Staffel–Siershahn railway

The Staffel–Siershahn railway is a railway line between Staffel, Montabaur and Siershahn in the Westerwald. The line, which is also known as the Unterwesterwaldbahn (Lower Westerwald Railway), runs through the German states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse.

Staffel–Siershahn railway
Overview
Line number	3071
Locale	Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse, Germany
Service
Route number	629
Technical
Line length	29.8 km (18.5 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Operating speed	50 km/h (31.1 mph) (maximum)
Route map km elev from Limburg -0.005 Staffel 114 m Montabaur–Limburg Süd HSL A 3 to Westerburg 1.500 Elz Süd RP Hesse state border Niedererbach 168 m 5.950 Niedererbach Nentershausen 193 m Niedererbacher Viaduct 9.900 Steinefrenz junction 10.480 Dreikirchen (formerly Oberhausen) 12.570 Steinefrenz 268 m 14.878 Girod 17.274 Goldhausen 262 m 19.600 Heiligenroth (industrial area) from Wallmerod A 3 (re-routed in July 2000) HSL from Limburg Süd 21.696 Montabaur {since 10 July 2000) 21.760 Montabaur (until 6 July 2000) 230 m HSL to Cologne A 3 25.800 Dernbach (Westerw) 27.210 Wirges 284 m Siemens Glass junction Tonwerke Ludwig junction from Engers 29.760 Siershahn 299 m to Altenkirchen Source: German railway atlas

History

Former Montabaur station (2005)

Train of line RB29 in the new Montabaur station

The Rhenish Railway Company (Rheinische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft, RhE) planned the line and also received the concession to build it. It was opened to Staffel on 30 May 1884, by which time the Prussian state railways had taken over operations of the RhE. The Prussian government took control of the RhE on 1 January 1886.

The Lower Westerwald Railway connected to the Hadamar–Limburg line in Staffel. The Lower Westerwald Railway connected with the Brexbach Valley Railway (Brexbachtalbahn), which connected to the East Rhine Railway (Rechte Rheinstrecke) in Siershahn.

Operations

Dernbach stop

RB29 on a field close ti Girod

While the Deutsche Bundesbahn ceased passenger services on the Holzbach Valley Railway on 1 June 1984, it continued to operate services on the Lower Westerwald Railway. From 12 December 2004 to August 2015, services were operated by Vectus Verkehrsgesellschaft every hour or every two hours using LINT diesel multiple units. SPNV Nord announced on 31 October 2012 that Hessische Landesbahn (HLB) had been awarded the contract to operate the Unterwesterwaldbahn (Lower Westerwald Railway) from August 2015 to December 2030. As part of a necessary transition plan, HLB, Regionalbereich Dreiländerbahn (Three-Country Railway Regional Division), brought forward the start of operations for the RB 29 Regionalbahn service to the 2014 timetable change, particularly since the rolling stock from Vectus was also transferred to HLB. Since then, the RB 29 regional train service has operated on an irregular hourly schedule, with gaps in service, especially on weekends.

The modern Montabaur station was opened in 2002 to provide interchange with the Cologne-Frankfurt high-speed railway.

Due to an accident at a level crossing near Girod on 30 September 2011, the line was severely damaged over a length of 7 km to Montabaur. During the period required for its repair, a steam-hauled freight train of the Hanau railway museum (Museumseisenbahn Hanau) railway ran over the Taunus to Steinefrenz station to supply the concrete sleepers. After the restoration of the line, services were resumed on 19 October 2011.

Fares

Listed building Sandbachtal bridge close to Niedererbach with a passing RB29 train

Elz Süd stop

The section between Limburg-Staffel and Elz-Sued is located in the area of the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund (Rhine-Main Transport Association, RMV), the section between Niedererbach and Siershahn in the area of the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Mosel (Rhine-Moselle Transport Association, VRM).