Hessische Landesbahn (Hessian State Railway, HLB) is a regional transport company owned by the German state of Hesse, based in Frankfurt am Main. It provides bus and rail passenger transport services and, to a lesser extent, rail freight services in Hesse and across the state’s borders through its subsidiaries and affiliates.

Company The management of Hessische Landesbahn is supervised by Veit Salzmann. The districts and the State of Hesse are represented by four people on the Supervisory Board and the employees also have four seats on the Board.

Structure Hessische Landesbahn GmbH operates as the holding company of three subsidiaries: HLB Hessenbahn GmbH operates rail services; HLB Hessenbus GmbH operates bus services; HLB Basis AG provides the resources for the transport operators; it is a railway infrastructure company, it owns most of the vehicles operated and it operates vehicle workshops.

HLB Hessenbus and HLB Hessenbahn are 100 per cent owned subsidiary, HLB Basis is almost 85% owned by HLB, while the remaining shares are mostly owned by local authorities.

History

The company was founded in 1955 as a holding company of several non-government-owned railways in Hesse, which operated as an integrated railway company with its own rail infrastructure, stations, etc., as well as operations on this infrastructure.

In the course of the separation of infrastructure and operations in 2005, three of the four subsidiaries of HLB: the Frankfurt-Königsteiner Eisenbahn, the Butzbach-Licher Eisenbahn and the Kassel-Naumburger Eisenbahn were united under the holding company of the Frankfurt-Königsteiner Eisenbahn, since trading as HLB Basis, as the common infrastructure operator.

Train services

The subsidiaries of the Hessische Landesbahn operate 3.8 million train kilometres each year over 237.5 kilometres of line and 10.34 million vehicle kilometres each year over 1,013 km of bus route.

The main line of the HLB originally was the Königstein Railway between Königstein and Frankfurt-Höchst of the former Frankfurt-Königsteiner Eisenbahn (Frankfurt-Königstein Railway, FKE), known as the K-Bahn and part of the Frankfurter Verkehrsverbund (Frankfurt Transport Association, FVV).

In the 1990s, the HLB subsidiaries operated a number of local lines acquired from Deutsche Bahn in north and middle Hesse. Since 11 December 2005, HLB multiple units have operated on the Kahlgrund Railway from Hanau to Schöllkrippen in the Bavarian Spessart. Besides railways it operates buses and tram lines.

Since December 2010, HLB has also run on the main line Frankfurt–Gießen–Siegen/Marburg routes (RMV lines 98/99, the Main-Sieg-Express) and, since December 2011, it has operated Regionalbahn services on the RMV lines 45 and 52 on the Limburg–Gießen–Alsfeld–Fulda and the Fulda–Gersfeld routes.

Investments

HLB Basis AG has a 50% interest in Regionalbahn Kassel (RBK), with the remainder held by Kasseler Verkehrs-Gesellschaft (KVG). The KVG operates the Kassel–Waldkappel railway, which combines rail freight and tram traffic. The RBK, in turn, holds 49% of Regionaltram Betriebsgesellschaft, a joint venture with Deutsche Bahn, which, as RegioTram Kassel, operates tram-trains in the Kassel area.

Through other subsidiaries the HLB operates passenger transport services beyond the Hessian borders in four of the six neighbouring states: in Rhineland-Palatinate, together with Westerwaldbahn GmbH, in vectus Verkehrsgesellschaft mbH (HLB 74.9%), in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate, together with Westerwaldbahn GmbH and Kreisbahn Siegen-Wittgenstein, in HellertalBahn GmbH (HLB 33%), in Lower Saxony and Thuringia, together with BeNEX, a subsidiary of the Hamburger Hochbahn, in Cantus Verkehrsgesellschaft (HLB 50%), in Thuringia, together with Erfurter Bahn (EB), in the Süd-Thüringen-Bahn GmbH (HLB 50%).

Fares Hessische Landesbahn is a member of the Tarifverband der Bundeseigenen und Nichtbundeseigenen Eisenbahnen in Deutschland (Fare association of federally and non-federally owned railways in Germany). Tickets for travel on Deutsche Bahn trains can therefore also be used on HLB trains.

Lines The following lines, using the numbering of the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund are operated by the Hessische Landesbahn:

Service Line name Route Concession period Normal rolling stock East Rhine Railway, Taunus Railway Frankfurt Hbf – – – – Dec. 2019 – Dec. 2025Alstom Coradia Continental Main-Lahn RailwayLändches Railway Limburg (Lahn) – Niedernhausen – Wiesbaden Hbf Dec. 2014 – Dec. 2032Lint 41 Feeder to the IC34Gießen-Wetzlar-WeilburgDec. 2021 – Dec. 2038 Limburg-Staffel–Siershahn railway Limburg (Lahn) – Diez Ost – Staffel – Montabaur – Siershahn Dec. 2014 – Dec. 2030 LINT, Stadler GTW 2/6 Main–Weser RailwayFrankfurt (Main) – Friedberg – Gießen (– Marburg – Kirchhain)Dec. 2023 – Dec. 2038Coradia Continental Main–Weser Railway, Dill RailwayFrankfurt (Main) Hbf – Friedberg – Gießen – Herborn – Dillenburg Main–Weser RailwayFrankfurt (Main) Hbf – Friedberg – Gießen – Marburg – Schwalmstadt-Treysa Lahntal railwayVogelsberg Railway Limburg (Lahn) – Wetzlar – Gießen – Grünberg – Mücke (Hess) – Alsfeld – Lauterbach Nord – Fulda Dec. 2011 – Dec. 2038 LINT 41 and 54 Lahn-Kinzig Railway Gießen – Hungen – Nidda – Glauburg-Stockheim – Gelnhausen Jan. 2001 – Dec. 2032GTW 2/6 Friedberg–Mücke railway Friedberg – Wölfersheim-Södel May 1999 – Dec. 2032 Beienheim–Schotten railwayMain-Weser Railway (Frankfurt (Main) Hbf –) Friedberg (Hess) – Beienheim – Reichelsheim – Echzell – Nidda (from Frankfurt only Mon–Fri) Friedberg–Hanau railway, Main–Weser RailwayHanau – Nidderau – Friedberg – GießenDec. 2023 – Dec. 2038 Coradia Continental Fulda–Gersfeld Railway Fulda – Gersfeld Dec. 2011 – Dec. 2023 LINT 41 and 54 Frankfurt-Hanau RailwayMain-Spessart railway Frankfurt (Main) Hbf – Maintal – Hanau Hbf – Großkrotzenburg – Kahl am Main – Aschaffenburg Hbf Dec. 2018 – Dec. 2033 Coradia Continental Frankfurt Airport loop, Main Railway, Frankfurt–Hanau railway, Main-Spessart railway Frankfurt Airport regional station – Frankfurt South – Maintal – Hanau Hbf – Großkrotzenburg – Kahl am Main – Aschaffenburg HbfDec. 2018 – Dec. 2033 Rhine-Main Railway Wiesbaden Hbf – Mainz Hbf – Groß-Gerau – Darmstadt Hbf – Dieburg – Babenhausen – Aschaffenburg Hbf Westerwald-Sieg-Bahn Limburg (Lahn) – Diez Ost – Staffel – Westerburg – Nistertal-Bad Marienberg – Hachenburg – Altenkirchen – Au (Sieg) – Wissen – Betzdorf – Siegen (one train pair to Kreuztal)Dec. 2014 – Dec. 2030LINT, GTW 2/6 Ruhr-Sieg-Bahn Siegen – Finnentrop (one train pair) Biggesee-Express Finnentrop – Olpe Kreuztal–Cölbe railway Bad Berleburg – Erndtebrück – Siegen – Betzdorf) Dill Railway Dillenburg – Haiger – Siegen Heller Valley Railway Betzdorf – Herdorf – Haiger – Dillenburg Dec. 2015 – Dec. 2030 Main-Weser Railway (Main-Sieg-Express) Frankfurt (Main) Hbf – Gießen – Marburg (Lahn) – Stadtallendorf – Schwalmstadt-Treysa – Wabern – Kassel Hbf Dec. 2015 – Dec. 2038Operating since 2010 on Frankfurt–Marburg(–Stadtallendorf) sectionFLIRT Main-Weser Railway, Dill Railway (Main-Sieg-Express) Frankfurt (Main) Hbf – Gießen – Wetzlar – Dillenburg – Siegen Dec. 2010 – Dec. 2038

Future lines HLB will operate these lines in the future: Service Line name Route Concession period Gießen–Fulda railway Giessen – AlsfeldNot determined

Former lines These lines were operated by the HLB: Service Line name Route Concession period Soden Railway Frankfurt-Höchst – Bad Soden am Taunus 01.01.2003 – 14.12.2019(since 1997) Königstein Railway Frankfurt (Main) Hbf – Frankfurt-Höchst – Königstein im Taunus 01.01.2003 – 14.12.2019(main line, already operated by 1995) Taunus Railway Bad Homburg – Friedrichsdorf – Brandoberndorf01.01.2003 – 14.12.2019(operated by VHT since 1993) Friedrichsdorf–Friedberg railway Friedrichsdorf – Friedberg 24.05.1998 – 14.12.2019

References

External links

Rollingstock list of HLB and at privat-bahn.de