Darmstadt Nord (north) station is a junction station in the city of
Darmstadt
Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it th ...
in the German state of
Hesse
Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...
. The passenger station, which is served by trains of the
Odenwald Railway (german: Odenwaldbahn) and the
Rhine-Main Railway
The Rhine-Main Railway (german: Main-Rhein-Bahn), is a railway line in southern Germany from Mainz Hauptbahnhof, Mainz via Darmstadt Hauptbahnhof, Darmstadt to Aschaffenburg Hauptbahnhof, Aschaffenburg. It was built by the Hessian Ludwig Railway ...
(Rhine-Main-Bahn), has four platform tracks. Running parallel and north of the station are two additional tracks for freight traffic.
Architecture
The Darmstadt Nord station building was built from 1909 to 1912 as part of the realignment of the railways around Darmstadt to serve the employees of the
Merck company. The listed station was built in a traditional style of architecture typical of the early 20th century, according to the design of the head of planning of the
railway divisions of Mainz (a joint division of the
Prussian state railways
The term Prussian state railways (German: ''Preußische Staatseisenbahnen'') encompasses those railway organisations that were owned or managed by the State of Prussia. The words "state railways" are not capitalized because Prussia did not have a ...
and the
Grand Duchy of Hesse State Railways
The Grand Duchy of Hesse State Railways (''Großherzoglich Hessischen Staatseisenbahnen'') belonged to the ''Länderbahnen'' at the time of the German Empire. In the 19th century, the Grand Duchy of Hesse consisted of three provinces. Between the ...
), Frederick Mettegang. The entrance building is at ground level and is built above the tracks and is connected by stairs to its two platforms. The southern platform canopy is built out of iron in a neoclassical design from the early years of the railway in Darmstadt. It comes from an unknown station and was rebuilt at the new Darmstadt Nord station.
Transport significance
![Darmstadt-Bahnhof-Nord](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/Darmstadt-Bahnhof-Nord.jpg)
The lines towards
Darmstadt Central Station
Darmstadt Hauptbahnhof is the main railway station in the German city Darmstadt. After Frankfurt Hbf and Wiesbaden Hbf, it is the third largest station in the state of Hesse with 35,000 passengers and 220 trains per day.
Built in a late art n ...
(''Hauptbahnhof'') and
Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
and towards
Babenhausen and
Reinheim
Reinheim is a town in the Darmstadt-Dieburg district, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated southeast of Darmstadt.
International relations
Twin towns - Sister cities
Reinheim is twinned with:
* Licata, Italy (since 29.6.2001)
* Cestas, France ...
meet in the station. In addition, a freight link, which is about seven kilometres long, runs from Stockschneise junction (towards
Weiterstadt
Weiterstadt () is a town in the Darmstadt-Dieburg district, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated directly northwest of Darmstadt.
Twin towns – sister cities
Weiterstadt is Sister city, twinned with:
* Bagno a Ripoli, Italy
* Kiens, Italy
* Verneui ...
) to Darmstadt-Kranichstein with connections towards Darmstadt Central Station and towards Arheiligen and Frankfurt.
Initially the station was a not a rail junction station. The lines from the Odenwald and the Rhine-Main Railway from
Aschaffenburg
Aschaffenburg (; South Franconian: ''Aschebersch'') is a town in northwest Bavaria, Germany. The town of Aschaffenburg is not part of the district of Aschaffenburg, but is its administrative seat.
Aschaffenburg belonged to the Archbishopric ...
ran on separate routes to Darmstadt Hauptbahnhof. After the Second World War, it changed into a junction station when the original route of the Odenwald railway was dismantled and its trains were diverted to the tracks of the line to Aschaffenburg from the Hauptbahnhof.
In 2005, the passenger tracks of the Odenwald railway were connected east of the station to the track of the Rhine-Main Railway running towards Darmstadt, which was in turn connected to the freight line. This rebuilding, costing €9 million, made it possible for trains from the Odenwald railway to run directly via the so-called Frankfurt curve (''Frankfurter Kurve''), which was originally intended only for freight traffic towards Arheilgen, so that they could continue on to Frankfurt.
This meant that it was now classified as a ''Kreuzungsbahnhof'' (crossing station), as passenger services could now branch on both sides of the station.
The flyover of Frankfurter Straße runs parallel to the alignment of the Darmstadt Nord station building over the tracks; bus and tram services operate over it.
Darmstadt Nord station is a local transport node. It is served by regional train services to
Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...
, Darmstadt Hbf,
Aschaffenburg
Aschaffenburg (; South Franconian: ''Aschebersch'') is a town in northwest Bavaria, Germany. The town of Aschaffenburg is not part of the district of Aschaffenburg, but is its administrative seat.
Aschaffenburg belonged to the Archbishopric ...
, Frankfurt,
Erbach and
Eberbach, as well as tram lines 6, 7, 8 (all running between Merck and Eberstadt) and bus route R (between Darmstadt Nord station and Darmstadt Böllenfalltor) operated by the Darmstadt municipal transport company, HEAG mobilo.
DB Regio has operated
Regionalbahn service RB 75 on the Rhine-Main Railway since the summer of 2008 with double-deck sets hauled by
Class 143 locomotives. Services on the Odenwald Railway are operated by
VIAS
The Vias GmbH (stylized VIAS) is a rail service company based in Frankfurt (Germany). The name of the company was taken from the Latin word via for ''way'' and the letter ''S'' for service. It operates rail services in the states of Hesse, Rhine ...
with
Itino diesel multiple units.
Rail services
The station is served by three services on the Odenwald Railway, each operating every two hours:
Regional-Express
In Germany, Luxembourg and Austria, the Regional-Express (RE, or in Austria: REX) is a type of regional train. It is similar to a semi-fast train, with average speed at about 70–90 km/h (top speed often 160 km/h) as it calls at ...
service RE 65 between Darmstadt Hbf and
Erbach,
Stadt-Express The ''Stadt-Express'' ''(SE)'', formerly '' City-Bahn (CB)'', is a train category in Germany, that links conurbations with the outer reaches of the surrounding countryside. The name literally means "City Express".
Deutsche Bahn no longer offers St ...
service SE 65 between Frankfurt Hbf and
Eberbach and
Regionalbahn RB 65 between Darmstadt Hbf and Erbach. It is also served by RB 75, running every hour (during peak hours every 30 minutes) from
Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...
via
Mainz
Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main (river), Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-we ...
to Groß Gerau and continuing through
Darmstadt
Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it th ...
to
Aschaffenburg
Aschaffenburg (; South Franconian: ''Aschebersch'') is a town in northwest Bavaria, Germany. The town of Aschaffenburg is not part of the district of Aschaffenburg, but is its administrative seat.
Aschaffenburg belonged to the Archbishopric ...
.
References
*{{cite book, editor= Landesamt für Denkmalpflege Hessen, Friedr. Vieweg & Sohn Verlagsges, title = Stadt Darmstadt. Kulturdenkmäler in Hessen. Denkmaltopographie Bundesrepublik Deutschland, publisher= Theiss Verlag, location= Braunschweig , ISBN = 3-528-06249-5, year = 1994, page= 156ff , language=German
Nord
Railway stations in Germany opened in 1912