29-637: The Pfungstadt Railway ( Pfungstadtbahn ) is a single-track branch line that branches off the Main-Neckar Railway in Darmstadt-Eberstadt and runs to a station on the eastern edge of the inner town of Pfungstadt , in Hesse , Germany. The Pfungstadt industrialists Wilhelm Büchner (who made ultramarine fabric) and Justus Hildebrand (who owned the Pfungstadt brewery) had advocated for the construction of
58-597: A joint state railway company, known as a condominium railway ( Kondominalbahn ), by the Free City of Frankfurt , The Grand Duchy of Hesse -Darmstadt and the Grand Duchy of Baden . The plans for the railway dated back to 1835. However, years went by until the three states involved agreed on routes and how it would be organised. Not until 1838 was a treaty for the construction of a Railway from Frankfurt to Mannheim via Darmstadt agreed. The Hessian Railway Company could not raise
87-465: A level crossing in Pfungstadt. The same level crossing, which is located just before the end of the line, was restored and not—as appeared likely in the meantime—replaced by an underpass or made unnecessary by shortening the line. The costs for reactivating the line were borne by the Federal Government and the state of Hesse. The total cost was valued at €7 million, of which €4.2 million was spent on
116-651: Is a main line railway west of the Odenwald in the Upper Rhine Plain of Germany that connects Frankfurt am Main to Heidelberg via Darmstadt , Bensheim and Weinheim . It was opened in 1846 and is one of the oldest railways in Germany . The railway line is part of the networks served by the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund and Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Neckar . The Main-Neckar Railway was built and operated as
145-1118: Is an important route for north-south traffic, especially freight traffic between the North Sea ports and southern Germany and Switzerland. The bridge is used by 600 trains each day, including trains operating over the Frankfurt–Bebra and Frankfurt-Hanau lines . Regional-Express trains stop only in Frankfurt, Langen, Darmstadt, Bickenbach, Bensheim, Heppenheim, Hemsbach, Weinheim and Ladenburg. Regionalbahn trains stop between Frankfurt and Darmstadt only in Langen, then stop at all stations. Lützelsachsen and Großsachsen-Heddesheim stations are served every two hours only. Stations between Frankfurt and Darmstadt via Frankfurt South are served by S-Bahn lines S3 and S4 . Between 5 AM and midnight trains run every hour and during peak hours every 30 minutes. Town privileges Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of
174-594: The Odenwald Railway that arrives at Darmstadt Hauptbahhnof, continues to Pfungstadt. However, these have to stay in Darmstadt for about 20 minutes before continuing. There are intermediate services that only shuttle between Darmstadt and Pfungstadt. The two lines are shown separately in the timetable: while the Odenwald Railway service is operated as RMV line 65 (RB 65), the Pfungstadt Railway service has been given
203-635: The changing needs of passengers. Today, the Main-Neckar line shares the load of north-south traffic with the Mannheim–Frankfurt railway , which runs further to the west in the Rhine valley, from Frankfurt, bypassing Darmstadt, via Groß-Gerau to Mannheim and Worms . On the section between Darmstadt and Mannheim/Heidelberg, the Main-Neckar Railway has reached the limit of its capacity: 250 trains run on
232-463: The first 15 years of operations, freight volume increased thirty times while the number of passengers carried increased by 50%. The Main-Neckar line was completed and fully open to traffic with the commissioning of the Main-Neckar bridge in Frankfurt on 15 November 1848. From 18 May 1849 the line was closed to traffic south of Heppenheim as a result of the Baden Revolution and on 6 and 7 June 1849
261-438: The jobs available. Only men with impeccable reputation, able to satisfy a thorough examination that they were in perfect health, would be allowed to make the substantial deposit for the coveted dress uniform of railway workers. Somebody who had ruined his health, for example, in the construction of the railway, had no chance. In the following years, the line was constantly developed, modernised and adapted to increasing traffic and
290-524: The laying out of the 1.8 km-long track, which was organised by DB Netz . The annual operating cost, which is estimated to amount to €900,000, is shared by the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund (Rhine-Main transport association, RMV) and Dadina. The line was commissioned at the 2011/2012 timetable change on 11 December 2011. The route is operated by the railway company VIAS , the operator of the Odenwald Railway , which begins in Darmstadt. Every second train of
319-426: The line be built to 1600 mm broad gauge but could not gain agreement for this. Responsibility for funding the project was in proportion to the length of the line in the three countries: Frankfurt: 6.9 km (4 mi), Hesse-Darmstadt: 49.4 km (31 mi) and Baden: 38.8 km (24 mi). All three governments were represented in the management of the Main-Neckar Railway in Darmstadt. The construction of
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#1732852669228348-456: The line began in June 1843 on the Frankfurt section. The management of construction was carried out by municipal chief engineer Remigius Eyssen. On 16 April 1846, the first trial service ran from Darmstadt to Langen. The fare for this trip was 1 guilder and 6 kreuzers for first class, 48 kreuzers for second class, 33 kreuzers for third class and 21 kreuzers for fourth class. The line was opened for
377-510: The line in each direction every day. Between Frankfurt and Darmstadt, where the line has three or four tracks, the line is used by the Rhine-Main S-Bahn. This will be relieved by the proposed Frankfurt–Mannheim high-speed railway between Frankfurt Airport and Mannheim, which will take a portion of the high-speed and long-distance trains. Construction is expected to start in 2011 and be completed in 2017. The Main-Neckar railway bridge line
406-475: The line since the mid-19th century. Various alternative routes were considered, as well as a possible extension on a curve to Bickenbach , which was rejected for cost reasons. The project was discussed for 22 years from 1864. The line was finally built by the State Railways of the Grand Duchy of Hesse ( Großherzoglich Hessischen Staatseisenbahnen ). The Main-Neckar Railway was not chosen to build it because it
435-531: The line was used exclusively for military transport. Civil operations only resumed on the entire route on 27 June 1849. Operations were also temporarily disrupted in the War of 1866 . The Main-Neckar Railway brought jobs and income for the people of the Bergstrasse and the western Odenwald . It connected Darmstadt, Mannheim and Frankfurt. Getting a job in the railways, however, was not so simple, many people competed for
464-650: The number 66. The line is listed as route 650.1 in the Deutsche Bahn timetable. The journey to Pfungstadt takes 12 minutes with stops in Darmstadt Süd and Darmstadt-Eberstadt. An order for four more diesel multiple units for the Odenwald Railway, placed by the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund in November 2007, provided an additional Itino set for the extension to Pfungstadt. The Pro Bahn association criticised
493-510: The old Heidelberg station, which was opened in May 1848, was replaced by the current Heidelberg Hauptbahnhof in 1955 and demolished in 1960. Each of these stations proved too small for the rapidly growing traffic and were replaced by bigger stations built further from the centre of the towns they serve. The architectural quality of the reception buildings on the line was high. In Bensheim and Heppenheim they were designed by Georg Moller . Initially
522-544: The railway had 18 locomotives and 252 cars. Twelve locomotives were bought by Hesse-Darmstadt from the Sharp locomotive works of Manchester . The six locomotives purchased of Baden and Frankfurt came from Kesslers Maschinenfabrik in Karlsruhe . All locomotives had a 1A1 wheel arrangement . On 9 August 1847 freight operations started, with freight carried by mixed trains, until 1848 when separate freight trains proved successful. In
551-517: The required capital and it was then dissolved. There was a second treaty signed of 21 and 23 March 1843, which agreed to build the Main-Neckar line at government expense and—as a compromise between the interests of Mannheim and Heidelberg —located the line centrally in Friedrichsfeld where it joined the Mannheim–Heidelberg line of the Grand Duchy of Baden State Railway . Baden requested that
580-621: The scheduled traffic in sections: Until the Main-Neckar Bridge in Frankfurt (at the site of today's Friedensbrücke ) was completed on opened to traffic on 15 November 1848, rail services ran into the Mainspitze depot and reversed to the old Sachsenhausen station. After the completion of the bridge over the Main the line ended in Main-Neckar station . The original temporary wooden bridge at Ladenburg
609-485: The second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the traditions of the self-administration of Roman cities. Judicially, a borough (or burgh ) was distinguished from the countryside by means of a charter from the ruling monarch that defined its privileges and laws . Common privileges involved trade (marketplace,
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#1732852669228638-422: The site of the ultramarine fabric factory, which was built with the railway, was dismantled in the 1930s. Deutsche Bundesbahn abandoned passenger services on 30 April 1955, but freight traffic (mainly wood and sugar beet) continued to 31 May 1997. At the end of the decline of the sugar beet traffic in the early 1990s, this was little traffic. The last timetable number for the passenger service before traffic ended
667-464: The storing of goods, etc.) and the establishment of guilds . Some of these privileges were permanent and could imply that the town obtained the right to be called a borough , hence the term "borough rights" ( German : Stadtrecht ; Dutch : stadsrechten ). Some degree of self-government , representation by diet , and tax-relief could also be granted. Multiple tiers existed; for example, in Sweden ,
696-403: The thin service on the weekend and the early last service in the evening as being a "half-hearted offer". Pfungstadt station was opened at the same time as the railway. This was taken by Grand Duke Louis IV of Hesse-Darmstadt as an opportunity to give Pfungstadt town privileges . The original station building has been demolished. A new, simply-equipped station with a 140-metre-long platform
725-457: Was 315d. The Darmstadt-Dieburger Nahverkehrsorganisation (Darmstadt-Dieburg local transport organisation, Dadina for short) decided that it would put the disused line back into service and integrate it into the Odenwald Railway . Initially scheduled for competition in December 2007, the reactivation was delayed due to necessary signalling changes at Darmstadt Hauptbahnhof and difficulties with
754-414: Was built on the foundations of the historic station for the reactivation. Access for local traffic is provided by a terminal loop and a park and ride parking area. Of the total costs of €2.8 million, the state of Hesse assumed €170,000 and the rest was shared by the town and the federal government. Main-Neckar Railway The Main-Neckar Railway ( German : Main-Neckar–Eisenbahn , MNE )
783-474: Was operated by the Main-Neckar Railway. The route began in Frankfurt at the Main-Neckar station, one of the three Frankfurt western stations . It was in the (present) Willy-Brandt-Platz on the corner of Münchner Straße and Gallusanlage, south of the Taunus station . It was demolished in 1888. Similarly the old Main-Neckar Darmstadt station was replaced by the current Darmstadt Hauptbahnhof between 1910 and 1912 and
812-594: Was replaced by a stone arch bridge in 1848. Since the Baden Mainline between Mannheim and Heidelberg was built with a broad gauge of 1600 mm and the Main-Neckar line with standard gauge of 1435 mm , additional track had to be built: from Friedrichsfeld to Heidelberg a second line ran next to the line of the Baden State Railway line. From Friedrichsfeld to Mannheim, the Baden State Railway built an additional standard gauge track at its own expense, although it
841-439: Was then still a Kondominalbahn (condominium railway) that was owned by several states and had its own administration. The line was opened as a Secundärbahn (secondary railway) on 20 December 1886 and Pfungstadt was incorporated as a municipality at the same time. The line proved to be an economic success for both the railway company and the industrial area. It was Deutsche Reichsbahn 's shortest timetable route. The siding to
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