Fulda station

Fulda station
Through station
Location	Fulda, Hesse Germany
Coordinates
Line(s)	Kinzig Valley Railway (KBS 615) Bebra–Fulda railway (KBS 610) Hanover–Würzburg high-speed railway (KBS 351) Fulda–Gersfeld Railway (KBS 616) Fulda–Gießen line (KBS 635)
Platforms	10
Other information
Station code	1973
DS100 code	FFU
Category	2
Website	www.bahnhof.de
History
Opened	1866

Fulda station (IATA: ZEE) is an important transport hub of the German railway network in the east Hessian city of Fulda. It is used by about 20,000 travellers each day. It is classified by Deutsche Bahn as a category 2 station. It is a stop for Intercity-Express, Intercity services and regional services. The original station was opened as part of the Frankfurt–Bebra railway in 1866. This was destroyed during the Second World War and rebuilt after the war. The station was adapted in the 1980s for the Hanover–Würzburg high-speed railway.

Connecting lines

Fulda is situated on the North-South line (Nord-Süd-Strecke) and the Hanover–Würzburg high-speed line and is an important interchange point between local and long distance traffic. The term 'North-South line' refers to the Bebra-Fulda line north of Fulda, Kinzig Valley Railway and Fulda-Main Railway in the south. The Vogelsberg Railway connects to the hills of the Vogelsberg in the west, and the Fulda–Gersfeld Railway (Rhön Railway) to Gersfeld in the Rhön Mountains in the east.

New line

A special train at the opening of the high-speed line at the end of May 1988

The planning of the Hanover–Würzburg high-speed line originally envisaged a western bypass of Fulda, with the city connected with the new line through links to the existing line at Maberzell and Kerzell. This route, called Option I, was discarded in the mid-1970s. In the continuation of the regional planning process for the Körle–Bavarian/Hessian border section, which had started in February 1974, two other variants were introduced into the discussion in June, 1976. Under Option II, the new line would also have bypassed Fulda to the west with a link between the new line and the station at Neuhof. Under Option III (which was later substantially realised), it was proposed that the new line would be built along the existing line between Niesig and Bronzell. In 1976, DB adopted Option III and it was approved by the regional planning process in Fulda, which was completed in July 1978.

Under the operating concept adopted the tracks of the new line and the North-South line run parallel in the same direction on either side of the station platforms, allowing easy transfers between the two lines. The tracks of the new line were built in the middle of the tracks through the existing through station, on either sides are the tracks of the north-south line. All existing tracks had to be rebuilt for this work, including the bridges of intersecting roads and water systems. Overall, between 1984 and 1991 (according to a planning document in about 1988), there would be 89 construction stages with 28 intermediate track layouts, during which the operation of passenger and freight through the station was to be fully maintained. In 1985 a new central signal box went into operation. The relocated tracks on the north-south line towards Frankfurt went into operation in December 1986; the tracks towards Göttingen followed in October 1987. At the end of 1987, railway construction began on the new line to Kassel.

Station building

At the opening of the Frankfurt–Bebra railway to Fulda, the city received a station building that was of an appropriate size for those times, but architecturally conventional, in the Rundbogen style. It had a two-storey central section, attached to two single-storey wings, which were in turn, each attached to a two-storey corner pavilion. This building was destroyed in the Second World War in 1944.

A massive new building was built on the foundations of the former station building between 1946 and 1954 to a design by architects Schiebler & Helbich. This is dominated by a central, glass-enclosed lobby.

During the construction of the Hanover–Würzburg high-speed line in the 1980s, Fulda station was redesigned. Bahnhofstrasse, the street on the southwest side of the station, was lowered to the station’s basement level and a new entrance area was created, so that the pedestrian tunnel running under the tracks now emerges at ground level. Due to this lowering of the station forecourt, the entrance building now appears higher and more monumental than it did originally. A central bus station was created southwest of the station building on the same level as the platforms.

Station facilities

The passenger station has ten continuous through tracks, seven of which are used for passenger services, another two are used as through tracks for non-stopping trains. Track 10 is used as a siding for a rescue train for the high-speed line that is stationed in Fulda. There are also three terminal tracks, which are only accessible from the north and mainly serve Regionalbahn services on the Vogelsberg line and on the line to Gießen.

South of the passenger railway station there is a freight yard, which was formerly important for express freight. Today it handles very little freight. Until the late 1990s, containers were transhipped there.

Two platform tracks have been installed for the new line between the tracks used by the north-south line. Between the new line tracks there is a passing track for traffic not stopping at the station. While platform 1 is reserved for regional transport, the two island platforms to the west, each have one face on the new line and one on the old line, with the tracks facing each platform running in the same direction to facilitate the transfer of passengers between trains.

Close to the station to the southwest and northeast are tight curves with radii of 600 and 675 m. This limits speed to 100 km/h, even for trains that are not stopping. Due to spatial constraints that speed could not be raised as part of the building of the new line.

Rail services

Long-distance traffic

Due to its location on the north-south line, numerous fast trains ran through the station (often stopping) for many decades, including well-known services of the postwar period, such as the Blaue Enzian, which ran between Hamburg and Munich. In 1977, there were about 320 trains each day.

Most long distance trains that use the Hanover–Würzburg high-speed line stop at Fulda station. Only the Intercity-Express trains of lines 20 and 22 (Hamburg–Frankfurt–Stuttgart/Basel) and the ICE-Sprinter line between Berlin and Frankfurt (this a premium service with one service running each way non-stop in the early morning and the evening of each working day and Sunday evening) run through the station without stopping.

Line	Route	Frequency
ICE 11	Berlin Ostbahnhof – Hildesheim – Göttingen – Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe – Fulda – Frankfurt (Main) – Mannheim – Stuttgart – Ulm – Augsburg – Munich	Every 2 hours
ICE 12	Berlin Ostbahnhof – Wolfsburg – Hildesheim – Göttingen – Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe – Fulda – Frankfurt (Main) – Mannheim – Karlsruhe – Freiburg – Basel Bad – Basel SBB	Every 2 hours
ICE 25	(Lübeck) – Hamburg – Hannover – Göttingen – Kassel Wilhelmshöhe – Fulda – Würzburg – Nuremberg – Ingolstadt – Munich (– Garmisch-Partenkirchen)	Hourly
ICE 50	Dresden – Leipzig – Erfurt – Fulda – Frankfurt (Main) – Frankfurt Airport ( – Wiesbaden)	Every 2 hours
IC 50	Leipzig – Erfurt – Fulda – Frankfurt (Main) – Frankfurt Airport	Every 2 hours
IC 26	(Ostseebad Binz) – Stralsund – Rostock – Hamburg – Hannover – Göttingen – Kassel‑Wilhelmshöhe  – Fulda – Würzburg – Augsburg – Munich – Rosenheim – Berchtesgaden	Individual services

Preceding station		Deutsche Bahn		Following station
Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe towards Berlin Ost		ICE 11		Hanau Hbf towards Munich Hbf
Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe towards Berlin Ost		ICE 12		Hanau Hbf towards Interlaken Ost
Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe towards Hamburg-Altona		ICE 25		Würzburg Hbf towards Munich Hbf
Bad Hersfeld towards Magdeburg Hbf or Dresden Hbf		ICE 50		Frankfurt (Main) Hbf towards Wiesbaden Hbf or Saarbrücken Hbf
Bad Hersfeld towards Ostseebad Binz		IC 50		Frankfurt (Main) Süd towards Frankfurt Airport

Local services

Preceding station		Deutsche Bahn		Following station
Neuhof (Kr Fulda) toward Frankfurt (Main) Hbf		RE 50 Kinzig Valley Railway		Terminus
Terminus		RB 51 Bebra–Fulda railway Frederick William Northern Railway		Hünfeld toward Kassel Hbf
Preceding station		Hessische Landesbahn		Following station
Oberbimbach toward Gießen Hbf		RB 35 Vogelsberg Railway		Terminus
Terminus		RB 52 Rhön Railway		Eichenzell toward Gersfeld (Rhön)