TTR68 The Railways of Germany part 5 Hessen.
A lot has happened to the railways in Hessen over the last five years - not least the opening of the Rhein-Main NBS that has revolutionised train travel between Cologne and Frankfurt, and all points south. Our tour of the region actually starts in Mainz where trains on the old mainline, the Rhein left bank, cross the river and enter Hessen. We explore from north to south – Kassel to Darmstadt and west to east  Rüdesheim (on the Rhein right bank and a Ticket to Ride favourite location) to Hannau. We visit Bischofsheim freight yard, next to the Opel factory at Rüsselsheim, and in Frankfurt see the new Messe station from the head of Giessen bound IC.  At Kassel we ride the tram train to the VW plant, explore Fulda and take an ICE over Die Bahn’s first NBS. Fulda is a little known gem for rail enthusiasts as it lies on one of Europe’s major freight axes – from the great northern ports to Austria and Italy. We follow the activity at Fulda itself, Bebra and Bad Hersfeld.  At Frankfurt we have a privileged visit to the New Airport Station and naturally the Hbf. RT 90 mins