Towards the train line between Wiesbaden and Aschaffenburg

• fromJonas Nonnenmann

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  Jens Joachim

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The Greens want to introduce a new line of amplifiers on the railway line between Wiesbaden and Aschaffenburg, which is supposed to omit Darmstadt Central Station. The Odenwaldbahn Initiative, on the other hand, calls for more journeys on the existing regional train line 75.

The Odenwaldbahn Initiative describes an “Green Party” proposal as an “interesting contribution”, which will be voted on next week in the general assembly of the Darmstadt-Dieburger local transport organization (Dadina).

According to a corresponding resolution, which will be discussed on Thursday, June 18, during the next meeting of the association meeting, the Dadina board of directors should be commissioned, together with the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund, to “introduce an accelerated RB 74 amplifier line during rush hour of the Wiesbaden-Aschaffenburg connection without stopping at Darmstadt main station and testing it. ”

Role model RE 9

The Greens in the association assembly justify their suggestion that the accelerated amplifier line RE 9 has been in place on the connection from the Rheingau via Wiesbaden-Biebrich to Frankfurt since the end of 2018 as a supplement to the regular line RE 10. By omitting Wiesbaden Central Station, commuters are nine minutes faster in Frankfurt. At the same time, many stops in Wiesbaden could easily be reached from the stop in Wiesbaden-Biebrich.

According to the Greens, the journey time on line 75 between Wiesbaden and Aschaffenburg in the section between Darmstadt North Station, Darmstadt Central Station and Weiterstadt is 24 minutes. Because the trains in Darmstadt have to turn around, waiting times are quite long. The Greens indicate that there is a direct track connection between Weiterstadt and Darmstadt-Nord and that this is also used regularly by freight traffic.

15 to 20 minutes of time saved

By creating a reinforcement line with individual trips at rush hour, with the omission of Darmstadt Central Station, an acceleration of 15 to 20 minutes can be achieved on the section between Darmstadt North Station and Weiterstadt. “This creates attractive connections for commuters west of Darmstadt in the direction of the Merck company and the eastern district and vice versa for commuters from northern Darmstadt and the eastern district in the direction of Groß-Gerau, Mainz and Wiesbaden,” says the draft resolution.

How far such a line of amplifiers should travel eastwards has yet to be evaluated. A tour of Dieburg may be sufficient. In the Greens’ view, to make it easier and quick to test such an offer, “deliberately cut back on the requirements of local public transport plans and allow the use of used vehicles”. In the event of a positive evaluation, the line would then “be operated with the usual vehicle standard”.

RB 75: Initiative calls for more trips

Instead of the new amplifier line required by the Greens, it makes more sense, according to Uwe Schuchmann from the Odenwaldbahn Initiative, to let the existing trains run more frequently. Instead, Schuchmann demands a gap-free, daily half-hourly service on regional train line 75 between Wiesbaden and Aschaffenburg. From the improved connections in Aschaffenburg, Babenhausen, Dieburg and Darmstadt, passengers of the Odenwaldbahn would also benefit, said Schuchmann.

The increased frequency is also possible with the existing trains. According to Schuchmann, an RB 74 amplifier line argues that it could only use track 4 in Darmstadt-Nord, which was heavily occupied during rush hour. Additional staff and vehicles would also be required for a new line. Initiative spokesman Schuchmann said that more train journeys on the existing RB 75 line could be realized “significantly easier and faster”.

The initiative for regional express line 80 from Erbach to Darmstadt also calls for a gap-free half-hourly cycle. No new trains would be needed for this either.

According to Schuchmann, the RB 66 line from Darmstadt to Pfungstadt should be “condensed”. Vehicles of the Odenwaldbahn could be used for this.

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