Frankenthal Hauptbahnhof is the main railway station for the city of

Frankenthal Frankenthal (Pfalz) ( pfl, Frongedahl) is a town in southwestern Germany, in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. History Frankenthal was first mentioned in 772. In 1119 an Augustinian monastery was built here, the ruins of which — known, af ...

in the German state of

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...

and is located on the

Mainz–Ludwigshafen railway The Mainz–Worms–Ludwigshafen Railway connects Mainz via Worms to Ludwigshafen in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. From there trains cross the Rhine via Mannheim or run south towards Speyer. It was opened in 1853 and is one of the old ...

. It is classified by

Deutsche Bahn The (; abbreviated as DB or DB AG) is the national railway company of Germany. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). The Federal Republic of Germany is its single shareholder. describes itself as the se ...

as a category 3 station. Besides Frankenthal Hauptbahnhof the only other station in Frankenthal are Frankenthal Süd and Flomersheim.

Location

The station is centrally located in the city of Frankenthal. The station is served by various lines and is the terminus of the Freinsheim–Frankenthal line. In the station there is a bakery, a kiosk and a newsagent.

History

In November 1853, the

Hessian Ludwig Railway The Hessian Ludwig Railway (German: ''Hessische Ludwigsbahn'') or HLB with its network of 697 kilometres of railway was one of the largest privately owned railway companies in Germany. Early history The Hessian Ludwig Railway was a product of ...

completed the section of the Mainz–Ludwigshafen line from the

Palatine Ludwig Railway A palatine or palatinus (in Latin; plural ''palatini''; cf. derivative spellings below) is a high-level official attached to imperial or royal courts in Europe since Roman times.

to the

Hessian A Hessian is an inhabitant of the German state of Hesse. Hessian may also refer to: Named from the toponym *Hessian (soldier), eighteenth-century German regiments in service with the British Empire **Hessian (boot), a style of boot **Hessian f ...

border in Frankenthal. The station in Frankenthal was built initially as a temporary structure. By 1860 the line was between

Worms Worms may refer to: *Worm, an invertebrate animal with a tube-like body and no limbs Places *Worms, Germany, a city **Worms (electoral district) *Worms, Nebraska, U.S. *Worms im Veltlintal, the German name for Bormio, Italy Arts and entertainme ...

and

Ludwigshafen am Rhein Ludwigshafen, officially Ludwigshafen am Rhein (; meaning " Ludwig's Port upon Rhine"), is a city in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, on the river Rhine, opposite Mannheim. With Mannheim, Heidelberg, and the surrounding region, it form ...

was duplicated. The official inauguration of the permanent Frankenthal station was held on 15 November 1870. The Freinsheim–Frankenthal line opened to the station on 15 October 1877. From 1891 to 1939, the

metre gauge Metre-gauge railways are narrow-gauge railways with track gauge of or 1 metre. The metre gauge is used in around of tracks around the world. It was used by European colonial powers, such as the French, British and German Empires. In Europe, la ...

Frankenthal–Großkarlbach Local Railway (''Lokalbahn Ludwigshafen–Großkarlbach'') ran from the station to

Großkarlbach Großkarlbach is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Geography Location Großkarlbach lies near the ...

. From 1890 to 1933, the Ludwigshafen–Frankenthal Local Railway (''Lokalbahn Ludwigshafen–Frankenthal'') ran to Ludwigshafen. South of the station there was a connection between the local railways and the standard gauge railway to allow the transhipment of freight. The upgrade of the station started in 2014: platforms 1 and 2 were raised to a height of 76 cm, platform 3a to a height of 55 cm, the platform furniture was renewed, two passenger lifts were built and a station building and travel centre were built. During the construction work there was a dispute between the Deutsche Bahn and the municipality of Frankenthal in relation the width of the platform on track 2. Deutsche Bahn reduced the width of the platform due to underground cables, which was criticised by the municipality.

Architecture

The first station building, which opened in 1870, was similar with its round arched windows and its clock tower to the station building of the former Ludwigshafen terminal station. After the Second World War, a new building was built in the style of the 1950s.

Plans

The

Rhine-Neckar S-Bahn The Rhine-Neckar S-Bahn ''(S-Bahn RheinNeckar)'' forms the backbone of the urban rail transport network of the Rhine Neckar Area, including the cities of Mannheim, Heidelberg and Ludwigshafen. The S-Bahn operates over 437 km of route in the ...

will run here from the timetable change of December 2021.

Rail services

The three platform tracks of Frankenthal station are over 300 m long and still have a height of 76 cm and provide barrier-free access to the trains. The station is served by services on two

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 ...

and two Regionalbahn lines.

References

External links

*{{cite web, url=http://bf-f.zielbahnhof.de/frankenthal_hbf.htm , title=History of the station , language=German Railway stations in Rhineland-Palatinate Hauptbahnof Railway stations in Germany opened in 1870