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.
Names There are several different names for the line or parts of it; these are:
Brexbachtalbahn (Brexbach Valley Railway) for the Engers–Siershahn section Holzbachtalbahn (Holzbach Valley Railway) for the Siershahn–Altenkirchen section Westerwald-Sieg-Bahn (Westerwald-Sieg Railway), until 2014: Oberwesterwaldbahn (Upper-Westerwald Rwilway) for the Altenkirchen–Au section and the Limburg–Altenkirchen line, which runs as line number RB90 of the brand Dreiländerbahn of the HLB.
History
The first efforts to build a railway in this region began in the early 1870s with the Hessian Ludwig Railway (Hessische Ludwigsbahn, HLB) planning a line across the Westerwald. The Rhenish Railway Company (Rheinische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft, RhE) also planned a line from the Sieg Valley to Limburg with a branch to the Rhine. The RhE was granted a concession for the Engers–Altenkirchen and Limburg–Siershahn lines in 1871. The HLB received a concession for a line from Troisdorf via Altenkirchen to Limburg in 1873.
The RhE contract stipulated completion four years after the necessary land acquisition. The RhE used this provision as a pretext to delay construction, as funds were scarce after the Gründerkrach ("Founders' Crash", the economic crisis following the founding of the German Empire, part of the Panic of 1873), even though 16 million marks had been budgeted for the project. Land acquisition and detailed planning of the railway lines dragged on for several years. When the company was finally nationalised by Prussia in 1880, the new completion date was set for 1 July 1884. The actual construction work then began simultaneously at numerous points along the line, as the RhE had already secured the necessary funds before nationalisation. The line was opened on schedule on 30 May 1884, along with the Staffel–Siershahn and lines.
The HLB faced similar problems and allowed its concession to lapse in 1880. Since the line of the nationalised RhE and the Limburg–Altenkirchen railway, which the Prussian state was to complete, would now have ended without a connection to the Sieg valley in the Westerwald region, Prussia decided on 21 May 1883, to build the Altenkirchen–Au connection at its own expense. This section was opened on 1 May 1887.
Operation until 1990s
The Engers–Siershahn section was planned to be double-tracked in 1905, but the project was not implemented due to high construction costs.
At the end of the Second World War, the line was repeatedly targeted by bombing raids, resulting in significant damage to the stations at Altenkirchen, Dierdorf, and . Retreating troops then blew up numerous bridges in March 1945, bringing traffic to a standstill for the time being. The line was not fully operational again until 1947.
After passenger services were switched to Uerdingen railbuses, the request stops of Hundsdorf, Mogendorf, Nordhofen, Brückrachdorf, Wienau, Berzhausen, Schöneberg (Westerwald), Kloster Marienthal and Ebernhahn were added on 20 October 1952, and the later opening of the Hohe Grete halt(now: Pracht Hohegrete) was announced.
From 1954 to 1967, the Koblenz–Betzdorf rail-road bus service also ran along this route, operating on tracks from Dierdorf (near Koblenz). Marienrachdorf station was downgraded to an unmanned stop on 7 July 1967. Steam locomotives ran regularly on the line until 1975. The last trains to operate were ballast trains from Erbach towards /Cologne, hauled by Betzdorf-based Class 50 locomotives.
On 2 June 1984, passenger services on the Siershahn–Altenkirchen section were discontinued. In 1986, Deutsche Bundesbahn (German Federal Railway) and the state of Rhineland-Palatinate concluded a framework agreement stipulating that both partners would develop plans to improve services and that a ten-year guarantee would be given for local rail services on the Au–Westerburg–Limburg line. As a result, train services between Au and Altenkirchen were expanded in 1988. Operations were largely converted to the new Class 628 trains, travel times were reduced by introducing request stops, and the number of services was increased. On 28 May 1989, local rail passenger services on the Engers–Siershahn section were also discontinued. Despite the agreement and the increase in train frequency by nine journeys per day, cross-sectional demand continued to decline, specifically on the Altenkirchen–Au section from 955 passengers per day in 1988 to 697 per day in 1992. Consequently, the service was made more frequent with the timetable change in 1993, and services were expanded during off-peak hours. At the same time, this section was converted to .
Freight traffic between Engers and Ludwig siding ceased on 1 August 1994. A small section was still used around 2001 during the construction of the Cologne–Frankfurt high-speed rail line, and in 2004 the section between Ludwig siding and Siershahn was also closed. For years, the line was heavily overgrown in places and impassable.
With the commencement of operations on 12 December 2004, Vectus Verkehrsgesellschaft deployed its new LINT multiple units, which were able to reinstate the request stops established in 1986 as regular stops. At the timetable change on 14 December 2014, Hessische Landesbahn (HLB) took over operations on the Oberwesterwaldbahn for a period of 16 years, serviced by the section DreiLänderBahn of HLB as well as the rolling stock and personnel from Vectus. The current train services, operating under the name Westerwald-Sieg-Bahn (RB 90), generally run through from Siegen, with the addition of some supplementary services on the Altenkirchen–Au section. Since the upgrade does not yet allow for the Siegen–Altenkirchen–Limburg journey times with all planned stops according to the (Germany-wide integrated timetable), most services initially terminated in Westerburg. Services between Betzdorf, Au, and Altenkirchen are doubled every two hours.
In early 2023, it was announced that three two-car Siemens Mireo Plus B multiple units would be deployed in pilot operation when the timetable changed in December 2025. These units resulted from a tender issued by the Hessische Landesbahn and are part of a test by ("Rhineland-Palatinate North Public Transport Association") for the decarbonisation of rail transport.
In November 2023, a new computer-based interlocking of went into operation at Breitscheidt station, thus ending the use of signalled train control.
Freight traffic on the Holzbachtal railway since 2005
In 2005, the infrastructure of the Selters–Raubach line, which had been closed in 1999, became the property of (WEBA). It was reactivated in 2006. Together with the Raubach–Altenkirchen section, WEBA has since served freight customers by rail from Altenkirchen, including a siding in Neitersen and Behälterbau in Selters, where the line also passes factory buildings on the factory premises. diesel locomotives (converted Class V 100 locomotives of Deutsche Bundesbahn) were used. Through freight traffic only occurred when the line via Montabaur was closed. In 2017, the transport volume reached its peak of 230,000 tonnes, which enabled operation that covered costs.
In June 2017, the Altenkirchen district council decided to terminate the cooperation agreement with DB Cargo and to initiate decommissioning proceedings for the Holzbachtalbahn line by the district-owned Westerwaldbahn railway company, effective 31 December 2017. A competitor of Schütz, Werit-Kunststoffwerke W. Schneider GmbH & Co. KG in Altenkirchen, had filed a lawsuit against the modernisation of the line, which was necessary due to its comparatively poor condition, arguing that the rail connection and the renovation of the line at the expense of public funds would give Schütz an unfair competitive advantage. Freight traffic was then partially taken over by DB Cargo at the beginning of December 2017 and completely by August 2018. DB Cargo handles all traffic via Montabaur, except for one empty train per week. At the end of 2017, Westerwaldbahn terminated the rail connection agreements.
In June 2018, it was announced that the shareholders' meeting of the Westerwald Railway had approved a takeover agreement with the . Since no further train paths are available on the Limburg-Staffel–Siershahn line, the Holzbachtal Railway remains important for freight traffic. To counter the competition complaint, tourist services are among the options being considered.
On 26 November 2018, Lappwaldbahn Service GmbH purchased the line, becoming its owner on 1 January 2019. Following temporary repairs, freight traffic on the line was able to resume on a trial basis at the end of 2019. Since September 2020, a complete overhaul has been underway, during which freight traffic was suspended for six months to allow for the reconstruction of five bridges. As part of this line renovation, in 2022, in addition to various rails, the existing steel sleepers, some dating back to 1927, were replaced with concrete sleepers on sections of the line after almost 100 years of service. The work, which required a double-digit million euro investment, was scheduled for completion in 2023/24.
In 2025, Holzbachtalbahn GmbH took over the Selters to Altenkirchen section of the line from Lappwaldbahn as owner, although the latter continued operations until 14 December 2025.
Freight traffic still operates from Altenkirchen today. Reactivating the passenger service has been under discussion for several years; in 2004, test runs were conducted between Altenkirchen and Raubach using a railcar operated by Vectus Verkehrsgesellschaft.
Plans In November 2020, the state of Rhineland-Palatinate and Deutsche Bahn signed a framework agreement for the construction of new stations and the relocation of existing ones. As part of the station modernisation initiative, a new station is planned to open in Pracht-Wickhausen in 2027, replacing the existing Hohegrete station.
Brexbachtalbahn e. V. On 26 March 2007, the Brexbachtalbahn Association was founded in Bendorf. Its goal is to put the railway back into operation for tourism and later on for public transport.
Touristic transport On 13 February 2009, the Rhineland-Palatinate Ministry of Transport granted operating approval for the Siershahn–Grenzau section. As part of a celebration marking the 125th anniversary of the Brexbach Valley Railway on May 30, 2009, and during the following Pentecost weekend, the section was reopened with shuttle services operated by a steam train for tourist traffic, following the ribbon-cutting ceremony by Transport Minister Hendrik Hering. In addition to the shuttle services, a special steam train arrived from Oberhausen. The Brexbach Valley Railway Association established additional request stops in Bendorf/Sayn (Kaufland supermarket) and at the Sayn Climbing Forest/Sayn Abbey, and also reactivated the Scout Camp stop.
In 2010, tourist train journeys were offered for the first time on the Siershahn–Grenzau section using Class 798 railbuses, steam trains, and LINT multiple units operated by Vectus Verkehrsgesellschaft. Additional journeys were offered for special regional events on the line. The operating license expired in December 2013, and no further journeys took place. On 28 March 2017, the Bendorf City Council voted against reactivating the line.
In March 2019, the Grenzau–Siershahn section was granted a new operating license for 25 years. The Engers–Grenzau section is regularly used as a construction track by construction trains of the Brexbachtalbahn e. V. association. The line is operated by Eifelbahn Verkehrsgesellschaft mbH (EVG). In June, the Engers–Sayn section was also granted a license.
Reactivation for public transport