Hunsrück Railway

Hunsrück Railway
DB Regio push–pull train on Hubertus Viaduct
Overview
Native name	Hunsrückbahn
Locale	Rhineland-Palatinate
Termini	Simmern (original) Emmelshausen (operational) Boppard Süd
Line number	3020
Technical
Line length	53.5 km (33.2 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Maximum incline	0.609%
Rack system	Abt (until 1931)
Route number	479
Route map Trans-Hunsrück Railway from Langenlonsheim Branch line from Gemünden 0.0 Simmern Trans-Hunsrück Railway to Hermeskeil 1.8 Schmiedel Tunnel (81 m) 3.5 Keidelheim 5.4 Külz (Hunsrück) 9.6 Alterkülz 13.1 Bell (Hunsrück) 15.1 Kastellaun 18.7 Hollnich 20.9 Ebschied 23.7 Dudenroth 25.7 Lingerhahn 29.0 Pfalzfeld 33.3 Leiningen (Hunsrück) 38.1 Emmelshausen 40.8 Ehr 43.6 Boppard-Fleckertshöhe 46.5 Boppard-Buchholz 48.0 Hinterburden Tunnel 1 (64 m) 48.3 Hinterburden Tunnel 2 (65 m) 49.4 Rauschenloch Viaduct 49.6 Hubertus Viaduct (150 m) 49.7 Rauerberg Tunnel (124 m) 50.2 Talberg Tunnel (144 m) 51.1 Kalmut Tunnel (124 m) Left Rhine line from Koblenz 52.8 Boppard Left Rhine line to Mainz 53.5 Boppard Süd Source: German railway atlas

Source: German railway atlas

The Hunsrück Railway (German: Hunsrückbahn) is a partially disused railway branch line in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, which branches from the West Rhine Railway in Boppard and used to run as far as Simmern. The 38 kilometre section south of Emmelshausen has been dismantled and has been since replaced by the Schinderhannes-Radweg cycle path. In Simmern it connected with the now partially closed Hunsrückquerbahn (Trans-Hunsrück Railway) between Langenlonsheim and Hermeskeil.

On the 15 kilometre-long Boppard–Emmelshausen section there are regular local services operated by Rhenus Veniro as route RB 37. Many school students from Emmelshausen and Boppard-Buchholz rely on the trains and their travel was facilitated by the extension of the line from Boppard Central Station to Boppard Süd station.

The name Hunsrückbahn was given to this line only after the closure of passenger services on another line that was originally called the Hunsrückbahn, which runs between Langenlonsheim and Hermeskeil. These original Hunsrückbahn is now called the Hunsrückquerbahn (literally meaning the “Trans-Hunsrück Railway”) to distinguish them (especially since the development of Hahn Airport).

The railway was opened in August 1908. Three years were spent building the last section between Boppard and Kastellaun. Not only the steep route between Boppard and Buchholz, but also the line through the front ridge of the Hunsrück required a high standard of technology and a substantial workforce. There were some deaths in the construction of the Hunsrück Railway. The most serious accident occurred on 4 January 1907 in the drilling of the tunnel between Leiningen and Lamscheid when a worker was crushed by a landslide. While colleagues and volunteers searched for him, more earth slipped, killing another twelve. There is a memorial at the disaster site to the 13 dead.