Neustadt (Weinstraße) Hauptbahnhof – called Neustadt a/d. Haardt until 1935 and from 1945 until 1950 – is the central station of in the city of Neustadt in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. In addition to the Hauptbahnhof, Rhine-Neckar S-Bahn services stop at Neustadt (Weinstr) Böbig halt (Haltepunkt). Mußbach station and Neustadt (Weinstr) halt, opened on 19 November 2013, are also located in Neustadt.
The station was opened on 11 June 1847 as the terminus of the first section of the Palatine Ludwig Railway (Pfälzische Ludwigsbahn) from Rheinschanze (now: Ludwigshafen am Rhein) to Bexbach; this was opened over its full length two years later and now largely forms the Mannheim–Saarbrücken railway. With the opening of the Palatine Maximilian Railway (Pfälzischen Maximiliansbahn) to Wissembourg in 1855 and the Palatine Northern Railway (Pfälzische Nordbahn), built from 1865 to 1873, to Monsheim, it developed into a railway junction and also became a stop for long-distance trains. Since the 2000s, however, its importance for long-distance traffic has fallen. Since 2003, it has also been integrated into the network of the Rhine-Neckar S-Bahn. In addition, its entrance building is under heritage protection.
Location
Neustadt Hauptbahnhof is centrally located within Neustadt. The inner city adjoins it to the north and the Saalbau, an events and conference centre, is nearby. To the south of the railway station is the Hambacher Höhe (Hambach heights). Crossing the line to the west of the station is the German Wine Route (Deutsche Weinstraße), which winds through this area through an S-shaped curve. Immediately east of the facilities serving passengers, the railway crosses a bridge over Landauer Straße, which also forms part of federal highway 39; Bahnhofstraße (railway street) branches off it and later rejoins it. To the east, past the freight yard, is the historical district of Branchweiler.
The station is located at line-kilometre 77.203. The zero point for the kilometrage is between Bexbach and Neunkirchen on the former Bavaria–Prussia national border.
Railway lines
The Mannheim–Saarbrücken railway, which developed out of the Palatine Ludwig, comes from the northeast. It reaches Neustadt Hauptbahnhof over a drawn out S-curve, which takes it pass the freight facilities and Neustadt-Böbig halt. Beyond the Hauptbahnhof, it runs to the west or northwest along the Speyerbach through the Palatinate Forest (Pfälzerwald) towards Saarbrücken, passing the suburbs of Afrikaviertel and Schöntal.
The Maximilian Railway branches in the east from the line to Mannheim immediately after the crossing over federal road 39 and runs immediately along a long curve to the south towards Wissembourg. The Palatine Northern Railway starts in the northern station area and runs to the Neustadt-Böbig halt parallel with the line to Mannheim and continues via Bad Dürkheim and Grünstadt to Monsheim. The narrow gauge Palatine Overland Railway (Pfälzer Oberlandbahn), which existed between 1912 and 1955, began in the station forecourt (Bahnhofsvorplatz) and crossed the standard-gauge tracks a bridge it shared with the German Wine Route and passed through several wine-growing villages to Landau.
History Connection to the rail network (1835–1849)
Originally it had been planned to build a railway running north–south in the then Bavarian Circle of the Rhine (Rheinkreis). However, it was agreed to first build a railway running east–west, which was to be used primarily for transporting coal from the Saar district (now part of the Saarland) to the Rhine. Two options were discussed for the general route through Kaiserslautern, as the development of a route through the Palatinate Forest (Pfälzerwald) proved to be complicated. At first the responsible engineers considered a route through the Dürkheim valley. However, this proved impractical because its side valleys were too low, and above all the climb to Frankenstein would have been too high steep. It would have required stationary steam engines and rope haulage to overcome the differences in altitude. For this reason, they chose an option through the Neustadt valley, which would also be difficult to climb according to expert opinion, but would be feasible and, in contrast to the Dürkheim valley, would avoid the need for stationary steam engines. At the same time, plans were also being made to build a railway line from Mainz to Neustadt, but these did not proceed.
The tracks were laid between Rheinschanze and Neustadt from April 1846. Neustadt station's entrance building was completed at the same time; this was built in the Italianate style. The section was finally opened on 11 June 1847. The opening train, which began in Ludwigshafen, was hauled by the locomotive Haardt, which was numbered 1. The celebrations on site included music and cannon fire. On the platform were the state commissioner of Neustadt and some other subordinate officials; the president of the Palatinate region gave a speech. The return trip, in which these officials also took part, set off at 1 pm.
The completion of the Neustadt–Frankenstein section was especially delayed by difficulties in acquiring the land needed and the difficult topography. For example, ten tunnels had to be built through hills and foothills. The opening ceremony finally took place on 25 August 1849.
Development of the Palatine Maximilian Railway (1849–1860)
At the same time as the Ludwig Railway was being built, plans were developed for a north–south link within the Palatinate. It was debated as to whether a route through the hills from Neustadt via Landau to Wissembourg (Alsace) or a route near the Rhine via Speyer, Germersheim and Wörth was more urgent and desirable. The military especially preferred a route on the edge of the Palatinate Forest. However, the political events of 1848 caused the project to come to a standstill.
In January 1850, a brochure appeared in Neustadt (then called Neustadt an der Haardt) that promoted a route via Landau to Wissembourg (German: Weißenburg) and argued that the line should serve the larger townships rather than those immediately alongside the Rhine among other things. The decision finally went in favour of a line through the hills in 1852, after reports and investigations had been launched the previous year. On 3 November 1852, the Bavarian king, Maximilian II allowed its construction to proceed, by approving the creation of a joint-stock company that launched the project.
The Neustadt–Landau was opened on 18 July 1855 and the Landau–Wissembourg section followed on 26 November 1855. This meant that Neustadt was the third railway junction within the Palatinate, after Schifferstadt (1847) and Ludwigshafen, formerly Rheinschanze (1853).
Origin of the Palatine Northern Railway (1860–1873)
In 1860, a local committee promoted the construction of a railway from Neustadt an der Weinstraße via Bad Dürkheim to Frankenthal. Above all, the factories in Dürkheim would benefit from a railway line. Although such a route would run parallel to the Palatine Maximilian Railway and the Mainz–Ludwigshafen railway, the proponents were optimistic that the planned route would be preferred due to its greater scenic appeal.
The corresponding petition, however, met with no response since difficulties with the Palatine Ludwig Railway Company (Pfälzische Ludwigsbahn-Gesellschaft) were feared. For this reason, agreement was reached on 25 January 1862 that only a local railway would be built between Neustadt and Dürkheim. The construction of the new railway line required major reconstruction measures, which cost 218,000 gulden. As a result of this project, the existing entrance building also had to be replaced, since the railway had gradually become congested and the station had to be extended. Neustadt was given a larger building, which was located somewhat further east and was equipped with a platform canopy. In addition, the station received a goods shed as well as an engine shed with nine stalls. The tracks were extended to a total length of 1.8 kilometres and Landauer Straße, which had previously crossed the railway tracks on the level, was reconstructed through an underpass.
The opening of the branch line to Dürkheim followed on 6 March 1865. It was extended to the Rhenish Hesse town of Monsheim on 20 July 1873 after the Grünstadt–Monsheim section had already been opened in March of the same year.
Further development (1873–1960)
In 1875, the station became the site of a state telegraph office. In 1887, a curve was opened connecting the line from Schifferstadt towards the line to Neustadt (Maximilian Railway); this meant that freight trains from the east no longer had to reverse in the station. The station received ticket gates on 15 October 1906.
The station, together with the rest of the Palatinate rail network, became part of the Palatine Ludwig Railway Company (Pfälzische Ludwigsbahn-Gesellschaft) on 1 January 1909. From 16 December 1912 onwards, the so-called Palatine Overland Railway (Pfälzer Oberlandbahn) ran from the station forecourt as an interurban, first as far as Edenkoben and from 13 January 1913 to Landau. Its purpose was to link several places between Neustadt and Landau, which had not been connected to the Maximilian Railway. At the beginning of the First World War, a total of 401 trains passed through the station from 2 to 18 August. 40 trains ran from Mannheim daily; 20 of them continued to Saarbrücken, the remaining ones ran on to the Maximilian Railway in Neustadt. After Germany had lost the war and the French military had marched in, the Maximilian Railway south of Maikammer-Kirrweiler was blockaded for passenger traffic on 1 December 1918, but it was reopened three days later.
The station was integrated into the newly founded Reichsbahndirektion Ludwigshafen (railway division of Ludwigshafen). During the dissolution of the railway division of Ludwigshafen on 1 April 1937, it was transferred to the railway division of Mainz.
In the two world wars the station was hardly affected. After the Second World War, it became part of the Bundesbahndirektion Mainz (Deutsche Bundesbahn division of Mainz), which had succeeded the Reichsbahndirektion Mainz. In the 1950s, the Palatine Overland Railway was shut down. The railway station was redesigned and modernised in 1960.
Developments since 1960 Since the main line from Mannheim had always had a great significance for long-distance traffic to Saarbrücken, it was gradually electrified, starting in 1960. The Saarbrücken–Homburg section could be operated electrically on 8 March 1960. The Homburg–Kaiserslautern followed on 18 May 1961 and from 12 March 1964 the entire line was electrically operated. The electrification of the last section was delayed mainly because of the numerous tunnels between Kaiserslautern and Neustadt that had to be enlarged. For the opening, a special service of the Rheingold ran along the route.
The electrification work meant that this section was temporarily operated over only a single track and in one place trains could run at 40 km/h at most; as a result of the limited capacity several freight trains were directed over the Landau–Rohrbach railway and the Zeller Valley Railway (Zellertalbahn) towards Worms.
On 1 August 1971, the station came under the jurisdiction of the railway division of Karlsruhe. In 2003, the station was modernised, including the raising of the platform, in preparation for its integration in the Rhine-Neckar S-Bahn. Since then services on lines S1 (Homburg–Osterburken and S2 (Kaiserslautern–Mosbach) stop at the station.