Lichtenfels station
Encyclopedia
Lichtenfels station is in the town of Lichtenfels
in Upper Franconia
in the German state of Bavaria
. It is a regional rail hub and an ICE stop on the Hamburg
–Berlin
Munich
route and is classified by Deutsche Bahn
as a station of category 3
.
on the Bamberg–Hof railway
and 150.9 from Eisenach
on the Werra Railway
at a height of 262.4 metres above sea level and is located west of the town centre and east of the Main river.
began in the summer of 1841, and work started shortly later. The line had to penetrate the town’s wall, which had to be rebuilt with a new Coburger Tor ("Coburg gate") over the line. The station, together with a depot, was first connected to the line in January 1846. The official opening ceremony followed on 15 February 1846. On 15 October 1846 the line was extended to Neuenmarkt
and on 1 November 1848 the line reached its terminus in Hof. The first massive entrance building was a temporary wooden structure built between 1847 and 1850. In January 1859 the Werra Railway was extended to Lichtenfels, making the station a railway hub and requiring the upgrading of the station in 1862 to provide separate tracks for the Werra Railway Company and the Royal Bavarian State Railways
. The station gained new significance with the opening of the Franconian Forest Railway
to Probstzella
in October 1885, part of a new long-distance route to Berlin. The acquisition of the assets of the Werra Railway by the Prussian government in the 1890s was followed by an extensive expansion and restructuring of the railway facilities. The number of running tracks was increased to eleven, with 17 signalman’s posts replaced by four signal boxes. Lichtenfels’ station area covered about 30 hectares and the railways employed about 29 percent of the city’s workforce in 1914. The Coburger Tor was demolished in 1889. In 1896 the Coburger Straße pedestrian bridge was built over the railway tracks; it was demolished in 1934.
From 1934 to 1936 extensive works were carried out in preparation for the electrification of the line, including the building of a pedestrian underpass to the platforms, a road underpass for Coburger Straße, the raising of the level of the tracks and the installation of modern signal boxes and interlockings. Electric train operations were included in schedules from 15 May 1939.
During the Second World War, the depot was destroyed in an air raid on 23 February 1945. The German army demolished the switches and water cranes on 11 April 1945. 95 percent of the damage had been repaired by the end of 1945.
In the autumn of 1983 a new central interlocking was commissioned to the design of Lorenz. At the beginning of the 21st century this was followed by a further reorganisation of the station. The platforms were redesigned and they received a new roof, lifts, and 76 cm high platforms.
In long-distance traffic, Intercity-Express tilt trains
stop every two hours on the Hamburg–Berlin–Leipzig–Jena
–Nuremberg
–Munich
route. From 2017 Intercity-Express trains are due to run on the Nuremberg–Erfurt high-speed railway to the west of Lichtenfels and this stop will be omitted.
In regional transport, Lichtenfels is a hub with hourly connections to Upper Franconia and Southern Thuringia
. It is the terminus for the following Regionalbahn
connections:
and a stop on these Regional-Express connections:
In the roundhouse of the old railway depot contains some locomotives of the Nuremberg Transport Museum
.
Lichtenfels, Bavaria
Lichtenfels is a town in Bavaria, Germany, capital of the district of Lichtenfels. It is situated on the upper course of the river Main , approx. 15 km southeast of Coburg, and 30 km northeast of Bamberg, in an area called Gottesgarten am Obermain .Lichtenfels became as of middle of the 19...
in Upper Franconia
Upper Franconia
Upper Franconia is a Regierungsbezirk of the state of Bavaria, southern Germany. It forms part of the historically significant region of Franconia , all now part of the German Federal State of Bayern .With more than 200 independent breweries which brew...
in the German state of 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...
. It is a regional rail hub and an ICE stop on the Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
–Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
route and 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 station of category 3
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....
.
Location
Lichtenfels station is 31.9 km from BambergBamberg
Bamberg is a city in Bavaria, Germany. It is located in Upper Franconia on the river Regnitz, close to its confluence with the river Main. Bamberg is one of the few cities in Germany that was not destroyed by World War II bombings because of a nearby Artillery Factory that prevented planes from...
on the Bamberg–Hof railway
Bamberg–Hof railway
The Bamberg–Hof railway is a 127 kilometre-long main line that runs through Bavaria in southern Germany. The line runs from Bamberg via Lichetenfels, Kulmbach, Neuenmarkt-Wirsberg and Münchberg to Hof. The section from Hof to Neuenmarkt now forms part of the Saxon-Franconian trunk line.-History:The...
and 150.9 from Eisenach
Eisenach
Eisenach is a city in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated between the northern foothills of the Thuringian Forest and the Hainich National Park. Its population in 2006 was 43,626.-History:...
on the Werra Railway
Werra Railway
The Werra Railway is a single-tracked main line with a standard gauge of 1,435 mm in Thuringia and Bavaria in southern and central Germany, that runs mostly along the river Werra. It runs from Eisenach via Meiningen to Eisfeld and, formerly, continued to Coburg and Lichtenfels. It was opened...
at a height of 262.4 metres above sea level and is located west of the town centre and east of the Main river.
History
Planning of the Bamberg–Lichtenfels section of the Ludwig South-North RailwayLudwig South-North Railway
The Ludwig South-North railway , built between 1843 and 1854, was the first railway line to be constructed by Royal Bavarian State Railways...
began in the summer of 1841, and work started shortly later. The line had to penetrate the town’s wall, which had to be rebuilt with a new Coburger Tor ("Coburg gate") over the line. The station, together with a depot, was first connected to the line in January 1846. The official opening ceremony followed on 15 February 1846. On 15 October 1846 the line was extended to Neuenmarkt
Neuenmarkt
Neuenmarkt is a municipality in the district of Kulmbach in Bavaria in Germany.-City arrangement:Neuenmarkt is arranged in the following boroughs:...
and on 1 November 1848 the line reached its terminus in Hof. The first massive entrance building was a temporary wooden structure built between 1847 and 1850. In January 1859 the Werra Railway was extended to Lichtenfels, making the station a railway hub and requiring the upgrading of the station in 1862 to provide separate tracks for the Werra Railway Company and the Royal Bavarian State Railways
Royal Bavarian State Railways
As a nation-state, Germany did not come into being until the creation of the German Empire in 1871 from the various German-speaking states such as Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, Baden and Württemberg. By then each of the major states had formed its own state railway and these continued to remain...
. The station gained new significance with the opening of the Franconian Forest Railway
Franconian Forest Railway
The Franconian Forest Railway , route no. KBS 840, is an 88 kilometre long, electrified, double-tracked main line from Lichtenfels via Kronach to Saalfeld. It is part of the Munich–Nuremberg–Bamberg–Jena–Halle/Leipzig–Berlin trunk route...
to Probstzella
Probstzella
Probstzella is a municipality in the district Saalfeld-Rudolstadt, in Thuringia, Germany.-History:Between 1945 and 1990 Probstzella station served as East German inner German border crossing for rail transport...
in October 1885, part of a new long-distance route to Berlin. The acquisition of the assets of the Werra Railway by the Prussian government in the 1890s was followed by an extensive expansion and restructuring of the railway facilities. The number of running tracks was increased to eleven, with 17 signalman’s posts replaced by four signal boxes. Lichtenfels’ station area covered about 30 hectares and the railways employed about 29 percent of the city’s workforce in 1914. The Coburger Tor was demolished in 1889. In 1896 the Coburger Straße pedestrian bridge was built over the railway tracks; it was demolished in 1934.
From 1934 to 1936 extensive works were carried out in preparation for the electrification of the line, including the building of a pedestrian underpass to the platforms, a road underpass for Coburger Straße, the raising of the level of the tracks and the installation of modern signal boxes and interlockings. Electric train operations were included in schedules from 15 May 1939.
During the Second World War, the depot was destroyed in an air raid on 23 February 1945. The German army demolished the switches and water cranes on 11 April 1945. 95 percent of the damage had been repaired by the end of 1945.
In the autumn of 1983 a new central interlocking was commissioned to the design of Lorenz. At the beginning of the 21st century this was followed by a further reorganisation of the station. The platforms were redesigned and they received a new roof, lifts, and 76 cm high platforms.
Passenger services
ICE T
DBAG Class 411 and Class 415 are German tilting high-speed electric multiple-unit trains in service with Deutsche Bahn , commonly known as ICE T.- Development :...
stop every two hours on the Hamburg–Berlin–Leipzig–Jena
Jena Paradies station
Jena Paradies station is the main railway station of the city of Jena in the German state of Thuringia. It is on the Saal Railway and is served by Intercity-Express trains on the Berlin–Munich route and regional trains to and from Naumburg, Saalfeld and Pößneck...
–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....
–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...
route. From 2017 Intercity-Express trains are due to run on the Nuremberg–Erfurt high-speed railway to the west of Lichtenfels and this stop will be omitted.
In regional transport, Lichtenfels is a hub with hourly connections to Upper Franconia and Southern Thuringia
Thuringia
The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....
. It is the terminus for the following Regionalbahn
RegionalBahn
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...
connections:
- RB Lichtenfels–Saalfeld
- RB Lichtenfels–Nuremberg
- RB Lichtenfels–SonnebergSonnebergSonneberg is a town in Thuringia, Germany, which is seat of the district Sonneberg.It has long been a centre of toy making and is still well known for this...
- RB Lichtenfels–NeuenmarktNeuenmarktNeuenmarkt is a municipality in the district of Kulmbach in Bavaria in Germany.-City arrangement:Neuenmarkt is arranged in the following boroughs:...
-WirsbergWirsbergWirsberg is a municipality in the district of Kulmbach in Bavaria in Germany.-City arrangement:Wirsberg is arranged in the following boroughs:* Birkenhof* Cottenau* Einöde* Goldene Adlerhütte* Neufang* Osserich* Schlackenmühle* Sessenreuth...
,
and a stop on these Regional-Express connections:
- RE HofHof HauptbahnhofHof Hauptbahnhof is the main railway station in Hof in southern Germany and is situated at the intersection of the Saxon-Franconian trunk line and the Munich–Regensburg–Leipzig–Berlin line...
/ BayreuthBayreuth Hauptbahnhofis the central railway station in the German city of Bayreuth.Railway lines run north to Neuenmarkt-Wirsberg, and from there to Bamberg and over the Schiefe Ebene to Hof, east to Weidenberg, southeast to Weiden and south to Schnabelwaid with connexions to Nuremberg on the Pegnitz Valley Railway...
–Saalfeld - RE Hof / Bayreuth–WürzburgWürzburg Hauptbahnhofis 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...
- RE Nuremberg–Sonnenberg.
Tracks
The station has eleven through tracks, some without access to platforms. On its three island platforms lie platform tracks 1 and 2 (170 m long), 3 and 5 (370 m) and 6 and 7 (210 m). These are accessed by an underpass, connected by stairs and elevators. There is no longer a platform attached to the main building.In the roundhouse of the old railway depot contains some locomotives of the Nuremberg Transport Museum
Nuremberg Transport Museum
The Nuremberg Transport Museum is based in Nuremberg, Germany, and consists of the Deutsche Bahn's own DB Museum and the Museum of Communications . It also has two satellite museums at Koblenz-Lützel and Halle...
.