Lichtenfels station

Lichtenfels station is in the town of Lichtenfels in Upper Franconia in the German state of Bavaria. It is a regional rail hub and a former ICE stop on the Hamburg–Berlin Munich route and is classified by Deutsche Bahn as a station of category 3.

Lichtenfels
Through station
East facade of the entrance building
Location	Am Bahnhofsplatz 3, Lichtenfels, Bavaria Germany
Coordinates	50°8′46″N 11°3′35″E
Owned by	Deutsche Bahn
Operated by	DB Netz DB Station&Service
Line(s)	Bamberg–Hof railway Werra Railway
Platforms	6
Construction
Architect	Gottfried von Neureuther
Architectural style	Neo-Renaissance
Other information
Station code	3700[1]
DS100 code	NLF[2]
IBNR	8000228
Category	3[1]
Fare zone	VGN: 1301[3]
Website	www.bahnhof.de
History
Opened	15 February 1846
Services
Preceding station   DB Fernverkehr   Following station Terminus ICE 28 via Nürnberg - Erfurt - Leipzig - Berlin ICE 1501 only Bamberg towards Munich Kronach towards Leipzig IC 61 Bamberg towards Karlsruhe Preceding station   VGN S-Bahn/R-Bahn   Following station Schney Terminus Bad Staffelstein toward Nürnberg Hbf Schney Terminus Michelau (Oberfr) toward Mainroth Bad Staffelstein toward Bamberg Michelau (Oberfr) toward Redwitz (Rodach) Hochstadt-Marktzeuln toward Burgkunstadt Bad Staffelstein toward Bamberg
Location
Lichtenfels Location in Bavaria Lichtenfels Location in Germany Lichtenfels Location in Europe

Location

Lichtenfels station is 31.9 km from Bamberg 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.

History

Line map of Lichtenfels area in 1912

Planning of the Bamberg–Lichtenfels section of the Ludwig South-North Railway 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.[4]

In the autumn of 1983 a new central interlocking was commissioned to the design of Lorenz.[5] 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.

Looking west, a "wrong-coloured" 218 217-8 on the right in 1995

Passenger services

Long-distance

In Long-distance traffic ICE services on line 28, Hamburg–Berlin–Leipzig–Jena–Nürnberg–Munich, stopped every two hours until December 9, 2017.

With the start of the Ebensfeld–Erfurt high-speed railway in December 2017, it lost its status as a station for long-distance trains.[6] The new line runs a few kilometres to the west of Lichtenfels. Now, the closest regular ICE stop is Bamberg and Intercity trains (Karlsruhe–Leipzig) serve Lichtenfels once a day each way.

Lichtenfels is served by the current long-distance services (2019):

Line	Route	Frequency
ICE 28	(Hamburg –) Berlin – Leipzig – Jena Paradies – Lichtenfels – Nuremberg – Ingolstadt / Augsburg – Munich	One train
IC 28	Berlin – Leipzig – Lichtenfels – Nuremberg – Augsburg – Munich	One train pair

According to a traffic modelling on behalf of the Coburg Chamber of Commerce in 2014, the station would handle 520 ICE passengers daily, 170 of those changing trains and 340 starting or finishing their journeys at the station.[7]

Regional services

In regional transport, Lichtenfels is a hub with hourly connections to Upper Franconia and South Thuringia. The station is the start or end point for Regionalbahn connections and a through station for an agilis connection and three Regional-Express services:

Train class	Route		Frequency	Rolling stock
RE	Franken-Thüringen-Express: Nuremberg – Fürth – Erlangen – Bamberg	– Lichtenfels – Coburg – Sonneberg	Hourly	class 442 (Talent 2)
		– Lichtenfels – Kronach – Saalfeld	Every 2 hours
RE	Franken-Thüringen-Express: Nuremberg – Fürth – Erlangen – Bamberg – Lichtenfels – Saalfeld – Jena – Leipzig		Every 2 hours	class 442 (Talent 2)
RE	Main-Saale-Express: (Bamberg –) Lichtenfels – Neuenmarkt-Wirsberg – Hof / Bayreuth (– Nuremberg)		Hourly	BR 641
RB	(Kronach–) – Lichtenfels – Bamberg		Hourly	class 442 (Talent 2)
	Bad Rodach – Coburg – Lichtenfels – Kulmbach – Neuenmarkt-Wirsberg – Bayreuth		Hourly	class 650 (Regio-Shuttle RS1)

Since December 2013, the regional express service, Würzburg–Bamberg–Lichtenfels–Bayreuth/Hof, has been divided into two lines. DB Regio Franken won the tender for services from 2015 in the Main-Spessart region and now operates to Bamberg, some services extended to Frankfurt via Würzburg. The Bamberg– Lichtenfels–Bayreuth/Hof route continues to be operated by DB Regio Oberfranken.

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.

Entrance building

Western view

The entrance building was built in 1848 and 1849 to an 1847 design of the architect Gottfried Neureuther. It consisted of a three-story central building with four windows and on both sides it had three-storey wings. In 1859/60 the wings were extended. In 1862 the station building was completely reconstructed in a Renaissance Revival style. It was south of an additional building that was designed similar to the old central building and connected to it by a three-storey building. In 1886 a symmetrical reception building was added. The station building is now listed as a monument by the Bavarian government.

Notes

1. "Stationspreisliste 2021" [Station price list 2021] (PDF) (in German). DB Station&Service. 16 November 2020. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
2. Eisenbahnatlas Deutschland (German railway atlas) (2009/2010 ed.). Schweers + Wall. 2009. ISBN 978-3-89494-139-0.
3. "Tarifzonenplan: VGN-Gesamtraum" (PDF). Verkehrsverbund Großraum Nürnberg. 1 January 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2019. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
4. Ulrich Rockelmann/Thomas Naumann: Die Frankenwaldbahn. Die Geschichte der Steilrampe über den Frankenwald. EK-Verlag Freiburg 1997. ISBN 3-88255-581-5, p. 95
5. Steffen Dietsch, Stefan Goldschmidt, Hans Löhner: Die Werrabahn. Verlag Eisenbahnfreunde Steinachtalbahn-Coburg, Coburg 2008, ISBN 978-3-9810681-3-9, p. 183
6. Manuel Rehkopf (26 August 2013). Vollständige Inbetriebnahme der Neu-/Ausbaustrecke VDE 8, Angebotskonzept DB Fernverkehr AG (in German). p. 7. (presentation)
7. "Erstellung eines kleinteiligen Verkehrsmodells mit Potentialanalyse für den ICE-Systemhalt Coburg: Zusammenfassung" (Press release) (in German). Hannover: IHK zu Coburg. 28 January 2015. pp. 3, 5.

References

• Dippold, Günter (April 2001). "Eisenbahn und Kleinstadt - Auswirkungen des Knotenpunktes auf Lichtenfels im 19. und frühen 20. Jahrhundert" (PDF). Heimatbeilage zum Oberfränkischen Schulanzeiger (in German). Bayreuth (281). Archived from the original (PDF, 1.56 MB) on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2011.
• Ulrich, Werner; Pohlmann, Dieter; Kaetzke, Friedrich (1982). "Erhaltung der Hochbauten, dargestellt an den Empfangsgebäuden der Bahnhöfe Nürnberg, Regensburg und Lichtenfels". ETR (in German). 32 (1/2): 58–61.
• Schäfer, Hans-Peter (1990). "Über die Durchgangsstation zum Eisenbahnknoten Lichtenfels – Zu den Anfängen der Eisenbahngeschichte am Obermain". In Dippold, Günter; Urban, Josef (eds.). Im oberen Maintal, auf dem Jura, an Rodach und Itz. Landschaft, Geschichte, Kultur (in German). Lichtenfels: self-published by Kreissparkasse Lichtenfels. pp. 197–224.

External links

• "Stationssteckbrief Lichtenfels" (in German). Retrieved 1 January 2011.