Taunusbahn (Hochtaunus)

Friedrichsdorf – Brandoberndorf
VT 2E between Wehrheim and Neu-Anspach
Route number :	9374 (ex 3746)
Course book section (DB) :	637
Route length:	36.9 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Route class :	C4
Maximum slope :	21.7  ‰
Minimum radius :	200 m
Top speed:	80 km / h
Legend Solmsbachtalbahn from Wetzlar 36.9 Brandoberndorf 246.9 m 33.3 Hasselborn 307.8 m 31.4 Hasselborn Tunnel (1300 m) 31.2 Jägerhaus († 1985) 332.7 m B 456 28.8 Graevenwiesbach 326.5 m former Weiltalbahn to Weilburg 26.4 Dog city 367.2 m 23.2 Highest point on the route 391 m BGS ammunition depot 22.6 Wilhelmsdorf ~ 390 m former military airfield (narrow-gauge railway) Main / Lahn watershed B 275 Conn. Raiffeisen 17.7 Usingen central signal box 299.5 m Geyseritwerk ( narrow gauge railway ) 14.4 Hausen 313.0 m 13.4 Neu-Anspach 326.4 m 13.0 Anspacher Viaduct (70 m), Usa First brick factory B 456 9.2 Wehrheim 312.5 m 7.0 Saalburg 293.5 m Anst Taunus quartzite factory († 1996) Erlenbach and L 3041 2.1 Bodies 220.6 m Rst Tettauer Glaswerke Conn. Rühl chemistry Line from Friedberg 0.0 23.9 Friedrichsdorf (Taunus) terminus 192.5 m Homburg Railway to Frankfurt

The Taunusbahn is the railway line from Frankfurt am Main via Bad Homburg , Friedrichsdorf , Wehrheim , Neu-Anspach , Usingen and Grävenwiesbach to Waldsolms - Brandoberndorf . 1993-1995 was provided by the Frankfurt traffic group (FVV) and T-Bahn called, after the Rhine-Main Transport Association (RMV) 15 as a line under the number 637 is the timetable of the train Germans to find. Colloquially, the Friedrichsdorf – Brandoberndorf railway line with the number 9374, part of the old Friedrichsdorf – Wetzlar DB line , is known as the Taunus Railway. The owner of this route is the Verkehrsverband Hochtaunus (VHT). The infrastructure is managed by HLB Basis AG on his behalf .

business

S-Bahn standard (high platforms and destination indicators ) in Köppern station

The Taunusbahn is one of three S-Bahn- like suburban railway lines in the north-west of Frankfurt, which are operated by the Hessische Landesbahn GmbH (HLB) through its subsidiary HLB Hessenbahn GmbH . Train destination displays are installed at all stations to announce the next trains .

On the route, which can be driven at up to 80 km / h, an output of 975,000 train kilometers per year is achieved.

vehicles

The vehicles used are the type VT 2E diesel multiple units that were modernized in 2006/2007 ; the eleven railcars specially procured for the Taunusbahn by the Verkehrsverband Hochtaunus (VHT) are used together with the nine HLB vehicles on the routes to Königstein and Bad Soden . Since the timetable change in 2006 , they have been supported by ten LINT 41 / H railcars . From the procurement in 1994/1995 to the replacement by LINT, one class 628 railcar and two class 629 railcars also ran on the Taunusbahn.

Timetable offer

The Taunusbahn runs every half hour on weekdays; In addition, four to five additional pairs of trains are used Monday to Friday mornings and afternoons during rush hour , which run from / to Frankfurt (Main) Hauptbahnhof and, for operational reasons, mainly travel to / from Königstein. Around every second train ends in Grävenwiesbach , while Brandoberndorf is approached every hour. On Saturday, apart from a break in the morning, there is also a half-hourly service between Grävenwiesbach and Bad Homburg until around 4 p.m. afterwards and on Sundays, the Taunusbahn runs every hour on the entire route. The timetable is designed so that trains that end in Bad Homburg are always connected to the S 5 S-Bahn line from / to Frankfurt.

The off- rail communities and districts are connected to the Taunusbahn by bus lines on behalf of the Hochtaunus Transport Association (VHT) . Following the course of the former Weiltalbahn , a bus service runs from Grävenwiesbach to Weilburg via Weilmünster . In Brandoberndorf you can also change to bus routes to Wetzlar and Braunfels .

Freight transport

The freight was acquired in 1994 by the FKE by DB AG. The operation was carried out initially by a locomotive of the Butzbach-Licher railway (BLE), later by the DB. It became more and more sparse and with the abandonment of the tariff points on November 5, 2000, individual services if required are the exception.

course

LINT double traction shortly after Neu-Anspach

The line is part of the former federal railroad lines Frankfurt – Wetzlar ( Solmsbachtalbahn ) and Frankfurt – Weilburg ( Weiltalbahn ), which were decommissioned by the Deutsche Bundesbahn beyond Grävenwiesbach. Today the Taunusbahn runs the extension of the Homburg Railway to Friedrichsdorf, which it shares with the S5. There it goes over to Brandoberndorf on the single-track , non-electrified section of the route, which is owned by the Hochtaunus Transport Association.

During rush hour, trains start and end every hour in Frankfurt Hbf. In contrast to the S5, the trains do not stop underground, but on the above-ground long-distance tracks. While the S5 on the Homburger web immediately north to the West station abdreht, the Taunus web 12 first moves as the line on the regional tracks in the direction of Frankfurt-Hoechst ( Taunus Railway ) and bends then at Rebstockgelände in the compound curve ( vine curve ) of the former Bäderbahn a to get onto the S5 route shortly before Rödelheim station . It follows this with only two stops in Rödelheim and Oberursel to Bad Homburg.

The trains of the basic cycle start in Bad Homburg. After Seulberg , where the Taunusbahn trains to and from Frankfurt mostly do not stop, the Taunusbahn reaches Friedrichsdorf, the final stop of line 16 and the S5. Here begins a moderate incline past the former rail connections of Rühl Chemie and Tettauer Glaswerke to the first crossing station Köppern , which has a short loading track next to the platform tracks . Through the Köpperner Tal - following the Erlenbach - the railway crosses the Taunushauptkamm and crosses the Limes at Saalburg train station , which was called Saalburg / Lochmühle from 1993 to 2008 . Behind the Wehrheim train station , which also has a loading track, an uphill section begins. Behind the hill, after passing the old brickworks (once with a siding ), Neu-Anspach is connected in an arch . Neu-Anspach was the only station to be dismantled before the line was modernized to the stop, and in 1992 it was again equipped with switches. The Hausen (Ts) stop is just under a kilometer away .

LINT in the Hundstadt curve

After a long journey through open fields, Usingen follows , where the central signal box is located and trains are also parked, reinforced, shortened and refueled. There was a loading point for the 4 km long narrow-gauge railway to the Geyseritwerk (today Bremthaler Quarzitwerk ) and a siding of the Raiffeisen . There, the section begins with the strongest gradient (up to 21.47 ‰), the end with a well 390 meters above sea level the Wilhelm Bahnhof represents. Against the direction of travel, a narrow-gauge railway branched off to the Merzhausen military airfield (today Usingen earth station ). After another slight slope past the connection to the BGS camp, the route reaches its apex at the edge of the forest. From there it goes down to Grävenwiesbach , where some trains can be parked, over a loop near Hundstadt .

Hasselborn Tunnel (1,300 m)

On the route of the original Solmstalbahn , the further uphill section now passes the former Jägerhaus timber loading station , which was used for freight traffic from 1913 to 1985 and for passenger traffic from 1954 to 1981 , and immediately afterwards the Hasselborn tunnel , which also marks the border with the Lahn-Dill- Represents circle . The 1,300 m long tunnel is again on a gentle slope and runs almost straight. During the war he was originally intended for the safe shutdown of the special train of Adolf Hitler used, while in the nearby Führerhauptquartier eagle's nest was located. Due to the increasing air raids on Frankfurt around 1941 , the VDM-Kupferwerke Heddernheim relocated parts of the war production here and employed some forced laborers, as indicated by a plaque near the south portal. Shortly after the end of the tunnel is the new Hasselborn stop , which was moved around 100 m closer to the town in 1999, opposite the old train station. Behind it, the route continues to descend until the final stop is finally reached in Brandoberndorf, which belongs to Waldsolms . This is also a few meters in front of the old train station. At its height there are two unused sidings (operationally an alternative junction ).

The Köppern , Saalburg , Wehrheim , Neu-Anspach , Usingen and Wilhelmsdorf stations on the single-track section have two platform tracks secured with exit signals on both sides and the possibility of train crossings, and Grävenwiesbach even three. This also results in the high capacity of the line. There is no possibility of crossing on the section between Grävenwiesbach and Brandoberndorf.

history

Timetable Usingen – Homburg 1895

The Usinger Bahn was opened on October 15, 1895 as an extension of the Homburg Railway , which had been in operation since 1860 . From June 1, 1909, it was possible to continue with the hairpin in Grävenwiesbach into the Lahn valley to Weilburg; From November 1, 1912, the Solmsbachtalbahn followed to Albshausen . In Bad Homburg, a train station of its own was built, Bad Homburg Neu , which was some distance from the end of the line to Frankfurt. On October 26, 1907, both stations in Bad Homburg were replaced by a central train station, which first made it possible to run through trains from the Main to the Lahn . The Homburg Railway was extended via Friedrichsdorf to Friedberg and later double-tracked, which means that the beginning of the Usinger Railway was relocated from Bad Homburg to Friedrichsdorf.

On the evening of October 4, 1944, train no. 2021 from Frankfurt to Usingen was attacked by low-flying aircraft shortly before entering Köppern . 31 people died.

The Weiltalbahn has not been used since September 27, 1969. On May 31, 1985, passenger traffic on the Solmstalbahn was also discontinued.

VT 2E in Bad Homburg train station

modernization

In 1988 a special purpose association of 13 cities, municipalities and the Hochtaunus district was founded with the Verkehrsverband Hochtaunus (VHT). When around 1989 the remaining line from Grävenwiesbach to Friedrichsdorf (which was now connected to the S-Bahn ) was threatened with closure, the VHT, to which the Hochtaunuskreis and all the municipalities of the district belong, took over the share in the district area. From 1992 onwards, the signaling technology and the stations were extensively modernized in 18 months. Initially, only individual platforms at the stations were modernized. Since September 27, 1992, in consultation with the Frankfurter Verkehrsverbund, continuous tickets have been issued in the network area. On the same day, the changeover to the new type VT 2E multiple units took place, but the Deutsche Bundesbahn continued to operate in the old timetable. Then the signaling technology was changed and the remaining platforms were built. The former train stations in Saalburg and Neu-Anspach, which had been dismantled into stops , were given their sidings again. On September 26, 1993, the Frankfurt-Königsteiner Eisenbahn AG (FKE, then a subsidiary of HLB) took over the management on behalf of the Zweckverband, and the line was leased to FKE. The trains then ran according to the new timetable all over Friedrichsdorf to the district town of Bad Homburg, some in rush hour also to Frankfurt Central Station . The bus traffic, which had run in parallel until then, was converted into a feeder traffic. Forecasts expected an increase from then (1989) 1,500 to 4,000 passengers per day.

The T-Bahn of the FVV was transferred to the newly founded Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund (RMV) on May 26, 1995 , where it received regional train number 15 with a 30-minute cycle. 7,000 passengers per day have now been counted.

LINT in the Brandoberndorf terminus , with the old train station in the background

Extension to Brandoberndorf

Because of the great success of the new service, the section to Brandoberndorf was reactivated on November 15, 1999 by the VHT and Verkehrsverbund Lahn Dill (VLD). In 1996, the Lahn-Dill district bought the eight-kilometer-long railway line between Brandoberndorf and Grävenwiesbach from DB AG and incorporated it into the VHT association. The Hasselborn tunnel, which is passed through on the section, was still in an exceptionally good condition. The safety equipment was brought up to date and renovated again later.

Another story

In March 2006, FKE was merged with other HLB subsidiaries to form HLB Hessenbahn GmbH , and operations continued as normal. When journeys were canceled on many routes at the 2006/2007 timetable change in December 2006 due to the cuts in the funds for local public transport , the Taunusbahn was the only line in the RMV where journeys were added. The number of passengers had risen to 9,300 in 2005 and 11,000 in 2012.

According to the 2005 plan, the platforms of the stations from Köppern to Usingen were extended in autumn 2006 to enable train units of four VT 2E railcars or three LINT 41 units. In November 2007, train destination indicators were installed along the entire route . For the timetable change on December 9, 2007, the control system was integrated into the signal box in order to be able to display the departure times and possible delays precisely. Regular operation started in February 2008.

future

Between Friedrichsdorf and Bad Homburg , the Taunusbahn shares the route with the S-Bahn .

An expansion of the route in favor of a more attractive connection is discussed again and again. Current considerations and investigations envisage electrification of the route to Usingen by the end of 2022 and thus the extension of the S5 S-Bahn line.

For electrification to Usingen, if the S5 were operated by DB Regio (S-Bahn Rhein-Main), the existing 423 series vehicles would be sufficient - which would not incur any additional costs - while new vehicles would be procured for electrical operation to Grävenwiesbach would have to. This would have to be done before the start of the upcoming tender. However, municipal bodies and parties are calling for the line to be electrified beyond Usingen to Grävenwiesbach and Brandoberndorf, although this project is currently not in sight.

On May 18, 2015, the district council of the Hochtaunuskreis decided unanimously to commission the Hochtaunus transport association with the electrification of the Taunusbahn in order to switch operations to the timetable change in December 2019. In negotiations with the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund some points for the operation of the Taunusbahn are to be secured. These are named with a long-term safeguard in particular of the section beyond Usingen (including its possible subsequent electrification), the retention of through trains to and from Frankfurt, a barrier-free changeover in Usingen and a coordinated operating concept including shuttle bus lines. In mid-February, a cooperation agreement was signed between the Hochtaunus transport association and the Rhein-Main transport association, according to which the RMV promises to bear half of the planning costs of four million euros. According to the assessment at the time, the plan approval procedure could be initiated from 2017 and construction work could begin in 2018 at the earliest. Accordingly, the original date for the change to the 2019 timetable will not be met. The change should take place at the earliest when the timetable changes in December 2020 when the Taunus network is tendered . The continuation to Grävenwiesbach is to be examined.

There was a further delay because a second cost-benefit study (NKU) had to be carried out for the electrification to Grävenwiesbach, which was planned in a second step. At the end of February 2020, the documents for the plan approval procedure for the electrification of the Taunus Railway were submitted to the Darmstadt regional council.

The extensive renovation of the Hasselborn tunnel is necessary for permanent operation as far as Brandoberndorf. The exact effort should be known in May 2015. In November it became known that the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund, the Hochtaunuskreis and the Lahn-Dill-Kreis had reached an agreement on the renovation. The RMV confirmed that it would take on a 70% share of the 10 million euros. Furthermore, the renovation was only possible after the municipality of Waldsolms approved expenditure for an alternative drinking water production for the district of Hasselborn (instead of the seepage water from the tunnel). The work is to be carried out in multiple shifts around the clock from the beginning of the 2016 summer vacation until the end of the autumn vacation. On October 31, 2016, the work was ended after four months and the tunnel was opened to traffic again. During this work, 23 of 161 blocks (around 194 meters) of the tunnel were rehabilitated, the remaining blocks are to be rehabilitated in various construction stages by 2021. The costs for the current construction stage amount to 3.3 million euros, the entire renovation of the tunnel should cost around 10 million euros according to current plans.

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 ( iLINT ) on the routes of the Taunus network (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 reactivation of the Solmsbachtalbahn is advocated by the Lahn-Dill passenger advisory board; this could restore a continuous connection between the Lahn and Main through the Hochtaunus. The outcome remains to be seen, however. After all, an extension from Brandoberndorf to Kraftsolms is being seriously considered both through the Hochtaunus district and the Lahn-Dill district.

Trivia

On September 27, 2007 the ICE-TD multiple unit 5510 was christened Wehrheim (Taunus) . To do this, he drove the Taunus Railway from Frankfurt to the Wehrheim baptismal station on his own .

literature

• Andreas Christopher, Walter Söhnlein: Taunusbahn success story . Cologne 2013, ISBN 978-3-929082-31-9 .
• Kurt Eckert: Small and branch lines in the Taunus . Rösler + Zimmer Verlag, Augsburg 1978, ISBN 3-87987-147-7 .
• Hessische Landesbahn (Ed.): 50 years of the Hessische Landesbahn . Cologne 2007, ISBN 978-3-929082-26-5 .
• Walter Söhnlein, Gerta Walsh: Clear the way! - Railways in the Taunus 1860-1910 - 2010 . Frankfurt 2010, ISBN 978-3-7973-1223-5 .
• Gerd Wolff, Andreas Christopher: German small and private railways. Volume 8: Hesse. EK-Verlag, Freiburg 2004, ISBN 3-88255-667-6 , pp. 163-174.

Web links

Commons : Taunusbahn  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Website of the Hochtaunus transport association about the Taunusbahn
• The Taunusbahn on the private website weiltalbahn.de via railways in the Hochtaunus
• The Taunusbahn on the private website lahnbahn.de via railways along the Lahn
• Video of the entire route in fast motion with explanations on YouTube

Individual evidence

1. ↑ According to the collection of company regulations (SbV)
2. ↑ Query of course book route 637 at Deutsche Bahn.
3. ↑ ^{a b c d} Allianz pro Schiene (Ed.): Stadt, Land, Schiene . 4th edition. Berlin December 2014, p. 18 f . ( PDF file ).
4. ↑ Andreas Christopher: The works railway of the Geyseritwerk Usingen of the Melzingen union. Retrieved May 19, 2015 (private website). 
5. ↑ The Hasselborn tunnel on the Weiltalbahn.de page
6. ↑ Söhnlein, p. 34ff.
7. ↑ Söhnlein, p. 78
8. ↑ ^{a b} The Taunusbahn on the website of the Hochtaunus transport association
9. ↑ 20 years of Taunusbahn - success as a district with its own tracks. In: faz.net. September 11, 2013, accessed December 31, 2014 . 
10. ^ Gerd Wolff, Andreas Christopher: German small and private railways. Volume 8: Hesse. EK-Verlag, Freiburg 2004, ISBN 3-88255-667-6 , p. 168
11. ^ HLB website , corporate structure
12. ^ ^{A b} Matthias Pieren: S5 to Usingen is delayed. In: Taunus newspaper. June 17, 2017. Retrieved September 2, 2017 . 
13. ↑ "Electrification is feasible". (No longer available online.) In: Taunus-Zeitung. December 31, 2013, archived from the original on April 22, 2016 ; accessed on December 31, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
14. ↑ Matthias Pieren: Hope for the long line. (No longer available online.) In: Taunus-Zeitung. November 19, 2014, archived from the original on June 30, 2017 ; accessed on December 31, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
15. ↑ According to a statement by VHT managing director Frank Denfeld at the panel discussion on March 11, 2015 in Bad Homburg, the Taunus-Zeitung article of March 12 incorrectly quoted: New class 423 S-Bahn railcars, as they are on the S5 traffic are no longer produced. The decision about the length of the electrification must therefore be made with the tender for the operation and the vehicles.
16. ↑ Monika Schwarz-Cromm: Politicians insist on Taunusbahn preservation. In: Taunus newspaper. March 19, 2015, accessed March 19, 2015 . 
17. ↑ Dieter Hintermeier: Electricity for the Taunus Railway? In: Taunus Zeitung. January 12, 2013, accessed December 31, 2014 . 
18. ↑ Marc Kolbe: S-Bahn line 5: The heart beats with a factor of 7. (No longer available online.) In: Taunus-Zeitung. May 19, 2015, archived from the original on September 2, 2017 ; Retrieved May 19, 2015 . 
19. ↑ Submission of the agenda item (PDF; 374 KB) on the citizen information page of the Hochtaunuskreis
20. ^ Matthias Pieren: Taunusbahn: The contract is signed. In: Taunus newspaper. February 16, 2016, accessed February 16, 2016 . 
21. ^ Taunusbahn: documents submitted. In: zughalt.de. March 13, 2020, accessed March 13, 2020 . 
22. ↑ Lahn-Dill-Kreis and the community of Waldsolms are part of the Taunusbahn! ( Memento from April 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
23. ^ Matthias Pieren: RMV confirms tunnel renovation. Taunus-Zeitung, November 10, 2015, accessed on November 12, 2015 . 
24. ↑ Matthias Pieren: Hasselborn Tunnel: Fresh cure for old masonry. Taunus-Zeitung, June 6, 2016, accessed on June 6, 2016 . 
25. ↑ Helmut Serowy: Tunnel Hasselborn (s). In: Wetzlarer Neue Zeitung at: Mittelhessen.de. November 7, 2016, accessed November 18, 2016 . 
26. ↑ Minister Al-Wazir welcomes the pioneering work of the RMV in the use of fuel technology. September 24, 2014, accessed on November 4, 2014 (press release from the Hessian Ministry for Economic Affairs, Energy, Transport and Regional Development). 
27. ↑ Alstom signs first letters of intent for the use of new, emission-free rail vehicles. (No longer available online.) Alstom, archived from the original on December 26, 2016 ; Retrieved January 3, 2016 (press release). 
28. ↑ Matthias Pieren: The fuel cell is coming. (No longer available online.) In: Taunus-Zeitung (FNP). November 4, 2014, archived from the original on November 7, 2017 ; Retrieved May 19, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
29. ^ 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). 
30. ^ Matthias Pieren: Rail traffic: The Taunus will be diesel-free. In: Taunus Zeitung. April 25, 2018. Retrieved April 29, 2018 . 
31. ↑ Advisory board wants to maintain railway lines - Central Hesse. Retrieved September 6, 2019 .