Kaiserslautern Hauptbahnhof is a through-

station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

in the German city of

Kaiserslautern Kaiserslautern (; Palatinate German: ''Lautre'') is a city in southwest Germany, located in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate Forest. The historic centre dates to the 9th century. It is from Paris, from Frankfur ...

and one of seven stations in the city. It is a stop on 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 ...

and

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 ...

’s

Intercity-Express The Intercity Express (commonly known as ICE ()) is a system of high-speed trains predominantly running in Germany. It also serves some destinations in Austria, Denmark (ceased in 2017 but planned to resume in 2022), France, Belgium, Switzerla ...

network and a hub for all the regional trains of the western Palatinate. On 10 June 2007, the ''Rhealys'' high-speed rail consortium established a service with a stop in Kaiserslautern, reducing travel time to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

to two and a half hours. In 2003, the station building was renovated and it now houses among other things, a service point and several shops. The station provides step-free access to all platforms. The redesigned Kaiserslautern station forecourt includes a busy bus station, allowing a convenient transfer between bus and rail. Buses run to the

University of Kaiserslautern Technical University of Kaiserslautern (German: ''Technische Universität Kaiserslautern'', also known as TU Kaiserslautern or TUK) is a public university, public research university in Kaiserslautern, Germany. There are numerous institutes arou ...

Betzenberg The Betzenberg () is a 285-metre-high hill in the German city of Kaiserslautern. It rises about 50 metres above the city and gives its name to the quarter in which it stands. It was well known because it also gave its name to what is now the Frit ...

and the central bus interchanges at Schillerplatz and Rathaus, where there are connections to all bus routes. Prior to the closure of the Einsiedlerhof marshalling yard, Kaiserslautern was a significant rail freight hub.

History

Kaiserslautern Hauptbahnhof was opened in 1848 along with the Homburg–Kaiserslautern section of 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.

. The Palatine Ludwig Railway is still the most important line serving the station. On 16 May 1871 the

Alsenz Valley Railway The Alsenz Valley Railway (german: Alsenztalbahn) is a line that runs from Hochspeyer via Winnweiler and Alsenz to Bad Munster am Stein in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. The line closely follows the Alsenz river from the Enkenbac ...

was completed from Bad Münster to

Hochspeyer Hochspeyer is a municipality in the Kaiserslautern (district), district of Kaiserslautern, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated in the Palatinate forest (Pfälzer Wald), approx. 10 km east of Kaiserslautern. Hochspeyer was the se ...

; its trains ran into Kaiserslautern. To shorten the route for long-distance traffic, a line was opened on 15 May 1875 between Kaiserslautern and Enkenbach (at the closest point on the Alsenz Valley Railway), allowing trains to run between Kaiserslautern,

Bad Kreuznach Bad Kreuznach () is a town in the Bad Kreuznach district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a spa town, most well known for its medieval bridge dating from around 1300, the Alte Nahebrücke, which is one of the few remaining bridges in th ...

and the

Ruhr The Ruhr ( ; german: Ruhrgebiet , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr area, sometimes Ruhr district, Ruhr region, or Ruhr valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 2,800/km ...

and 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

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 ...

without having to pass through Hochspeyer. It received a new entrance building in 1879. The Lauter Valley Railway was opened on 15 November 1883 between Kaiserslautern and Lauterecken-

Grumbach Grumbach is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Kusel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Lauterecken-Wolfstein. ...

. In 1913 the Kaiserslautern–

Waldfischbach Waldfischbach-Burgalben ( pfl, Waldfischbach-Bojalwe) is a municipality in the Südwestpfalz district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the western edge of the Palatinate forest, approx. 10 km northeast of Pirmasens. Waldf ...

line opened, completing the

Biebermühl Railway The Biebermühl Railway (german: Biebermühlbahn)—sometimes called the Moosalbbahn (Moosalb Railway)—is a 35.9 km long railway line from Kaiserslautern to Pirmasens in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, which was built between 1 ...

Pirmasens Pirmasens (; pfl, Bärmesens (also ''Bermesens'' or ''Bärmasens'')) is an independent town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, near the border with France. It was famous for the manufacture of shoes. The surrounding rural district was called ''Lan ...

. The second station building was badly damaged in the Second World War and demolished after the war. The current station building was completed in the early 1950s. It was rebuilt in 2003.

Connections

There are the following long-distance and local transport connections:

Long distance

S-Bahn and DB regional

Sources

Notes

References

* * *

External links

*{{cite web, url=http://www.deutschebahn.com/site/bahn/de/geschaefte/infrastruktur__schiene/netz/netzzugang/dokumente/Bahnhof/SNB/S/SKL__NBS.pdf , format=PDF , title=Kaiserslautern Hbf track map , publisher=

, postscript=(PDF; 196,2 KB) , language=de , access-date=22 July 2010 , url-status=dead , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722191601/http://www.deutschebahn.com/site/bahn/de/geschaefte/infrastruktur__schiene/netz/netzzugang/dokumente/Bahnhof/SNB/S/SKL__NBS.pdf , archive-date=July 22, 2011 Railway stations in Rhineland-Palatinate Buildings and structures in Kaiserslautern Rhine-Neckar S-Bahn stations Railway stations in Germany opened in 1848