Wörth (Rhein) station—originally Wörth (Pfalz)—is the most important station of the town of Wörth am Rhein in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Deutsche Bahn classifies it as a category 5 station and it has five platforms. The station is located in the area of the Karlsruher Verkehrsverbund (Karlsruhe transport association, KVV) and it belongs to fare zone 540. Since 2001, Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Neckar (VRN) tickets are also accepted for travel to or from the VRN area. The address of the station is Bahnhofstraße 44.
It was opened on 15 March 1864 as a through station on the branch of the Maximilian Railway from Winden to Maximiliansau. The gap to Karlsruhe was closed a year later. The extension of the Schifferstadt–Gemersheim railway and its continuation to Strasbourg turned it into a junction station on 15 May 1876. A branch of the Karlsruhe Stadtbahn was built through the residential area of Dorschberg in 1997. Its entrance building is under heritage protection.
Location
Wörth (Rhein) station Is located to the east of the centre of the town on Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Straße (L 540), the main road thorough Wörth. In the immediate vicinity is a connection to federal highway 9. Attached to it is a large parking station, which is free to use.
History
Development
The east-west aligned Palatine Ludwig Railway (Pfälzische Ludwigsbahn) was built from Rheinschanze (since 1853: Ludwigshafen) to Bexbach between 1847 and 1849. This mainly served the transport of coal. The Palatine Maximilian Railway (Pfälzische Maximiliansbahn, Neustadt-Wissembourg) was built in 1855 as a through line over which coal from the Saargegend and agricultural produce from the Palatinate could be transported to France.
In the following years, the Palatine Maximilian Railway Company (Pfälzische Maximiliansbahn-Gesellschaft) planned more lines, including a branch from the Maximilian Railway in Winden to Karlsruhe, the then capital of Baden. The reason for this was the hope for better coal traffic to the southern German countries of Baden, Württemberg and the rest of the Bavaria—which was geographically separated from the Circle of the Rhine (Rheinpfalz). The Bavarian military commander, Karl Krazeisen, who was at that time a troop commander in the Palatinate, emphasised that such a route was also necessary for strategic reasons.
In 1859, it received a concession from the Ministry of State for Trade and Public Works. However, resistance came from the town of Germersheim, which urged them to build a railway line first through its territory and from there to Bruchsal. In addition, in 1860, several representatives of South Palatinate communities gathered together and petitioned against a route via Winden and Kandel instead argued for a line from Landau via Offenbach, Herxheim, Leimersheim and Leopoldshafen to Karlsruhe.
Development to the railway junction (1864–1876) Wörth station was opened on 14 March 1864 together with the Winden–Maximiliansau section of the Maximilian Railway. One year later, on 8 May 1865, the gap between Maximiliansau and the Maxau Railway (Maxaubahn) leading from Karlsruhe to Maxau was closed with the completion of the bridge over the Rhine. Thus, continuous operations were possible from Neustadt to Karlsruhe via Winden and Wörth.
Even before the construction of the Palatine Ludwig Railway from Ludwigshafen to Bexbach, there had been efforts to build a line from north to south in the Palatinate. A branch from the Ludwig Railway to Speyer was built in 1847, the same year as the Ludwigshafen–Neustadt section was opened. In 1864, it was extended to Germersheim. In the same year, a committee met in Rülzheim and advocated an extension of the line to Wörth. The representatives belonged, apart from Rülzheim, to Germersheim, Bellheim, Rheinzabern, Wörth and Maxau. Nevertheless, the Franco-Prussian War delayed the realisation of the project.
Nevertheless, it was not clear whether the planned line would go beyond Wörth. Thus the neighbouring community of Kandel demanded that the line be built through its territory. The Directorate of the Palatinate Railway (Pfälzische Eisenbahnen) refused this request on 20 November 1871, since such a route would have required a detour which would have reduced the competitiveness of the railway. Kandel, however, did not give up immediately and made a written proposal. Nevertheless, a route through Wörth was adopted. This was approved on 15 March 1874.