Native name Rothaarbahn Line length 48.5 km (30.1 mi) | Termini Kreuztal
Bad Berleburg Number of tracks 1 | |
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Locale North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany Line number 2870 (Kreuztal–Erndtebrück)
2871 (Erndtebrück–Bad Berleburg) | ||
The Rothaar Railway (German: Rothaarbahn) is a 48 km long German branch line running from Kreuztal on the Ruhr–Sieg line to Bad Berleburg via Erndtebrück (KBS 443) with a through connexion to Siegen. The line was opened to Hilchenbach in 1884 and extended to Erndtebrück and Marburg in 1888/89.
The single-tracked line runs between Kreuztal and Hilchenbach along the southern slopes of the Ferndorf valley and winds tightly in order to gain height through the Rothaargebirge mountains using two switchbacks between Hilchenbach and Erndtebrück. The tunnelling under the ruins of Ginsburg castle by the Schloßberg Tunnel, near the long-distance walking trail of the Rothaarsteig, is particularly picturesque.
In Kreuztal-Ferndorf there are still two industrial sidings (Bender Eisen- und Metallwerke Ferndorf and Bandverzinkung der Thyssen Krupp Stahl) which handle a considerable amount of goods traffic. In Dahlbruch, three sidings (Eisenbau Krämer, SMS and a scrap merchant) are regularly worked by Railion. In Erndtebrück-Grünewald and Erndtebrück, the Kreisbahn Siegen-Wittgenstein works two sidings to the Erndtebrück Ironworks from Monday to Friday. Logs are loaded at Erndtebrück station. Trains can cross or pass at Ferndorf, Dahlbruch, Hilchenbach, Lützel and Erndtebrück.