The Main-Lahn railway (german: Main-Lahn-Bahn), also called the Limburg railway (''Limburger Bahn''), is a double-track, electrified main railway line in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. The long line extends from
Frankfurt Central Station
Frankfurt (Main) Hauptbahnhof, also called Frankfurt Central Station and Frankfurt Main Station, is the busiest railway station in the German state of Hesse. Because of its location near the middle of Germany and usage as a transport hub for lo ...
(''Hauptbahnhof'') to Eschhofen, a
borough
A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
In the Middle Ag ...
of
Limburg an der Lahn
Limburg an der Lahn (officially abbreviated ''Limburg a. d. Lahn'') is the district seat of Limburg-Weilburg in Hesse, Germany.
Geography
Location
Limburg lies in western Hessen between the Taunus and the Westerwald on the river Lahn.
The t ...
.
From Frankfurt to
Niedernhausen
Niedernhausen im Taunus is a municipality in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany, with almost 15,000 inhabitants.
Geography
Location
Niedernhausen lies in the Rhein-Taunus Nature Park in the west ...
, it operates as
Rhine-Main S-Bahn
The Rhine-Main S-Bahn system is an integrated rapid transit and commuter train system for the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main region, which includes the cities Frankfurt am Main, Wiesbaden, Mainz, Offenbach am Main, Hanau and Darmstadt. The network compris ...
S-2 and carries
Deutsche Bahn route number 645.2. From Frankfurt Central Station to
Frankfurt-Höchst, it also carries S-Bahn S-1 (which then follows the
Taunus railway
The Taunus Railway (German: ''Taunus-Eisenbahn'') is a double-track electrified railway line, which connects Frankfurt and Wiesbaden, Germany. It is 41.2 km long and follows the course of the Main on its north side, running quite close ...
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 ...
). From Niedernhausen to Eschhofen, it takes over Route number 627 from the
Ländches Railway (''Ländchesbahn''). From Eschhofen, the line leads into the
Lahntal railway
The Lahntal railway (German: ''Lahntalbahn'') is a railway line between Niederlahnstein in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate to Wetzlar in Hesse. Its western terminus was originally in Oberlahnstein. Trains now mostly operate between Kob ...
(''Lahntalbahn'').
History
A middle route through the
Taunus
The Taunus is a mountain range in Hesse, Germany, located north of Frankfurt. The tallest peak in the range is '' Großer Feldberg'' at 878 m; other notable peaks are ''Kleiner Feldberg'' (825 m) and '' Altkönig'' (798 m).
The Taunus range span ...
between the
Main
Main may refer to:
Geography
* Main River (disambiguation)
**Most commonly the Main (river) in Germany
* Main, Iran, a village in Fars Province
*"Spanish Main", the Caribbean coasts of mainland Spanish territories in the 16th and 17th centuries
...
and
Lahn
The Lahn is a , right (or eastern) tributary of the Rhine in Germany. Its course passes through the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia (23.0 km), Hesse (165.6 km), and Rhineland-Palatinate (57.0 km).
It has its source in t ...
river valleys had been considered since 1850. However, construction was only begun under
Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...
n rule on 25 March 1872. The concession was awarded to 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 ...
(''Hessische Ludwigsbahn'', or HLB). The construction began from Eschhofen and each finished section initially served mainly to transport material to the construction further forward.
The first section between Eschhofen and
Niederselters
Niederselters is an urban district (Ortsteil) of the community Selters in Hessen, Germany. Niederselters station lies on the Main-Lahn Railway. With Oberbrechen station, it is one of two stations in Brechen. Nearby is a Cistercian nunnery Klo ...
was opened to traffic on 1 February 1875. The entire track was completed on 15 October 1877. The line from Niedernhausen to
Wiesbaden Central Station
Wiesbaden Hauptbahnhof is a railway station for the city of Wiesbaden, the state capital of the German state of Hesse. It is a terminal station at the southern edge of the city centre and is used by more than 40,000 travelers each day, so it is t ...
, called the Ländchesbahn Railway, was launched on 1 July 1879.
Between 1911 and 1913, the single-track line was converted to double track. In 1971, the track was electrified between
Frankfurt-Höchst and Niedernhausen, and in 1986 between Niedernhausen and Limburg.
Starting in 2009 the tunnel in Eppstein was replaced with a new tunnel because the old tunnel needed to be restored urgently and doing this with full operation of services would have led to years of disruption of rail services. In addition, a new tunnel would be cheaper in the long run, as a new concrete lining inside the tunnel would reduce the cross-section to the extent that it could no longer be operated as two tracks, and therefore a new tunnel would have to be built for traffic in the opposite direction anyway. The line was rerouted through the new tunnel during the Easter of 2013 and the old tunnel was subsequently filled.
In this context, Eppstein station is being rebuilt. The old station, which is a heritage-listed building, is no longer used by the railway. It was refurbished in 2007 and is now used as a government shopfront and a restaurant. The freight hall, which was also a heritage-listed building, has been demolished.
Operations
The operation of steam locomotives ended in 1972. In 1978, S-Bahn line S 2 opened between
Frankfurt Hbf
Frankfurt (Main) Hauptbahnhof, also called Frankfurt Central Station and Frankfurt Main Station, is the busiest railway station in the German state of Hesse. Because of its location near the middle of Germany and usage as a transport hub for lo ...
and
Niedernhausen
Niedernhausen im Taunus is a municipality in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany, with almost 15,000 inhabitants.
Geography
Location
Niedernhausen lies in the Rhein-Taunus Nature Park in the west ...
. The S-Bahn line is operated with
class 423 electric multiple units.
Regionalbahn RB 22 (hourly) and
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 ...
RE 20 (every two hours on weekdays) services have been operated mainly by
DB Regio with
class 143 locomotives since early 2006 and modern double-deck carriages since 2008. In addition RB 21 services run every two hours (less on the weekend) on the section from
Limburg
Limburg or Limbourg may refer to:
Regions
* Limburg (Belgium), a province since 1839 in the Flanders region of Belgium
* Limburg (Netherlands), a province since 1839 in the south of the Netherlands
* Diocese of Limburg, Roman Catholic Diocese in ...
to Niedernhausen are operated with
Siemens Desiro
The Siemens Desiro (, , ) is a family of diesel or electric multiple unit passenger trains developed by Siemens Mobility, a division of the German Siemens AG conglomerate. The main variants are the Desiro Classic, Desiro ML, Desiro UK and the la ...
Classic sets by
Hessische Landesbahn
Hessische Landesbahn (Hessian State Railway, HLB) is a regional transport company owned by the German state of Hesse, based in Frankfurt am Main. It provides bus and rail passenger transport services and, to a lesser extent, rail freight services ...
, continuing over the Ländches Railway 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 ...
.
Notes
References
*
*
*
*
External links
The Main-Lahn Railway on OpenStreetMap
{{coord missing, Hesse
Railway lines in Hesse
Transport in Frankfurt
Rhine-Main S-Bahn
Railway lines opened in 1875
1875 establishments in Germany
Taunus
Middle Hesse
Buildings and structures in Limburg-Weilburg
Buildings and structures in Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis