To be true, this might not be the most interesting line nor does it provide extremely new things but there are indeed a few things which could make this line to be looked at. I used to take this route with my mother long time ago when I was a child. So just let me give a few cents of nostalgia here. Route The route is starting in Frankfurt Main Hbf (Hoch for Regional services, Tief for S-Bahn services) and is heading northwest through the heart of the low mountain range Taunus towards Limburg (Lahn). Route length: aprox. 70 kilometers Service time: aprox. 1 hour Stations: 22 (counting Frankfurt Hbf Tief and Hoch as one) Stations (listed with service stops): 1a.) Frankfurt (Main) Hbf Hoch (RE20, RB22) 1b). Frankfurt (Main) Hbf Tief (S2) 2.) Frankfurt-Griesheim (S2) 3.) Frankfurt-Nied (S2) 4.) Frankfurt-Höchst (RE20, RB22, S2) 5.) Frankfurt-Farbwerke Höchst (S2) 6.) Frankfurt-Zeilsheim (S2) 7.) Kriftel (S2) 8.) Hofheim (RE20, RB22, S2) 9.) Lorsbach (S2) 10.) Eppstein (S2) 11.) Bremthal (S2) 12.) Niederjosbach (S2) 13.) Niedernhausen (RE20, RB22, S2, RB21) 14.) Idstein (RE20, RB22, RB21) 15.) Wörsdorf (RB22, RB21) 16.) Bad Camberg (RE20, RB22, RB21) 17.) Niederselters (RB22, RB21) 18.) Oberbrechen (RB22, RB21) 19.) Niederbrechen (RE20, RB22, RB21) 20.) Lindenholzhausen (RB22, RB21) 21.) Eschhofen (RE20, RB22, RB21) 22.) Limburg (Lahn) (RE20, RB22, RB21) Rolling stock: BR 146.1 (since 2021) BR 143 (from 2006 to 2021) BR 767.1 The 143, 146.1 and the 767.1 are both used for the RE20 as well as the RB22 services. BR 642 Siemens Desiro Classic (RB21 - Wiesbaden - Niedernhausen - Limburg) BR 648 (Alstom Coradia Lint 41) - (RB21 - Wiesbaden - Niedernhausen - Limburg) BR 423 (S2) since 2014 B (from Frankfurt Hbf Tief to Niedernhausen) BR 420 (S2) before 2014 (from Frankfurt Hbf Tief to Niedernhausen) And a few more... Timetable The PDF of the current timetable (2023/2024) of the RE20, RB22 and RB21 is attached to this post. Cab ride: Special mention Schnellfahrstrecke Köln-Frankfurt: Important to note is that the SFS Köln/Rhein-Main is located beside the route for the most part of the tracks. In theory, it could be possible to bring it in as well up to Limburg Süd, its dedicated highspeed station. However, I know this would be a bad idea to make the SFS Frankfurt Köln only be driveable to Limburg (Süd), but I just would like to mention this fact. In the following screenshot from OpenRailwayMaps you can see how the SFS (illustrated in red) runs along the path of the Main-Lahn-Bahn. On some locations, just a few hundred meters apart. However, its worth to mention that both are completely independent lines and do not share a single piece of route nor have a spot to come over except of course Frankfurt Hbf. Thanks for reading!
Saying Goodbye to the BR143 BR 420 on the Main-Lahn Bahn Long and well-made documentary about the Main-Lahn-Bahn by Youtuber BR111Fan in german (You can turn on automatic translation for the subtitles in the video settings) Part 1. Part 2. Part 3.
Yes, that's right. Limburg (Lahn) has a bit of potential for future routes and the ability to route hop between those as well. Lower Lahntalbahn (Limburg (Lahn) to Koblenz) https://forums.dovetailgames.com/th...-re25-koblenz-limburg-lahn.75685/#post-743873 Upper Lahntalbahn (Limburg (Lahn) to Giessen) https://forums.dovetailgames.com/threads/lahntalbahn-re25-rb45-limburg-wetzlar-gie%C3%9Fen.75520/ Upper Westerwald Railway (Limburg (Lahn) to Au/Siegen) https://forums.dovetailgames.com/threads/oberwesterwaldbahn-rb90-limburg-lahn-au-sieg.75370/
Bumping this thread because of recent news. Since we now know that S-Bahn Frankfurt will be an upcoming route, this increases chances for this one a slightly bit since the Main-Lahn-Bahn route could have the extension of the branch of the Ländches railway to Wiesbaden Hbf as the RB45 (Limburg-Wiesbaden) takes the line from Niedernhausen to Wiesbaden Hbf and the RB/RE services from Limburg to Frankfurt actually could route hop already at Frankfurt-Höchst (all S1/S2/RE/RB services stop there). In total, there would be three occasions for route hopping now, Wiesbaden Hbf and Frankfurt-Höchst to the route addon S-Bahn Frankfurt and the route hop to Kinzigtalbahn Frankfurt-Fulda at Frankfurt Hbf (Hoch). A little showcase (I apologize for the bad painting), 1.) the green line will be covered in S-Bahn Frankfurt, 2.) the red line is the Main-Lahn-Bahn as proposed here (the part from Frankfurt-Höchst Farbwerke to Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof is shared with S-Bahn Frankfurt, so red doesn't cover it) and 3.) the yellow one the short 17 km branch between Wiesbaden Hauptbahnhof and Niedernhausen, the Ländches railway. However, even if this route is unlikely to come, I'm overwhelmed by the fact that I will see some Main-Lahn-Bahn services as AI on the S1 part between Frankfurt Hbf and Frankfurt-Höchst Farbwerke in S-Bahn Frankfurt already. Wikipedia articles of the short Ländchesbahn branch between Wiesbaden Hbf and the hub stop Niedernhausen: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ländchesbahn https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ländches_Railway The 642 in HLB livery on the Ländechesbahn: Lint 41 (BR 648) in Vectus (subsidiary of HLB) livery on the Ländchesbahn: A few cab rides of the Ländchesbahn (Wiesbaden-Niedernhausen-Limburg):
looks super dope, but as much as I used to like 143, not sure about it now since it still has similarly messed up braking akin to 112... lets hope the new version in Frankfurt S-Bahn is improved
Yes, if that's an issue, hopefully it will be fixed. Hmm, The roadmap article so far mentions drivable services of the 143 only out of Wiesbaden, which means that the RB/RE services for the Main-Lahn-Bahn with the BR 143 between Frankfurt Hbf and Frankfurt-Höchst will be AI only. I guess this is because they didn't want to include the Frankfurt Hbf (Hoch) to the addon, which I can understand from a developers perspective as it would have been a lot more work but also is a bit of shame cause this would have probably had enabled the Main-Lahn-Bahn regional services to playable up from Frankfurt Hbf to Frankfurt-Höchst and not only these out of Wiesbaden Hbf.
What they can do to get the upper level is straightforward take it from the other route the Eastern segment of S8/S9 Kinzigtalbahn Offenbach am Main Ost Hanau Hbf.
