Worms Hauptbahnhof is, along with ''Worms Pfeddersheim'' station, one of two operational passenger stations in the
Rhenish Hesse
Rhenish Hesse or Rhine HesseDickinson, Robert E (1964). ''Germany: A regional and economic geography'' (2nd ed.). London: Methuen, p. 542. . (german: Rheinhessen) is a region and a former government district () in the German state of Rhineland- ...
city of
Worms, Germany
Worms () is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, situated on the Upper Rhine about south-southwest of Frankfurt am Main. It had about 82,000 inhabitants .
A pre-Roman foundation, Worms is one of the oldest cities in northern Europe. It wa ...
. The station with its pedestrian underpass is also an essential link between the eastern and the western parts of central Worms. Every day it is used by about 15,000 people.
History
Beginnings
The history of the railway to Worm began in 1836, when the governments of France and Bavaria were planning to build a railway along the western bank of the
Rhine
), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source1_coordinates=
, source1_elevation =
, source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein
, source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source2_coordinates=
, so ...
between
Basel
, french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese
, neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...
and
Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
via
Strasbourg and
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 joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...
. Two years later, however, the plans were dropped for economic and military reasons by the other states the railway would have crossed: the Grand Duchies of
Baden
Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine.
History
The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden i ...
,
Hesse
Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Dar ...
and the
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918. Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. ...
. Instead, the
Main-Neckar line was built on the east side of Rhine. Finally, in 1844 some citizens in Mainz and Worms took the initiative to establish a company for building a
railway from Mainz to Worms. The private company constructing and later operating it was called 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 ...
(german: Hessische Ludwigsbahn). Several factors such as the lean years of 1846 and 1847, the
democratic uprising in 1848-1850 prolonged the opening of the line from Mainz to Worms until 1853.
The first station
![Alter Wormser Bahnhof](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/Alter_Wormser_Bahnhof.jpg)
There were discussions for six years in Worms on the location of the new station. The Worms council pressed for a central location near the Rhine port, near the present Rheintorplatz, but on 21 September 1852 the Hessian Ludwig Railway chose a site near the cemetery, now Albert-Schulte Park. On 24 August 1853 the line was opened from Mainz to Worms and three months later, on 15 November, the line was extended to Ludwigshafen.
After an initial underestimation of freight traffic, extra facilities were built at Worms station in the following years: a loading dock, a goods shed and a marshalling yard. Now there were regular freight trains conveying
sugar beet, grain, coal and much else to the factories, mills and ports in Worms. Following the opening of the railway there was great growth in industry and population in Worms: in 1849 there were only 89 factory workers; in 1858, there were over 2,000.
The second station
With the growth of passenger traffic, the old station buildings were inadequate. In 1871 the old station building was replaced. The new station building was built in the then fashionable
neo-classical style
Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing style ...
. The arrivals hall had a glazed vestibule and first, second and third class waiting rooms, as well as a royal waiting room. Moreover, there was now sleeping quarters for the station manager, meeting rooms and offices for the railway.
With the construction of new railway lines the Worms station again became inadequate. It had only three platforms, squeezed between Bahnhofstraße and the goods shed.
The third station
![Worms Hauptbahnhof 1910 9](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/Worms_Hauptbahnhof_1910_9.7.2010.jpg)
In 1890 the Worms town council called for the station's reconstruction or a new station complex. Following considerable discussion on a new site for the station it was decided, however, to build a new station building on the site of the old station building. The new station now had ten tracks, half of them through tracks from Ludwigshafen and
Kaiserslautern to Mainz and
Frankfurt am Main
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 ...
.
After about two and a half years of construction, the new station building and platforms was officially inaugurated on 31 March 1904. The approximately 110 metre-long front side of the station building on Bahnhofstraße was dominated by its entrance hall, which was next to baggage handling facilities and administration offices. On the left side of the entrance hall were the third and fourth-class waiting rooms, in front of a dining room with a bar room; behind it was a corridor, which connected to the first and second class waiting rooms and the stationmaster accommodation. At the left end of the new station building there was also a pavilion for royal travellers.
Approximately 35 years later, at the end of the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
, great damage had been done to Worms station: as a result of an air raid on 18 March 1945, all tracks and the
interlocking
In railway signalling, an interlocking is an arrangement of signal apparatus that prevents conflicting movements through an arrangement of tracks such as junctions or crossings. The signalling appliances and tracks are sometimes collectively re ...
s as well as the operations yard, with its rectangular shed, roundhouse and workshops, and the freight yard were completely destroyed. Furthermore, the station building was badly damaged. Subsequently, it took until mid-1945 before trains ran regularly again. Nevertheless, until the end of 1945, 38 of the 53 km of railway tracks in Worms station were still impassable, so that there were still time no operations to Mainz. Only after the founding of the
Federal Republic of 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 between ...
in 1950, did rail operations in Worms return to normal.
Operations
Long distance
The major services are:
Regional
The following regional services run:
Sources
Notes
References
*
{{commons category, Worms Hauptbahnhof
Railway stations in Rhineland-Palatinate
Hauptbahnhof
Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the ...
Railway stations in Germany opened in 1904