“Massive construction work” between Gemünden and Frankfurt
The railway is building on the route between Gemünden and Frankfurt. Rails and tracks are being renewed at various locations, and several stations are being converted. In some cases there is only one track available, in some cases buses and taxis run as a replacement. For travelers this means: bring patience and time.
In the past week, the nerves of rail customers have already been put to a tough test. From October 1st to 4th, the travelers between Gemünden and Lohr or Partenstein have to switch to replacement traffic. The trains shuttled between Lohr and Frankfurt and Gemünden and Würzburg. Despite adapted departures, the delay times increased problematically.
Since last Monday the trains have been running through again every day, in the evening and morning hours when & the travelers but continue to switch to rail replacement services. That doesn’t always work out optimally. A taxi company from Lohr jumped in last Monday. The minibus offered far too few seats, travelers reported to the editorial team. “Buses are usually used for replacement rail services, and sometimes they go fast,” explains operator Muharrem Kaya. He said he commuted four or five times between Lohr and Gemünden, and from the last train he brought two people to Würzburg. Others took a taxi from there to Bamberg.
He was asked about 20 minutes in advance whether he could take over the transport, explains Kaya. He doesn’t know why there weren’t any buses. The press office of the railway only answers questions after repeated inquiries; changes in the construction process would have to make it more difficult to organize the rail replacement service at short notice.
Warning in app
The construction work around Gemünden should be completed by October 25, according to the construction site overview of the railway. During the day, rail replacement traffic will only affect the route between Gemünden and Schlüchtern from October 16 to 18. The other work is carried out at night.
Nevertheless, the traffic on the route WILL probably not be regulated anytime soon. In its app, the railway warns for the RE 54/55, which runs between Bamberg / Würzburg and Frankfurt, that “due to massive construction work” could lead to “very long delays”. When asked, a railway spokeswoman lists the construction projects that are running at the same time. There is platform work in the Hanau station, resulting in a lot of track changes and entry to very short platforms, and track renewals in Aschaffenburg station, which would also result in track changes here. It also names the single-track operation between Kleinostheim and Kahl and the single-track operation between Langenprozelten and Gemünden. The punctuality of the RE54 / 55 has therefore fallen sharply.
On Friday morning, the delays in both directions were between five and 30 minutes, freight trains jammed around Gemünden and waited for sidings. The question of whether the concurrence of construction work at several locations on the same route was intended in this way was not answered.