Brexbach Valley Railway

Engers–Au railway
Overview
Line number	3032 Engers–Au 3034 Grenzau–Hillscheid
Locale	Rhineland-Palatinate, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Service
Route number	formerly 421, 423
Technical
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Route map Right Rhine Railway from Neuwied 0.0 Engers Right Rhine Railway to Niederlahnstein 2.8 Bendorf-Sayn 2.8 Neitzert (junction) 3.4 Sayn Tunnel (146 m) Kletterwald Brexbach Viaduct 4.4 Burg Tunnel (117 m) Brexbach Viaduct 7.2 Teufelsberg Tunnel (108 m) 9.9 Mühlberg Tunnel (226 m) 11.1 Grenzau Tunnel (111 m) 11.5 Moosberg Tunnel (85 m) 6.6 Hillscheid End of line from 1972 2.6 Höhr-Grenzhausen End of line since 2009 2.0 Steuler (sising) 0.0 Grenzau (Keilbahnhof) Kammerforst Hüttenfeld Tunnel (41 m) Hundsdorf Fuchs Neitzert 17.4 Ransbach 19.1 Ludwig connection Cologne–Frankfurt high-speed rail line A 3 19.4 Ebernhahn Limburg-Staffel–Siershahn railway from Limburg-Staffel 21.6 Siershahn 21.6 Mogendorf 25.3 Nordhofen 27.7 Selters, Rhineland-Palatinate Selters–Hachenburg railway to Hachenburg Schütz container factory Goddert[Note 1] 31.2 Marienrachdorf 36.4 Dierdorf (Bz. Koblenz) 38.6 Wienau 41.3 Raubach 42.6 Hedwigsthal 44.3 Puderbach 207 m 45.7 Reichenstein 48.9 Seifen Tunnel (38 m) 49.4 Seifen (Westerw.) Linz (Rhein)–Flammersfeld railway from Linz am Rhein 51.6 Flammersfeld 54.0 Berzhausen 56.4 Neitersen (siding, former station) 57.7 Schöneberg (Westerw) 61.1 Altenkirchen (Westerwald) Limburg–Altenkirchen railway to Westerburg 63.4 Dieperzen [Note 1] 65.4 Obererbach 66.5 Marienthal Tunnel (1050 m) 67.8 Kloster Marienthal 69.0 Breitscheidt 71.8 Hohegrete Rhineland-Palatinate North Rhine-Westphalia border 72.7 Geilhausen Sieg Sieg Railway from Cologne 74.0 Au (Sieg) Sieg Railway to Siegen Source: German railway atlas[1]

The Engers–Au railway is a single-track, non-electrified railway line and consists of three sections, which are treated separately here. It is the mainly in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, although the section near Au is in North Rhine-Westphalia.

Brexbach Valley Railway, Engers–Siershahn

The Brexbach Valley Railway (German: Brexbachtalbahn) runs through the Westerwald along the Brexbach river. It connects the East Rhine Railway with the Lower Westerwald Railway and runs from Engers via Bendorf, Grenzau and Ransbach-Baumbach to Siershahn.

On 31 May 1884, the line was opened after twelve years of planning and construction. The line was 21.6 km long. It had a branch line to Hoehr-Grenzhausen, which was just over 2 km long; in 1909 this was extended by 4 km to reach Hillscheid. The line climbs 230 metres between Engers and Siershahn, requiring more than 36 bridges and viaducts and seven tunnels.

The gradual closure of passenger services began on 28 May 1989. On 1 August 1994, passengers and freight traffic was closed between Engers and Ludwig junction. A small section was used in about 2001 during the construction of the Cologne–Frankfurt high-speed rail line. In 2004, the section between Ludwig junction and Siershahn was also closed. For years the track was very overgrown in places and not passable.

On 26 March 2007, the Verein Brexbachtalbahn e. V (Brexbach Valley Railway Association) was founded in Bendorf. The association has set itself the goal to restore the line for the tourism. Meanwhile, the line between the planned Bendorf station, Kaufland and Siershahn has been cleared, but the section between Bendorf and Grenzau is currently usable only by construction trains.

On 13 February 2009, the Ministry of Transport of Rhineland-Palatinate granted an operating license for the Siershahn–Grenzau section. As part of a celebration of the 125th birthday of the Brexbach Valley Railway on 30 May 2009 and on the following Pentecost, the section was restored to service with a steam train shuttle services for tourist traffic after Transport Minister, Hendrik Hering cut a red and white ribbon to reopen the line. In addition to the shuttles, a steam special ran from Oberhausen. In 2010, tourist trains operated at irregular intervals on the Siershahn–Grenzau section using railbuses, steam trains and LINT diesel multiple units owned by Vectus Verkehrsgesellschaft.

Passenger services between Grenzau and Hillscheid were closed on 1 October 1972. Freight traffic was closed between Grenzau and Höhr-Grenzhausen on 1 August 1994.

A reactivation for the section of the Engers-Au railway from Engers to Siershahn is planned. So already the federal ministry of transport has lightened the importance of the section between Engers and Siershahn and agreed the connection of the line to the right Rhine-railway line, so that trains can run straight from Neuwied station to Siershahn and continue from there to Montabaur since there is no plan yet for a reactivation of the section from Siershahn to Altenkirchen. To connect the Bahnstrecke Engers-Au to the right Rhine-railway, a new signal box in Engers station is planned to go in service from December of 2026.

The current, de jure operator, Eifelbahn Verkehrsgesellschaft, has started a case against the Landesbetrieb Mobilitaet (LBM) of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, because in Bendorf, at the area of the Engerser st. roundabout, the Brauerei street has been constructed on the tracks, the concrete needs to be removed to make the level crossing useable for trains again, the case has been discussed on court first time on June, 02., 2026.

Due to the view of the Eifelbahn Verkehrsgesellschaft, the construction of the Brauerei st. on the tracks was illegal.

However, construction works to make this railroad crossing useable for trains again, have already taken place.

However, especially in Bendorf some people, especially of the political FWG, are against the reactivation because of seeing the disadvantage of negative influence on the motorized individual traffic in Bendorf.

A study commissioned by the "Zweckverband SPNV Nord" (Northern Rhineland-Palatinate public Transport Association) concluded that the Engers-Au railway on it's section between Engers and Siershahn achieved the best result of all railway lines in Rhineland-Palatinate available for reactivation, with a cost-benefit ratio of 3.89.

The "Zweckverband SPNV Nord" is planning a regional train (RB) line from Neuwied via Engers, Grenzau, Ransbach-Baumbach, and Siershahn to Montabaur.

Holzbach Valley Railway, Siershahn–Altenkirchen

The Siershahn–Altenkirchen line is known as the Holzbach Valley Railway (Holzbachtalbahn). Passenger services operated on it from 1887 until 2 June 1984.

It is still used by freight traffic from Altenkirchen. The reactivation of passenger services on the line has been discussed for several years. In 2004, test runs were carried out with a Vectus Verkehrsgesellschaft diesel multiple unit on the Holzbach Valley Railway between Altenkirchen and Raubach. In 2006, the Selters–Raubach line, which had been disused since 1999, was reactivated. Since then Westerwaldbahn (WEBA) has operated freight trains over it together with the Raubach–Altenkirchen section, including to a siding in Neitersen and the Schütz factory in Selters. This traffic was hauled by OnRail DH 1004 diesel locomotives. The section was owned by WEBA until 2018.

From November 2018, Lappwaldbahn GmbH was owner and operator of the section, since December of 2025, the new founded Holzbachtalbahn GmbH, which was founded by Lappwaldbahn GmbH, is the new owner and operator of the fright traffic, that also did intensive renovation works on the infrastructure.

Because of the importance of the Flammesdeld station to the region, in 2018 a book about Flammesfeld station was published, which was available in and in the area around Seelbach, where Flammersfeld station was located in.

Opposite to the Engers-Siershahn section, there is no current plan for a reactivation of the Siershahn-Altenkirchen section for the passenger transport.

Upper Westerwald Railway, Altenkirchen-Au

The section from the Altenkirchen to Au (Sieg), also known as the Upper Westerwald Railway (Oberwesterwaldbahn) was opened on 1 May 1887.^[2] After the Second World War, as in many places, Uerdingen railbuses operated on the line. Up to 1975, steam locomotives regularly operated on the line; the last steam locomotives were Betzdorf-based locomotives of class 50, hauling gravel trains from Erbach towards Troisdorf or Cologne. On 23 May 1993, the line between Au and Altenkirchen was converted to a simplified form of signalling and train control known as Zugleitbetrieb.

With the take over of operations by Vectus Verkehrsgesellschaft on 12 December 2004, the class 628 diesel multiple units, which had operated since 1986, were replaced by modern LINT DMUs and the request stops between Altenkirchen and Au became regular stops again.

In 2013, a second emergency vehicles parking lot including good a heliport has been constructed at the north side of the Marienthal tunnel between the stops Kloster Marienthal and Oberebrach. This includes a street from Kloster Marienthal stop to the highway from Marienthal to Hamm, which is only useable for emergency and service vehicles as well as for walkers and cyclers.

At the timetable change on 14 December 2014, Hessische Landesbahn (HLB) took over operation of services on the Upper Westerwald Railway from Vectus Verkehrsgesellschaft for a period of 16 years. The current services run under the name of Westerwald-Sieg-Bahn (RB 90), generally from Siegen via Westerburg to Limburg. In the Altenkirchen-Au (-Betzdorf) section there are some additional services at busy times.

The Kloster Marienthal stop, which is located in Hilgenroth, but named and primarily used by visitors and residents of the district Marienthal (a pilgrimage site and that also hosts the former Franciscan monastery) of the village Seelbach (near Hamm (Sieg)), was several times in danger of being closed, because of challenges to meet the trains to Cologne at Au (Siege) station, but still wait for the trains coming from Frankfurt (Main) at Limburg (Lahn) station. Many trains stations along the line RB90 like Hattert, Unnau-Korb and Frickhofen, have been changed to stops without crossing possibility. Also in 2017 many people became active against the closure of the closure of the Kloster Marienthal stop.

In 2024, the 168 meters long bridge made primarily of nature stone and brick vault over the river Sieg in Windeck between the stations Geilhausen and Au (Sieg), which is completed since 1886, has been renovated.

The Hohe Grete stop, which is located in the district Wickhausen of the village Pracht, should be closed and replaced to a new stop named Pracht Mitte from 2027, which is located closer to the geographical center of the village. Also the new Pracht Mitre stop will be barrier free with guiding lines for blind passengers, loudspeaker announcements and stepless access.

Fares

The section from Engers to Altenkirchen actually is located on the area of the transport association Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Mosel (VRM), but there is no passenger transport. On the section from Altenkirchen to Hohe Grete the VRM fare applies, the stations Geilhausen and Au (Sieg) are located in the transport association VRS (Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Sieg), the VRS fare also applies for rides from and to the VRS area and the stations between Altenkirchen and Hohe Grete as well as any other train station and train stop in the Altenkirchen district.

Connections

Most towns and villages located on the section between Engers and Altenkirchen, which is out of service, are served by local busses.

The Altenkirchen and Au (Sieg) station also have Bike-and-ride facilities and Park-and-ride lots, Altenkirchen station also a taxi rank.

On Altenkirchen and Au (Sieg) station as well as the villages in between also local bus service takes place.

The Engers-Au railway is connected to the long distance walking routes Rhein-Steig, Westerwald-Steig and Marienwanderweg.

Others

An NGO, which did not want the Au (Sieg) station to end in a desolate condition, started using the station building as a cultural center called "DIE STATION", which is connected to the "Kulturhafen Au (Sieg)".

Notes

References

• [https://diebrex.de/weichesatanweiche/

New signal box for Engers station to connect Engers-Au railway to the right Rhine-railway]

• SWR aktuell: Eifelbahn Verkehrsgesellschaft started a case against the state of Rhineland-Palatinate to remove a street constructed on the tracks

• critism against the reactivation of the Engers-Siershahn section in Bendorf

• Lappwaldbahn as new owner and operator of Siershahn - Altenkirchen section from 2018

• New founded company Holzbachtalbahn GmbH takes over the Siershahn - Altenkirchen section from 2025

• Blick aktuell: oral hearing in Koblenz to the case of the, probably illegally, construction of a street on the railroad crossing Engerser st./ Brauerei st. in Bendorf

• Press relsease of the NGO Brexbachtalbahn e. V. about the case of the railroad crossing Brauerei st. in Bendorf at the Koblenz administrative court

• Report of the study of Zweckverband SPNV Nord about Engers-Au railway between Engers and Siershahn

External links

• Lothar Brill. "Photographs of tunnel portals on the line" (in German). Tunnelportale. Retrieved 26 February 2012.