Pünderich–Traben-Trarbach railway
The railway line Punderich - Traben -Trarbach is a branch line in the valley of the Moselle, which connects the wine-producing town of Traben- Trarbach with the Bullay (DB) on the Mosel route.
On the route runs designated as Mosel wine train regional train line 94 The name has no historical origin, but is a neologism of Deutsche Bahn AG.
Location
The 10.5 km long railway line is located in Rhineland- Palatinate in the Mosel valley. It connects the tourist Traben-Trarbach with the Bullay intercity railway station and leads on the entire length of the river valley. The railway station of Bullay leaving trains run first on the Mosel route on the double-decker bridge Alf- Bullay and then in a tunnel to pass under the Prince head. Behind the tunnel runs the route with the longest 786 meters slope viaduct in Germany.
Then the separation station Punderich is achieved by virtue of its very remote location could never have a significant ridership and has long been abandoned in passenger transport. Here is the actual branch line begins to Traben -Trarbach, this is now classified as a branch line, single track and not electrified.
After 1.5 kilometers, the breakpoint Reil, runs a ferry into the opposite Enkirch at kilometer 6.8 of the breakpoint Kövenig, where in the summer months follows.
At the former end of the track at kilometer 10.6 was the old terminus of Traben -Trarbach. This has been replaced by a two hundred meters retarded breakpoint. Today is a bus station on the site of the former station.
History
Since the Mosel route from Koblenz to Trier, which was opened in full length in 1879, south of Bullay leaves the valley of the Moselle and the town is home places had no direct rail connection came on considerations that had not yet united places Traben and Trarbach by a branch line be connected to the railway network. In 1880 a concession to build the line was granted, which could then be opened on 21 March 1883.
In the 1980s, the railway line was threatened with closure due to declining passenger numbers. It that time almost entirely obsolete railcars of series 795 and 798 were used.
Only with the introduction of an hourly service and the use of new vehicles - used have now diesel railcar VT 628.2 and 628.4 series, as well as temporarily two double-deck railcars of series 670.0 - could the downward trend stopped and the passenger numbers increased significantly again.
The railhead in Traben -Trarbach, with its many freight railroads has been many years ago, after the adjustment of freight traffic, shut down and replaced two hundred meters to the north by a new railway station. In the degraded track areas are now a major bus station and a shopping center. The new terminal station has now been downgraded after the closure of the siding operationally related to the breakpoint.
Current situation
Most of the railway passengers are tourists today, often hikers and cyclists. The professional and student transport plays only a minor role. The railway line is now navigate in rail passenger transport by regional train RB 94 hourly by DB Regio West with comparatively old diesel railcars of Class 628.4.
Previously, the Mosel wine train was operated for some years by the trans regio from Kaiserslautern, which, however, had to give up after a renewed call to the DB Regio services, as these had given due to their much older railcars a cheaper deal.
The timetable change in December 2014, the track re-enters the operator: Rhenus Veniro reverse the already known regional trans type vehicles back Regio - Shuttle RS1.
The freight had never been of great importance, it was set many years ago. There were mainly general cargo, wine transported to the camp of the Raiffeisen cooperative ( in tank cars ) as well as products and agricultural demand.
Planning
It was planned to electrify the Mosel wine - train and provide a continuous connection to Koblenz. This should be realized within the project Rhineland -Palatinate -stroke 2015. These plans have been revised in the meantime: There will still be a future shuttle between Traben -Trarbach and Bullay, electrification will not be made.