Keilbahnhof

''Keilbahnhof'' (plural: ''Keilbahnhöfe'', literally: "wedge station") is the German word for a station located between branching tracks.Ernst, Dr.-Ing. Richard (1989). ''Wörterbuch der Industriellen Technik'' (5th ed.). Wiesbaden: Oscar Brandstetter, 1989. . There appears to be no direct English equivalent for this term. In a ''keilbahnhof'', the platforms curve in opposite directions so that they are parallel at one end of the station and not at the other.

Definition

A ''Keilbahnhof'' is a type of junction station whose tracks usually diverged before passing the platforms, the station building being located between the tracks. The through tracks thus pass by on either side without rejoining one another again, in contrast to an island station, in which the tracks merge again after passing either side of the station building. There are also ''Keilbahnhof'' stations whose through tracks diverge in the area of the platforms, but never after them. The y-shaped ''Keilbahnhof'' is not suited for splitting trains into separate rakes with different destinations.

Examples in Germany

*Altshausen station on the Herbertingen–Aulendorf and Altshausen–Schwackenreute railways
*Berga-Kelbra station on the Halle–Hann. Münden railway
*Döbeln Hauptbahnhof on the Riesa–Chemnitz and Borsdorf–Coswig railways
*Elsterwerda-Biehla station on the Węgliniec–Roßlau railway
*Hagenow Land station on the Berlin-Hamburg and Hagenow Land–Schwerin railways
*Nordstemmen, Northeim (Han) and Kreiensen stations on the Hanoverian Southern Railway
*Wittenberge station on the Berlin–Hamburg Railway
*Zwickau Hauptbahnhof on the Dresden–Werdau and Schwarzenberg–Zwickau railways

Examples elsewhere

Switzerland

* on the Chur–Rorschach and Ziegelbrücke–Sargans lines

United Kingdom

* on the Chester–Manchester and Hooton–Helsby lines
* on the Stafford–Manchester and Crewe–Derby lines
* on the East Coastway lines
* on the North Kent and Mid-Kent lines; The latter is also used as a loop off the South Eastern Main Line.
* on the London, Tilbury and Southend line and the Docklands Light Railway (DLR)
* on the Portsmouth and the Epsom Downs lines

The Netherlands

*Amsterdam Muiderpoort on the Amsterdam–Arnhem and Amsterdam–Zutphen lines.

United States

*
* on the UP North and UP Northwest lines.
*
*

References

{{citation, surname1=Yves Marclay, periodical=Schweizer Eisenbahn-Revue, title=Halbstundentakt auf der Strecke Martigny – Le Châble / Orsières, issue=3, publisher=Minirex, at=pp. 162–164, issn=1022-7113, date=March 2018, language=German

Railway stations
Railway stations in Germany
Rail transport in Germany