Mannheim-Stuttgart high-speed rail line

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Mannheim–Stuttgart high-speed line
Line length:	99 km
Gauge:	1435 mm
Voltage:	15 kV, 16,7 Hz ~
Maximum incline:	12,5 ‰
Minimum radius:	5100 m
Maximum speed:	250 km/h
Stations and structures
Legend Riedbahn to Frankfurt 0,0 Mannheim Hbf 2,0 Container yard bridge (1100 m) 5,1 Üst (crossover) Pfingstberg 5,5 Pfingstberg tunnel (5380 m) 11,4 Üst Brühler Weg Connection to Talhaus industrial area Hockenheim to Rheinbahn towards Schwetzingen 20,9 Bf. Hockenheim Hockenheim to Rheinbahn towards Waghäusel 27,7 Üst Oberhausen 31,8 Waghäusel-Saalbach to Rheinbahn towards Karlsruhe 34,7 Üst Waghäusel-Lußhardt 40,5 Üst Forst 40,7 Forster tunnel (1727 m) 45,3 Rollenberg junction   from Karlsruhe   from Heidelberg 45,2 Rollenberg tunnel (3303 m) 47,4 Üst Bruchsal Eisenhut 49,1 Oberbruch viaduct (220 m) 50,1 Altenberg tunnel (220 m) 50,9 Neuenberg tunnel (762 m) 52,2 Frauenwald viaduct (704 m) 53,0 Simonsweingarten Tunnel (420 m) 55,5 Maintenance base Kraichtal 56,4 Bauerbach viaduct (748 m) 59,2 Zigeunergraben viaduct (660 m) 60,4 Wilfenberg tunnel (1006 m) 62,1 Freudenstein tunnel (6800 m) 62,5 Üst Freudenstein 69,5 Üst Sternenfels Mettertal 71,7 Burgberg tunnel (1115 m) 73,2 Saubuckel tunnel (403 m) Westbahn towards Mühlacker Vaihinger Stadtbahn 78,5 Vaihingen (Enz) station Westbahn towards Bietigheim-Bissingen 79,1 Markstein tunnel (2782 m) 82,0 Enztal bridge (1044 m) 83,5 Üst Vaihingen Enztal 84,2 Pulverdinger Tunnel (1878 m) 87,8 Glemstal bridge (348 m) 89,0 Üst Markgröningen Glems 94,1 Langes Feld Tunnel (4650 m) 95,9 Junction towards Kornwestheim Rbf 97,9 Langes Feld junction to Schusterbahn   to S-Untertürkheim End of the Neubaustrecke {{BSkm|99,3|7,6}} Junction with the Frankenbahn from Würzburg Schwarzwaldbahn from Weil der Stadt 6,6 Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen 4,7 Stuttgart-Feuerbach Prag tunnel (680 m) 3,6 To regional line 2,8 Stuttgart Nord Regional line from Singen To Filsbahn (Ulm) and Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt: Connecting line to S-Bahn Stuttgart 0,0 Stuttgart Hbf

The Mannheim-Stuttgart high-speed rail line is a 99 km long railway line in Germany, connecting the cities of Mannheim and Stuttgart. It was officially handed over for operations on 9 May 1991 and the first InterCityExpress ran on it on 2 June. The Hanover-Würzburg high-speed rail line opened at the same time. It includes 15 tunnels and more than 90 bridges and cost about DM 4.5 billion to build.

Contents 1 Planning 2 Construction 3 Operations 4 Notes 5 References

[edit] Planning

Planning for a new line between Mannheim and Stuttgart (the two largest cities of Baden-Württemberg) began in 1970. The railway lines that it replaced followed the terrain and followed rivers and valleys, resulting in steep gradients and sharp curves and thus not suitable for high-speed trains. The 1973 federal transport plan incorporated the following minimum requirements for mixed traffic to accommodate heavy, slow goods trains and light fast passenger trains:

• maximum grade of 1.25% (occasionally 2.0%)
• curves with small superelevation and minimum radii of 4,800 m to 7,000 m
• maximum line speed of 250 to 300 km/h
• average construction costs of 30 to 50 millions DM per kilometer
• point-to-point connections between two railway junctions.

These requirements made necessary a large number of structure such as bridges and tunnels.

In addition new technology had to be applied: the Forst Tunnel is for its entire length under the water table and required a new dewatering technology. The Freudenstein Tunnel drives through gypskeuper, which flows as a result of heavy rains on the hillsides above it and required expensive safeguards, which were used for the first time.

In 1974 the first planning statement for the Mannheim-Stuttgart route was published. In 1975 the Federal Minister for Transport issued the building permit and construction began in 1976. More than 6,000 objections led to changes in the route when the line was already under construction. The building of some sections was occasionally completely stopped. In seven places the protests of the nearby resident led to the building of cut and cover tunnels. The longest tunnel of this kind was the Pfingstberg tunnel, which leads through a forest near Mannheim-Rheinau, which is a declared water protection zone.

The route has a (comparatively low) maximum gradient of 12.5 per thousand with curves having a normal radius of 7,000 m and a minimum radius of 5,100 m. Superelevation are limited to a maximum of 80 mm. The design speed for ICEs is 300 km/h and in places limited to 250 km/h. Crossovers were provided for the planned operations mixing passenger and goods trains and for maintenance operations every five to seven kilometres. Planning for the entire route was not resolved until 1985.

[edit] Construction

The first section was completed on 31 May 1987 between the junction with the Rheinbahn in Mannheim and Graben-Neudorf.^[1] The last section to be completed was the second tube of the Freudenstein Tunnel, which was finished a few months before the opening of the whole line.^[2] In 1991 the whole route was handed over to traffic.

Before the commencement of passenger operations two thousand training runs were undertaken to familiarise drivers with the technical characteristics of driving on high-speed lines, succh as in-cab signaling and preventing the application of the emergency brakes.^[3]

[edit] Operations

The Mannheim-Stuttgart line was handed over for commercial operations between on 9 May 1991 and the first ICE ran on it on 2 June. Initially the maximum speed was 250 km/h, with 280 km/h permitted to overcome delays.^[3] Currently the maximum speed is about 250 km/h, whether or not there is a delay. The opening of the line reduced the travel time from Mannheim to Stuttgart from 90 to 44 minutes in 1991. In 2007 the ICE takes only 35 to 38 minutes to cover the Stuttgart-Mannheim section.

Since its opening it has conveyed trains operating on various ICE lines:

• line 11: Berlin Ostbf, Berlin Hbf, Berlin-Spandau, Braunschweig, Kassel Wilhelmshöhe, Fulda, Frankfurt/Main, Mannheim, Stuttgart, Ulm, Augsburg and München (generally every two hours, each way)
• line 22: Hamburg, Hanover, Göttingen, Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe, Fulda, Frankfurt, Mannheim, Stuttgart, (generally every two hours, each way)
• line 42: Amsterdam/Dortmund, Duisburg, Düsseldorf, Köln Hbf, Frankfurt Airport – Mannheim Hbf, Stuttgart, Ulm, Augsburg and München (generally every two hours, each way)

It also conveys trains to and from Heidelberg and Karlsruhe (including TGVs), which connect at Rollenberg Junction.

Despite the provision of crossovers every five to seven kilometres, to allow goods trains to operate on the line at the same time as passenger trains, in practice goods trains have only been allowed to operate at night when there are no passenger trains.

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Joachim Seyferth: Die Neubaustrecken der Deutschen Bundesbahn. Wiesbaden 1983 (German)
• Ernst Rudolph: Eisenbahn auf neuen Wegen: Hannover–Würzburg, Mannheim–Stuttgart. Darmstadt 1989, ISBN 3-7771-0216-4 (German)
• Berndt von Mitzlaff, Ralf Roman Rossberg: Jahrbuch des Eisenbahnwesens 42: Hochgeschwindigkeitsverkehr. Darmstadt 1991, ISBN 3-7771-0234-2 (German)
• Bundesbahndirektion Karlsruhe: Streckenkarte Neubaustrecke Mannheim–Stuttgart 1:100.000. Karlsruhe 1990 (German)
• Neue Bahnhöfe an der Neubaustrecke Stuttgart-Mannheim in db. 11/1988. Stuttgart 1988 (German)

ICE coming from the Containerbahnhofbrücke (container yard bridge)

Rollenberg Junction

InterCity at Vaihingen (Enz) station

ICE between Enztalbrücke and Pulverdinger Tunnel

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