Verkehrsverband Hochtaunus
The Verkehrsverband Hochtaunus (VHT) is a special purpose association that was founded in 1988 by the Hochtaunuskreis and all of its towns and communities. In 1991 the Umlandverband Frankfurt (UVF) also became a member.
history
The association acquired the 28.8-kilometer-long Friedrichsdorf - Usingen - Grävenwiesbach federal railway for a purchase price of DM 2.8 million in order to save it from being closed. The purchase contract was signed on July 14, 1989 in a special train by the President of the Federal Railway Directorate in Frankfurt am Main and the district administrator of the Hochtaunus district. Since then, the VHT has been an infrastructure company and has also been the holder of the operating license since 1993. The line is leased to Hessische Landesbahn GmbH (HLB).
Then the line, for which the name Taunusbahn has now become naturalized, including the stations and stops, was renovated, including a central signal box in Usingen . On September 26, 1993, the Frankfurt-Königsteiner Eisenbahn AG (FKE) took over the management on behalf of the Zweckverband; the trains are already departing from the district town of Bad Homburg vor der Höhe , some in rush hour traffic also from Frankfurt main station .
In 1996, the Lahn-Dill district in Wetzlar acquired the 8.1 kilometer long section Grävenwiesbach - Brandoberndorf including a tunnel for 85,000 DM from the Bundesbahn and brought it - as a new member - into the Hochtaunus transport association. After thorough renovation, a shuttle service started on November 15, 1999, and continuous operation has been offered since May 28, 2000.
The VHT has the bus and Anrufsammeltaxi -Transport Europe advertised . The contract was awarded to HLB Hessenbus GmbH , which will implement the VHT concept from December 11, 2016.
vehicles
The VHT owns eleven type VT 2E railcars . They carry the numbers 11 to 21 and come from the second series. From 2006 to 2007, they and the FKE railcars (numbers one to nine), which come from the first series, were modernized. They are used together on lines 11 ( Sodener Bahn ), 12 ( Königsteiner Bahn ) and 15 (Taunusbahn).
In March 2006 FKE was transferred to HLB Basis AG , which has been responsible for vehicles and infrastructure ever since.
reception
At that time, the Deutsche Bundesbahn sold an operational railway line, which was to be shut down, to a district for the first time. The Hochtaunuskreis (HTK) was and is a pioneer in the localization of local rail transport. HTK and Verkehrsverband Hochtaunus (VHT) took over the planning and organization of local public transport for many years before the State of Hesse transferred this task to the districts by law in 2005.
Even when the VHT association was founded, Wolfgang Assmann (CDU, the former Lord Mayor of Bad Homburg) spoke of a “solidarity community”; the HTK has a so-called balancing function (between the wealthy Vordertaunus and the cities and communities in the Usinger Land). The latter can participate in the prosperity of the Frankfurt metropolitan region through a functioning infrastructure; pressure is being taken off their markets for rental apartments and real estate.
When the first Taunusbahn railcar went on the line in 1992, Jürgens' successor Jürgen Banzer (CDU) spoke of a "financial adventure".
Individual evidence
- ^ Allianz pro Schiene (Ed.): Stadt, Land, Schiene . 4th edition. Berlin December 2014, p. 18 f . ( PDF file ).
- ↑ Route, stations and railcars belong to the association ( page can no longer be accessed , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Report of the Taunus-Zeitung from August 22, 2008
- ↑ VHT awards bus transport services: HLB Hessenbus will be running from December 2016. In: hochtaunuskreis.de. Hochtaunuskreis , accessed on April 20, 2016 .
- ↑ a b Bernhard Biener: 11,000 commuters can't be wrong. In: FAZ.net . September 11, 2013, accessed December 16, 2014 .
