Würzburg–Bamberg railway

Bamberg–Rottendorf Railway
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Overview
Native name	Bahnstrecke Bamberg–Rottendorf
Type	Heavy rail, Passenger/Freight rail Regional rail
Status	Operational
Locale	Bavaria
Termini	Bamberg Rottendorf
Stations	15
Line number	5102
Operation
Opened	Stages between 1852–1854
Owner	Deutsche Bahn
Operator(s)	DB Regio Erfurter Bahn
Rolling stock	DBAG Class 612 DBAG Class 440 DBAG Class 146 Stadler Regio-Shuttle RS1
Technical
Line length
No. of tracks	Double track
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	15 kV/16.7 Hz AC Overhead line
Operating speed
Route number	810

Bamberg–Rottendorf Railway
Legend
from Nuremberg 0.0 Bamberg to Scheßlitz to Hof A 70 Main 7.2 Oberhaid Bundesautobahn 70 A 70 Staffelbach Bk 1 12.6 Staffelbach Staffelbach Bk 2 Bundesautobahn 70 A 70 15.7 Stettfeld (Unterfr) B 26 19.8 Ebelsbach-Eltmann 25.4 Zeil Bundesstraße 26 B 26 to Hofheim 32.5 Haßfurt Bundesstraße 26 B26 37.3 Obertheres 39.8 Untertheres 43.7 Gädheim(former passenger station) B 303 49.3 Schonungen 51.1 Mainberg 54.3 Schweinfurt Stadt 55.5 Schweinfurt Mitte B 286 from Kitzingen-Etwashausen 56.8 Schweinfurt Hbf from Meiningen B 26 63.2 Bergrheinfeld Bundesautobahn 70 68.2 Waigolshausen Wern Valley Railway to Gemünden am Main 71.8 Eßleben 77.3 Bergtheim Main Loop Railway to Volkach 82.8 Seligenstadt (b Würzburg) A 7 from Nuremberg Hbf 92.2 Rottendorf Nuremberg–Würzburg railway

The Bamberg-Würzburg railway is a two-track electrified main line railway in the German state of Bavaria. It is about 100 kilometres long and was built by the Royal Bavarian State Railways as part of the Ludwig's Western Railway (German: Ludwigs-West-Bahn) from Bamberg via Haßfurt and Schweinfurt to Würzburg. Between Bamberg and Schweinfurt, the line runs largely along the Main river. The line was opened in sections between 1852 and 1854 and is one of the oldest railways in Germany.

History

Before the completion of the modern direct route via Rottendorf, Kitzingen, Neustadt an der Aisch and Fürth, which could not initially be built because of the difficult terrain in the Steigerwald area, the eastern part of the Ludwig's Western Railway was of great importance for east-west long-distance traffic. As a result of the opening of the direct line in 1865, the Würzburg–Bamberg line is now mainly significant for regional and local transport. Until the division of Germany in 1945, more long-distance trains to Thuringia and Saxony used the Würzburg–Schweinfurt line than the line via Hof. In 1978, faster regional services were established, accompanied by the closure of several stations, as was the case on many lines in Germany during the 1970s and 1980s. InterRegio train services ran on the Stuttgart–Würzburg–Schweinfurt–Erfurt route from soon after German reunification until 2001.

Opening dates

The line was opened in three stages from Bamberg from 1852 to 1854:

• 1 August 1852: Bamberg–Haßfurt
• 3 November 1852: Haßfurt–Schweinfurt
• 1 July 1854: Schweinfurt–Würzburg

Further development of the line to create additional capacity to handle increased traffic was necessary over the years:

• 1897: duplication between Schweinfurt and Waigolshausen
• 1905–1908: duplication between Bamberg and Schweinfurt and between Waigolshausen and Würzburg
• 1984: adding of the third line between Würzburg and Rottendorf

In addition, on 1 July 1864, a new railway station was opened in Würzburg, as the old Ludwigsbahnhof (Ludwig’s station) in the city centre had to be closed because it was unable to cope with the increase in traffic.

Electrification

In 1954 and in 1971 and 1972 overhead wire was erected over the track in three sections:

• 3 October 1954: Würzburg–Rottendorf
• 22 September 1971: Waigolshausen–Bamberg
• 26 May 1972: Rottendorf–Waigolshausen

Current services

File:Bf Seligenstadt.jpg

Seligenstadt (b Würzburg) station

File:Seligenstadt 5488.JPG

Regionalbahn train between Seligenstadt and Rottendorf

File:Unterfranken Shuttle der EIB in Schweinfurt Stadt.jpg

A Regio-Shuttle of the Erfurter Bahn in Schweinfurter Stadt station

Since the timetable change in December 2004, Regional-Express trains have run every two hours, generally with two routes overlapping to provide hourly services on most sections. Specifically, trains run on the following lines:

• Würzburg–Schweinfurt–Bad Kissingen/Mellrichstadt–Suhl–Erfurt
• Würzburg–Schweinfurt–Haßfurt–Bamberg–Lichtenfels–Hof/Bayreuth
• Würzburg–Schweinfurt–Haßfurt–Bamberg–Forchheim–Erlangen–Fürth–Nürnberg

Modern vehicles are exclusively used on the three lines. The first two lines because of their winding routes are operated with class 612 tilting trains, mostly in sets of three. From December 2004, services on the Schweinfurt–Nuremberg route were hauled at first by class 111 locomotives with five double-deck carriages (built in 1997), but with a top speed of 140 km / h only. However, the one-hour service required to allow regular connections to and from trains on the Erfurt–Würzburg line made trains with a stop speed of 160 km / h necessary. DB Regio therefore procured eight new five-car sets, which have been hauled since December 2005 by eight new class 146 locomotives, saving several minutes on the line. Regional-Express trains stop only at the stations of Bamberg, Haßfurt, Schweinfurt and Würzburg on the 100-kilometre route.

Regionalbahn services also supplement the Regional Express train services. Services run hourly on the Würzburg–Schweinfurt line, continuing every two hours to Bamberg. Trains terminating in Schweinfurt in some cases continue to Schweinfurt Stadt station. On the Haßfurt–Bamberg section extra services run, increasing services to an hourly frequency. The trains are usually composed of a class 111 or class 143 locomotives and four or five Silberling carriages.