Kaiserslautern–Enkenbach railway

Overview

Locale

Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany

Line number

3303

Technical

Track gauge

1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in) standard gauge

Route number

672

Route map

0.0

2.5

Kaiserslautern Nord

Mannheimer Straße

Friedenstraße

Landesstraße 395

Bundesautobahn 6

Kaiserslautern interchange

Landesstraße 395

5.5

Eselsfürth to US Army base

9.2

Fröhnerhof

Kreisstraße 44

Schützenkanzel Tunnel (57 m)

Bundesstraße 48

from Hochspeyer

13.1

Enkenbach

297 m

to Bad Münster and to Grünstadt

Source: German railway atlas

The Kaiserslautern–Enkenbach railway is a single-track main line in the Western Palatinate. It runs within the area of the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Neckar (Rhene-Neckar transport association, VRN). It was built in 1875 to shorten the route for trains on the Alsenz Valley Railway (Alsenztalbahn) running to Kaiserslautern. In the following years, several express trains ran over this line. Passenger traffic was discontinued in 1987, but it was reactivated ten years later.

As early as 1863, a proposal was presented in a memorandum to build the so-called Donnersbergerbahn (Donnersberg railway) from Kaiserslautern via Kirchheimbolanden to a connection on the Rhineland border in Alzey. The course of the line was planned to run parallel to an important long-distance road that was already important at that time and later became federal highway B 40 and is now largely replaced by the A 63. During the development of this proposal, a route from Kaiserslautern via Enkenbach was conceived for the first time. Since it was feared that it would have negative effects on the operation and above all the income of the Palatine Ludwig Railway (Pfälzischen Ludwigsbahn), it was not built.

After the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 and 1871, there was an increased interest in strategic lines in South-West Germany. As a result, demands were made for a direct connection between Kaiserslautern and Enkenbach since the previous line via Hochspeyer was regarded as too indirect, especially after 1873 and 1874, when the Zeller Valley Railway (Zellertalbahn) between Langmeil and Monsheim and the Donnersberg Railway (Donnersbergbahn) between Alzey and Marnheim had been completed. The town of Kaiserslautern was particularly supportive of this, as it stood to benefit. The connection between Kaiserslautern and Enkenbach eventually came into operation on 15 May 1875. It included the intermediate stations of Kaiserslautern Nord and Eselsfürth.

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Wikipedia