Mainfranken-Thuringia Express
| Mainfranken-Thuringia Express (RE 7) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Mainfranken-Thüringen-Express
arrives at the Grimmenthal station when coming from Erfurt | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Route length: | 207 km | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| course | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Mainfranken-Thüringen-Express is a regional express train route between the Lower Franconian administrative district capital Würzburg and the Thuringian state capital Erfurt . At Deutsche Bahn it is run as line RE 7 .
Route and stations
With eight pairs of trains a day, the Mainfranken-Thuringia Express covers the connection between Würzburg and Erfurt every two hours in a journey time of two hours and 20 minutes in both directions. Half of the 207-kilometer route is located in Bavaria and Thuringia.
The following locations are served on every trip: Würzburg , Schweinfurt , Ebenhausen , Münnerstadt , Bad Neustadt an der Saale , Mellrichstadt , Grimmenthal , Suhl , Zella-Mehlis , Graefenroda , Plaue , Arnstadt , Neudietendorf , Erfurt . Until the train station in Oberhof was closed in December 2017, it was also served on every journey. At the end of the day, the Regional Express also stops in Burglauer (once in the morning towards Würzburg), Rottershausen (once in the morning towards Würzburg), Poppenhausen (once in the morning towards Würzburg), Oberwerrn (once in the morning towards Würzburg), Rentwertshausen (once in the morning and once in the evening towards Erfurt and once in the morning towards Würzburg) and Rohr (once in the morning towards Würzburg). Between Grimmenthal station and Meiningen station, seven kilometers away , feeder trains of the Süd-Thüringen-Bahn (STB) run every two hours, providing a direct connection between the district town of Meiningen and the Mainfranken-Thuringia Express.
The offer in the Würzburg – Schweinfurt and Neudietendorf – Erfurt sections will be increased to an hourly rate by other regional express lines that are staggered. The STx 50 Erfurt – Meiningen also runs morning and evening on the Erfurt – Grimmenthal section . Since the Regional Express trains do not serve all stations, they are with regional trains on the sections Würzburg – Schweinfurt– ( Bad Kissingen ) with the DB Regio Franconia , Schweinfurt – Ritschenhausen– (Meiningen) with the Erfurt Railway ( Unterfranken Shuttle ) and (Meiningen) –Grimmenthal – Erfurt supplemented with the Süd-Thüringen-Bahn.
The pairs of trains of the Mainfranken-Thuringia Express are tied from Erfurt as RE 3 via the Thuringian Railway and the Weimar – Gera railway to Altenburg and Greiz . In the 2018 timetable, this was the case for 7 of the 8 trips to Würzburg and 6 of the 7 trips to Erfurt. The exceptions here are the first trip of the day to Würzburg and the last trip of the day to Erfurt.
Served routes
- Würzburg – Bamberg railway line , Würzburg – Schweinfurt section
- Schweinfurt – Meiningen railway line (Main-Rhön Railway), Schweinfurt – Ritschenhausen section
- Ritschenhausen – Neudietendorf railway line
- Halle – Bebra railway line , Neudietendorf – Erfurt section
vehicles
On the Mainfranken-Thüringen-Express only diesel railcars of the 612 series with tilting technology are used. The trains start in Würzburg in triple traction, the rear railcar is already separated from the other two in Ebenhausen (Unterfr) and continues from there to Bad Kissingen.
Since the Regional Express once needed two hours and 45 minutes for the approximately 200-kilometer route, it was not very competitive compared to the car - especially after the complete commissioning of the federal motorway 71 between Schweinfurt and Erfurt. In order to speed up the journey time, the route was expanded for arc-fast driving by the end of 2008, which means that speeds of up to 160 km / h are possible in sections and the journey time, for example between Grimmenthal and Erfurt, could be reduced by around 20 minutes. After wheel set cracks were discovered in August 2004, the tilting technology had to be switched off for the time being, but since the end of 2005 it has been gradually put back into operation. Since December 2006, all trains of the Mainfranken-Thuringia Express have been able to travel at a speed of arcs on the sections that have been expanded for this purpose. Since the timetable change in December 2008, the Mainfranken-Thuringia Express has now required a journey time of two hours, 20 minutes to two hours and 26 minutes; since the timetable change on December 9, 2012, it has been two hours 21 minutes to two hours 22 minutes.
After the diesel railcars of the 612 series caused increasing problems for passengers, at the end of 2009 some routes of the Mainfranken-Thuringia Express were temporarily replaced by locomotive-hauled trains. However, those trains only ran from Erfurt Hauptbahnhof to Schweinfurt Hauptbahnhof. Class 232 diesel locomotives were used . Traffic red n-type cars were used as the rolling stock . In addition, there was usually a car from the traditional Thuringian club on the train. However, when the timetable changed on December 13, 2009 this replacement service was discontinued. Since then, all regional express train routes have been taken over by class 612 diesel multiple units. All trains on the RE7 line are now running again from Erfurt Hauptbahnhof to Würzburg Hauptbahnhof.