Route
The Landau–Rohrbach railway begins in Landau Central Station (Landau (Pfalz) Hauptbahnhof). After leaving the station, it branches off the Palatine Maximilian Railway to the left and runs around the city of Landau in a wide arc. In the latter, it stops at Landau (Pfalz) West station and Godramstein station. It then runs along the Queich valley through the Südliche Weinstraße district. Between Godramstein and Albersweiler, it runs through the Palatinate wine region and crosses the German Wine Route at a level crossing next to Siebeldingen-Birkweiler station.
After Albersweiler, it runs through the Palatinate Forest (Pfälzerwald) to Hinterweidenthal on the northern edge of the Wasgau, which lies between the southern Palatinate Forest and the northern Vosges. It runs through the Annweiler and a landscape called the Dahner Felsenland, which has bizarre sandstone cliffs, castles on rocks, notably the “trinity castles” (Burgdreifaltigkeit) of Trifels, Anebos and Münz near Annweiler and rock formations between Rinnthal and Wilgartswiesen. In Wilgartswiesen, the Landau–Rohrbach railway leaves the Queich valley and runs through the Hinterweidenthal, a narrow depression that separates the Wasgau and the Middle Palatinate Forest, and it now passes through the Südwestpfalz district. After Hinterweidenthal Ost station, the Wieslauter Railway branches off to Bundenthal-Rumbach; it only operates from May to October on Sundays and public holidays. The Landau–Rohrbach railway leaves the Wasgau here and passes through the Gräfensteiner Land, the southwestern part of the Middle Palatinate Forest, running under the main watershed of the Palatinate through the Münchweiler tunnel. The railway then runs along the Rodalb river through Münchweiler an der Rodalb and after passing through the Neuhof tunnel to the town of Rodalben. Arriving at the western edge of the Palatinate forest, the line reaches the railway junction of Pirmasens Nord (formerly Biebermühle).
From Thaleischweiler-Fröschen to Zweibrücken, the line crosses the predominantly agriculturally dominated Westricher plateau. It runs through many curves through the Schwarzbach valley, which is located between rolling hills; the valley floor is mostly used as grazing land and its slopes are reserved for forests. Shortly before the confluence of the Schwarzbach with the Blies, it passed through Zweibrücken Central Station. It then crosses the state border with Saarland at Einöd and now runs through the Saar-Palatinate district.
Between Einöd and Blieskastel-Lautzkirchen it passes through the broad lowlands of the Blies, which is mainly covered by meadows and pastures. From Lautzkirchen it follows the wooded Würzbach valley, which separates the Kirkeler forest from the plateau of Bliesgau, which has a more open landscape character. It passes the Würzbach pond (Niederwürzbacher Weiher), a major regional centre for tourism and finally runs through Hassel to Rohrbach, where it meets the Palatine Ludwig Railway from Homburg. After a few kilometres St. Ingbert is reached.
Read more about this topic: South Palatinate Railway
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