Annweiler am Trifels station

Steam locomotive of Palatine class G 2.I in the station at the beginning of the 20th century

For the first 14 months of its existence it was the terminus of the line, until it was extended to Zweibrücken on 25 November 1875. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the station had ticket gates like other stations in the Palatinate.[9][10] During this time, the railway station was managed by the Zweibrücken operations and construction inspectorate and its tracks were part of the responsibility of the Bahnmeisterei (track master's office) of Albersweiler-St. Johann.[11] After Germany lost the First World War and the French military invaded, the Palatine network south of Maikammer-Kirrweiler was blockaded to passenger traffic on 1 December 1918, but released for operations three days later.[12] The line and Annweiler station became part of the area of the Reichsbahndirektion (Reichsbahn railway division) of Ludwigshafen after the founding of the Deutsche Reichsbahn in 1922. A year later, the railway workers employed at the railway station were expelled during the operation of the railway by the French military during the occupation of the Palatinate by France. They then returned to work.[13] During the dissolution of the railway division of Ludwigshafen, responsibility for it was transferred to the railway division of Saarbrücken on 1 May 1936 and the Betriebsamtes (RBA) Zweibrücken (operations office of Zweibrücken).[14]

Deutsche Bundesbahn (DB), which was responsible for railway operations from 1949, assigned the station to the railway division of Mainz, which was responsible for all railway lines within the newly created state of Rhineland-Palatinate. In the course of the staged dissolution of the railway division of Mainz from 1 August 1971, its counterpart in Saarbrücken took responsibility for the station.[15] At the same time the platforms were raised.[16] In 1996, the station became part of the area where services are organised by the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Neckar (Rhine-Neckar transport association, VRN). Since 2002, the tickets of the Karlsruher Verkehrsverbund (Karlsruhe Transport Association, KVV) have also been recognised. DB Station&Service commissioned a passenger information display at the station on 1 January 2009. In 2014, the platforms were to be upgraded for disabled people.[17]

The entrance building was built in the neoclassical style for the commissioning of the station in 1874. It is protected under the Rhineland Palatinate Conservation Act. In its execution it was almost identical with its original counterpart at Biebermühle station (now Pirmasens Nord station).[18] The front-gabled central section of the building has three floors. Two two-storey wings are attached to it. The platform canopy was completed a few years after the station was opened.[19] Similar buildings were found on the lines of the Palatinate Railways (Pfälzische Eisenbahnen) as well as the stations of Enkenbach, Kirchheimbolanden, Langmeil and Marnheim.[20]

In addition, a two-storey secondary building, which was used for handling freight and has now been converted into a residence, was located in the western area of the station. It is also characteristic of the Palatinate Railways. A relatively large goods shed, which was built in the 1930s,[19][21] was demolished in September 2013. In the eastern part of the station there is a signal box, which was also built in the 1930s. Red sandstone from the region was used for its lower floor.[22][19]

The station has three platforms for passenger services, including a dead-end platform which was restored in about 1990.

Train to Pirmasens in the station in September 2005

The Landau–Zweibrücken railway formed the continuation of the Germersheim–Landau railway and the Bruhrain Railway (Bruchsal–Germersheim), which is evident in the continuous chainage (kilometre markings). This starts in the middle of the Rhine Bridge, Germersheim. In the 1897 timetable, for example, thorough journeys from Zweibrücken via Annweiler and Landau to Germersheim are listed.[23] At the end of the 1930s, there were continuous passenger services from Saarbrücken to Germersheim and Bruchsal. From 1938, it ran to the east towards Winden, Wörth and Karlsruhe; this continued in the Second World War.[24]

Annweiler was regularly the terminus of trains that started in Landau. At the same time, trains ran to Pirmasenser Hauptbahnhof and Zweibrücken. In the 1970s, there were some through trains to Homburg, Neustadt, St. Ingbert and Bruchsal. In 1994, most of the services ran to Zweibrücken or Saarbrücken, since then traffic has been concentrated on Pirmasens.[25] The last through train to Saarbrücken was abandoned in 2008. Two years later, connections had been established between Karlsruhe and Annweiler that ran over the Neustadt–Wissembourg railway and the Winden–Karlsruhe railway. From May to October, Felsenland-Express excursion services run on Wednesdays, Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays from Neustadt and Karlsruhe, stopping in Annweiler.

Former goods shed

At the beginning of the twentieth century, freight trains operated over the Kaiserslautern–Homburg–Landau–Germersheim and Saarbrücken–Landau–Germersheim lines.[28] Their customers at the station included Stabila, a local manufacturer of measuring instruments.[29] After the Second World War freight traffic also lost importance. From the 1980s onwards, a Übergabegüterzug (goods exchange train) served the station. Its operation were based in Neustadt Hauptbahnhof.[30] The trains ran from Landau to Wilgartswiesen. Operation of freight traffic at the station ended in 1994.[31] Subsequently, the loading tracks at the station were disconnected and partially dismantled in 2001. Subsequently, the loading tracks in the station were disconnected and partially dismantled in 2001.[31] It had already lost all freight traffic a few years earlier.

There is a bus stop in the station forecourt (Bahnhofsvorplatz). Since 2012, Queichtal Nahverkehrsgesellschaft GmbH has been responsible for operating the bus routes, which were reorganised in the same year.

Bus stop in the station forecourt

Currently, the station is served by the following bus routes:

• 522: Ramberg/Siebeldingen – Queichhambach – Annweiler (only for school traffic)
• 523: Albersweiler – Queichhambach – Gräfenhausen – Annweiler – Bindersbach
• 524: Albersweiler – Queichhambach – Gräfenhausen – Annweiler – Waldrohrbach – Waldhambach – Pfalzklinikum
• 525: Bad Bergzabern – Birkenhördt – Erlenbach bei Dahn – Vorderweidenthal – Oberschlettenbach – Darstein – Schwanheim – Dimbach – Lug – Spirkelbach – Wernersberg – Annweiler
• 526: Annweiler – Sarnstall – Hofstätten/Wilgartswiesen – Hauenstein
• 531: Landau – Arzheim – Ilbesheim – Eschbach – Klingenmünster – Münchweiler am Klingbach – Silz – Gossersweiler-Stein – Völkersweiler – Annweiler
• 532: Forsthaus Taubensuhl – Eußerthal – Albersweiler – Annweiler – Völkersweiler – Gossersweiler-Stein – Silz – Vorderweidenthal – Oberschlettenbach – Darstein – Schwanheim – Dimbach – Lug – Spirkelbach – Wernersberg – Annweiler[32]

• Heilmann, Michael; Schreiner, Werner (2005). 150 Jahre Maximiliansbahn Neustadt-Straßburg [150 Years of the Maximilian Railway: Neustadt–Strasbourg] (in German). Ludwigshafen am Rhein: pro MESSAGE. ISBN 3-934845-27-4.
• Holzborn, Klaus D. (1993). Eisenbahn-Reviere Pfalz [Palatine railway station districts] (in German). Berlin: transpress. ISBN 3-344-70790-6.
• Mühl, Albert (1982). Die Pfalzbahn. Geschichte, Betrieb und Fahrzeuge der Pfälzischen Eisenbahnen [The Palatine Railway. History, Operations and Rollingstock of the Palatine Railways] (in German). Stuttgart: Theiss Verlag. ISBN 3-8062-0301-6.
• Preuß, Erich (1996). Stellwerke deutscher Eisenbahnen [Signal boxes of the German railways] (in German). Stuttgart: Transpress. ISBN 978-3-613714-45-8.
• Schreiner, Werner (2010). Paul Camille von Denis: Europäischer Verkehrspionier und Erbauer der pfälzischen Eisenbahnen [Paul Camille von Denis: European Transport Pioneer and Builder of the Palatine Railways] (in German). Ludwigshafen am Rhein: pro MESSAGE. ISBN 978-3-934845-49-7.}
• Sturm, Heinz (2005). Die pfälzischen Eisenbahnen [The Palatine Railways] (in German). Ludwigshafen am Rhein: pro MESSAGE. ISBN 3-934845-26-6.
• Sturm, Heinz (1980). Geschichte der Maxbahn 1855–1945 [125 years of the Maximilian Railway Neustadt/Weinstr.-Landau/Pfalz]. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
• Wenz, Martin (2008). Typenbahnhöfe der Pfälzischen Eisenbahnen an der Südlichen Weinstraße [Standard Railway Stations of the Palatine Railways on the Southern Wine Route]. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
• Eisenbahnatlas Deutschland [German railway atlas]. Schweers + Wall. 2017. ISBN 978-3-89494-146-8.