Limburg Süd () is a station in the town of Limburg an der Lahn, in the German state of Hesse. It is located in the Eschhöfer Feld ("Eschhofen field") in the district of Eschhofen at the 110.5 kilometre point of the Cologne–Frankfurt high-speed railway. Limburg Süd is the only station in Germany that is served solely by Intercity-Express (ICE) services.
Infrastructure
The entrance building, which has 300 square metres of usable space, is located on platform 1 (used by trains to Frankfurt) and houses the Deutsche Bahn travel centre, waiting benches and vending machines for beverages and confectioneries. There are no public toilets in the station itself, but there are some in the adjacent parking garage. Alternatively, there is a coin-operated toilet cubicle in the forecourt.
The 180 square m area on the second floor has been largely empty since the opening of the station. However, it is now planned to establish a control room of DB Energie there.
Railway tracks
The station has four tracks. The two middle tracks serve as through tracks and are built as slab tracks. ICE trains can pass through the station without decelerating at up to 300 km/h, while stopping trains running to the two outer platforms can pass over the turnouts at 100 km/h. Platform 4 (serving trains to Cologne) is reached over a bridge spanning the track, which has a staircase and a lift at each end.
The and 3.4 m wide platforms have canopies over a length of 300 m. An and roof spans all four tracks.
North of the platform a crossover allows a track change from the western to the eastern track. Two km towards Frankfurt (113.0 km point), at the Lindenholzhausen crossover, it is possible to change tracks from the east to the west track. The crossovers are passable at 100 km/h while changing tracks. A sub-centre of the electronic interlocking system and an electric sub-station (which is also linked to the public network) have also been established in the area of the station.
Operations
The majority of trains travelling between Frankfurt (Main) Airport Long-Distance Station and Köln Messe/Deutz Station run past Limburg Süd and Montabaur stations without stopping. The trains that pass through Cologne Central Station stop in both Limburg Süd and Montabaur stations before reaching Frankfurt (Main) Airport Long-Distance Station and vice versa.
Most parts of Cologne–Frankfurt high-speed rail line have steeper ascending and descending grades of 4%. This unique feature requires the higher power-to-weight ratio: ICE 3 with its power linear eddy current brakes is only train type licensed to operate on this railway: no other service, namely slower regional trains, is permitted. This makes Limburg Süd the only in Germany to be served exclusively by high speed train services.
Public transport
Limburg (Lahn) station in central Limburg is connected to Limburg Süd by bus and taxi service. In the beginning, the shuttle bus service between both stations was provided, and its timetable was co-ordinated with the arrivals and departures of ICE service. However, the low demand caused the service to be eliminated and replaced with several local bus lines, which offer the passengers more options than the shuttle bus service.
Several long distance bus operators also stop at Limburg Süd. DeinBus, Flixbus, and OneBus offer the connections to Aachen, Bonn, Cologne-Bonn Airport, Frankfurt am Main, Heidelberg, Heilbronn, Stuttgart Airport, and Tübingen.
Despite its proximity in the district of Eschhofen, no direct road link to Eschhofen is ever built.
Parking
On the west side of the station is 306-space car park for short-term parking. Adjacent to the station in the east is a six-storey parking garage with 573 spaces for vehicles, 24 for bicycles, charging station (for electric vehicles), and public toilet facilities. It was opened in 2011 after 19 months of construction. Because of the parking fees, many commuters prefer to park on the streets rather than pay to use the parking garage.