A Vias train leaves Babenhausen station in the direction of Hanau.
© ZWK
In the so-called Erbach Declaration this week the RMV and counties outlined the future of the Odenwaldbahn. The “Hanauer Ast” does not play a major role in this.
Darmstadt-Dieburg – “model of success”, “backbone of local public transport” and “an important building block for environmentally friendly and clean city traffic” – Representatives of the RMV and the districts of Darmstadt-Dieburg, Odenwald, Offenbach and the city of Darmstadt have the status of the Odenwaldbahn , whose first section between Babenhausen and Groß-Umstadt turns 150 next Monday, is highlighted this week. However, the reason for this is not the anniversary, but the so-called Erbach Declaration, in which those responsible have at least laid down projects that “should continue the success of the Odenwaldbahn in the short, medium and long term”. Now the confessions must also be followed up by deeds.
Accordingly, one of the things that can be done at short notice is to increase capacity on weekends so that most trains run in double traction on Saturdays and Sundays. The RMV is also checking for the upcoming timetable change, where gaps in the cycle can still be closed on the Odenwaldbahn with individual additional trips. In addition, the association will commission the operator Vias to procure five additional Lint54 vehicles. The aim is that these should be delivered in 2022 and thus create the basis for further schedule extensions. For long-term infrastructure issues, the most urgent measure is to extend all platforms to 170 meters so that longer trains with 50 percent higher capacity can stop.
The last-mentioned project frowns at Babenhausen’s mayor Joachim Knoke. Because in the Gersprenzstadt, when the station was modernized not so long ago, the platforms were shortened to around 130 meters. “I welcome everything that makes public transport more attractive,” says Knoke. At the top of his list of priorities, however, is the train connection to Aschaffenburg: the RB 75 line operated by the Hessian State Railways. In doing so, it relies on the calls it enforces between the transport associations so that tickets can also be booked continuously via the RMV.
The “Hanauer Ast” of the Odenwaldbahn: The section between Babenhausen via Langstadt to Groß-Umstadt was opened on June 29, 1870, 150 years ago.
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Uwe Schuchmann, spokesman for the Odenwaldbahn Initiative, voices clear criticism. Firstly, because the “Erbach Declaration” says nothing about secured infrastructure measures. “Politicians only want to work for this. So there is no financing and construction plan, ”says Schuchmann on request. On the other hand, the “Hanauer Ast” hardly ever appears in the explanation. And that, although Claudia Jäger, First District Representative of the Offenbach district, emphasizes that “the Odenwaldbahn is the central rail link for the eastern part of the Offenbach district to the regional centers in the Rhine-Main area” – and therefore also for the eastern part of the district Darmstadt-Dieburg.
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“There is a need for more direct connections to Frankfurt without having to change trains,” was one of Schuchmann’s central demands. The “Hanauer Ast” was unlucky enough to be just outside the “Großer Frankfurter Bogen” proclaimed by Transport Minister Tarek Al-Wazir (30 minutes by train to Frankfurt). For the “Hanauer Ast”, important infrastructure work would be a double-track expansion between Hainstadt and Seligenstadt and between Langstadt and Klein-Umstadt, so that the regional expresses can run every hour.
BY NORMAN KÖRTGE
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