150 years of the Queichtalbahn: Big anniversary and new plans for the future!

150 years of the Queichtalbahn: Big anniversary and new plans for the future!

On November 2, 2025, the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Queichtalbahn between Landau and Zweibrücken took place as part of a festive event in Kaiserslautern. The local rail passenger transport association South (ZSPNV Süd) used this opportunity to draw attention to the planned reactivation of the connection from Homburg to Zweibrücken. The building permit for the original railway line was granted in 1871, while the ceremonial inauguration took place in November 1875. High-profile guests were present at this important event, including the Prime Minister of Rhineland-Palatinate and the Minister of Transport, as well as the head of the Saarland government, Anke Rehlinger.

The event also showed how much interest has grown in the region's railways and especially in reactivation projects, such as lok-report.de reported. Despite the positive atmosphere, there were some difficulties because the sound system during the celebration was inadequate, which affected intelligibility for many participants, especially those who wore hearing aids. Werner Schreiner commented on this and presented the challenges that this created.

Problems at the train stations

The discussion about reactivation also led to questions about general satisfaction with Saarland's politics, especially with regard to the intended measures. Astrid Klug addressed these questions to the audience present. Another important issue was the accessibility of the stations, as the elevator on platform 1 was closed, which created difficult circumstances for many people with disabilities. Some participants had to take the bus to Homburg, where broken elevators were also found. Interestingly, it turned out that the elevators on platform 1 are not maintained by Deutsche Bahn, but by the city of Zweibrücken, which led to even more questions about the station infrastructure.

However, there is optimism for the future, as the first trains between Homburg and Zweibrücken are planned for December 2028. The exchange between those responsible, such as Werner Schreiner and Prime Minister Alexander Schweitzer, shows that reactivation is being pursued seriously. In this context, a study by the Deggendorf University of Technology (THD) that was recently published and dealt with the reactivation of railway lines in rural areas is also noteworthy. This study covers 115 reactivation projects in Germany and shows that only 10% of these initiatives were successful, as economic profitability is a major hurdle, as th-deg.de states.

Prospects for the region

Especially in rural areas, it is often a challenge to secure the infrastructure and take the needs of local residents into account. In particular, the connection of new stopping points must be given greater attention in the future. There is also a great need for greater political support in this area. The successful integration of rail freight also plays a role, as additional investment is often required to make this possible.

Finally, I would like to thank everyone involved on site: Ivie, Winfried, Thomas, Christian, Günter and Erhard made a significant contribution to ensuring that the anniversary celebration and the discussions about reactivation were carried out successfully. We look forward to the coming years and the developments in the area of ​​rail transport in our region with full enthusiasm.