Seligenstadt – Volkach railway line
| Seligenstadt (b Würzburg) –Volkach (Main) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Route number (DB) : | 5203 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Course book section (DB) : | 810 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Route length: | 10.6 km | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gauge : | 1435 mm ( standard gauge ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minimum radius : | 180 m | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top speed: | 50 km / h | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Seligenstadt – Volkach line is a branch line in Bavaria . It branches off the Bamberg – Rottendorf railway line in Seligenstadt near Würzburg and leads in the Volkacher Mainschleife to Volkach .
In the vernacular, the route was previously known as the Säuferbähnle . Today's tourist operation is marketed under the Mainschleifenbahn .
history
After the Bavarian law of August 10, 1904 had approved the construction of a railway line to connect the city of Volkach , construction began in the summer of 1907. Seligenstadt, about ten kilometers from Volkach, was chosen as the starting point, where there was a connection to the Ludwigs-West-Bahn , which was completed in 1854 . After almost two years of construction, the line was opened as a local line for the Bavarian State Railways on February 14, 1909. The train got its nickname "Säuferbähnle" because it was often used by day trippers who drink on the Mainschleife.
During the Second World War , the Volkach Main Bridge was blown up on April 7, 1945 and four years later it was replaced by a temporary structure that was only intended to serve until a new bridge was built. However, this was not realized for decades. The railway was used for regular passenger traffic until September 28, 1968, but even after that, special trains from all over southern Germany continued to run to Volkach.
In 1991, the freight traffic, which had last served the Bundeswehr or mineral oil transport from the oil tank farm in Volkach, was also stopped . On May 28, 1994, the Mainschleifenbahn was shut down by Deutsche Bahn.
Immediately after the official closure of the route, the Mainschleifenbahn interest group was founded in Volkach in September 1994 with the aim of maintaining the route. As early as July 1995, the planned dismantling of the track system by Deutsche Bahn was prevented as the first success . However , the interest group could not prevent the expansion of the branch point from the Bamberg – Rottendorf railway line at Seligenstadt station (near Würzburg) on October 17, 1998, so that the Mainschleifenbahn has since been separated from the Deutsche Bahn network and became an island operation . The Main Bridge in Volkach (a combi-bridge on which both a road and the tracks of the Mainschleifenbahn were located) could no longer be used by trains due to allegedly insufficient load-bearing capacity, although there was no weight limit for the much heavier military traffic on the road. In June 1996, the prototype of the then new Talent diesel multiple unit operated by the Aachen company Talbot for demonstration purposes of attractive local rail passenger transport on the Main Loop Railway. In the spring of 1997 the Bavarian Railway Company (BEG) examined a possible reactivation as part of a traffic report, but this was not implemented.
The Mainschleifenbahn mbH (BGM) operating company was founded in March 2001 to maintain the route . Partners include the district of Kitzingen , the city of Volkach and the Mainschleifenbahn development association. In July 2002, the BGM received approval as a railway infrastructure company . In January 2002, BGM leased the route from Deutsche Bahn for 25 years. First of all, the already overgrown route was cut free and extensive renovation work carried out. As a result, the route received an operating permit on July 9, 2003. In September 2003, the Mainschleifenbahn Association was able to start an independent island railway operation for excursion and special traffic (railway company: Pfalzbahn ). Since then, trains have been running regularly on weekends between Seligenstadt Mainschleifenbahn and Volkach-Astheim. On October 21, 2011, the Mainschleifenbahn development association was finally able to buy the line from Deutsche Bahn.
Since September 2003, trains have been offered again on Sundays and public holidays from May to October and, from September onwards, also on Saturdays. There are also special trips u. a. at Easter, Nicholas and the Volkacher Wine Festival. The trains initially ran every hour, which was reduced to a two-hour service at the beginning of the 2005 season. The departure times in Seligenstadt are coordinated with those of the connecting trains from Würzburg and in Volkach with those of the excursion boats. Only one train may run on the single-track route with simple train control (there are no longer any terminal stations or crossing tracks).
In the long term, the interest group is pursuing a resumption of local rail transport to Volkach. Since the route between the Main Bridge and the former Volkach railway station was de-dedicated by the Federal Railway Authority on January 31, 2002 at the request of the City of Volkach , this goal has become a long way off. The end point is today's Astheim stop. While a reconnection of the line with a new connection point in Seligenstadt would be relatively quick, but with greater financial outlay. Crossing the Main in Volkach is no longer sought. In the event of a reactivation, P&R areas and bus loops are provided in Astheim. The combined road and rail bridge was replaced from September 5, 2011 by a new 199 meter long, multi-part bridge (construction started in autumn 2009) and then demolished. There is no longer any railroad track on the new bridge. The old bridge house remained at the insistence of the interest group and is now part of the new Volkach-Astheim terminus. The Verkehrsclub Deutschland (VCD) asked the Free State of Bavaria to provide funding to either equip the new bridge with a track or to build a separate railway bridge, but it was just as unsuccessful as the Mainschleifenbahn interest group. Nevertheless, the VCD considers a rehabilitation of the line and the use of modern low-floor vehicles necessary and - with regard to the often discussed Würzburg regional light rail - even electrification. In the near future, however, the continuation of the line will initially depend on the Mainschleifenbahn development association succeeding in generating the financial means to maintain the line. To do this, he is almost exclusively dependent on fare income from his planned and special trips. In 2010 the railway had 12,000 passengers.
Currently (2019) a restart of the route for regular traffic is being discussed. This project is supported by the districts of Kitzingen, Würzburg and Schweinfurt as well as by the cities of Volkach, Würzburg, Schweinfurt and the community of Prosselsheim. An expert report commissioned by the Bavarian Railway Company revealed a passenger potential of 1,400 passenger kilometers. This means that the 1000 person kilometers expected by the Free State of Bavaria for reactivation will be exceeded. The aim is to use hybrid catenary railcars.
Route description
course
After leaving the Seligenstadt train station (near Würzburg) , the track initially swings to the east , leads through fields and fields and climbs slightly. The route reaches its highest point at 290 m above sea level. NN , before it reaches Prosselsheim largely through cuts . After the train station, it goes around the town, at first drops slightly again, then rises sharply and then descends a little to Eisenheim . From there to Escherndorf, the Mainschleifenbahn runs largely parallel to State Road 2260, then partly through a forest and nature reserve on the northern slope of the Main Valley. The route drops steadily from Escherndorf, overcoming almost 70 meters in altitude on around four kilometers to Astheim . In Astheim, she meets the State Road 2260 again, with which she crossed the Main, turned south and reached the Volkach terminus.
Operating points
When it opened, the line had seven train stations and stops : Seligenstadt as a branch station, Prosselsheim, Untereisenheim (later Eisenheim), Escherndorf, Vogelsburg, Astheim and Volkach.
The Vogelsburg stop was shut down as early as 1922, as it was only used very rarely and its location on a steep section sometimes led to start-up difficulties. The station buildings in Prosselsheim, Eisenheim and Volkach were designed as single-storey structures with wooden cladding. While those in Prosselsheim and Volkach have been renovated and are used for other purposes, the building in Eisenheim has been privately owned since 1969. In July 2005, a so-called bus station was built in Volkach on the site of the former train station (goods shed). Only the Seligenstadt train station received a representative reception building as a through station for the Ludwigs-West-Bahn, which was manned by a dispatcher until the end of October 2012. Since then, switches and signals have been operated by the EStW Rottendorf. As part of the resumption of tourist traffic, new platforms with 38 cm edge height were built in Seligenstadt, Prosselsheim, Escherndorf and Astheim. With a length of around thirty meters each, they offer space for a double rail bus set. Construction work on the Eisenheim stop, which had been planned since 2004, began in mid-April 2007 and was completed after just four days of construction, so that the stop was ready for use at the beginning of the 2007 season on May 1st. The new stop is a few meters away from the old station building.
At the beginning of the 2014 season, the Astheim stop was relocated directly to the listed bridge house. There on the former bridge access were u. a. a waiting hall and a paved, disabled-friendly platform with lighting were built. On the bridgehead, a short side section of the Roth-Waagner Bridge, opened in 1949, reminds of the former Main Crossing.
Vehicle use
Before it was shut down, passenger trains ran on the Mainschleifenbahn until 1968, at the end of which were hauled by diesel locomotives of the V 100 , V 60 and V 90 series . There were also regular delivery freight trains and oil trains for the Volkach tank farm (until 1991).
When the tourism business started in September 2003, a rail bus rented by the Zollernbahn Railway Friends from Tübingen was used, which has been replaced by the Mainschleifenbahn's own rail bus set since the 2004 season. It consists of a railcar (VT 96 702) and an associated control car with a bicycle compartment (VS 96 726). The BGM has other vehicles that are necessary for the maintenance and servicing of the route.
literature
- Georg Wolfgang Schramm: The Main Loop and its Railway. Pictures, history and stories. Verlag Karl Hart, Volkach 2008, ISBN 978-3-930840-15-1 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Rainer Raffel: Start of the season for the Säuferbähnle . In: Wertheimer Zeitung from 25./25. April 2011
- ↑ About us. In: mainschleifenbahn.de. Retrieved October 18, 2018 .
- ↑ Press release Mainschleifenbahn: Bavaria: Mainschleifenbahn has been operating independently since 2003. In: LOK Report . September 12, 2018, accessed October 18, 2018 .
- ↑ Ralf Weiskopf: The track now belongs to the Mainschleifenbahn. Main-Post , October 21, 2011, accessed on October 21, 2011 .
- ↑ Main-Post: Starting shot for 13 million project article from March 13, 2008
- ^ Verkehrsclub Deutschland: Expansion of the Mainschleifenbahn as a light rail system makes sense, press release of July 26, 2004
- ↑ Verkehrsclub Deutschland: Don't forget the Mainschleifenbahn in Volkach ( Memento from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Press release from December 11, 2006
- ↑ Volkach-Bahn: Homepage , accessed on August 18, 2018.
- ↑ The course set for reactivating the Main Loop Railway. June 25, 2019, accessed June 26, 2019 .
- ↑ Local rail passenger transport. Retrieved June 26, 2019 .
- ↑ Barbara Herrmann: Mainschleifenbahn-Förderverein dreams of a hybrid train. July 7, 2019, accessed July 10, 2019 .