Keilbahnhof (plural: Keilbahnhöfe, literally: "wedge station") is the German word for a station located between branching tracks.[1] There appears to be no direct English equivalent for this term. In a keilbahnhof, the platforms curve in opposite directions so that they are parallel at one end of the station and not at the other.

Definition

A Keilbahnhof is a type of junction station whose tracks usually diverged before passing the platforms, the station building being located between the tracks.[2] The through tracks thus pass by on either side without rejoining one another again, in contrast to an island station, in which the tracks merge again after passing either side of the station building. There are also Keilbahnhof stations whose through tracks diverge in the area of the platforms, but never after them. The y-shaped Keilbahnhof is not suited for splitting trains into separate rakes with different destinations.[3]

Examples in Germany

• Altshausen station on the Herbertingen–Aulendorf and Altshausen–Schwackenreute railways
• Berga-Kelbra station on the Halle–Hann. Münden railway
• Döbeln Hauptbahnhof on the Riesa–Chemnitz and Borsdorf–Coswig railways
• Elsterwerda-Biehla station on the Węgliniec–Roßlau railway
• Hagenow Land station on the Berlin-Hamburg and Hagenow Land–Schwerin railways
• Nordstemmen, Northeim (Han) and Kreiensen stations on the Hanoverian Southern Railway
• Wittenberge station on the Berlin–Hamburg Railway
• Zwickau Hauptbahnhof on the Dresden–Werdau and Schwarzenberg–Zwickau railways

Examples elsewhere

Switzerland

• Sargans on the Chur–Rorschach and Ziegelbrücke–Sargans lines

United Kingdom

• Helsby on the Chester–Manchester and Hooton–Helsby lines
• Kidsgrove on the Stafford–Manchester and Crewe–Derby lines
• Lewes on the East Coastway lines
• Lewisham on the North Kent and Mid-Kent lines; The latter is also used as a loop off the South Eastern Main Line.
• Limehouse on the London, Tilbury and Southend line and the Docklands Light Railway (DLR)
• Sutton on the Portsmouth and the Epsom Downs lines

The Netherlands

• Amsterdam Muiderpoort on the Amsterdam–Arnhem and Amsterdam–Zutphen lines.

United States

• Canton Junction
• Clybourn on the UP North and UP Northwest lines.
• Denville
• Point of Rocks

References