Keilbahnhof (plural: Keilbahnhöfe), , is the German name for a railway station () in which the station is located between branching railway tracks.Ernst, Dr.-Ing. Richard (1989). Wörterbuch der Industriellen Technik (5th ed.). Wiesbaden: Oscar Brandstetter, 1989. . It is a junction station that is part of the railway junction itself, with its platforms converging in one direction and diverging in the other. There appears to be no direct English equivalent for this term.
Definition
A keilbahnhof is a type of junction station whose tracks usually diverge shortly before passing the platforms, and the station building being located between the tracks. The through tracks thus pass by on either side of the station building without rejoining one another again. This is in contrast to an "island station" () such as Olten station, at which the tracks merge again after passing either side of the station building (i.e. the building sits on a wide island platform). Rarely, there are keilbahnhof stations whose through tracks diverge in the area of the platforms, but never after them. In a keilbahnhof, there are at least two platforms, one on each side of the station building (e.g. Lichtensteig railway station), but additional platforms (or sidings) may be present on one or both sides.
The Y-shaped design of a keilbahnhof is not suited for splitting trains into separate rakes with different destinations (portion working). Often, the station is the terminus of the line(s) operating on the subordinate branch, while for the service(s) operating on the main branches it is a through station, although it can also be a through station on all services.
The station building can be located either between the diverging tracks or on the side of the tracks before they diverge (e.g. Monza railway station).
Examples in Germany
on the Herbertingen–Aulendorf and Altshausen–Schwackenreute lines on the Halle–Hann. Münden line Döbeln Hauptbahnhof on the Riesa–Chemnitz and Borsdorf–Coswig lines on the Węgliniec–Roßlau and Elsterwerda–Elsterwerda-Biehla lines on the Halle–Bebra and Friedrichroda lines on the Berlin-Hamburg and Hagenow Land–Schwerin lines on the Hanoverian Southern, Altenbeken–Kreiensen and Brunswick Southern lines on the Hanoverian Southern and Lehrte–Nordstemmen lines on the Hanoverian Southern, South Harz and Solling lines on the Bamberg–Hof, Cheb–Oberkotzau and Weiden–Oberkotzau lines on the Berlin–Hamburg, Magdeburg-Wittenberge and Wittenberge–Buchholz lines on the Dresden–Werdau and Schwarzenberg–Zwickau lines
Examples elsewhere
Australia Werris Creek on the Main North, Mungindi and Binnaway lines Brighton Beach on the Sandringham Line in Melbourne.
Austria on the Laaer Ostbahn and Marchegger Ostbahn lines
Belgium
Ottignies on the Belgian railway lines 139, 140 and the 161 Pepinster on the Belgian railway lines 37 and 44
France on the Haut-Bugey and Lyon–Geneva lines on the Paris–Marseille, Moret–Lyon and Lyon–Geneva lines on the Figeac–Arvant and Brive-la-Gaillarde–Toulouse (via Capdenac) lines Tarascon on the Tarascon–Sète line and two connectors to the Paris–Marseille lines
Ireland on the Belfast–Dublin line and Howth branch
Italy
on the Milan–Chiasso, Lecco–Milan and Monza–Molteno lines on the Genoa–Pisa and Pisa–Lucca lines
New Zealand Hamilton on the North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) and East Coast Main Trunk (ECMT) lines
Switzerland
on the Bière–Apples–Morges line and branch line to L'Isle-Mont-la-Ville on the Thalwil–Arth-Goldau, Pfäffikon–Arth-Goldau and Gotthard lines on the Bern–Thun, Biel/Bienne–Bern and Olten–Bern lines on the Winterthur–Koblenz and Oerlikon–Bülach lines on the Orbe–Chavornay and Jura Foot lines on the Vallorbe–Le Brassus and Simplon lines (until 2022) on the Wil–Ebnat-Kappel and Bodensee–Toggenburg lines on the Basel–Biel/Bienne, Solothurn–Moutier and Sonceboz-Sombeval–Moutier lines on the Langenthal–Oensingen, Oensingen–Balsthal and Jura Foot lines on the Chur–Rorschach and Ziegelbrücke–Sargans lines on the Martigny–Orsières line and branch line to Le Châble on the Solothurn–Worblaufen, Worb Dorf–Worblaufen and Zollikofen–Bern lines on the Thalwil–Arth-Goldau, Zug–Lucerne and Zürich–Zug lines on the Zürich–Winterthur and Oerlikon–Bülach lines
The Netherlands on the Amsterdam–Arnhem and Amsterdam–Zutphen lines Formerly on the Elst–Dordrecht and Kesteren–Amersfoort lines
United Kingdom on the Cross-City and Birmingham to Worcester via Bromsgrove lines on the Argyle, North Clyde and West Highland lines on the Chester–Manchester and Hooton–Helsby lines on the Stafford–Manchester and Crewe–Derby lines on the Ayrshire Coast Line on the East Coastway lines on the North Kent and Mid-Kent lines; The latter is also used as a loop off the South Eastern Main Line on the London, Tilbury and Southend line and the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) on the Argyle Line and West Coast Main Line Perth on the Highland Main Line and Glasgow–Dundee line on the Portsmouth and the Epsom Downs lines
United States on the Providence/Stoughton Line (Northeast Corridor and Stoughton Branch) on the UP North and UP Northwest lines on the Morristown and Montclair–Boonton lines on the Baltimore–Ohio and Old Main lines
References