Betzdorf (Sieg) station

Betzdorf (Sieg)
Junction station
Betzdorf station in July 2001
Location	Bahnhofstr. 1, Betzdorf, Rhineland-Palatinate Germany
Coordinates	50°47′22″N 7°52′11″E / 50.789531°N 7.869667°E / 50.789531; 7.869667Coordinates: 50°47′22″N 7°52′11″E / 50.789531°N 7.869667°E / 50.789531; 7.869667
Line(s)	Sieg Railway (km 123.1) (KBS 460) Heller Valley Railway (km 82.9) (KBS 462) Daade Valley Railway (km 0.0) (KBS 463)
Platforms	5
Other information
Station code	597
DS100 code	EBZ
IBNR	8000351
Category	3
Website	www.bahnhof.de
History
Opened	10 January 1861
Previous names	Erbach
Services
Preceding station   Deutsche Bahn   Following station Wissen (Sieg) toward Aachen Hbf RE 9 Rhein-Sieg-Express Kirchen toward Siegen Preceding station   Hessische Landesbahn   Following station Scheuerfeld (Sieg) toward Limburg (Lahn) RB 90 Westerwald-Sieg-Bahn Kirchen toward Siegen Terminus RB 93 Rothaar-Bahn Kirchen toward Bad Berleburg Terminus RB 96 Hellertal-Bahn Grünebacherhütte toward Dillenburg Preceding station   Westerwaldbahn   Following station Terminus RB 97 Alsdorf (Westerw) toward Daaden

Betzdorf (Sieg) station is in the town of Betzdorf in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It is on the Sieg Railway (Siegstrecke) and is the starting point of the Heller Valley Railway to Haiger/Dillenburg and the Daade Valley Railway to Daaden.

The construction of the station began with the construction of the Köln-Deutz–Gießen railway and the branch line from Betzdorf to Siegen on 10 January 1861. As a result of the construction of the two lines, Betzdorf became a railway junction and railway town. It had a marshalling yard to serve the surrounding iron ore mines and it grew rapidly.

Its importance as a railway junction meant that the town and station suffered severe air raids during the Second World War, resulting in two thirds of the town being destroyed by bombing. In one raid, on 12 March 1945, 61 people were killed. This attack was carried out by the US Eighth Air Force with B-17 bombers.

From the mid 1950s, almost all of Betzdorf’s railway tracks and facilities were closed, including the repair shop, the locomotive depot, the Deutsche Bundesbahn operations office, the marshalling yard, the track maintenance office, the signalling maintenance office, the station administration and the freight handling facilities, so now Betzdorf is only a junction for passenger services.

Betzdorf station has a total of six useable tracks, two mostly overgrown tracks as well as two overbuilt tracks. The entrance building is built between tracks 105 and 102.

The numbering begins on the north-east side, at today's car park.

The platforms of Betzdorf station are accessible by passengers via stairways and lifts.

The locomotive depot and carriage shed of the former railway repair facility, built shortly after 1861, are now heritage-listed.

The station’s adress is Bahnhofstraße 1. There is a ticket office and a small shop in the entrance building. In addition, Hellertalbahn GmbH had its headquarters here.