Babenhausen station

Babenhausen (officially: Babenhausen (Hess)) station is a junction station at the intersection of the Rhine-Main Railway (German: Rhine-Main-Bahn) and the Odenwald Railway (German: Odenwaldbahn) in the town of Babenhausen in the German state of Hesse.

Babenhausen
Through station
Location	Am Bahnhof 1, Babenhausen, Hesse Germany
Coordinates	49°57′29″N 8°57′25″E
Owned by	Deutsche Bahn
Operated by	DB Netz DB Station&Service
Line(s)	Odenwald Railway (68.2 km) (KBS 641) Rhine-Main Railway (63.7 km) (KBS 651)
Platforms	4
Other information
Station code	238[1]
DS100 code	FBA[2]
IBNR	8000015
Category	4[1]
Website	www.bahnhof.de
History
Opened	25 December 1858
Services
Preceding station   Hessische Landesbahn   Following station Hergershausen toward Wiesbaden Hbf RB 75 Rhine-Main Railway Stockstadt (Main) toward Aschaffenburg Hbf Preceding station   VIAS   Following station Seligenstadt (Hess) toward Frankfurt (Main) Hbf RE 85 Odenwald Railway Groß-Umstadt Mitte toward Groß-Umstadt Wiebelsbach or Erbach Mainhausen Zellhausen toward Hanau Hbf RB 86 Odenwald Railway Babenhausen Langstadt toward Groß-Umstadt Wiebelsbach
Location
Babenhausen Location in Hesse Babenhausen Location in Germany Babenhausen Location in Europe

History

The station was built for the Rhine-Main Railway and put into operation on 25 December 1858. In 1868, the first section of the Odenwald Railway was opened to Groß-Umstadt. In 1876, the three-storey station building was erected, which still stands today. It was built in light-coloured sandstone. In 1904, a small restaurant was opened. The station building is listed as a monument under the Hessian Heritage Act.[3]

In the 1920s, work began on rebuilding the station to deal with increasing traffic. The tracks were raised 5 metres and the level crossings over Aschaffenburger and Darmstadter Straße were closed. An underpass was built immediately next to the station building for today’s federal highway B 26. This work was completed in 1928/1929. In 1944, the railways was damaged several times in air raids.

In 1960, the Rhine-Main Railway was electrified. In 1968, a signalling centre was opened to the south of the tracks. In 2003, the ticket office was closed and shortly afterwards the restaurant and kiosk were also closed. The station building was sold in 2004 and has changed hands several times since. In 2009, the former ticket office was converted into a kiosk and now magazines, drinks and snacks are available there.

Infrastructure

Trains on the Rhine-Main Railway in normal service use the northern tracks in the station. The station is used to allow scheduled trains to pass on the normally single-track Odenwald Railway. The platform tracks are located on two islands located between the tracks and access to the platforms is only possible via an underpass. At the eastern end of the station the track of the Odenwald Railway to Hanau crosses the Rhine-Main Railway over a grade-separated crossing. For trains running to Dieburg there are additional passing loops, which are used for the overtaking of freight trains.

In the north-eastern part of the station there is a freight yard, which used to be a major yard. It formerly had considerable importance for U.S. Army units stationed there, but it is now only used to a limited extent, including for the loading of timber. The track that ran to the yard from the Hanau direction was closed in 2007.

Services

Rail

The Rhine-Main Railway and the Odenwald Railway cross in Babenhausen. The following services stop here:

Line	Route	Frequency
RB 75	Wiesbaden Hbf – Mainz Hbf – Groß Gerau – Darmstadt Hbf – Dieburg – Babenhausen (Hess) – Aschaffenburg Hbf	Mon-Sat: Hourly, Sun: 2 hourly
RE 85	Frankfurt (Main) Hbf – Hanau Hbf – Babenhausen (Hess) – Groß-Umstadt Wiebelsbach (– Erbach (Odenw))	Every 2 hours
RB 86	Hanau Hbf – Seligenstadt (Hess) – Babenhausen (Hess) – Groß-Umstadt Wiebelsbach	Hourly

In general, there are good interchanges between trains every hour.

Buses

Babenhausen is also a major hub of regional bus services:

• Linie K 53: Babenhausen – Schaafheim – Ringheim - Großostheim – Aschaffenburg
• Linie K 54: Babenhausen – Schaafheim – Radheim - Mosbach – Wenigumstadt – Pflaumheim – Großostheim – Aschaffenburg
• Linie K 65: Babenhausen – Hergershausen – Langstadt – Schaafheim
• Linie K 66: Babenhausen – VDO – Jürgen-Schumann-Straße
• Linie K 86: Babenhausen – Harreshausen – VDO – Rodgau-Dudenhofen (connection to Rhine-Main S-Bahn line S 2))
• Linie 677: Darmstadt – Dieburg – Altheim – Babenhausen – Stockstadt/Main – Aschaffenburg (late night only; replacement for RB 75 on the Rhine-Main Railway)

Development plans

At the moment the station is in a neglected state. The station building is partly empty and the underpass is in need of renovation. An underpass under the B 26 and the construction of a park and ride facility is under discussion.[4][5]

Notes

1. "Stationspreisliste 2021" [Station price list 2021] (PDF) (in German). DB Station&Service. 16 November 2020. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
2. Eisenbahnatlas Deutschland (German railway atlas) (2009/2010 ed.). Schweers + Wall. 2009. ISBN 978-3-89494-139-0.
3. Landesamt für Denkmalpflege Hessen, ed. (2005). Eisenbahn in Hessen. Eisenbahnenbauten- und strecken 1839-1939 (in German). 2.1 (1 ed.). Stuttgart: Theiss Verlag. p. 249. ISBN 3-8062-1917-6.
4. "Tender for the reconstruction of Babenhausen station" (in German). Deutsche Bahn. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
5. "Construction of the platforms" (in German). Bahnhof Mühltal. Archived from the original on 2 May 2012. Retrieved 21 June 2012.