Engers – Au railway line

Engers-Au (victory)
Route number (DB) :	3032 (Engers – Au) 3034 (Grenzau – Hillscheid)
Course book section (DB) :	formerly 421, 423
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Route class :	D4
Legend Right section of the Rhine from Neuwied 0.0 Narrower Right section of the Rhine to Niederlahnstein 2.8 Bendorf - Sayn 2.8 Neitzert (Anst) 3.4 Sayner Tunnel (146 m) Climbing forest Brexbach viaduct 4.4 Castle tunnel (117 m) Boy Scout Camp Brexbach viaduct Brexbachtal 7.2 Teufelsberg tunnel (108 m) 9.9 Mühlberg tunnel (226 m) 11.1 Grenzau Tunnel (111 m) 11.5 Moosberg tunnel (85 m) 6.6 Hillscheid End of the route from 1972 2.6 Höhr-Grenzhausen End of the route since 2009 2.0 Steuler (Anst) 0.0 11.9 Grenzau ( wedge station ) Kammerforst Hüttenfeld tunnel (41 m) Hundsdorf Fox Neitzert 17.4 Ransbach (Westerw) 19.1 Connection Ludwig High-speed route Cologne – Rhine / Main A 3 19.4 Boar cock Unterwesterwaldbahn from Montabaur 21.6 Siershahn 25.3 Nordhofen 27.7 Selters (Westerw) Schütz container construction 31.2 Marienrachdorf 36.4 Dierdorf (Bz Koblenz) 41.3 Raubach 42.6 Hedwigsthal 44.3 Puderbach (formerly Personenbf) 207 m 48.9 Seifen tunnel (38 m) 49.4 Soaps (Westerw) Kasbachtal Railway from Linz (Rhine) 51.6 Flammersfeld ( Seelbach (Westerwald) ) 56.4 Neitersen (Anst, formerly Bf) 61.1 Altenkirchen (Westerw) Oberwesterwaldbahn to Westerburg Dieperzen 65.4 Obererbach 66.5 Marienthaler Tunnel (1050 m) 67.8 Marienthal Monastery 69.0 Breitscheidt 71.8 Hohegrete State border RLP / NRW 72.7 Geilhausen victory Victory route from Cologne 74.0 Au (victory) Victory route to Siegen Swell:

The railway line from Engers to Au (Sieg) is a single-track, non-electrified branch line and consists of three sections, which are dealt with separately in this article.

Brexbachtalbahn Engers – Siershahn

Engers station building

Steam locomotives on May 31, 2009 at the railway festival for the reopening of the Grenzau – Siershahn section

The Brexbachtalbahn is a railway line in the Westerwald along the Brexbach . It connects the right Rhine route with the Unterwesterwaldbahn and runs from Neuwied - Engers via Bendorf , Grenzau and Ransbach-Baumbach to Siershahn .

On May 31, 1884, the line was opened after a twelve-year planning and construction phase. In addition to the route length of 21.6 kilometers, there was a branch route to Höhr-Grenzhausen of a good two kilometers, which in 1909 was extended by another 4 kilometers to Hillscheid. It and today's Holzbachtalbahn were initially planned and operated as part of the Unterwesterwaldbahn. There is an altitude difference of 230 meters between Engers and Siershahn. The railway line runs through the Brexbachtal on over 36 bridges and viaducts and through seven tunnels .

On May 28, 1989, the gradual shutdown began with the cessation of passenger traffic . On August 1, 1994, freight traffic between Engers and the Ludwig junction was stopped. A small part was still used in 2001 for the construction of the high-speed line Cologne – Rhine / Main , in 2004 the section between the Ludwig and Siershahn junction was also closed. For years, the route was overgrown in places and not passable.

On March 26, 2007, the Brexbachtalbahn e. V. founded. This has set itself the goal of putting the railway back into operation for tourism.

On February 13, 2009, the Rhineland-Palatinate Ministry of Transport issued the operating license for the Siershahn – Grenzau section. As part of a celebration for the 125th birthday of the Brexbachtalbahn on May 30, 2009 and on the following Whitsun days, the section of the route with a steam train's shuttle service for tourist traffic was put into operation after Minister of Transport Hendrik Hering cut the red and white ribbon to reopen. In addition to the shuttle trips, a special steam train came from Oberhausen.

In 2010, tourist train journeys took place for the first time on the Siershahn – Grenzau section with class 798 rail buses, steam trains and LINT railcars from Vectus Verkehrsgesellschaft. Additional trips were offered for special regional events on the route. The operating license expired in December 2013, so that no more journeys took place. Instead, it was planned to repair the lower section of Bendorf – Grenzau for 2.7 million euros. Since the city council of Bendorf voted against reactivation of the route on March 28, 2017, these plans seemed to have failed.

In March 2019, however, an operating license for the Grenzau – Höhr-Grenzhausen and Grenzau – Siershahn sections was granted again for a period of 25 years. The route is operated by the Eifelbahn Verkehrsgesellschaft mbH (EVG). Approval for the Engers – Sayn section followed in June.

Passenger traffic between Grenzau and Hillscheid ceased on October 1, 1972, and goods traffic between Grenzau and Höhr-Grenzhausen on August 1, 1994.

Holzbachtalbahn Siershahn – Altenkirchen

Reception building Altenkirchen station (Westerwald)

Passage of the Schütz company premises

The Siershahn – Altenkirchen railway is also known as the Holzbachtalbahn . It was also used for passenger traffic from 1887 to June 2, 1984.

Freight traffic still takes place from Altenkirchen today. A reactivation of the connection in passenger traffic has been discussed for several years, in 2004 test drives with a railcar of the Vectus Verkehrsgesellschaft took place between Altenkirchen and Raubach . In 2006 the Selters – Raubach line, which had been closed since 1999, was reactivated after the infrastructure became the property of WEBA in 2005. Since then, together with the Raubach – Altenkirchen section, the Westerwaldbahn (WEBA) has been serving freight customers by rail from Altenkirchen, including a siding in Neitersen and to the Schütz container construction company in Selters, where the railway line crosses the factory premises and even factory halls. In Selters, the route runs right through the factory halls. Diesel locomotives of the type OnRail DH 1004 (converted series V 100 of the Deutsche Bundesbahn) were used. There was through freight traffic only when the route via Montabaur was closed. In 2017, the transport volume reached its maximum value of 230,000 tons, which enabled operation to cover costs.

In June 2017 the Altenkirchen district council decided to terminate the cooperation agreement with DB Cargo and to initiate a decommissioning procedure for the Holzbachtalbahn by the district's own Westerwaldbahn on December 31, 2017. A competitor of the Schütz company had to counter a modernization of the route that was necessary due to the comparatively poor condition the Werit company in Altenkirchen, sued because Schütz saw an unlawful competitive advantage in the siding or the renovation of the line at the expense of the public budget . Freight traffic was then partially taken over by DB Cargo in early December 2017 and completely in August 2018, which handles all traffic via Montabaur except for one empty wagon train per week. At the end of 2017, the Westerwaldbahn terminated the track connection contracts. In June 2018 it became known that the shareholders' meeting of the Westerwaldbahn approved a takeover agreement with the Lappwaldbahn . Since there are no further lines free on the Limburg-Staffel – Siershahn line , the Holzbachtalbahn continues to be important for freight traffic. In order to refute the competition complaint, among other things, tourist traffic is being considered.

On November 26, 2018, Lappwaldbahn Service GmbH bought the route, which it became the owner on January 1, 2019. After a provisional repair, freight traffic on the route was resumed on a test basis at the end of 2019. A complete overhaul will be carried out from September 2020, in which the first step will be to completely suspend freight traffic for half a year so that five bridges can be completely rebuilt; From 2021, freight traffic on the route with a capacity of five to six trains per week between Altenkirchen and Selters is to be resumed. In addition, various rails and sleepers will be renewed, the work should be completely completed in 2023/24, according to the Lappwaldbahn, passenger traffic on the route will then be possible again. The Lappwaldbahn plans to invest a double-digit million amount for the work on the line.

Oberwesterwaldbahn Altenkirchen – Au (Sieg)

vectus railcar in use on the Oberwesterwaldbahn at an intermediate stop at Altenkirchen station (Westerwald)

The freight train to Selters to the Schütz container construction company with a class 215 diesel locomotive near Obererbach , which runs on schedule from Monday to Friday .

The Altenkirchen – Au (Sieg) section, also known as the Oberwesterwaldbahn , was opened on May 1, 1887. After the Second World War, as in many other places, Uerdingen rail buses shaped the operation. Until 1975 there were regular steam locomotives on the line, most recently it was ballast trains hauled by Betzdorf locomotives of the 50 series from Erbach in the direction of Troisdorf / Cologne. On May 23, 1993, the route between Au (Sieg) and Altenkirchen was converted to signaled train control, and traffic was synchronized along the entire line (as far as Limburg).

When Vectus Verkehrsgesellschaft mbH started operations on December 12, 2004, the class 628 diesel multiple units that had been in service since 1986 were replaced by modern LINT multiple units and the stops between Altenkirchen and Au (Sieg) set up in 1986 were converted back into regular stops.

When the timetable changed on December 14, 2014, the Hessische Landesbahn (HLB) took over the transport services on the Oberwesterwaldbahn from the Vectus Verkehrsgesellschaft for a period of 16 years. The current train services are usually called Westerwald-Sieg-Bahn (RB 90) from Siegen to Westerburg. In the Altenkirchen – Au (–Betzdorf) section there are individual amplifier trips.

Stations

railway station	Community district	category	description	image
Au (victory)	Windeck (victory) Au (victory)	3	The station was put into operation as early as 1860 with the opening of the victory line. After the Oberwesterwaldbahn was connected to Altenkirchen, an important railway junction was created. The station is divided into a freight station, the passenger station on the Sieg line with 5 platform tracks for Deutsche Bahn trains and a small wing station with just one platform and one track on which the trains on the Engers – Au line are dispatched. This creates the special situation that the trains of the Hessian State Railways are brought up to the station forecourt on the side of the station building facing the locality. The only connection to the victory route is located directly in front of the train station.
Geilhausen	Windeck (victory) Geilhausen	7th	The Geilhausen stop consists only of a platform with a bus shelter and has no service facilities whatsoever, which means that it is classified in the lowest station category 7. The traffic purpose is to develop the smaller surrounding towns.
Hohegrete	Splendor Wickhausen	7th	The Hohegrete station is equipped the same as that in Geilhausen. It is also a category 7 stop that only has the most basic equipment. Here, too, smaller towns are being developed. The station sign shows the spelling Hohe Grete .
Breitscheidt	Breitscheidt	6th	The station Breitscheidt is the only stop on the stretch, which is classified as a train station. The reason for this is the switches at both ends of the platform, which divide the single-track line into two directional tracks so that trains can meet at the station.
Marienthal Monastery	Seelbach near Hamm (Sieg) Marienthal Monastery	7th	The stop at Kloster Marienthal is located directly in front of the north portal of the Marienthal tunnel below the former Franciscan monastery and, like the other stops, only has basic equipment. The district of Seelbach of the same name is connected. A closure of the stop was discussed because it no longer meets the safety requirements of the Federal Railway Authority and only has eight passengers per week. With the timetable change on December 15, 2019, the stop was converted back into a demand stop.
Obererbach	Obererbach (Westerwald)	7th	The Obererbach stop is in the Niedererbach district of the local community, a few hundred meters from the south portal of the Marienthaler Tunnel. This also has only a few features.
Altenkirchen	Altenkirchen (Westerwald)	6th	→ Main article : Altenkirchen train station (Westerw)

literature

• Georg Speck: Controversial legal issues regarding railway sovereignty, infrastructure and company approval . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International 10/2018, p. 542.

Web links

German Photo Library :

• Route Bendorf – Grenzau (measuring table sheet from 1905)
• Route Grenzau – Siershahn (measuring table sheet from 1902)
• Route Bendorf – Siershahn (Map 1: 100,000 from 1909)
• Route Siershahn – Altenkirchen (Map 1: 100,000 from 1909)

to the Brexbachtalbahn:

• Club side
• Pictures of the route

to the Holzbachtalbahn:

• Website of the route operator LWS Lappwaldbahn Service GmbH
• Altenkirchen – Siershahn route
• Westerwälder Bahnen side

Individual evidence

1. ↑ DB Netze - Infrastructure Register
2. ↑ Railway Atlas Germany . 9th edition. Schweers + Wall, Aachen 2014, ISBN 978-3-89494-145-1 .
3. ↑ | Information and pictures about the tunnels on route 3032 on eisenbahn-tunnelportale.de by Lothar Brill
4. ↑ Trips on the "Brex". Brexbachtalbahn eV, archived from the original on October 28, 2018 ; accessed on February 15, 2017 . 
5. ↑ No reactivation . In: railway magazine . No. 6 , 2017, ISSN  0342-1902 , p. 29 .
6. ↑ FREE TRIP FOR THE BREXBACHTALBAHN. Brexbachtalbahn eV, April 3, 2019, accessed on April 3, 2019 . 
7. ↑ Free travel for the Brexbachtalbahn also in Bendorf. Retrieved November 19, 2019 . 
8. ↑ Tonzugumleiterverkehr in the Westerwald. In: lok-report.de. Retrieved February 13, 2018 . 
9. ↑ Last tour on the Holzbachtal route: Weba sets a goods record as a farewell . ( rhein-zeitung.de [accessed on February 13, 2018]).
10. ↑ End of freight traffic decided . In: railway magazine . No. 9 , 2017, ISSN  0342-1902 , p. 31 .
11. ↑ Holzbachtalbahn: Illegal aid for the Schütz company? ( rhein-zeitung.de [accessed on February 13, 2018]).
12. ↑ Resumption of freight traffic . In: railway magazine . No. 11 , 2018, ISSN  0342-1902 , p. 28 .
13. ↑ Holzbachtalbahn: Last ride of the WEBA today, very last on Monday. Retrieved January 5, 2018 . 
14. ^ Kratzer, Markus and Günther, Hans-Peter: Course set: Lappwaldbahn is to take over the Altenkirchen – Selters railway line. In: Rhein-Zeitung. June 21, 2018, accessed August 16, 2018 . 
15. ↑ Holzbachtalbahn Altenkirchen - Selters saved. In: AK-Kurier. December 18, 2018, accessed December 19, 2018 . 
16. ^ Westerwald route. Retrieved November 21, 2019 . 
17. ↑ Freight traffic on the Holzbachtalbahn again. November 11, 2019, accessed November 21, 2019 . 
18. ↑ SWR Aktuell, SWR Aktuell: Comprehensive renovation of the Holzbachtalbahn. Retrieved June 30, 2020 . 
19. ↑ Marienthaler Wirte want to defend themselves - closure of the train stop. In: ak-kurier.de. Retrieved February 16, 2017 .