The Nuremberg–Bamberg railway line is a double-track main line in Bavaria that was originally built and operated as part of the Ludwig South-North Railway. It runs from Nuremberg via Fürth, Erlangen, Forchheim to Bamberg. It is one of the most important German transport axes along the Regnitz valley. Since German reunification, the line has once again become very important for long-distance traffic. As part of the German Unity Transport Project No. 8, it is currently being expanded as a feeder to the new Ebensfeld–Erfurt line. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- route details: Length of track: 62.4 km Track gauge: 1435 mm (standard gauge) Track class: D4 Power system: 15 kV 16.7 Hz ~ Maximum speed: 160 km/h Double track: (throughout) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- History: Railway tunnel near Erlangen, 1844 Construction work on the line began in the same year after the Bavarian State Parliament approved the law to build the Ludwig South-North Railway on August 25, 1843. The Royal Railway Construction Commission in Nuremberg was responsible for the land acquisition and the route. The line was opened on September 1, 1844. The original route between Nuremberg and Erlangen, parallel to the Ludwig-Danube-Main Canal and east of Fürth, was changed in 1862 and 1876 with the construction of the Fürth-Würzburg railway line and the so-called Fürth bend. Until then, the Ludwig South-North Railway crossed the Ludwig Railway at the Nuremberg-Fürth city border, for which a separate stop with extensive shunting facilities for freight wagons was set up at the Fürth crossing. The probably oldest preserved locomotive shed in Germany, the locomotive shed in Fürth, is located on the route and is rapidly falling into disrepair. The line, which was originally a single-track line like all railway lines built in Bavaria at that time, was expanded to two tracks in four stages between 1862 and 1892. The electrification of the line was completed on 10 May 1939. During test runs, German passenger trains between Bamberg and Forchheim reached a speed of 200 km/h for the first time.[3] These test runs took place in 1963 and 1964 between Forchheim and Bamberg under regular train control. Between 1965 and 1968, the previous signal boxes were replaced by push-button signal boxes with automatic blocking operation. On the Nuremberg-Fürth section of the line, this replaced the manually operated block and branch points in Kohlenhof, on Rothenburger Straße and in Neusündersbühl. The branch points were remotely controlled from Nuremberg Central Station. With investments of 900,000 DM, a return of 40 percent was achieved by eliminating three old signal boxes and 15 signal box operators. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- upgraded Nuremberg–Ebensfeld line: Four-track expansion Nuremberg-Fürth The four-track expansion of the 7.7-kilometer-long section of the line between Nuremberg and Fürth began with the groundbreaking ceremony on August 10, 2006 at the Rothenburger Strasse railway overpass. It is part of the Nuremberg-Erfurt high-speed line and the 38-kilometer-long Nuremberg-Forchheim S-Bahn line. Investments of 170 million euros were planned for the section. The line was due to go into operation in December 2010. In February 2008, the planned costs were given as 162 million euros. Between Nuremberg and Fürth, the railway embankment was widened to a length of 1.75 kilometers, which from March 2008 accommodated two additional tracks south of the existing line. As part of the four-track expansion, a total of 22.3 kilometers of tracks and eight bridges were newly built or rebuilt. A new platform was built at Fürth main station and at the Nuremberg-Steinbühl stop, and the Nuremberg Rothenburgerstraße stop was converted to accommodate the S-Bahn. The western end of Nuremberg main station and the eastern end of Fürth freight station were also adapted. During the expansion of Fürth station, an electronic signal box was built. The first construction phase of this went into operation on September 14, 2009. Since December 2011, Fürth station has been partially controlled from there and the section of the line between Nuremberg and Fürth has been completely controlled with a total of 87 main signals and 94 axle counters. Since December 18, 2010, a third track has been available for the S-Bahn between Nuremberg and Fürth.[13] Since November 21, 2011, all four tracks have been in use. The northernmost track is intended for the S-Bahn in both directions, one track for regional traffic and two tracks for long-distance traffic. The S-Bahn platform at Fürth main station has also been completed since then. The Nuremberg-Steinbühl S-Bahn stop on this route was not yet operational at that time, but was completed at the end of 2012. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Route description: The line leaves Nuremberg main station together with the lines to Würzburg, Treuchtlingen and Crailsheim to the west, the latter two of which branch off to the south and southwest at An den Rampen, respectively, and then turns northwest parallel to the Frankenschnellweg. Between this branch in the south and the districts of Gostenhof and Eberhardshof as well as the container station and the Nuremberg West depot in the north, the line passes the Rothenburgerstraße stop, crosses the Frankenschnellweg at the Nuremberg-Fürth city border and finally reaches Fürth main station. Regional Express on the Siebenbogenbrücke in Fürth After the station, the line to Würzburg branches off to the west and the Rangaubahn branches off to the south. The line then crosses the Rednitz on the Siebenbogenbrücke and then turns north in a long right-hand bend (the so-called Fürther Bogen) and crosses the river, now called the Regnitz, south of Stadeln. The route then turns left, reaches Vach station between Stadeln and Herboldshof, then changes to the east side of the Frankenschnellweg and reaches the Erlangen city area near Eltersdorf. Before it reaches Erlangen station, the former branch line to Herzogenaurach joins at Erlangen-Bruck. After the station, the route runs through the 306-meter-long Burgberg tunnel and continues parallel to the Frankenschnellweg via Bubenreuth, Baiersdorf and Kersbach to Forchheim. After crossing the Frankenschnellweg between it on the right and the Main-Danube Canal on the left, the route continues via Eggolsheim, Buttenheim and Hirschaid to Strullendorf station, where the route branches off to Ebrach. After the route passes under the federal highway 505 and touches the southern foothills of the Hauptsmoor state forest, it reaches Bamberg station. The route between the Fürth junction and Bamberg has been classified as an "overloaded rail route" since 2007. In 2008, a plan to increase rail capacity was presented. An updated draft followed in 2021 and was completed in 2022. In August 2020, the Eggolsheim Süd depot went into operation north of Forchheim. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Transport: In long-distance rail passenger transport, Intercity Express trains run every hour on the Munich – Nuremberg – Erfurt – Halle/Leipzig – Berlin (– Hamburg) line. ICE 4s are used, occasionally ICE T and ICE 1, which are supplemented by ICE 3 as sprinters. An Intercity on line 61 runs every two hours between Karlsruhe and Leipzig, and a pair of trains on line 17 also serve the route six times a week. In local rail passenger transport, the route is served every hour by several regional express and S-Bahn lines (as of the timetable change in June 2024) Specifically, these are: > RE 20 Nuremberg–Bamberg–Schweinfurt–Würzburg with a second train section (splitting in Bamberg) towards Saalfeld via Lichtenfels and Kronach, > RE 28 Nuremberg–Bamberg–Lichtenfels–Coburg–Sonneberg with a second train section (splitting in Lichtenfels) to Saalfeld via Kronach, > RE 19 Nuremberg–Bamberg–high-speed line–Coburg–Sonneberg > RE 29 Nuremberg–Bamberg–high-speed line–Coburg–Erfurt > S1 Neumarkt–Nuremberg–Fürth–Erlangen–Forchheim–Bamberg The overlap of the regional express lines, which usually run every two hours, results in a half-hourly service between Nuremberg and Bamberg. The S-Bahn runs every hour from Nuremberg to Bamberg and every 20/40 minutes only to Forchheim and on weekdays every 20 minutes to Erlangen. All regional trains on this route have been replaced by the S-Bahn. Since mid-2011, individual regional trains from agilis have been running on the section from Bamberg to Forchheim for onward travel towards Ebermannstadt. Since the introduction of the S-Bahn, there have been no more RE stops in Baiersdorf. DB Regio has been using Siemens Desiro HC vehicles on the regional express trains of the Franken-Thüringen-Express since the timetable change in 2023; previously, trains of the 442 series ran. The service on the S1 line of the Nuremberg S-Bahn is also provided with the 442 series. At the end of the day and on weekends, it sometimes consists of one, otherwise two railcars. Agilis uses the 650 series for its connections. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fürth HBF: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Erlangen Main station: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bamberg main station: I would also be very happy about this route if it were to appear in Train Simulator 2024 Classic. Best regards BR430
