Idar-Oberstein station

Idar-Oberstein station serves the town of Idar-Oberstein in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It is on the Nahe Valley Railway (Nahetalbahn) and is classified by Deutsche Bahn as a category 4 station. It is regularly served by Regional-Express and Regionalbahn services and in the past it was served by freight traffic. The station is located in the centre of Idar-Oberstein.HistoryIdar-Oberstein station was opened on 15 December 1859 as Oberstein station. At that time the only line ran to Bingen am Rhein. In 1860, the Nahe Valley Railway was completed to the Saarland, making train travel possible to Neunkirchen, where there was a connection to the Palatine Ludwig Railway (Pfälzische Ludwigsbahn). Later links were also opened from the Nahe Valley Railway to the Glan Valley Railway (Glantalbahn), to Baumholder and the current district of Birkenfeld via the Birkenfeld Railway. Today, the Nahe Valley Railway is one of the main axes of passenger services in Rhineland-Palatinate. In addition, the station was formerly the starting point of the Idar-Oberstein tramway (1900 to 1956) and the Idar-Oberstein trolleybus service (1956 to 1969).