page_title: Friedberg–Friedrichsdorf railway
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Friedberg–Friedrichsdorf railway / History
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Burgholzhausen, Brücke der Bahnstrecke Friedrichsdorf–Friedberg mit Natursteinfassade und Backsteingewölbe über den Erlenbach und einen Fußweg von 1897, Südseite, auf der Nordseite mit dem zweigleisigen Ausbau der Strecke später um eine Betonbrücke mit Stahlträgern erweitert. Zustand nach der Renaturierung des Bachs mit Taunusquarzit-Findlingen. English: Bridge of the Friedrichsdorf–Friedberg Railway line over the Erlenbach and a footpath in Burgholzhausen, built in 1897 with a natural stone front and brick vaults, southern view, on the north later extended by a concrete bridge with steel girders while adding a second track on the top. State after renaturation of the Erlenbach with Taunus quarzite blocks.
context_page_description: The Friedrichsdorf–Friedberg railway is a single-track, non-electrified branch line in the German state of Hesse. It is listed as timetable route 636 and integrated in the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund as line 16.
context_section_description: The planning of a connection to Friedberg as a continuation of the Homburg Railway began as early as 1868. However, it was not clear whether the connection to the Main-Weser Railway or a line to the Taunus would be built first. It was decided to build the Usingen Railway (Usinger Bahn), now called the Taunusbahn (Taunus Railway). Construction of the Friedrichsdorf–Friedberg link began in 1898 and the line was put into operation on 15 July 1901. The trains started at the terminus of Homburg vor der Höhe (also called Homburg Neu (new) station) on the lower Louisenstraße, which had been the starting point of the Usingen Railway since 1895. At the request of the emperor, Wilhelm II and to increase the capacity of the line from Frankfurt to Bad Homburg and from Friedrichsdorf to Friedberg, the line was upgraded to two tracks between 1907 and 1912 and a through station was built in Bad Homburg.
  After the upgrade of the line, it was used by the trains of the Bad Nauheim–Wiesbaden railway (Bäderbahn), consisting of Eilzüge (fast-stopping trains) from Wiesbaden via Höchst and Bad Homburg to Bad Nauheim and a daily pair of Durchgangszüge (through trains) on the Berlin–Wiesbaden route.
  Due to decreasing profitability, the second track was dismantled after the end of the First World War. With the takeover by the Nazis, it was restored for the planned Friedberg–Hungen–Alsfeld–Hersfeld line. During the Second World War, a bridge at the entrance to Friedberg station that carried the second track to the Main-Weser Railway was destroyed. Subsequently, the second track was dismantled, starting with the Friedberg–Rosbach section, which was completed by 1950, and later with the Rosbach–Friedrichsdorf section, which was completed by 1968. This also made the block post at Straßheim at the original ladder junction at the entrance to the station superfluous. Based on the width of the embankment and the bridges, the location of the former second track is still largely recognisable and a piece of it was maintained as a catch point at the junction to the industrial siding in Rosbach. The bridge over the line to Hanau still exists and it now carries a freight connection from the Main-Weser Railway to the goods yard above the station.
  While the Frankfurt–Friedrichsdorf section was electrified and signalling control was transferred to the new centralised relay interlocking in Bad Homburg, the mechanical interlocking on this line was initially preserved and Rosbach was rebuilt in 1985 as a halt (Haltepunkt, that is without points). Also the sections of track became more operationally distinct at the end of the 20th century: the tight timing and the introduction of S-Bahn electric multiple units to Friedrichsdorf contrasted with the operations over the Friedrichsdorf–Friedberg line, which were mainly consisted of push-pull trains composed of Silberling (n-coaches) hauled by V 100 locomotives and Uerdingen railbuses; these were replaced by class 628 diesel multiple units, but services ran ever less frequently. The class 628 sets when not operating were usually stored outside Friedrichsdorf station towards Seulberg on a track to a no longer connected marshalling yard hump. With the commencement of S-Bahn operations to Friedrichsdorf and also to Friedberg, the normal Friedberg–Bad Homburg–Frankfurt through services were finally discontinued, although some long-distance trains still used the line. A 30 or 60-minute interval service was only re-introduced with the establishment of the Rhine-Main-Verkehrsverbund.
  After previous considerations of closing the line, the Butzbach-Licher Eisenbahn (BLE), a subsidiary of the Hessische Landesbahn, took over operations on 24 May 1998. New Stadler GTW railcars were procured for this operation.
  Due to its success and rising passenger numbers, there were also plans to restore the second track or even to electrify it. Only a few bridges would have had to be widened. A footbridge in Friedrichsdorf parallel to Färberstraße was increased in the meantime as part of its renewal to allow for a possible overhead line. However,
caption: The Erlenbach Bridge in Burgholzhausen, which was built as an arch bridge in 1897. Behind it and clearly visible is the attached reinforced concrete bridge for the second track.
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