Rheintalbahn

The Rheintalbahn (Rhine Valley Line) is a German railway line from Mannheim via Heidelberg and Graben-Neudorf, Karlsruhe, Rastatt, Baden-Baden, Bühl, Achern, Offenburg, Lahr, Emmendingen, Freiburg im Breisgau, Bad Krozingen, Müllheim and Weil am Rhein to Basel. It is part of the Badischen Hauptbahn (Baden Mainline).

History

The line was financed and built by the Grand Duchy of Baden State Railway ("Großherzogliche Badische Staatsbahn"). The first section between Mannheim and Heidelberg was opened in 1840, and it was completed in several sections to Basel in 1855.

The line was originally built to a gauge of 1,600 mm, but since the surrounding countries built their railways to standard gauge (1,435 mm) the line was converted to standard gauge between 1854 and 1855.

Since Schwetzingen and Hockenheim missed by the line through Heidelberg, another line was opened in 1870: Mannheim–Schwetzingen–Graben–Eggenstein–Karlsruhe. While building strategic railways in 1895, the shorter and more direct line from Graben to Karlsruhe via Blankenloch was added. This converted the Karlsruhe–Eggenstein–Graben section of the old line into a branch line, now known as the Hardtbahn and partly incorporated into the Stadtbahn Karlsruhe.

In the northern section between Mannheim and Karlsruhe there are two different lines, the Mannheim–Graben-Neudorf–Karlsruhe line (the Baden Mainline as such) as well as the Mannheim–Heidelberg–Bruchsal–Durlach–Karlsruhe line (the Baden-Kurpfalz-Bahn). Particularly after World War I it became a major line for international traffic. Beginning in the 1950s,the Rhine Valley line was progressively electrified, with the whole line fully electrified by the middle of 1958.

Under a German-Swiss convention, the entire line is supposed to be converted to at least four lines by 2008, so that it can serve as the main northern approach route to the new Gotthard Base Tunnel line to Italy. Deutsche Bahn is building a high-speed line for this project from Karlsruhe to Basel, including new and upgraded sections.

Between Karlsruhe and Rastatt two lines run relatively near each other, effectively providing four tracks. The double-track section between Rastatt station and Rastatt-Niederbühl is to be widened to four lines, probably by the construction of a parallel tunnel. Between Rastatt Niederbühl and Offenburg two new high-speed tracks have been completed next to the old double-track line. The Katzenbergtunnel between Freiburg and Basel is currently under construction to avoid a narrow, winding section between the Rhine and the Isteiner Klotz hills. The remaining sections between Offenburg, Freiburg and the Katzenbergtunnel are still being planned.

Operations

[
RheinNeckar S-Bahn between Mannheim and Heidelberg] The Rhine Valley line is today one of the most important lines of Germany both for passenger and goods traffic, including international traffic to and from Switzerland and France. The main railway stations are Mannheim, Heidelberg, Karlsruhe, Offenburg, Freiburg and Basel Bad. Other stations are Baden-Baden, Rastatt und Bruchsal.

Since December 2003, line S3 of the Rhein-Neckar S-Bahn has operated on the Mannheim–Karlsruhe section of line and S4 (Speyer–Bruchsal) on the (Speyer–Karlsruhe) section. Lines S31, S32, S4 and S41 of the Stadtbahn Karlsruhe operate between Bruchsal and Achern

At both ends of the line one the largest marshalling yards in Europe: Mannheim marshalling yard and Basel SBB marshalling yard in Muttenz. The other marshalling yards of this line in Heidelberg, Karlsruhe, Offenburg, Freiburg im Breisgau and Basel Badischer Bahnhof have been closed.

Karlsruhe–Basel high speed line

On 21 January 1987 the Federal Minister of Transport Werner Dollinger wrote to Deutsche Bundesbahn agreeing to the construction a new line from Karlsruhe to Offenburg and Basel as part of the 1985 federal transport plan. The costs was estimated at the time to be about 2.3 billion D Mark and building should have begun by the end of 1987. Once finished travel time between Hamburg and Basel was expected to be reduced by over two hours to five and a half hours. The maximum speed between Karlsruhe and Offenburg would have been 250 km/h and 200 km/h between Offenburg and Basel.Meldung "Bau der ABS/NBS Karlsruhe–Basel genehmigt". In: "Eisenbahntechnische Rundschau". 36, Nr. 1/2, 1987, S. 102 de icon ]

In March 1993 the first section, between Bühl and Achern (9 km) was put into service.Meldung "Erster Abschnitt der Neubaustrecke Karlsruhe–Basel fertig". In "Eisenbahntechnische Rundschau". 42, No. 5, 1993, S. 361 de icon ]

The current plan of the project manager, DB ProjektBau, is the continued development of the line as the ‘’’Neu- und Ausbaustrecke Karlsruhe–Basel’’’ (ie a mixture of new high-speed line and upgraded line). This line forms the most important northern access route to the Swiss AlpTransit project and is therefore part of a bilateral convention for an increase in the efficiency in rail transport between Switzerland and Germany.

Between Appenweier and Karlsruhe the line is also part of the Magistrale for Europe from Paris to Budapest, which is supported by the European Union as part of its Trans-European Networks.

The federal transport plan forecast that there would be 38 long-distance trains daily each way in the Offenburg–Basel section. It forecast that there would be 137 daily goods trains running from north to south and 147 daily goods trains running from south to north.

Construction arrangements

The project is arranged into nine sections:
*Section 1: Karlsruhe–Rastatt-Süd (km 60.66–100.87): 24.3 km
* Section 2: Rastatt-Süd–Sinzheim (km 100.87–114.37): 13.5 km
* Section 3: Bühl–Ottersweier (km 114.37–121.75): 7.4 km
* Section 4: Achern–Sasbach (km 121.75–130.53): 7.8 km
* Section 5: Renchen–Appenweier (km 130.52–140.16): 9.6 km
* Section 6: Appenweier–Offenburg (km 140.16–145.48): 5.3 km
* Section 7: Offenburg–Herbolzheim (km 145.48–178.00): 32.6 km
* Section 8: Kenzingen–Heitersheim (km 178.00–222.40): 44.4 km
* Section 9: Buggingen–Basel (km 222.40–271.61): 37.4 km: this section includes the 9.4 km-long Katzenbergtunnel, which is already under construction and will be substantially finished in 2008.

The line between Rastatt south and Offenburg has a speed limit of 250 km/h. This speed limit will also apply to the sections of new line between Offenburg and Kenzingen and between Buggingen and Basel. The planned goods by-pass of Freiburg is designed for a speed limit of 160 km/h. Although, new lines in Germany are now planned to allow 300km/h running, the uncompleted sections of the Karlsruhe–Basel lines are continuing to be built on alignments suitable for 250 km/h running because little time-savings would be achieved with higher speeds.

The building of two additional tracks in the Karlsruhe/Rastatt Offenburg section began from the Achern end in 1987. The planning approval process commenced in the Solingen-Basel section in February 1988."Jahresrückblick 1988". In "Die Bundesbahn" 1/1989, S. 63 de icon]

Time frame

Originally the project should have been completed in accordance with the convention with Switzerland in 2008. The project has been completed by 12 December 2004 in sections 2-6 from Rastatt-Süd to Offenburg and in other sections it is under construction , notably the Katzenbergtunnel. The remaining sections are still in the planning phase. With Federal Budget cuts it will now not be completed until 2012 or, perhaps, 2014.

The Federal Government has indicated that it intends to make funds available for further sections as planning approvals are achieved. [http://dip.bundestag.de/btd/16/050/1605037.pdf "Antwort der Bundesregierung auf die Kleine Anfrage der Abgeordneten Winfried Hermann, Alexander Bonde, Kerstin Andreae, weiterer Abgeordneter und der Fraktion BÜNDNIS 90/DIE GRÜNEN"] Bundestags-Drucksache 16/5037 of 16 April 2007 de icon]

Cost and finances

According to unofficial estimates the cost of the project is about 4.6 billion. [cite web
last =Holzhey
first =Michael
title =Wachstumskerne der Schiene – Investitionsschwerpunkte der Zukunft
work =
publisher =BDZ Workshop
date =31 May 2005
url =http://www.promobilitaet.de/downloads/050531_vortrag_holzhey.pdf
accessdate = 2007-06-29 de icon] In 2006 about euro 108 million was invested in it. [ [http://www.eurailpress.de/news/news.php3?id=15697 "Investitionsbilanz 2006 der DB AG"] "Eurailpress" of 2 January 2007 de icon]

Notes

References

* Helmut Röth: "Auf Schienen zwischen Odenwald und Pfalz. Fotografien 1955-1976." Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Verlag Pro Message. 2006. 168 pages. ISBN 3934845185. de icon