The Flieden–Gemünden railway is a double track electrified railway line from Fulda,

Flieden Flieden is a municipality in the district of Fulda, in Hesse, Germany. Traditionally called a “Königreich” (Kingdom), it may show a crown in its coat of arms. Geography Flieden is located in a valley north west of the Landrücken between th ...

and

Schlüchtern Schlüchtern is a town in the Main-Kinzig district, in Hessen, Germany. It is located on the river Kinzig, approximately 30 km southwest of Fulda. Schlüchtern has a population close to 16,000. Location Schlüchtern is located in the '' Be ...

via Jossa to

Gemünden am Main Gemünden am Main (officially ''Gemünden a.Main'') is a town in the Main-Spessart district in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Lower Franconia (''Unterfranken'') in Bavaria, Germany and lies roughly 40 km down the Main from Würzburg. Gemünd ...

. The northern part of the line is in the German state of

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 it crosses into

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

south of Jossa.

Route

The route runs from Fulda, initially on the same tracks as the line via Hanau to

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 ...

, the Kinzig Valley line. At Flieden it leaves the Kinzig Valley line and runs through the

Spessart Spessart is a '' Mittelgebirge'', a range of low wooded mountains, in the States of Bavaria and Hesse in Germany. It is bordered by the Vogelsberg, Rhön and Odenwald. The highest elevation is the Geiersberg at 586 metres above sea level. Ety ...

and Rhön foothills through the closed stations of Elm and Vollmerz, followed by Sterbfritz station, which remains open to passengers, and the abandoned stations of Mottgers and Altengronau Nord before reaching Jossa in the Sinn Valley. The route mostly follows the Sinn river and runs partly parallel to the Würzburg–Hannover high-speed line. There is a link to the new line south of Burgsinn through the Burgsinn depot. The old 388 metre-long Ramholz tunnel (built 1868-1871) has been replaced by a new 474 metre-long tunnel. The new tunnel was broken through in June 2007. Since 17 June 2008 trains running to the south have used the new tunnel.

History

The railway line was part of the old North-South line from

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzburg ...

. It was opened in 1872. Prior to the opening of the Schlüchtern Tunnel in 1914 all trains between Frankfurt and Fulda on the train Kinzig Valley line had to reverse in Elm.

Operations

Regionalbahn trains run between Schlüchtern and Jossa roughly every two hours and roughly hour between Jossa and Gemünden.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flieden-Gemunden railway Railway lines in Hesse Railway lines in Bavaria Standard gauge railways in Germany Railway lines opened in 1868