Erfurt S-Bahn

S-Bahn Erfurt was a colloquial term for a railway connection that existed from 1976 to 1993 in the Thuringian state capital Erfurt, Germany. The term "S-Bahn" is also occasionally used in popular literature.[1] Other contemporary media used terms such as "suburban traffic at the local transport tariff" to describe it.[2] When the line was introduced in 1976, only the "reversible train service" on this line was highlighted as a special feature.[3] In the Kursbuch tables of Deutsche Reichsbahn, the terms "S-Bahn" or "S-Bahn-Tarif" were not used for this line.[4][5] Riethschleuder was another colloquial term for the connection.[6]

General map of the route travelled by the "S-Bahn Erfurt" trains.
1976: A double-decker turning train at the Erfurt Berliner Straße station.
Platform of the former Erfurt Berliner Straße stop in 2010.

Route description

Starting at Erfurt Hauptbahnhof, the line ran in a semicircle north and east around the city centre. It used the route of the Wolkramshausen-Erfurt railway line as far as Erfurt Nord station. There it branched off to the west and, using the route of the former Erfurt–Nottleben light railway, developed the new development areas in the north of Erfurt. The four stations served were the stations Erfurt Hauptbahnhof and Erfurt Nord which still exist today, the former stop Erfurt Györer Straße and the former terminal Erfurt Berliner Straße station. The journey time over the entire route was 13 to 14 minutes.[4][5]

Operation and history

The construction of the new Rieth development area in the north of the city of Erfurt made it necessary to connect this part of the city to the city centre. The existing Erfurt tramway and the supplementary bus lines offered by the Erfurt public transport companies (Erfurter Verkehrsbetriebe) were no longer able to meet the growing demand for transport at peak times. Since the track of the former small railway to Nottleben ran directly through the residential area, a plan was drawn up to set up a railway connection between the north of the city and Erfurt's main railway station (Hauptbahnhof) in order to relieve the urban local traffic.

Since all the tracks were already in place, only two new stations had to be built. Thus, the connection could be opened on 13 May 1976 after a construction period of only three months.[3] The line length was 8.6 kilometres, of which 2.7 kilometres were on the line of the former light railway. In the Kursbuch of Deutsche Reichsbahn, the line was listed under route number 642. There was no interval timetable. The trains operated only during the rush hours. On working days, eight (1985) or nine (1990) train pairs commuted on the line. Half of the trains only travelled to or from Erfurt Nord. There were connections to trains in the direction of Erfurt Hauptbahnhof. On Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, traffic was suspended.

The only characteristic of the S-Bahn was its independent tariff. Instead of the kilometre tariff generally used by the Deutsche Reichsbahn, a flat-rate tariff was applied. Single tickets were sold in advance at a price of 0.20 Marks. They had to be validated before boarding the trains on the platform.[4][5] They were sold at Erfurt Hauptbahnhof and Erfurt Nord stations.[5] However, the special fare was abolished shortly after German reunification, i.e. before the line was discontinued.

After the political changes of 1989 and 1990, the transport needs of the population changed. In particular, traffic peaks in rush hour traffic were distorted. Since the travel times by tram to the main station were similarly long and significantly shorter in the direction of the city centre, a separate train connection became superfluous. The connection was thinned out and completely closed in May 1995. Finally, two pairs of trains operated a day. In 2003, the Erfurt Nord-Erfurt-Marbach line was shut down by the Eisenbahnbundesamt.[7] The renovation of the Mittelhäuser Kreuz in 2012 meant that the Mittelhäuser Straße was renovated a bit and the track of the former railway crossing was removed.[8]

In preparation for the Bundesgartenschau 2021 in Erfurt, the idea was born in 2015 to revive the route in order to bring visitors from Erfurt Hauptbahnhof to the Geraaue. Alternative ideas would be a cycle path or the use as a trolley route.[9]

Vehicles

Double-decker reversing trains pulled by locomotives of DR class 110 series (from 1992: DR class 202 series) were used. This meant that it was not necessary to build a transfer track at the end of the line.

Literature
  • Günther Barthel: Die Geschichte der Kleinbahn Erfurt (West)–Nottleben. 1. Auflage 2001, Verlag Rockstuhl. ISBN 3-934748-29-5

References
  1. Hans-Joachim Kirsche und Hans Müller: Eisenbahnatlas DDR, VEB Tourist Verlag Berlin - Leipzig, 2. Auflage 1988, ISBN 3-350-00293-5, S. 90
  2. Hans-Joachim Kirsche, Bahnland DDR, transpress, VEB Verlag für Verkehrswesen, Berlin 1990, ISBN 3-344-00288-0, S. 174
  3. Dr. Thomas Mette, 7. Oktober 1979 - 30 Jahre DDR in Daten und Ereignissen bei der Deutschen Reichsbahn, Eisenbahn-Jahrbuch 1979, Transpress, nachgedruckt in: Horst Regling (Hrsg.), Schienenverkehr in der DDR, Band III, transpress, Stuttgart, 2002, ISBN 3-613-71186-9
  4. Kursbuch der Deutschen Reichsbahn, Binnenverkehr, Sommerfahrplan 1980
  5. Kursbuch der Deutschen Reichsbahn, Binnenverkehr, Jahresfahrplan 1989/90
  6. "Domspitzen-Wörterbuch". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2018-09-23.
  7. Liste der seit 1994 stillgelegten bundeseigenen Strecken im Land Thüringen Archived 2011-05-31 at the Wayback Machine beim Eisenbahn-Bundesamt.
  8. Birgit Kummer: Straße der Nationen noch bis zum 5. Dezember Baustelle. In: Thüringer Allgemeine Zeitung, Lokalteil Erfurt, 2. November 2011.
  9. Frank Karmeyer: „Riethschleuder“ lebt als Buga-Idee wieder auf. In: Thüringische Landeszeitung, Lokalteil Erfurt, 31. Juli 2015.
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