Franconian Saale Valley Railway

Franconian Saale Valley Railway

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Route number:

803

Line number:

5210, 5233

Line length:

56.3 km (35.0 mi)

Track gauge:

1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in)

Maximum speed:

80 km/h (49.7 mph)

Fränkische Saaletalbahn

0,0

1,3

to Fulda / Schlüchtern

1,9

Kleingemünden(closed 1975)

2,7

Josefshaus(closed 1922)

5,3

Schönau(closed 1975)

8,9

Wolfsmünster(former station)

11,0

Seewiese

12,1

Gräfendorf

13,8

Hurzfurt(closed 1922)

15,8

Michelaubrück(in Michelau)

17,8

Weickersgrüben

19,9

Morlesau(former station)

24,0

Diebach

27,5

Hammelburg

29,0

Hammelburg Ost

31,6

Westheim-Langendorf(former station)

2 x Fränkische Saale

35,2

Elfershausen-Trimberg

Fränkische Saale

39,8

Euerdorf(former station)

46,9

9,4

Bad Kissingen

1,5

Oerlenbach

from Erfurt Hbf / Meiningen

0,0

Ebenhausen (Unterfranken)

to Schweinfurt Hbf

The Franconian Saale Valley Railway (Fränkische Saaletalbahn) is a 55 kilometre long, single-tracked, railway line in the northern part of the province of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany. It runs from Gemünden (Main) via Bad Kissingen to Ebenhausen and follows, for most of the way, the Franconian Saale (Fränkische Saale) river.

The Saale Valley Railway leaves Gemünden (Main) initially in a northerly direction on the line to Jossa, part of the old Flieden–Gemünden railway, before it branches off to the east after 1.3 km to follow the Saale Valley. It runs along the Franconian Saale from Gemünden until just short of Euerdorf, the river being almost always within view. As a result, the line often describes long curves as it runs through the mixed and pine forests of the greenbelt recreation region and out over the open countryside with good views. Beyond Euerdorf it leaves the valley floor in order to reach the higher-lying station at Bad Kissingen and the old section of line from Ebenhausen to Bad Kissingen.

The Saale Valley Railway begins in Gemünden am Main, where it branches away from the double-tracked, electrified main line from Würzburg to Aschaffenburg (the Main-Spessart Railway) as a single-tracked unelectrified main line. The halts follow, sometimes thick and fast, because even smaller villages are served; the rapid acceleration of the trains employed is largely able to cope with that. The terminus of the Saale Valley Railway, both historically and geographically, is Bad Kissingen although, as far as the timetable is concerned, the section from Bad Kissingen to Ebenhausen, part of the former stub line from Schweinfurt, is included in as route no. 803.

Since the 1970s the branches of the line from Gemünden and Ebenhausen share one track for the last 1.3 kilometres. In former times both routes had their own tracks that ran parallel to one another into the station.

...
Wikipedia