Germany (Saarland) - Lines with Obscure or Sparse passenger services

Introduction

This list is based on the timetable dated from 15 December 2024 to 13 December 2025, unless otherwise stated. Standard abbreviations are explained here.

Map references for each route entry are given in parentheses ( ). References prefixed "ERA-E" refer to the European Railway Atlas (All-Europe Edition) by M.G. Ball. References prefixed "ERA-R" refer to the European Railway Atlas (Regional Series: Book 2) by M.G. Ball. References prefixed "S+W", or in italic, refer to Eisenbahnatlas Deutschland by Schweers + Wall.

Obscure services

Niedaltdorf – Bouzonville (France)

(ERA-E 52C1; ERA-R 111C3; S+W 83B4) DE25/451

This line, the Niedtalbahn, has no regular service beyond Niedaltdorf, but a special shuttle service operates every year from Dillingen (Saar) to Bouzonville in conjunction with the Good Friday market there.

Good Friday 2025 falls on 18 April and trains will run as follows.

• From Dillingen (Saar): 08:44 (through working from Saarbrücken Hbf dep 08:03), 09:14, 10:50, 11:18, 13:14, 15:00 and 17:00
• From Bouzonville: 10:04, 12:15, 14:23, 15:53, 16:23, 17:58 (to Saarbrücken Hbf) and 18:20.

The future operation of this service is unclear as with the withdrawal of most Class 628 diesel units, in years to come there may not be any units available that are passed to operate over the French section of this line. However a couple of Class 628s were transferred in December 2024 from Niebüll to Kaiserslautern on the withdrawal of the SyltShuttlePlus services, so this may have helped the situation.

Note that these trains can be exceptionally busy. Deutschland-Tickets, Rheinland-Pfalz and Saarland-Tickets, and local Saar-VV day tickets with validity as far as Niedaltdorf are all valid through to Bouzonville without additional payment.

Merchweiler (Abzw Wemmetsweiler Kurve) – Wemmetsweiler Rathaus

[681] (ERA-E 53A1; ERA-R 112A3; S+W 157B1) DE25/452

Most trains passing through Merchweiler run directly between Saarbrücken Hbf and Lebach-Jabach via the Wemmetsweiler curve. However a few run between Saarbrücken Hbf and Wemmetsweiler Rathaus, thereby using the above route. These run Mondays to Fridays unless shown otherwise:

• From Merchweiler: 01:40 (every night), 06:58, 08:52, 13:52 and 17:52.
• From Wemmetsweiler Rathaus: 06:54, 07:34, 10:03, 15:03 and 19:03.

Saarbrücken Hbf – Jägersfreude (Saarbrücken Hbf Srg)

[680] (ERA-E 53A1 not shown; ERA-R 112A3 not shown; S+W 157A3) DE25/453

There are two reversible single tracks between Saarbrücken Hbf and the line via Sulzbach (Saar). One runs via a dive-under below the line from Saarbrücken Ost and the other runs direct. The dive-under line can be used only to access platforms 1 and 3 on the south side of Saarbrücken Hbf. The direct route is used to and from high-numbered platforms. For most of the day there is regular use of both routes. RE3 trains to and from Frankfurt (Main) Hbf via Mainz normally use platforms 1 or 3.

Saarbrücken Hbf (– Saarbrücken Grenze) - Forbach

[682] (ERA-E 53A1 not shown; ERA-R 112A3 not shown; S+W 157A3) DE25/454

The line between Saarbrücken Hbf and Forbach in France (line 3231) has two tracks which form a widely-separated flying junction between Saarbrücken Hbf and Abzw Saarbrücken Saardamm, at the south end of the triangle where the avoiding line from Saarbrücken-Burbach joins. The southern track takes a ground-level route but the northern track runs beneath the Dillingen line. TGV/ICE services towards Paris use the northern track as they depart from Platform 14 at Saarbrücken Hbf. Eastbound local TER/RE services from Forbach or beyond use the southern track to terminate in bay platform 2. Eastbound ICE/TGV services may use either route as they use Platform 5. Westbound local services from platform 2 may also use either route, but would be expected to use the southern route to avoid crossing over several tracks at the west end of Saarbrücken Hbf.