The Main-Neckar-Eisenbahn (MNE) was a joint state railway in which the Free City of Frankfurt and the Grand Duchies of Hesse and Baden were involved. A main line west of the Odenwald in the Upper Rhine Plain, which runs from Frankfurt am Main via Darmstadt, Bensheim and Weinheim to Heidelberg, still bears its name today. The route is served by long-distance rail passenger transport as well as local rail passenger transport of the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund (RMV) and the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Neckar (VRN). Route length: 87.5 km Track width: 1435 mm (standard gauge) Streckenklasse: D4 Power system: 15 kV 16.7 Hz ~ Maximale Neigung: <20 ‰ Top speed: 160 km / h Dual track: Long-distance railway: (continuous) S-Bahn: Frankfurt Süd – Langen, Egelsbach – Erzhausen, Darmstadt Gbf (W250) –Darmstadt Hbf prehistory: The plans for this condom line go back to January 31, 1836. At that time, the founding meeting for a company took place in Darmstadt, which aimed to build a railway from Frankfurt via Darmstadt to Heidelberg with a branch line to Mainz. By 1838, the permits of the three states whose territories connected the route had been received and in the summer of 1838 the preparatory surveying and staking out of the route began. Also in 1838 a first state treaty for the construction of the railway between the three states was concluded. However, the Hessische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft could not raise the necessary capital and then dissolved in 1839. The second initiative came from the government since 1841/42, as the governments recognized that they would fall behind compared to neighboring countries if they did not provide a modern infrastructure. [8] On March 25, 1843, a second state treaty was concluded which stipulated that the Main-Neckar Railway would be built at state expense and - as a compromise between the interests of Mannheim and Heidelberg - in the central Friedrichsfeld on the Mannheim - Heidelberg line To join the Grand Ducal Baden State Railways. The financial participation in the project corresponded to the respective costs of the route sections in the individual states. All three governments were represented in the management of the Main-Neckar-Eisenbahn in Darmstadt. As early as 1820, Ludwig Börne described in his satirical report Monographie der Deutschen Postschnecke the slowness of a journey in the stagecoach between Frankfurt and Stuttgart. For the first stage between Frankfurt and Darmstadt alone, the travelers needed 5.5 hours - which a pedestrian could do. Considered against this background, the reduction in travel time that can be achieved by rail was drastic. building route Construction of the line began in June 1843 in the Frankfurt section. There the construction management was the responsibility of the municipal chief engineer Remigius Eyssen. Acquiring the land turned out to be difficult in some places. In contrast, the terrain over which the route led was relatively flat. Only 12 bridges were required, the largest spanning the Main and Neckar, and a large viaduct had to be built near Eberstadt. The moorland between Bensheim and Heppenheim was also difficult, where the embankment sank under its own weight and had to be raised again several times. The route was prepared for two tracks right from the start, although initially only the western track was laid. The dual track was established from 1860. Railway attendants' houses were built about every 1.5 kilometers. Where these were more than 15 minutes' walk from the nearest town, they also provided for an official residence. There were initially no signaling devices. These were retrofitted later. The first test drive from Darmstadt to Langen took place on April 16, 1846. The government of the Grand Duchy of Hesse therefore regulated by the police in May 1846 how the general public should react to the new technology. The railway was opened for passenger traffic in several sections, and from August 9, 1847 also for freight traffic along the entire length of the route. Separate tracks for the Rhein-Main S-Bahn In 1997, a separate route with route number 3688 was put into operation for the southern outer branch of the Rhein-Main S-Bahn parallel to the Main-Neckar-Bahn to Darmstadt. This S-Bahn route begins at Frankfurt-Süd station as a continuation of routes 3681/3862 from the Frankfurt City Tunnel, crosses under the Frankfurt – Göttingen railway line and sidings through the Frankfurt Stresemannallee S-Bahn tunnel to the Stresemannallee stop, and then turns , together with the connecting curve of the Main-Neckar-Bahn to the Südbahnhof, to the south. It then runs initially on the east side of the Main-Neckar Railway. Between the Isenburg aisle and the A3 motorway, the S-Bahn line changes over a flyover to the west side of the Main-Neckar Railway. From Langen to Egelsbach, the route is single-track for 2.7 km, where it changes back to the east side of the Main-Neckar Railway through an underpass at the level of the city limits of Langen / Egelsbach. From Egelsbach to Erzhausen the line is double-tracked again, and from Erzhausen to Darmstadt main station it is single-track. The stations along this route have been fundamentally renewed, with the exception of the Langen and Neu-Isenburg stations (track 1), which was only used for special stops until the Dreieichbahn to Frankfurt was connected, since then there are no more platforms along the long-distance railway tracks of this section of the route . With the exception of the Arheilgen and Egelsbach stations, the station buildings are all still there and still show traces of the “old” Main-Neckar Railway to this day. The kilometering of the S-Bahn route starts deep in Frankfurt (Main) Hauptbahnhof with a surcharge of 50,000 km; in Darmstadt Hbf it ends at km 81.5. The information on the hectometer boards for the two adjacent routes therefore differ greatly. There are no switch connections between the S-Bahn line 3688 and the actual Main-Neckar-Bahn 3601 between the eastern portal of the Frankfurt Stresemannallee S-Bahn tunnel and Darmstadt Hauptbahnhof, except in the Langen station, so that regional trains in a south direction at the central platform (Gleis 2), and in the Arheilgen area, where the Odenwaldbahn (two hourly RB 82 from / to Frankfurt-Hbf) on the way from the Main-Neckar-Bahn to Darmstadt Nord station on the Rhein-Main-Bahn for a short distance S-Bahn track used. This S-Bahn route is served by the southern outer branch of the S3 and S4 lines, which run between the Vordertaunus (Niederhöchstadt) and Langen every quarter of an hour. Since the S4 ends in Langen, the rest of the southern, largely single-track route is only served by the S3 every half hour. The S4 ends Mondays to Saturdays in the off-peak times and at night and all day on Sundays at Frankfurt Südbahnhof. The northern outer branch ends in Bad Soden (S3) or Kronberg (S4). Rhein-Neckar S-Bahn The stations between Mannheim and Darmstadt are being converted for the Rhein-Neckar S-Bahn. Financial support from the Federal Republic of Germany was rejected for the elevator system at the Laudenbach transport station, against which DB Station & Service AG has sued. The renovation of the Weinheim-Sulzbach station should be completed by December 2020. Planning rights are now available for all affected stations. Current situation / general Today the Main-Neckar-Bahn shares north-south traffic with the Riedbahn, which runs further west in the Rhine plain from Frankfurt (Goldstein) - bypassing Darmstadt - via Groß-Gerau to Mannheim and Worms. In the section between Darmstadt and Mannheim / Heidelberg, the Main-Neckar-Bahn has reached the limit of its capabilities: 250 trains a day pass the route in each direction. The three to four-track line between Frankfurt and Darmstadt also serves the Rhine-Main S-Bahn. The planned Intercity-Express route Frankfurt Airport - Mannheim, which will take over part of the high-speed and long-distance traffic, is supposed to bring relief. Their construction is currently not in sight. The Main-Neckar railway bridge over the Main in Frankfurt, mentioned several times, is an important part of north-south traffic, especially in freight traffic from the North Sea ports to southern Germany and Switzerland. Together with the Frankfurt – Offenbach – Hanau and Frankfurt – Maintal – Hanau lines, which it also serves, 600 trains run across the bridge every day. Long-distance transport On the Main-Neckar-Bahn, some ICE trains, especially IC and EC trains, serve the main stations of Frankfurt and Darmstadt, and almost all of them also the stations of Bensheim, Weinheim and Heidelberg. In the south they establish connections to Karlsruhe or Stuttgart (partly further to Munich, Graz, Klagenfurt or Linz), in the north to Hanover (partly Hamburg) or Dresden. In addition, the Flixtrain [38] (formerly Locomore [39]) travels over the route, stopping at Heidelberg Hbf, Weinheim Hbf and Darmstadt Hbf. Local transport: Since the 2017/2018 timetable change in December 2017, DB Regio Mitte has been using the new Twindexx multiple units, which were built for this route for the first time as class 446 with an entry height of 76 cm. On the RB 60 line (Bensheim – Mannheim (–Mainz)) only modernized class 425 railcars were to be found. At the 2018/2019 timetable change in December 2018, line RB 60 was replaced by line S6 of the S-Bahn RheinNeckar, which runs on the same route as line RB 60. Regional trains of the lines RB 67 (Mannheim – Frankfurt) and RB 68 ((Wiesloch-Walldorf–) Heidelberg – Frankfurt) operate on the route. Between Frankfurt and Darmstadt they only stop in Langen, then at all train stations and stops. Trains run every hour between 5:00 a.m. and 12:00 a.m., sometimes every half hour during peak times. They meet at junction minute .00 in Bensheim and at junction minute .30 in Darmstadt main station. Until the relocation of IC line 26, which has been running hourly with EC line 62 between Frankfurt and Heidelberg since the 2009/2010 timetable change in December 2009, the Weinheim-Lützelsachsen and Heddesheim / Hirschberg stations could only be served every two hours, which is now is only occasionally the case during rush hour. The other stations between Frankfurt and Darmstadt are served by the S-Bahn lines S3 and S4 from the Südbahnhof. The connection to Mannheim is provided by S-Bahn lines S6 of the S-Bahn RheinNeckar, which run every hour, sometimes only every two hours, from Bensheim to Mannheim. Most of these trains are connected from Mannheim Hbf via the Mainz – Mannheim line to Mainz Hbf. They are only driven by Type 425 vehicles. The only exception in the afternoon is a pair of trains that run from Ludwigshafen or Mannheim via Weinheim to Fürth in the Odenwald. This pair of trains is driven by class 623 railcars and also serves to connect the vehicles to the Ludwigshafen depot. Under the name "Main-Neckar-Ried-Express", a two-hour regional express (RE) runs between Frankfurt Hbf and Mannheim Hbf, which only operates in Langen, Darmstadt, Bickenbach, Zwingenberg (since the 2017/2018 timetable change), Bensheim, Heppenheim, Hemsbach, Weinheim and Ladenburg stops. Since December 2006, the RE trains have only stopped sporadically in Neu-Edingen / Friedrichsfeld, where they unwind in the direction of Mannheim Hbf; In the future, however, the stop will be operated regularly again with the implementation of the wing concept; one part continues as RE 60 to Heidelberg, the other to Mannheim. Since December 2017, the Regional-Express has been running every hour between Frankfurt Hbf and Darmstadt Hbf, Monday to Saturday, even outside of rush hour. On this section this results together with the line RB 68 every half hour. Since the 2018/2019 timetable change in December 2018, these additional trips have also been offered on Sunday afternoons. Until December 2016, the regional transport lines were designated as RE / SE / RB 60 by the RMV. However, the VRN continues to refer to it as the R60. S3 Bad Soden (Taunus) - Frankfurt Hbf (deep) - City-Tunnel - Frankfurt Süd - Langen - Darmstadt Hbf S4 Kronberg (Taunus) - Frankfurt Hbf (deep) - City-Tunnel - Frankfurt Süd - Langen (- Darmstadt Hbf) RE 60 Frankfurt Hbf - Darmstadt Hbf - Bensheim - Weinheim - Ladenburg - Mannheim Hbf (Regional-Express) RB 67 Frankfurt Hbf - Darmstadt Hbf - Bensheim - Weinheim - Ladenburg - Neu-Edingen / Friedrichsfeld - Mannheim Hbf (regional train) RB 68 Frankfurt Hbf - Darmstadt Hbf - Bensheim - Weinheim - Ladenburg - Neu-Edingen / Friedrichsfeld - Heidelberg Hbf - Wiesloch-Walldorf (regional train) S 6 Bensheim - Weinheim - Ladenburg - Neu-Edingen / Friedrichsfeld - Mannheim Hbf - Ludwigshafen (Rhein) Hbf - Frankenthal Hbf - Worms Hbf - Mainz Hbf In June 2013, the RMV, together with VRN and NVBW, re-tendered the local transport services on the Main-Neckar-Bahn as part of the “Main-Neckar-Ried-Express” network across the EU.] The new transport contract for regional transport on the Main- Neckar-Bahn and the Riedbahn will run until 2032. TWINDEXX Vario double-decker multiple units are to be used. At the moment (December 10, 2017) double traction runs from Frankfurt, which are winged in Neu-Edingen / Friedrichsfeld and connected to Mannheim main station or via Heidelberg to Wiesloch-Walldorf. However, due to delays in delivery, the new vehicles have only been used on the Regional Express line since March 30, 2018. The wing concept could only be implemented from June 17, 2019, because DB Netz AG did not set up the necessary facilities in the Neu-Edingen / Mhm-Friedrichsfeld station in time; Until then, the RB 67 line was served as a shuttle service from Mannheim Hbf with a connection to the RB 68 line in Neu-Edingen / Friedrichsfeld with class 425 S-Bahn multiple units, but no longer connected to Mainz. Mit dem Fahrplanwechsel 2017/2018 im Dezember 2017 wurde die Linie RB 68 von Montag bis Freitag über Heidelberg Hbf hinaus bis Wiesloch-Walldorf verlängert. Nach Heidelberg Hauptbahnhof bedient sie auch die Haltestellen Heidelberg-Kirchheim / Rohrbach und St. Ilgen / Sandhausen. Ich würde mich sehr freuen, wenn ihr diese Strecke für den TS2022 bauen könntet. Mit freundlichen Grüßen BR430 Bahnhof / Darmstadt Hauptbahnhof: Bahnhof / Bensheim: Bahnhof / Weinheim (Bergstraße): Bahnhof / Heidelberg:
