Fulda railway station
Encyclopedia
Fulda station is an important transport hub of the German railway network in in the east Hessian
city of Fulda
. It is used by about 20,000 travellers each day. It is classified by Deutsche Bahn
as a category 2 station
. It is a stop for Intercity-Express, Intercity
services and regional services. The original station was opened as part of the Frankfurt–Bebra railway in 1866. This was destroyed during the Second World War and rebuilt after the war. The station was adapted in the 1980s for the Hanover–Würzburg high-speed railway.
and Fulda-Main Railway in the south. The Vogelsberg Railway connects to the hills of the Vogelsberg
in the west and the Rhön Railway to Gersfeld
to the Rhön in the east.
–Bavaria
n/Hessian border section, which had started in February 1974, two other variants were introduced into the discussion in June, 1976. Under Option II, the new line would also have bypassed Fulda to the west with a link between the new line and the station at Neuhof
. Under Option III (which was later substantially realised), it was proposed that the new line would be built along the existing line between Niesig and Bronzell. In 1976, DB adopted Option III and it was approved by the regional planning process in Fulda, which was completed in July 1978.
Under the operating concept adopted the tracks of the new line and the North-South line run parallel in the same direction on either side of the station platforms, allowing easy transfers between the two lines. The tracks of the new line were built in the middle of the tracks through the existing through station, on either sides are the tracks of the north-south line. All existing tracks had to be rebuilt for this work, including the bridges of intersecting roads and water systems. Overall, between 1984 and 1991 (according to a planning document in about 1988), there would be 89 construction stages with 28 intermediate track layouts, during which the operation of passenger and freight through the station was to be fully maintained. In 1985 a new central signal box went into operation. The relocated tracks on the north-south line towards Frankfurt went into operation in December 1986; the tracks towards Göttingen followed in October 1987. At the end of 1987, railway construction began on the new line to Kassel.
. It had a two-storey central section, attached to two single storey wings, which were in turn, each attached to a two-storey corner pavilion. This building was destroyed in the Second World War in 1944.
A massive new building was built on the foundations of the former station building between 1946 and 1954 to a design by architects Schiebler & Helbich. This is dominated by a central, glass-enclosed lobby.
During the construction of the Hanover–Würzburg high-speed line in the 1980s, Fulda station was redesigned. Bahnhofstrasse, the street on the southwest side of the station, was lowered to the station’s basement level and a new entrance area was created, so that the pedestrian tunnel running under the tracks now emerges at ground level. Due to this lowering of the station forecourt, the entrance building now appears higher and more monumental than it did originally. A central bus station was created southwest of the station building on the same level as the platforms.
services on the Vogelsberg line and on the line to Gießen.
South of the passenger railway station there is a freight yard, which was formerly important for express freight. Today it handles very little freight. Until the late 1990s, containers were transhipped there.
Two platform tracks have been installed for the new line between the tracks used by the north-south line. Between the new line tracks there is a passing track for traffic not stopping at the station. While platform 1 is reserved for regional transport, the two island platforms to the west, each have one face on the new line and one on the old line, with the tracks facing each platform running in the same direction to facilitate the transfer of passengers between trains.
Close to the station to the southwest and northeast are tight curves with radii of 600 and 675 m. This limits speed to 100 km/h, even for trains that are not stopping. Due to spatial constraints that speed could not be raised as part of the building of the new line.
Most long distance trains that use the Hanover–Würzburg high-speed line stop at Fulda station. Only the Intercity-Express trains of lines 20 and 22 (Hamburg–Frankfurt–Stuttgart/Basel) and the ICE-Sprinter line between Berlin and Frankfurt (this a premium service with one service running each way non-stop in the early morning and the evening of each working day and Sunday evening) run through the station without stopping.
Hesse
Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...
city of Fulda
Fulda
Fulda is a city in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district .- Early Middle Ages :...
. It is used by about 20,000 travellers each day. It is classified by Deutsche Bahn
Deutsche Bahn
Deutsche Bahn AG is the German national railway company, a private joint stock company . Headquartered in Berlin, it came into existence in 1994 as the successor to the former state railways of Germany, the Deutsche Bundesbahn of West Germany and the Deutsche Reichsbahn of East Germany...
as a category 2 station
German railway station categories
About 5,400 railway stations in Germany that are owned and operated by the Deutsche Bahn subsidiary DB Station&Service are assigned into seven categories, denoting the service level available at the station....
. It is a stop for Intercity-Express, Intercity
Intercity (Deutsche Bahn)
Intercity is the second-highest train classification in Germany, after the ICE. Intercity services are loco-hauled express services, usually over long-distances. There are Intercity routes throughout Germany, and routes generally operate with a two-hour frequency, with multiple routes giving a more...
services and regional services. The original station was opened as part of the Frankfurt–Bebra railway in 1866. This was destroyed during the Second World War and rebuilt after the war. The station was adapted in the 1980s for the Hanover–Würzburg high-speed railway.
Connecting lines
Fulda is situated on the North-South line (Nord-Süd-Strecke) and the Hanover–Würzburg high-speed line and is an important interchange point between local and long distance traffic. The term 'North-South line' refers to the Bebra-Fulda line north of Fulda, Kinzig Valley RailwayKinzig Valley Railway (Hesse)
The Frankfurt–Bebra Railway runs from Bebra to Frankfurt am Main via Fulda, Gelnhausen, Hanau and Offenbach am Main in south central Germany. The southern section between Fulda and Frankfurt is known as the Kinzig Valley Railway due to the route it follows through the Kinzig Valley.This important...
and Fulda-Main Railway in the south. The Vogelsberg Railway connects to the hills of the Vogelsberg
Vogelsberg Mountains
The Vogelsberg Mountains are a group duct of ancient volcanic activity and are separated from the Rhön Mountains by the Fulda River and its valley....
in the west and the Rhön Railway to Gersfeld
Gersfeld
Gersfeld is a town in the district of Fulda, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated on the Fulda River, in the Rhön Mountains, southeast of Fulda.-References:...
to the Rhön in the east.
New line
The planning of the Hanover–Würzburg high-speed line originally envisaged a western bypass of Fulda, with the city connected with the new line through links to the existing line at Maberzell and Kerzell. This route, called Option I, was discarded in the mid-1970s. In the continuation of the regional planning process for the KörleKörle
Körle is a community in the Schwalm-Eder district in Hesse, Germany. It lies about 20 km south of Kassel near the turn-off for Guxhagen on Autobahn A 7.-History:Körle was first mentioned in 1074 in a donation document from the Fulda monastery....
–Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
n/Hessian border section, which had started in February 1974, two other variants were introduced into the discussion in June, 1976. Under Option II, the new line would also have bypassed Fulda to the west with a link between the new line and the station at Neuhof
Neuhof, Hesse
Neuhof is a municipality in the district of Fulda, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated 15 km southwest of Fulda....
. Under Option III (which was later substantially realised), it was proposed that the new line would be built along the existing line between Niesig and Bronzell. In 1976, DB adopted Option III and it was approved by the regional planning process in Fulda, which was completed in July 1978.
Under the operating concept adopted the tracks of the new line and the North-South line run parallel in the same direction on either side of the station platforms, allowing easy transfers between the two lines. The tracks of the new line were built in the middle of the tracks through the existing through station, on either sides are the tracks of the north-south line. All existing tracks had to be rebuilt for this work, including the bridges of intersecting roads and water systems. Overall, between 1984 and 1991 (according to a planning document in about 1988), there would be 89 construction stages with 28 intermediate track layouts, during which the operation of passenger and freight through the station was to be fully maintained. In 1985 a new central signal box went into operation. The relocated tracks on the north-south line towards Frankfurt went into operation in December 1986; the tracks towards Göttingen followed in October 1987. At the end of 1987, railway construction began on the new line to Kassel.
Station building
At the opening of the Frankfurt–Bebra railway to Fulda, the city received a station building that was of an appropriate size for those times, but architecturally conventional, in the Rundbogen styleRundbogenstil
Rundbogenstil , one of the nineteenth-century historic revival styles of architecture, is a variety of Romanesque revival popular in the German-speaking lands and the German diaspora....
. It had a two-storey central section, attached to two single storey wings, which were in turn, each attached to a two-storey corner pavilion. This building was destroyed in the Second World War in 1944.
A massive new building was built on the foundations of the former station building between 1946 and 1954 to a design by architects Schiebler & Helbich. This is dominated by a central, glass-enclosed lobby.
During the construction of the Hanover–Würzburg high-speed line in the 1980s, Fulda station was redesigned. Bahnhofstrasse, the street on the southwest side of the station, was lowered to the station’s basement level and a new entrance area was created, so that the pedestrian tunnel running under the tracks now emerges at ground level. Due to this lowering of the station forecourt, the entrance building now appears higher and more monumental than it did originally. A central bus station was created southwest of the station building on the same level as the platforms.
Station facilities
The passenger station has ten continuous through tracks, seven of which are used for passenger services, another two are used as through tracks for non-stopping trains. Track 10 is used as a siding for a rescue train for the high-speed line that is stationed in Fulda. There are also three terminal tracks, which are only accessible from the north and mainly serve RegionalbahnRegionalBahn
The Regionalbahn is a type of local passenger train in Germany.-Service:Regionalbahn trains usually call at all stations on a given line, with the exception of RB trains within S-Bahn networks, these may only call at selected stations...
services on the Vogelsberg line and on the line to Gießen.
South of the passenger railway station there is a freight yard, which was formerly important for express freight. Today it handles very little freight. Until the late 1990s, containers were transhipped there.
Two platform tracks have been installed for the new line between the tracks used by the north-south line. Between the new line tracks there is a passing track for traffic not stopping at the station. While platform 1 is reserved for regional transport, the two island platforms to the west, each have one face on the new line and one on the old line, with the tracks facing each platform running in the same direction to facilitate the transfer of passengers between trains.
Close to the station to the southwest and northeast are tight curves with radii of 600 and 675 m. This limits speed to 100 km/h, even for trains that are not stopping. Due to spatial constraints that speed could not be raised as part of the building of the new line.
Long-distance traffic
Due to its location on the north-south line, numerous fast trains ran through the station (often stopping) for many decades, including well-known services of the postwar period, such as the Blaue Enzian, which ran between Hamburg and Munich. In 1977, there were about 320 trains each day.Most long distance trains that use the Hanover–Würzburg high-speed line stop at Fulda station. Only the Intercity-Express trains of lines 20 and 22 (Hamburg–Frankfurt–Stuttgart/Basel) and the ICE-Sprinter line between Berlin and Frankfurt (this a premium service with one service running each way non-stop in the early morning and the evening of each working day and Sunday evening) run through the station without stopping.
| Line | Route | Frequency |
|---|---|---|
| Berlin Ostbahnhof Berlin Ostbahnhof Berlin Ostbahnhof is a mainline railway station in Berlin, Germany. It is in Friedrichshain, now part of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg district, and has undergone several name changes in its history. It was known as Berlin Hauptbahnhof from 1987 to 1998, a name now applied to Berlin's new central station... – Hildesheim Hildesheim Hauptbahnhof is the Hauptbahnhof of the German city Hildesheim. It is used by trains of Deutsche Bahn and Euro Rail. Trains stopping in Hildesheim are Hanover S-Bahn services, regional services and the hourly Intercity-Express trains running between Frankfurt am Main and Berlin .-History:The first Hildesheim... – Göttingen – Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe – Fulda – Frankfurt (Main) – Mannheim Mannheim Hauptbahnhof is the central railway station of Mannheim in Germany. It is the second largest traffic hub in southwestern Germany after Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof, with 658 trains a day, including 238 long-distance trains. 100,000 passengers embark, disembark or transfer between trains at the station each day... – Stuttgart Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof is the Hauptbahnhof of the city of Stuttgart, the capital of the Land of Baden-Württemberg, in southwestern Germany. It is the largest regional and long-distance railway station in Stuttgart, the main node of the Stuttgart S-Bahn network, and, together with the halt at Charlottenplatz, the main... – Ulm Ulm Hauptbahnhof is the Hauptbahnhof or central railway station for the city of Ulm, which lies on the Danube, on the border of the German states of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria. It is on ICE line from Stuttgart to Munich and the Paris –Budapest Magistrale for Europe line that is supported by the European Union... – Augsburg Augsburg Hauptbahnhof is the Hauptbahnhof for the Bavarian city of Augsburg, situated in southern Germany.The station has one of the oldest still existing station halls in Germany, which was built from 1843 to 1846 after plans by architect Eduard Rüber. It was reconstructed in 1869 according to Friedrich Bürklein's plans... – Munich München Hauptbahnhof Munich Central Station is the main railway station of the city of Munich in Germany. It is one of the three long distance train stations in Munich, the others being München-Pasing and München Ost. The station sees about 350,000 passengers a day, which puts it on par with other large stations in... |
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| Berlin Ostbahnhof – Wolfsburg Wolfsburg Hauptbahnhof Wolfsburg Hauptbahnhof or Wolfsburg Hbf is a railway station located in Wolfsburg, Germany.-History:The station was opened in 1929 and was rebuilt, with the new building being opened in 1957. It is protected as a heritage site. In 2010, a sculpture by Quinto Provenziani honouring Italian immigrants... – Hildesheim – Göttingen – Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe – Fulda – Frankfurt (Main) – Mannheim – Karlsruhe Karlsruhe Hauptbahnhof is the central railway station in the German city of Karlsruhe. The station is classified as one of the major Category 1 stations in Germany, due to its function as a hub connecting several railway lines with each other.- History :... – Freiburg – Basel Bad Basel Badischer Bahnhof Basel Badischer Bahnhof is a railway station situated in the Swiss city of Basel. Whilst the station is situated on Swiss soil, the platforms and part of the entrance hall are extraterritorial, belonging to Germany, and the station is operated by the German railway company Deutsche Bahn... – Basel SBB |
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| (Lübeck Lübeck Hauptbahnhof is the Hauptbahnhof for the Hanseatic city of Lübeck, in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. It is a through station at the western edge of the city centre.... ) – Hamburg – Hannover – Göttingen – Kassel Wilhelmshöhe – Fulda – Würzburg Würzburg Hauptbahnhof is the central station for the city of Würzburg in the German state of Bavaria.Regional and long-distance trains call at the station; it is the southern end of the Hanover-Würzburg high-speed rail line that carries InterCityExpress traffic... – Nuremberg Nürnberg Hauptbahnhof Nuremberg Central Station is the main railway station for the city of Nuremberg in Germany. It is the largest station in north Bavaria and belongs to the 20 stations in the highest category of importance allocated by DB Station&Service.... – Ingolstadt Ingolstadt Hauptbahnhof is the Hauptbahnhof for the Bavarian city of Ingolstadt, situated in southern Germany.Ingolstadt station is an important junction in the net Deutsche Bahn network... – Munich (– Garmisch-Partenkirchen Garmisch-Partenkirchen Garmisch-Partenkirchen is a mountain resort town in Bavaria, southern Germany. It is the administrative centre of the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in the Oberbayern region, and the district is on the border with Austria... ) |
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| Dresden Dresden Hauptbahnhof is one of two main inter-city transit hubs in the German city of Dresden. Designed by Ernst Giese and Paul Weidner, it was built between 1892 and 1897 at the southern border of the inner city and was important in the growth and development of the city.... – Leipzig Leipzig Hauptbahnhof is, at 83,460 m², Europe's largest railway station when measured by floor area. It has 24 platforms housed in six iron trainsheds; a multi-level concourse with towering stone arches; and a 293 metre-long facade... – Erfurt Erfurt Hauptbahnhof is the central railway station of Erfurt in Germany. It is an important junctions of the German railways and is served by numerous local and long-distance rail services. Immediately north of the station, is Erfurt's city center. It had approximately 12.5 million passengers in 2006, that is an... – Fulda – Frankfurt (Main) – Frankfurt Airport ( – Wiesbaden Wiesbaden Hauptbahnhof is the Hauptbahnhof for the city of Wiesbaden, the state capital of the German state of Hesse. It is a terminal station at the southern edge of the city center and is served by over 500 long-distance and regional trains and used by more than 30,000 travelers each day.-History:The current station... ) |
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| Leipzig – Erfurt – Fulda – Frankfurt (Main) – Frankfurt Airport | Every 2 hours | |
| (Ostseebad Binz) – Stralsund Stralsund Hauptbahnhof is the main station in Western Pomerania and the central station for railway lines running to Hamburg, Bergen auf Rügen and Berlin in the German Hanseatic city of Stralsund.It is owned and operated by Deutsche Bahn.-Station :... – Rostock Rostock Hauptbahnhof is the central railway station in the German city of Rostock. The station was first opened in 1886 by the Deutsch-Nordischer Lloyd, operating a combined railway/ferry line to Nykøbing in Denmark. In 1894, the station was renamed to Central-Bahnhof and finally to Rostock Hauptbahnhof at the turn of... – Hamburg – Hannover – Göttingen – Kassel‑Wilhelmshöhe – Fulda – Würzburg – Augsburg – Munich – Rosenheim Rosenheim station Rosenheim station is the largest railway station between Munich and Salzburg / Innsbruck and is located in the centre of the city of Rosenheim in Upper Bavaria, Germany.- Description, Location, Importance and History:... – Berchtesgaden Berchtesgaden Hauptbahnhof is the central railway station in the German city of Berchtesgaden.... |
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