Koenigstein Railway

This article describes the railway line from Frankfurt-Höchst to Königstein im Taunus. For the railway company, see Frankfurt-Königsteiner Eisenbahn

Koenigstein Railway
Course of the Königsteiner and Sodener Bahn
Route number (DB) :	9360
Course book section (DB) :	646
Route length:	15.9 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Route class :	D4
Maximum slope :	25  ‰
Top speed:	80 km / h
Legend 15.9 Königstein (Taunus) ( HLB workshop ) 13.2 Cutting grove 13.1 BÜ Wiesbadener Str. ( B 455 ) 9.9 Kelkheim- Hornau central signal box 8.7 BÜ Fischbacher Str. (L 3016) 8.6 Kelkheim 6.8 Kelkheim-Munster B 519 4.9 Liederbach 3.6 Liederbach south A 66 1.6 Frankfurt-Unterliederbach 1.6 BÜ Hunsrückstraße (L 3016) 1.0 Farbwerke Hoechst - replaced by stop on ... Taunus Railway to Wiesbaden and Main-Lahn Railway to Niedernhausen 0.0 Frankfurt (Main) -Hochst Soden train to Bad Soden Main-Lahn-Bahn to Frankfurt Taunus Railway to Frankfurt ( FV / RV ) Swell:

The Königsteiner Bahn is a continuously single-track and non-electrified secondary railway line that was opened in 1902 and connects the city of Königstein im Taunus with the metropolis of Frankfurt am Main on the southern edge of the Taunus in Hesse .

The regional train line , also known as the K-Bahn ( 1989–95), is now operationally tied from Königstein via Frankfurt-Höchst station via the course book route 646 to Frankfurt (Main) Hauptbahnhof .

course

The track is a single track in Liederbach , Kelkheim and Hornau and in the terminal stations are passing places available.

Frankfurt-Unterliederbach stop, looking north

In Höchst, the train first leaves the embankment, on which the S-Bahn also runs, and branches off to the northwest in order to reach the last stop in the Frankfurt city area after a short journey. Up until the mid-1980s, Frankfurt-Unterliederbach had a train station with a siding and loading ramp, which is now downgraded to a stopping point.

After the train crosses under the motorway bridge, it passes the siding built in 2004 for the transport of heavy large transformers for a transformer station in Kriftel that was newly built at the time . The train then reaches the first station in the Main-Taunus district , Liederbach Süd . The breakpoint, which was built in the mid-1990s, mainly connects the eastern industrial area of ​​the community. This is followed by the Liederbach train station, which lies exactly on the border between the two districts of Oberliederbach and Niederhofheim and after Höchst offers the first alternative on the route. At the time when the two districts were not yet united to form Liederbach, the station was therefore called Niederhofheim-Oberliederbach . The second track, however, is rarely used, for example in the event of delays and to ensure regular operation during the annual special trips of the Frankfurt Historical Railway Association to the Königstein station festival .

After the journey through fields and meadows, the train stops in Münster , then in the center of the central town of Kelkheim, where, contrary to the usual symmetry time, the only train crossing takes place every hour at minute: 12 , with half-hourly also at minute: 42. A short time later, the station in the Hornau district follows, where the line's signal box is located.

Then the Königsteiner Bahn travels through the Kelkheim city ​​forest and crosses the southern city limits of Königstein ( Hochtaunuskreis ). On the journey to the Schneidhain stop, the steepest section of the route is with an average gradient of 1:42. Afterwards it soon bends in a 180 ° curve to the east and reaches its end point in Königstein train station.

operator

See also : Frankfurt-Königsteiner Eisenbahn # history

The Hessische Landesbahn operates the Königsteiner Bahn in the network of the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund (RMV) as RMV line 12 until 2019. To make the line more attractive, it now also runs on the Taunus railway between Frankfurt-Höchst and the Frankfurt Central Station . It is now an important addition to the Rhein-Main S-Bahn .

history

Inauguration of the Königsteiner Bahn in 1902

In 1901 the Königsteiner Bahn was licensed as a small railway for the operating company Kleinbahn AG Höchst-Königstein , which later developed into the Frankfurt-Königsteiner Eisenbahn (FKE). The construction of the line began in Höchst am Main station (before it was incorporated into Frankfurt) on the Taunus railway . On February 24, 1902, the line was put into operation.

Train accident near Oberliederbach in 1966

On November 17, 1966, there was a serious train accident on the route between Unterliederbach and Liederbach . While the driver got out for a break, his three-part railcar waiting in the empty gear in Kelkheim-Hornau in the direction of Frankfurt had started moving by itself because the parking brake was not applied. Due to the gradient of the route, the train accelerated to well over 100 km / h. The attempt to deliberately derail the train in Kelkheim-Münster failed.

Finally, near Oberliederbach, the railcar collided head-on with an oncoming passenger train. The engine driver and stoker of the steam locomotive were able to save themselves by jumping. Seven passengers died and 80 were injured in the accident. Among the dead was the only passenger in the driverless railcar. For reasons that were no longer comprehensible, the twenty-two-year-old had not succeeded in pulling the emergency brake in order to prevent the accident or at least to lessen the extent and perhaps save his life.

Another train from Frankfurt was prevented from continuing on to Liederbach just in time.

K-track

Train crossing in Kelkheim station

LINT 41 railcar below Königstein Castle

Line designation K in Frankfurt-Höchst

From 1989 to 1995 the railway line was known as the “K-Bahn”, which was remembered despite its short lifespan and is still often used today. In addition, the former small train was highlighted in its own color on the network map of the Frankfurter Verkehrsverbund (FVV). Similarly, the branch line, which was revived in 1993 under the name “ Taunusbahn ” and also operated by the FKE, was given the catchy name “T-Bahn”.

In 1995 the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund (RMV) was founded, which ended the short history of the K- and T-Bahn. Now both have been named with the uniform RMV numbering scheme (line 12 and line 15).

future

At the beginning of November 2014 it was announced that the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund and Alstom agreed to use new railcars with fuel cell drives on the lines of the Taunus network (lines 11, 12, 15 and 16) from 2018 at the earliest . In April 2018 it was determined that the trains are expected to be used from 2022. In the case of the Taunusbahn, the possible electrification should not be influenced by this.

A study to determine the necessary expansion measures between Höchst and Kelkheim will be prepared by mid-2020 to set up a 15-minute cycle.

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. 855 ff . (Route 082).
• Jochen Fink: Frankfurt-Königstein. A century of local transport in the Taunus . GeraMond, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-7654-7196-8 .

Web links

Commons : Königsteiner Bahn  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ DB Netze - Infrastructure Register
2. ↑ Railway Atlas Germany . 9th edition. Schweers + Wall, Aachen 2014, ISBN 978-3-89494-145-1 .
3. ↑ Press release from the substation operator Amprion : https://www.amprion.net/Presse/Presse-Detailseite_2609.html
4. ↑ Old route maps at: https://www.tramfan-ffm.de/planarchiv.htm
5. ↑ Rudolf Schäfer: Chronicle of Höchst am Main . Waldemar Krämer publishing house, Frankfurt am Main 1986, ISBN 3-7829-0293-9 .
6. ↑ Frankfurt Fire Brigade on the Internet: Chronicle 1974-1946
7. ↑ Photos and reports from the course of the accident at www.drehscheibe-foren.de
8. ↑ Train accident 50 years ago - witnesses remember
9. ↑ Minister Al-Wazir welcomes the pioneering work of the RMV in the use of fuel technology. Retrieved on November 4, 2014 (press release from the Hessian Ministry for Economic Affairs, Energy, Transport and Regional Development).  
10. ↑ Alstom signs first letters of intent for the use of new, emission-free rail vehicles. Archived from the original on December 26, 2016 ; Retrieved November 4, 2014 (press release from Alstom).  
11. ↑ The fuel cell is coming. November 4, 2014, archived from the original on November 7, 2017 ; accessed on November 4, 2014 (article in the Taunus-Zeitung (FNP)).  
12. ^ Prof Ringat: With the fuel cell in the Taunus. Interview with the spokesman for the RMV management about trains with fuel cells. Retrieved on November 4, 2014 (from House of Logistics & Mobility (HOLM) GmbH).  
13. ^ Matthias Pieren: Rail traffic: The Taunus will be diesel-free. In: Taunus Zeitung. April 25, 2018. Retrieved April 29, 2018 . 
14. ↑ Studies for the expansion of the regional railway between Höchst and Kelkheim are ongoing. In: frankfurt-live.com. September 26, 2019, accessed January 27, 2020 .