Wurzbachbahn
| Schwarzenacker – St. Ingbert | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Route number (DB) : | 3285 (Schwarzenacker – Bierbach) 3450 (Bierbach – Würzbach) |
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| Course book section (DB) : | 280 (Bierbach – Würzbach, 1949–1972) 280d (Schwarzenacker – Bierbach, 1957–1972) |
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| Gauge : | 1435 mm ( standard gauge ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Würzbachbahn - also called Würzbachtalbahn - was a railway line opened by the Palatinate Ludwig Railway Company in 1866 and 1867 within today's Saarland , which no longer exists in its former form.
From the 1880s onwards, the line between Bierbach and St. Ingbert was part of an international main line that ran eastwards via Landau and Germersheim. The Würzbach – St. Ingbert was taken out of service for strategic reasons in 1895, as the Hasseler tunnel in this area had proven unsuitable for military trains. It was replaced by a new line via Rohrbach .
Since there was a direct connection between Homburg and St. Ingbert from 1904, the remaining route was no longer an operational unit. Due to a change in the traffic flow associated with the creation of what is now Saarland, the Schwarzenacker – Bierbach section was used by trains of the Bliestalbahn , which from then on mainly ran to Homburg. Traffic between Schwarzenacker and Bierbach ended in 1991.
The Bierbach – Würzbach section is still in operation today as part of the Landau – Rohrbach railway line . This has existed in its current form since 1895, but lost its national importance in the mid-1990s.
history
Emergence
Already in the course of the planning of the Palatinate Ludwig Railway, there were considerations to connect the city of St. Ingbert with its coal deposits and the iron works there to the railway network. However, instead of Prussian pressure, the variant to Bexbach came into play in order to later swing into the Sulzbachtal from there.
At first there were considerations to connect the St. Ingberter pits to the neighboring Prussian railway network. These were dropped again because the mines from the neighboring state were in too great a competitive relationship with the mines from St. Ingbert. At the beginning of the 1860s, plans were in progress according to which a railway line should initially be built on the shortest route from St. Ingbert to Homburg. However, in the period that followed, the communities along the Blies and Würzbach rivers submitted several requests to enforce a route across their area. Thereupon fierce discussions broke out. Homburg and St. Ingbert demanded a direct connection, as the variant along the two rivers mentioned would be more expensive. The Palatinate Railway Directorate finally gave the green light for the longer route on November 20, 1864 and in this context agreed to take on the additional costs. In addition, she promised a discount on the products of the St. Ingbert mines to prevent them from becoming more expensive than a direct route.
The line was to branch off the existing railway to Zweibrücken in Schwarzenacker and reach St. Ingbert via Bierbach, Lautzkirchen and Hassel. The watershed between Hassel and St. Ingbert should be negotiated by means of a tunnel. The approval by the Palatinate Ludwig Railway Company took place on December 23, 1864. On February 13 of the following year, the Bavarian King Ludwig II approved the construction of the line. The Schwarzenacker – Hassel section was opened on November 28, 1866; closing the gap to St. Ingbert, including the so-called Hasseler tunnel followed on 1 June 1867. The "Würzbachbahn" said railway line from Schwarzenacker to St. Ingbert was after the Ludwigsbahn Ludwigshafen-Bexbach, the Mainz-Ludwigshafen railway and the casting distances to Speyer and Zweibrücken the fifth of the Ludwig Railway Company, which became part of the newly founded Palatinate Railways as early as 1870 .
Development up to the First World War
The trains were always tied through to Homburg. In this context, the Zweibrücker line in the Homburg – Schwarzenacker section received a second track. On October 15, 1879, the St. Ingbert route to Saarbrücken was also connected, creating a second rail link between Homburg and Saarbrücken following the line via Bexbach and Neunkirchen that had existed since 1852. The Hassel Tunnel did not meet the military requirements due to its narrow clearance profile, which is why it was abandoned in 1895. From Würzbach onwards, the existing line was re-routed, during which the Hassel train station was also shut down and replaced by a new one.
With the Rohrbach – Homburg connection, which was opened on January 1, 1904 for strategic reasons, there was from now on a connection on the shortest route between Homburg and Saarbrücken. As a result, the Würzbachbahn lost its importance for through traffic between these two cities.
On January 1, 1909, the connection, together with the other railway lines within the Palatinate, became the property of the Bavarian State Railways . In World War I , the section Schwarzenacker-Bierbach gained with the 1879 opened Assemblies Talbahn Zweibrücken-Sarreguemines, the branch line to Zweibrücken and the 1,904 completed Glan Valley Railway Homburg-Bad Münster strategic importance, since heavy in this way in marches against France Nahe Valley Railway was avoided and a bypass of Saarbrücken was possible.
Development after the First World War
After the First World War, all places along the historic Würzbach Railway were added to the newly created Saar area . From then on the Saareisenbahn was the owner . This also resulted in a reorientation of the traffic flows. The trains of the Bliestalbahn branching off in Bierbach have so far operated to Zweibrücken, which, in contrast to the other places on the route, had not become part of the new region. Instead, they drove from Bierbach to Schwarzenacker and from there on to Homburg, which was also part of the Saar area. When it was reorganized in 1935, the Deutsche Reichsbahn was responsible for rail operations.
After the Second World War, the procedure was repeated: The Würzbach line was located in the area now known as Saarland and was under the control of the Saarland Railways (SEB) - from 1951 called Eisenbahnen des Saarlandes (EdS) . In addition, the Bliestalbahn was re-kilometered, which began in Homburg and in which the Schwarzenacker – Bierbach section was included. With the economic reintegration of the Saarland to Germany, the two sections Schwarzenacker – Bierbach and Bierbach – Würzbach, which had long since ceased to be an operational unit, came under the responsibility of the Deutsche Bundesbahn (DB). On May 31, 1991 the passenger traffic between Schwarzenacker and Bierbach as well as on the subsequent Bliestalbahn and in the northern direction to Homburg ended.
History and relics
The route had its starting point at Schwarzenacker station, from where it ran south along the Blies . The switch connection to Bierbach has since been dismantled, while the historic railway line from Bierbach continues to exist as part of the Landau – Rohrbach railway line . Shortly before Blieskastel-Lautzkirchen, the now dismantled Bliestalbahn branched off . In the meantime, the connection follows the eponymous Würzbach . Behind the station of the same name, today's rail line runs to Rohrbach, at the same time the Würzbachtal is left.
The old route, which has long since been dismantled here, was based on the course of the Stockweiherbach . In this area, the old Hassel train station was passed until 1895, then the Hasseler Tunnel was crossed to reach St. Ingbert, which is now connected to the Mannheim – Saarbrücken railway line. To the east of the tunnel, the railway line can still be seen today; the area of the old Hassel train station has now been built over.
Operating points
Schwarzenacker
The station was opened in 1857 with the commissioning of the Homburg – Zweibrücken railway. Since 1866 the Würzbachbahn branched off from him. This made the station the sixth railway junction within the Palatinate after Schifferstadt (1847), Ludwigshafen (1853), Neustadt an der Haardt (1855), Homburg (1857) and Winden (1864). Passenger traffic to Zweibrücken came to a standstill in 1989, that to Bierbach in 1991. The station has had no traffic since then.
Bierbach
The station is located on the southwestern edge of Bierbach . It was opened in 1866 as part of the Würzbachbahn Schwarzenacker – Hassel, which was extended to St. Ingbert a year later. From 1879 onwards, with the opening of the Bliestalbahn, which began in Zweibrücken at that time, it was a contact station. Due to the change in traffic flows that arose after the two world wars through the creation of today's Saarland , it became the separation station between the Landau – Rohrbach railway line, which ran in an east-west direction, and the trains of the Bliestalbahn, which from now on preferably crossed in a north-south direction Schwarzenacker frequented Homburg. The former line is still in operation today, but the former train station is now only a stopping point.
Blieskastel-Lautzkirchen
The former train station, which was originally called Lautzkirchen , was dismantled to become a stop. The current name reflects the incorporation of Lautzkirchen into Blieskastel. In addition, since the Bliestalbahn was shut down, it has been the closest train station to the core town of Blieskastel.
Wurzbach (Saar)
The Würzbach (Saar) train station is located in Niederwürzbach. Immediately to the north is the Niederwürzbacher Weiher . The station is the only remaining possibility for trains to cross between Rohrbach and Zweibrücken.
Hassel
The station was on the southern outskirts of Hassel and was the terminus when it opened. Only when the line to St. Ingbert was connected a year later did it become a through station. In the course of the re-routing from Würzbach via Rohrbach it was given up; instead, Hassel received a new train station, which has since been located on the eastern edge of the town.
St. Ingbert
The station was opened in 1867 with the completion of the Würzbachbahn and was initially a terminus. It was not until 1879 that it was connected to Saarbrücken that it became a through station. It is still in operation today as part of the Mannheim – Saarbrücken railway line .
literature
- Heinz Sturm: The Palatinate Railways (= publications of the Palatinate Society for the Advancement of Science. Volume 53). New edition. pro MESSAGE, Ludwigshafen am Rhein 2005, ISBN 3-934845-26-6 .
- Wolfgang Fiegenbaum, Wolfgang Klee: Farewell to the rails. Disused railway lines for passenger trains in Germany 1991–1995 . Transpress Verlag, Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-613-71057-9 , p. 143-146 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ DB Netze - Infrastructure Register
- ↑ Railway Atlas Germany . 9th edition. Schweers + Wall, Aachen 2014, ISBN 978-3-89494-145-1 .
- ↑ bahnhof-homburg.de: From the environment; Train stations and track systems around Homburg . (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on June 30, 2013 ; accessed on December 25, 2018 .
- ↑ Heinz Sturm: The Palatinate Railways . 2005, p. 165 .
- ↑ Heinz Sturm: The Palatinate Railways . 2005, p. 165 f .
- ↑ Heinz Sturm: The Palatinate Railways . 2005, p. 167 f .
- ↑ eisenbahn-tunnelportale.de: Pictures of the route: 3450 (KBS 674, 675 / KBS 280) . Retrieved May 30, 2013 .
- ^ A b Wolfgang Fiegenbaum, Wolfgang Klee: Farewell to the rail. Disused railway lines in passenger train traffic in Germany 1991-1995 . 1999, p. 146 .
- ↑ floben.beepworld.de: The history of the Bliestalbahn and surrounding railway lines . Retrieved May 30, 2013 .