Gießen–Gelnhausen railway

(Redirected from Lahn–Kinzig Railway)

The Gießen–Gelnhausen railway (also known as the Lahn-Kinzig Railway) is a single-track, non-electrified mainline in the German state of Hesse. It runs from Gießen via Nidda to Gelnhausen.

Gießen–Gelnhausen
Overview
Line number3701
LocaleHesse, Germany
Service
Route number631
Technical
Line length67.9 km (42.2 mi)
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in) standard gauge
Operating speed85 km/h (53 mph) (maximum)
Route map

0.0
Gießen
1.9
Gießen Erdkauter Weg
2.1
Industrial siding
2.5
Erdkauter Weg MTG siding
3.4
Erdkauter Weg Bieber siding
6.2
Watzenborn-Steinberg
7.8
Garbenteich
9.1
Pfahlgraben
15.2
Lich (Oberhess)
18.6
Langsdorf (Oberhess)
21.8
Hungen
former Horloff Valley Railway to Friedberg
 reactivation planned
25.2
Trais-Horloff
28.2
Ober-Widdersheim
31.5
Borsdorf (Hess)
35.0
Nidda
41.7
Ranstadt
Effolderbach Tunnel
(673 m)
44.5
Effolderbach
45.8
Glauburg-Stockheim
Industrial siding
49.2
Bleichenbach (Oberhess)
52.0
Büches-Düdelsheim
54.8
Büdingen (Oberhess)
(535 m)
62.2
Mittel-Gründau
Industrial siding from Rothenbergen
66.0
Lieblos
69.7
Gelnhausen
Source: German railway atlas[1][2]

Operations edit

The line is part of the government-owned railway network (DB Netz) and is currently (2012) served by passenger trains (GTW 2/6) operated by the HLB Hessenbahn GmbH, a subsidiary of Hessische Landesbahn, on behalf of the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund (Rhine-Main Transport Association, RMV).

In the 2003/2004 timetable, which commenced on 14 December 2003, services on weekends and holidays was reordered. In addition, the Nidda–Glauburg–Büdingen–Gelnhausen section is served every morning and evening by bus line 374. Until the 2009/2010 timetable, this route was still called line 610 and served the whole line from Gelnhausen to Gießen.

History edit

Planning on the line began in 1862 and it was built and operated by the Upper Hessian Railway Company (Oberhessische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft) and opened in several sections:

Opening dates for sections
Date Beginning End Length
29.12.1869 Gießen Hungen 21.83 km
29.06.1870 Hungen Nidda 13.23 km
30.10.1870 Nidda Büdingen 19.79 km
30.11.1870 Büdingen Gelnhausen 14.91 km

An extension to Partenstein on the Bavarian Ludwig's Western Railway (Ludwigs-West-Bahn) did not come about. However, the line became important from 1888 with the integration of some branch lines in the Vogelsberg and Wetterau.

The Upper Hessian Railway Company was nationalised in 1876 and its operations were taken over by the Grand Duchy of Hesse State Railways (Großherzoglich Hessische Staatseisenbahnen).

Notes edit

  1. ^ Eisenbahnatlas Deutschland (German railway atlas) (10 ed.). Schweers + Wall. 2017. pp. 65–77–8. ISBN 978-3-89494-146-8.
  2. ^ Lothar Brill. "Photographs of tunnel portals on line 3701" (in German). Tunnelportale. Retrieved 21 March 2018.

References edit

  • Adolf Kaiser (2010). 140 Jahre Eisenbahn in Oberhessen : Ein Jahrhundert verändert die Region (in German). Büdingen, Hess: Geschichtswerkstatt Büdingen. ISBN 978-3-939454-59-5.
  • Wilhelm Lepper. "Unterwegs auf unseren Straßen : Verkehrslandschaft Wetterau". Die Wetterau (in German). Friedberg 1983: Kreissparkasse Friedberg. p. 203. ISBN 3-87076-038-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  • Jürgen Röhrig Schriftenreihe. Oberhessischen Eisenbahnen (in German).
  • Jürgen Röhrig (11 July 2009). "Rübenwagen sind längst Geschichte". Gießener Anzeiger (in German). Archived from the original on January 6, 2010. Retrieved 20 February 2012.