Wetzlar station is a through railway station in the city of

Wetzlar Wetzlar () is a city in the state of Hesse, Germany. It is the twelfth largest city in Hesse with currently 55,371 inhabitants at the beginning of 2019 (including second homes). As an important cultural, industrial and commercial center, the un ...

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 ...

. The station, which serves Deutsche Bahn's

Dill Dill (''Anethum graveolens'') is an annual herb in the celery family Apiaceae. It is the only species in the genus ''Anethum''. Dill is grown widely in Eurasia, where its leaves and seeds are used as a herb or spice for flavouring food. Growth ...

and Lahntal lines, constitutes (together with the adjacent bus station) Wetzlar's most important public transport node.

History

The first Wetzlar station, built in 1862 in the district of Niedergirmes, was an "island station" (german: Inselbahnhof), with the main station building built between the tracks. This building still stands. The current station was originally completed in January 1917 in the Art Nouveau style, but it was demolished in 1981 and rebuilt in the Modern style.

Train services

The following services currently call at Wetzlar: *'' Main-Sieg-Express'' Siegen - Dillenburg - Gießen - Friedberg - Frankfurt (Main) *'' Mittelhessen-Express'' Dillenburg - Gießen - Friedberg - Frankfurt (Main)

Operations

Wetzlar station has five platform tracks, served by Regionalbahn,

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 ...

, and EuroCity trains. Trains operate through the following platforms: East of the passenger station in the district of Garbenheim is Wetzlar freight yard, which has been the most important facility of its kind in central Hesse since December 2006.

Long distance

In the 1980s and before, there were many daily express services from Wetzlar station to remote destinations such as

Oberstdorf Oberstdorf ( Low Alemannic: ''Oberschdorf'') is a municipality and skiing and hiking town in Germany, located in the Allgäu region of the Bavarian Alps. It is the southernmost settlement in Germany and one of its highest towns. At the&nbs ...

. In the early 1990s there were regular fast train connections at two-hour intervals to

Frankfurt (Main) Hauptbahnhof 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

Münster Hauptbahnhof Münster Hauptbahnhof is the main railway station in the city of Münster in Germany. History The original Münster station was opened in 1848 by the Münster-Hamm Railway Company, when it opened by the Münster–Hamm railway to the then capit ...

. From 1993, these services were replaced by Interregio line 22, Frankfurt–Münster. Once a day there was a direct Interregio connection from Wetzlar to

Norddeich Mole Norddeich Mole is a railway station located in Norddeich, Lower Saxony, Germany. The station is located on the Emsland Railway. The train services are operated by Deutsche Bahn. Norddeich Mole is a port for combined passenger and car ferrie ...

(''Norderney''). The inter-regional trains on the Dill line were, however, gradually thinned out from 2001. More recently, in December 2002, the ''Norderney'' service was abolished. From December 2009 until December 2011, Wetzlar station was connected to the long-distance network for the first time in six years. In the morning there was a EuroCity service from Wetzlar via Frankfurt, Stuttgart, and Munich to Klagenfurt. A through carriage also gave a direct connection to

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the are ...

and

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...

. The return service from Croatia, Slovenia, and Austria reached Wetzlar in the evening and continued to

Siegen Siegen () is a city in Germany, in the south Westphalian part of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located in the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein in the Arnsberg region. The university town (nearly 20,000 students in the 2018–2019 winter semest ...

. This service was discontinued in December 2011.

Modernization

Between 2011 and 2012 the station underwent a major reconstruction. Among other things, the platforms were replaced by new higher platforms and the platform canopies were restored. The bus station, formerly located 150 metres away, was moved to the front of the station building. The passenger tunnel under the station was extended to connect with the

park-and-ride A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, rail system (rap ...

area on the north side of the station and the suburb of Niedergirmes.

Connections

The adjoining bus station serves regional and local bus routes. In the station forecourt there is a taxi stand and short-term parking. There are also various parking facilities nearby.

References

{{reflist, 30em Buildings and structures in Wetzlar Railway stations in Hesse Railway stations in Germany opened in 1862