen - Wiesbaden-Dotzheim				December 28, 1985
Wi-Dotzheim - Wiesbaden Hbf until Nov. 14, 1906 Wi Rheinbahnhof
Wi-Dotzheim - Wiesbaden East	October 1, 1906		until September 24, 1983, 2007 to September 2014 Wiesbaden Ost - Anst. Henkell	2007 to start Henkell
since May 2004: Operation with trolleys between Freiendiez and the Michelbacher Tunnel

business

Steel sleepers in Bleidenstadt

" Limburg cigar " in Wiesbaden Central Station

The line is single-track and not electrified . Train stations where trains can cross are located in Dotzheim , Hahn-Wehen , Bad Schwalbach , Hohenstein , Kettenbach and Zollhaus , among others . The superstructure is mostly with steel sleepers executed.

passenger traffic

The southern section - which coined the name Langenschwalbacher Bahn - was used in the Wilhelmine era in particular for bathing traffic between the “world spa town” of Wiesbaden and the women's spa Langenschwalbach. In between there was a summer retreat at the Chausseehaus with a hotel , restaurant and several rest homes. The steep and winding connection over the Iron Hand required the development of short passenger train cars with bogies, the so-called " Langenschwalbacher ". From 1892 tank locomotives of the class T 9 type Langenschwalbach were put into operation, as the slope had proven to be too steep for the Prussian T 3 originally used .

After the First World War , the Aartalbahn crossed the Free State of Bottleneck near Laufenselden , a narrow strip of land that had remained unoccupied during the Allied occupation of the Rhineland between the American bridgehead at Koblenz and the French bridgehead near Mainz. Around that time, the 93 series began to be used , which was to be the typical locomotive on the Aartalbahn until 1963.

After the Second World War, the line between Zollhaus and Kettenbach was cut by the border between the American and French occupation zones . Special passes were required to use the trains. The state border between Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate was later drawn there.

From 1957 rail buses of the VT 98 series increasingly shaped the scene. From 1979/80 until the closure of the Hessian section Wiesbaden – Bad Schwalbach in 1983, accumulator railcars of the series 515 and 517 (“Limburger Zigarre”) dominated. In addition, trains from conversion wagons ran with diesel locomotives of the V-100 family and Silberling - sets that were pulled by the 216 series . Until the end of the 1960s, direct excursion trains from Mainz Hbf to Eiserne Hand / Bad Schwalbach were also run on weekends without serving the Wiesbaden Hbf.

On September 24, 1983, the last scheduled passenger train between Wiesbaden and Bad Schwalbach was on the move, on September 28, 1986, the remaining northern section of the traffic, on which rail buses were still in use, was stopped.

On December 28, 1985, the NTB began to operate trains hauled by steam and diesel locomotives from their home station in Wiesbaden-Dotzheim , initially to Hahn-Wehen station . From March 28, 1991, the trips to Bad Schwalbach were extended, and from April 29, 1994 even to Hohenstein .

Freight transport

The Aartalbahn was used to transport mining products, the Schaefer lime works in Hahnstätten and the Michelbacher Hütte in Kettenbach are located directly on the route. While traffic on the Wiesbaden – Bad Schwalbach section was discontinued at the same time as passenger traffic from September 24, 1983, Diez from Bad Schwalbach continued to serve until December 28, 1990, and traffic to Hohenstein was discontinued on December 1, 1992. The last train between Kettenbach and the northern end ran on June 1, 1999.

In mid-2007, the delivery of wine from Wiesbaden Ost train station to the Henkell Sektkellerei at the former Landesdenkmal train station was resumed. The freight traffic was initially carried out by the former railway company Railion and until the service was canceled in September 2014 by the Brohltalbahn .

Buildings

Reception building of the station forest road , now privately owned

Together with the track systems, the train stations were also placed under monument protection in 1987. All station buildings have meanwhile been sold, including those at the Landesdenkmal , Waldstrasse and Chausseehaus stations in Wiesbaden's urban area, as well as the reception buildings in Bleidenstadt, Bad Schwalbach, Hohenstein, Zollhaus and Flacht.

The route has four tunnels. The 156 meter long Michelbacher tunnel and the 287 meter long Laufenselden tunnel are located between the towns of the same name. The 169 meter long Hohenstein tunnel crosses the rock on which the ruins of Hohenstein Castle are located. South of the former Schanze and the small fort Adolfseck , the route disappears in the 150-meter-long Adolfseck tunnel and comes back to daylight at Adolfseck Castle . The listed south portal is clad with rubble stones and has a square arch opening.

Numerous bridges in the urban area of ​​Wiesbaden and in the Aartal cross residential and arterial roads as well as the river running through the valley floor.

Today's route situation

South portal of the Adolfsecker tunnel

Partially demolished Sandersmühle bridge over federal highway 54

Overgrown bridge ⊙ over the Theodor-Heuss-Ring in Wiesbaden

Legal situation

The northern section Rückershausen – Diez, which is located in Rhineland-Palatinate, was leased in 2012 by the Hahnstätten community . In December of the same year, the municipalities of Hahnstätten and Diez bought this section of the route from DB Services Immobilien GmbH. Since summer 2014, they have been looking for a railway infrastructure company (RIU) that will lease and operate their part of the route.

The southern section of the Hessian section (railway line 3504 Wiesbaden Ost - Wiesbaden-Waldstraße and the railway line 3500 Wiesbaden-Waldstraße to the state border north of Rückershausen) was leased by DB Netz to Wiesbaden-based ESWE Verkehrsgesellschaft from November 2004 to October 2014 . Since November 1, 2014, this section of the route has been leased from DB Netz to Aartalbahn Infrastruktur GmbH (the NTB EIU).

Since the railway line is under monument protection, dismantling the tracks is not an option.

Track condition

Due to the use of the heavy accumulator railcars, the outer rails are badly worn in some curved tracks. Except for the section between kilometers 10.5 and 16.0, the thresholds of the free stretch are still in good to very good condition. The bridges are largely in good condition. If the speed of reactivation were to increase, some would have to be replaced or refurbished. The four tunnels of the Aartalbahn run through solid rock and show no structural damage. The Laufenselden and Michelbach tunnels have already been lined with shotcrete for sealing. The superstructure would have to be prepared with plugs . The line between the tunnels is interrupted by the demolished Sandersmühle railway overpass ( 50 ° 13 ′ 14.5 ″  N , 008 ° 02 ′ 10.3 ″  E ).

From 2001 to 2003, the formerly heavily overgrown northern section of the route in the lower Aartal was cut free by volunteers. After the renovation of some bridges between the Wiesbaden Ost and Landesdenkmal train stations (completed in 2007), the southernmost part of the Aartalbahn is again connected to the DB Netz AG network and freight traffic to the Henkell sparkling wine cellar has resumed. In 2010, kilometer boards were installed there. In the first half of 2010, the roadway was renewed at a total of four level crossings : in Seitzenhahn , on Chausseehaus, in Dotzheim and on Straßenmühlweg . The Wiesbaden Central Station , however, can since mid only be approached via Wiesbaden Ost 1990 because the link from the station state monument on the bridge at the Theodor-Heuss-Ring is overgrown and both the railway connection in the course beforehand and the usually driven track were 11 already dismantled .

At the end of May 2007, the Flachstrasse railway overpass (approx. 100 meters north of the Wiesbaden-Dotzheim train station ) was at 50 ° 04 ′ 48.4 ″  N , 008 ° 12 ′ 10.3 ″  E by an excavator loaded on a truck exceeded 3.6 meters, damaged and blocked. The route was thus interrupted directly behind the home station of the Nassau Tourist Railway and could only be used again since summer 2008. A defective switch prevented traffic between the Eiserne Hand station and Hahn-Wehen until July 2009 . Since there are two or six defective points in the stations of Hohenstein and Bad Schwalbach , there is currently no traffic possible. On November 20, 2009 another truck severely damaged the bridge mentioned above. At the time, the city council rejected the proposal from 2008 to install effective height control because “a higher bridge should be built at this point in the near future.” Since the bridge can no longer be repaired, a new bridge is planned . A plan approval procedure was initiated for the new building with a clearance height of 4.5 meters . In addition, the Wiesbaden transport company ESWE created a concept for the Aartal route including the renovation of a second bridge. The defective points in Bad Schwalbach have not been repaired so far (May 2011), although the district has put funds into the budget for them. The costs were estimated at € 150,000 in 2008.

Museum and tourist offers

Museum traffic

Steam locomotive 50 3576 of the Nassau Tourist Railway

→ Main article : Nassau Tourist Railway

In 1986, the Nassauische Touristik-Bahn began operating museum traffic with historical trains and ran between the Wiesbaden-Dotzheim and Hohenstein stations on Sundays and public holidays . Because of the interruptions due to damaged bridges and switches from May 2009, traffic on the southern Aartalbahn was shut down, but the association offered special trips on other routes. Traffic between Dotzheim and Eiserne Hand should be resumed at the end of 2017 . The government in Wiesbaden announced in 2011 that it wanted to secure long-term tourist use of the route. After the route was taken over by NTB / Aartalbahn Infrastruktur GmbH, it was planned to restart Wiesbaden-Dotzheim - Eiserne Hand at the end of 2017. Museum traffic has been suspended until today (September 2018).

Draisine rides

Draisinen in Oberneisen

The transnational working group Aartalbahn offers lower Aartal regularly trolley rides between the Michel Bacher tunnel and Diez with region-specific program. In 2009 around 4500 travelers took advantage of this tourist offer. The partly historic draisines are stored at Oberneisen station in a former loading hall for kaolin ( 50 ° 19 ′ 28.9 ″  N , 8 ° 4 ′ 10.5 ″  E ). Due to the planned reactivation of the Limburg –Diez– Zollhaus section for public transport and the associated construction work, it is planned to switch the trolley rides to the Zollhaus - Michelbach – Hohenstein section . However, a bridge here is currently damaged. For the future, the non-profit association is planning to continue this traffic with the aim of reactivating the entire route.

Reactivation planning

Resolved reactivation in Rhineland-Palatinate

The Flacht train station (now an inn)

End of August 2008 was intended that the stretch Limburg-customs house in 2014 by the Zweckverband rail local passenger traffic Rhineland-Palatinate North (SPNV Nord) for the regional rail transport with hourly operating as part of the Rhineland-Palatinate clock should be reactivated. This happened within the framework of the Rhineland-Palatinate-Takt 2015 concept , one of whose central tasks is the reactivation of disused railway lines. The expected travel time on the 13.7 kilometer route between Zollhaus and Limburg should be 20 minutes (with a change of direction in Diez) and thus only half as long as the existing bus connection. A diesel railcar is supposed to be in shuttle operation on the route. In addition to the reactivation of the existing stations, additional stops are to be set up in Niederneisen , Holzheim and Freiendiez . As it became known in 2011, the commissioning will be delayed until August 2015. ^[obsolete] A planned extension of the reactivated section of the route to Michelbach in Hesse was ruled out for cost reasons, as a second vehicle would be required for this. In 2012, the cost-benefit ratio was determined again and the forecast reduced from 1.61 or 1.71 to 1.31. Nevertheless, the SPNV Nord stuck to the reactivation plans, and additional use by rail freight was discussed. In 2014 it was assumed that it would be reactivated in the summer of 2016, a new cost-benefit study was commissioned by the Rhineland-Palatinate Ministry of Transport, also under pressure from the Rhineland-Palatinate Court of Auditors . The result of this new cost-benefit study was available in July 2016. A value of 1.79 was calculated for the Diez – Hahnstätten section. For the rest of the Hahnstätten – Zollhaus section, only a value of 1.09 was calculated, as this section may involve major investments. a. would be necessary in two level crossings. For this reason, the line should only be reactivated as far as Hahnstätten. However, based on the current status (February 2018), reactivation is not expected. The audit office of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate speaks out in its annual report against reactivating the Aartalbahn between Hahnstätten and Diez. The “at least” 16 million euros required to resume rail operations could be used more sensibly for other local public transport measures.

Planning in Hessen

Wiesbaden light rail

Map with the planned route of the light rail (status: 2001)

Wiesbaden-Dotzheim station , location of the Aartalbahnmuseum (photo from November 2007).

→ Main article : Wiesbaden tram

As early as 1998 there were plans to electrify a section of the Aartalbahn between Bad Schwalbach and Wiesbaden-Dotzheim as the Wiesbaden Stadtbahn and to run a new line from Wiesbaden-Dotzheim through the city center to Wiesbaden Central Station, including the option of an extension to Mainz. It was planned to complete the planning approval by 2003 and to open the railway by 2005. After the local elections in 2001, the planning was suspended for the time being due to a lack of a majority in the Wiesbaden city council, but resumed in 2011 after a renewed change of power, but the Aartalbahn was not planned. In 2013 the project failed again.

The subject of the current planning is a transnational light rail line between Bad Schwalbach and the state capitals Wiesbaden and Mainz. The total length of the route is around 34 km and should lead from Bad Schwalbach train station and the Aartalbahn via the Wiesbaden urban area with a connection to the main train station via the Wiesbaden Southeast district, Wiesbaden Ost train station and the Theodor-Heuss Bridge to Mainz. The project was resumed in 2017 and is currently being discussed as part of the City-Bahn .

Wiesbaden - Aarbergen

Eiserne Hand station at the Taunus crossing (2011)

The coalition agreement between the CDU and SPD in the Rheingau-Taunus district from 2006 testified to the will to reactivate the Aartalbahn for regular goods and passenger traffic even without the implementation of the “Wiesbaden Stadtbahn, which is still desirable”. The state of Hesse commissioned the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund (RMV) to examine the reactivation of the remaining section from Aarbergen to Wiesbaden-Dotzheim. The report showed that reactivating Aarbergen via Bad Schwalbach and Taunusstein to Wiesbaden Central Station would not be eligible because the calculated economic benefit indicator missed the critical value of 1.0 with 0.6. However, if one were to consider the so-called “City Link”, ie the continuation via Bahnhofstrasse to the Dernschen site (Wiesbaden city center), the value of 1.0 would be exceeded.

At the 3rd Wiesbaden Aartalbahnkonferenz in November 2009, the RMV was commissioned to further check whether the reactivation of the Aartalbahn would be feasible in direct continuation via Wiesbaden Ost to Mainz and towards Frankfurt Airport . An alternative proposed connection to the airport via Wiesbaden main station and the Wallauer Spange would require the construction of the latter and the reactivation of the connection between the state monument and Wiesbaden main station.

After the decision to re-examine the Stadtbahn in Wiesbaden without a connection to the railway line, the district administrator of the Rheingau-Taunus district recognizes the project as a “ray of hope for the Aartalbahn”. The NTB, which traveled the route with museum trains, welcomed the resumption of planning. The coalition planned to secure the touristic use of the route in the long term independently of the inner-city light rail project. The district reserved 250,000 euros in the budget for the purchase of the route, but stated in November 2012 that a purchase would only make sense if there was a connection to Wiesbaden city center, which is currently not planned. However, the use of the route for the traffic concept of the State Garden Show 2018 in Bad Schwalbach was temporarily under discussion. The Nassauische Touristikbahn pointed out the risk of bankruptcy at the beginning of 2012 due to the delays in the schedule, but in the same year also created a takeover concept for the infrastructure. After the city of Wiesbaden had approved a repair grant for the repair of the damaged bridge in the Wiesbaden urban area, the NTB planned to carry out long-term refurbishment work amounting to one million euros from the end of 2014 and initially to put the route between Wiesbaden-Dotzheim and Eiserne Hand back into operation. The connection to Bad Schwalbach should be completed by the State Horticultural Show 2018, and the stretch to Zollhaus should be repaired in the long term. The SPD Hohenstein , on the other hand, campaigned for a rededication to a cycle path because reactivation was not economical.

Due to the leasing of the route to the EIU of NTB ( Aartalbahn Infrastruktur gGmbH ), the first work on the route started in the second half of 2014 in order to be able to put the route in the Wiesbaden-Dotzheim - Hahn-Wehen section back into operation with museum trains. Until further notice, the Wiesbaden-Ost - Wiesbaden-Dotzheim section will only be used for overpasses and construction trains. The NTB aims to put the Aartalbahn into operation as a museum railway in stages. On May 3, 2015, the city of Wiesbaden commissioned the EIU with the recommissioning of the line in its area and is providing a financial contribution.

reception

The citizens' initiatives "Stadtbahn - ja" and "PRO Aartalbahn" developed concepts for a city railway and a regional railway. The complete reactivation of the Aartalbahn is planned, which includes traffic through residential areas in Wiesbaden. This is criticized by the residents of the route and the citizens' initiative “Aartalbahn not through Wiesbaden!”. The estimated cost is around 60 million euros for the renovation of the facility and the acquisition of the trains, a profitability report is pending. The citizens' initiative “Buses instead of Aartalbahn” criticizes, among other things, the high costs of the project. According to a survey carried out by Wiesbadener Kurier , two thirds of Wiesbaden residents want the Aartalbahn to be reactivated. In 2012, the employers' association of Hessian Retail Middle-South spoke out in favor of a quick reactivation.

Germany clock

The Aartalbahn with an hourly regional train service (Limburg -) Diez - Bad Schwalbach is included in the network graphic of the destination timetable for Germany . To the south of Bad Schwalbach, reference is made to the Wiesbaden / Mainz City Railway project .

literature

• Gerhard Honekamp: Full steam ahead to the cure - the Langenschwalbacher Bahn . In: Gerhard Honekamp, ​​Wolfgang Jung, Hartmann Wunderer (eds.): Everyday life between the powerful and the idlers - historical explorations in Wiesbaden and the surrounding area . 2nd Edition. Marianne Breuer Verlag, Wiesbaden-Erbenheim 1995, ISBN 3-9804701-0-5 , p. 127-130 .
• Paul Dost: The Langenschwalbacher Bahn . In: Wolfgang Messerschmidt (Ed.): Locomotive magazine . No. 78 . Franckh'sche Verlagshandlung, W. Keller & Co. , 1976, ISSN  0458-1822 , p. 205-212 .
• Klaus Kopp: The Aartalbahn . Ed .: Heimat- und Verschönerungsverein Dotzheim e. V. Wiesbaden 1983, ISBN 3-924401-06-3 .
• Klaus Kopp: 100 years of Langenschwalbacher Bahn 1889–1989 . Ed .: Heimat- und Verschönerungsverein Dotzheim e. V. Wiesbaden 1989, ISBN 3-924401-11-X .
• Klaus Kopp: Langenschwalbacher Bahn (Aartalbahn) - On the history of the famous spa railway in Nassauer Land . Ed .: Heimat- und Verschönerungsverein Dotzheim e. V. 3rd edition. Wiesbaden 2009, ISBN 978-3-924401-23-8 .
• 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 2.1 . Theiss Verlag, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-8062-1917-6 , p. 421 ff . (Route 025).
• Joachim Seyferth: The Aartalbahn . In: Rail -Photo . tape 2 . Wiesbaden 1989, ISBN 3-926669-02-0 .

Web links

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

• Literature about the Aartalbahn in the Hessian Bibliography
• Project of a railway from Mainz via Wiesbaden through the Aarthal and across the Westerwald (...). Central-Comité, accessed on May 6, 2020 (Wiesbaden 1869). 

• Aartalbahn cross- border working group
• Nassau Tourist Railway
• Photo documentation of the route

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Reactivation for passenger transport planned from 2018
2. ↑ DB Netze - Infrastructure Register
3. ↑ Railway Atlas Germany . 9th edition. Schweers + Wall, Aachen 2014, ISBN 978-3-89494-145-1 .
4. ^ ^{A b} Nassau Tourist Railway: The History of the Aartal Railway .
5. ↑ ^{a b c d e} ja-aartalbahn.de: Die Regionalbahn ( Memento from December 17, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on July 21, 2011.
6. ↑ See map from Meyer's Konversations-Lexikon (1885–1890)
7. ^ Map of Wiesbaden ( memento of October 15, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) in the Brockhaus.
8. ↑ Eisenbahndirektion Mainz (ed.): Official Gazette of the Royal Prussian and Grand Ducal Hessian Railway Directorate in Mainz of October 7, 1905, No. 51. Announcement No. 519, p. 430.
9. ↑ odenwald-bahn.de: The Railway in Wiesbaden , accessed on July 9, 2011
10. ↑ 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.
11. ↑ 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.
12. ↑ ^{a b} http://www.nnp.de/lokales/limburg_und_ Umgebung/Aartalbahn-aufs-Abstellgleis;art680,2915012
13. ↑ Wiesbaden in the picture. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on October 25, 2008 ; accessed on December 28, 2017 . 
14. ^ Klaus Kopp: 100 years of Langenschwalbacher Bahn 1889–1989. Wiesbaden 1989.
15. ↑ Interest group S-Bahn Wiesbaden-Bad Schwalbach: Aartalbahn as an efficient suburban railway. A white paper. Wiesbaden 1982.
16. ↑ ^{a b} Turntable forums: 25 years ago: The Aartalbahn Wiesbaden-Bad Schwalbach loses scheduled passenger traffic
17. ↑ Turntable forums: Aartalbahn: Around Hahnstätten , accessed on July 15, 2011.
18. ↑ ^{a b c} line Diez - Wiesbaden . In: Bahn-Report . tape 33 , no. 196 , July 1, 2015, ISSN  0178-4528 , p. 55 .
19. ^ Hessian cultural monuments: Bleidenstadt train station
20. ↑ Wiesbadener Kurier : The station has a new owner from March 18, 2009.
21. ^ Hohenstein train station - an idyllic gem in the Aartal. Retrieved December 4, 2018 .  , accessed July 15, 2011.
22. ↑ Celebrating in the old Zollhaus station , accessed on July 15, 2011.
23. ↑ Apartment in Flacht train station ( Memento from May 6, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on July 15, 2011.
24. ↑ | Information and pictures about the tunnels on route 3500 on eisenbahn-tunnelportale.de by Lothar Brill
25. ↑ denkxweb: Adolfseck tunnel portals
26. ↑ ^{a b} Discussion about reactivating the Aartalbahn. June 11, 2012, archived from the original on February 12, 2013 ; Retrieved June 11, 2012 .  . In: Wiesbaden Courier . June 11, 2012.
27. ↑ Time for the Aartalbahn is running out ( Memento from April 6, 2014 in the Internet Archive ). In: Frankfurter Neue Presse, December 21, 2012
28. ↑ ^{a b} rp: Aartalbahn: EIU wanted . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International 7/2014, p. 328.
29. ↑ ^{a b} Angelo D'Amore: NTB welcomes the decision of the municipal authorities on the future of the Aartalbahn. May 2015, accessed July 13, 2015 . 
30. ↑ Jorg Hamm: Moving forward: ballast for Wiesbaden Aartalbahn already ordered. In: Wiesbaden Courier . August 17, 2010, archived from the original on August 20, 2010 ; accessed on December 28, 2017 . 
31. ↑ ^{a b} Museum train cannot run yet - ten defective points to Hohenstein . In: Wiesbadener Kurier from June 18, 2008, in the NTB press archive
32. ↑ Birgit Emnet: Repairing the Wiesbaden Aartalbahn overpass at Flachstrasse is not worth it. In: Wiesbaden Courier . December 8, 2009, archived from the original on December 14, 2009 ; accessed on December 18, 2017 . 
33. ↑ Museum trains should quickly get back on track  ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) In: Wiesbadener Kurier , July 24, 2010. Retrieved June 23, 2011.
34. ↑ Press release Regional Council Darmstadt: Citizens can view plan documents  ( page can no longer be accessed , search in web archives )
35. ↑ RMV checks the train to the city center . In: Frankfurter Rundschau of May 10, 2011, accessed on July 6, 2011.
36. ^ Jorg Hamm: Standstill on the Aartalbahn. In: Wiesbaden Courier . May 10, 2011, archived from the original on May 14, 2011 ; accessed on December 28, 2017 . 
37. ^ Nassau Tourist Railway : Special trips 2011
38. ↑ ^{a b} Bertram Heide: Dream of the rail. (No longer available online.) In: Wiesbadener Kurier . August 6, 2011, formerly in the original ; Retrieved August 10, 2011 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  
39. ↑ Oliver Bock: Rides with Draisinen - Always along the Aar , April 8, 2010 in: Frankfurter Allgemeine , accessed on July 5, 2011.
40. ↑ Rheinland-Pfalz-Takt 2015: Route reactivation 2015 ( memento of November 2, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) accessed on July 6, 2011.
41. ↑ ^{a b} Hannelore Wiedemann: Bad chances for extension. (No longer available online.) In: Wiesbadener Kurier . September 9, 2011, formerly in the original ; Retrieved September 17, 2011 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  
42. ^ Resolution of December 5, 2008: reactivation of the Aartalbahn. (PDF; 149 kB) accessed on July 6, 2011.
43. ↑ Aartalbahn takes a big hurdle . In: Rhein-Zeitung of August 18, 2011, accessed on November 8, 2011.
44. ↑ Positive report for Aartalbahn . In: Rhein-Zeitung, June 20, 2012.
45. ^ Aartalbahn put to the test again , Nassauische Neue Presse , April 28, 2014.
46. ↑ Uli Pohl: New report on the Aartalbahn commissioned , holzheim-aar.de, May 17, 2014.
47. ↑ ^{a b} Manfred Knispel: Wiesbaden: As tangible as never before - much praise for Stadtbahn plans in the transport committee. In: Wiesbaden Courier . June 14, 2012, archived from the original on June 17, 2012 ; accessed on December 28, 2017 . 
48. ↑ CDU parliamentary group RTK: coalition agreement 2006-2011. (No longer available online.) Formerly in the original ; Retrieved July 26, 2011 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  
49. ↑ Susanne Stoppelbein: A new plan should help the Aartalbahn onto the track. In: Wiesbaden Courier . November 25, 2009, archived from the original on December 14, 2009 ; accessed on December 28, 2017 . 
50. ^ Sigrid Möricke: Eine Bahn für Wiesbaden  ( page no longer available , search in web archives ), accessed on November 17, 2011.
51. ↑ Ingeborg Salm-Boost: Wiesbaden's grand coalition wants light rail for public transport - project failed in 2001  ( page no longer available , search in web archives ). In: Wiesbadener Tagblatt of July 7, 2011, accessed on July 7, 2011.
52. ↑ Money question on the track  ( page no longer available , search in web archives ). In: Wiesbadener Tagblatt , November 18, 2011. Retrieved November 23, 2011.
53. ↑ Cornelia Diergardt: NTB in financial need: For Eswe activation of the Aartalbahn still not an issue. (No longer available online.) In: Wiesbadener Kurier . July 8, 2011, archived from the original on July 12, 2011 ; Retrieved July 10, 2011 . 
54. ↑ ^{a b c} Connect the Aartal line to Wiesbaden and Mainz  ( page no longer available , search in web archives ). In: Nassauische Neue Presse , October 3, 2012
55. ↑ Birgit Emnet: Wiesbaden: When will the new bridge come? The schedule for the Aartalbahn is still a long time coming. (No longer available online.) In: Wiesbadener Kurier . March 15, 2012, formerly in the original ; Retrieved March 15, 2012 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  
56. ↑ Manfred Knispel: Nassauische Touristikbahn wants to lease the Aartal route with a subsidiary and reactivate the railway. ( Memento from July 29, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) In: Wiesbadener Kurier . June 24, 2014.
57. ↑ Jana Kinne: Aartalbahn on hold. In: Frankfurter Rundschau . May 22, 2014.
58. ^ Aartalbahn: Hohensteiner SPD wants to dismantle the rails in the municipality. ( Memento from January 27, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) In: Wiesbadener Kurier . October 9, 2014.
59. ↑ NTB rejects cycle path on the Aartalbahn route. ( Memento from January 27, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) In: Wiesbadener Kurier . 17th October 2014.
60. ↑ Citizens' initiative PRO Aartalbahn: Stadtbahn concept ( Memento from December 17, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
61. ↑ Citizens' initiative Aartalbahn not through Wiesbaden! ( Memento from May 15, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
62. ↑ Mirjam Ulrich: “Pro Aartalbahn” goes on the offensive. In: Frankfurter Rundschau . February 28, 2009, accessed July 6, 2011 . 
63. ↑ Citizens' initiative buses instead of Aartal-Bahn
64. ↑ Manfred Gerber: Wiesbaden in numbers on the day of market research: Kurier presents results. (No longer available online.) In: Wiesbadener Kurier . May 14, 2011, formerly in the original ; Retrieved July 6, 2011 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  
65. ↑ Retail demands connection of the Aartalbahn to the future Wiesbaden light rail. In: Wiesbaden Courier . October 1, 2001, archived from the original on November 6, 2012 ; accessed on December 28, 2017 . 
66. ↑ Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure : Netzgrafik SPNV Hessen / Target timetable Germany-Takt; second expert draft Hessen. As of May 7, 2019 . Retrieved January 5, 2020.

 Map with all coordinates: OSM | WikiMap