Aar Valley Railway

Aar Valley Railway
Route of the Aar Valley Railway
Overview
Native name	Aartalbahn
Line number	3500 (Wiesbaden Aar Valley Railway–Diez) 3504 (Wiesbaden Hbf–Wiesbaden West)
Locale	Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
Coordinates	50°9′38.12″N 8°4′36.44″E / 50.1605889°N 8.0767889°E / 50.1605889; 8.0767889
Termini	Wiesbaden Ost Diez
Service
Route number	12628, until 1986: 548
Technical
Line length	53.7 km (33.4 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Maximum incline	3.33%
Route map Legend Lahntal railway from Koblenz 53.7 Diez Lahntal railway to Limburg Freiendiez from 2018 Holzheim from 2018 49.6 Flacht Niederneisen planned from 2018 47.2 Oberneisen 45.1 Hahnstätten planned as Hahnstätten Mitte 42.8 Zollhaus (Nassau) former Nassau Light Railway to Nastätten Rhineland-Palatinate/Hesse state border 39.6 Rückershausen 37.5 Kettenbach 35.5 Michelbach (Nassau) 34.0 Michelbach Tunnel (156 m) 33.0 Laufenselden Tunnel (287 m) 31.5 Laufenselden 30.1 Hohenstein 235 m 30.0 Hohenstein Tunnel (169 m) 28.3 Breithardt Upper Germanic Limes 24.9 Adolfseck Tunnel (150 m) 24.8 Bad Schwalbach-Adolfseck 23.5 Bad Schwalbach 290 m 18.3 Bleidenstadt 16.6 Hahn-Wehen 350 m 14.1 Eiserne Hand 420 m 10.0 Chausseehaus 290 m 6.1 Wiesbaden-Dotzheim 195 m 5.4 Wiesbaden West freight yard 5.0 Lindsey Air Station (siding) 4.4 Wiesbaden Aartalbahn (siding) Schiersteiner Straße (A 643 / B 262) 3.3 Waldstraße 2.2 Wiesbaden Ost Henkell (siding) 2.2 Landesdenkmal Wiesbaden Rhine station (until 1906) 0.0 Wiesbaden 1.4 East Rhine Railway to Koblenz former connecting line to Ländches Railway East Rhine Railway from Koblenz 0.0 Wiesbaden Ost Taunus Railway to Frankfurt Source: German railway atlas[1]

The Aar Valley Railway (German: Aartalbahn) is a 53.7 km long line between Wiesbaden, the capital of the German state of Hesse, and Diez in Rhineland-Palatinate. From 1985 to 2009, the southern end was operated as a heritage railway with historic trains. The Hessian part of the line is heritage-listed. Currently, two bridges are unusable and several sets of points are defective and need to be repaired. Its northern end is operated with draisines.