Mannheim–Karlsruhe–Basel railway

The Mannheim–Karlsruhe–Basel railway (also known as the Rheintalbahn, German for Rhine Valley Line) is a German railway line from Mannheim via Heidelberg, Karlsruhe and Freiburg im Breisgau to Basel. It is part of the Baden Mainline (German: Badische Hauptbahn).

1 History
2 Operations
3 Karlsruhe–Basel high speed line
4 Notes
5 References

History

Date	Start of section	End of section
12 September 1840	Mannheim Hbf	Heidelberg Hbf
10 April 1843	Heidelberg Hbf	Karlsruhe Hbf
1 May 1844	Karlsruhe Hbf	Rastatt
6 May 1844	Rastatt	Baden-Oos
1 June 1844	Baden-Oos	Offenburg
1 August 1845	Offenburg	Freiburg Hbf
1 June 1847	Freiburg Hbf	Müllheim (Baden)
15 June 1847	Müllheim	Schliengen
8 November 1848	Schliengen	Efringen
22 January 1851	Efringen	Haltingen
1855	Haltingen	Basel

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 1600 mm broad gauge, 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 on the Mannheim–Schwetzingen–Graben–Eggenstein–Karlsruhe route. A shorter and more direct line from Graben to Karlsruhe via Blankenloch was added in 1895 as a strategic railway. This converted the Karlsruhe–Eggenstein–Graben section of the old line into a branch line, now known as the Hardt Railway and partly incorporated into the Karlsruhe Stadtbahn.

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 Railway). 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 was 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 Katzenberg Tunnel 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

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.^[1]

In March 1993 the first section, between Bühl and Achern (9 km) was put into service.^[2]

The current plan of the project manager, DB ProjektBau, is the continued development of the line as the ‘’’Neu- und Ausbaustrecke Karlsruhe–Basel’’’ (i.e. 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.^[3]

Construction arrangements

The project is arranged into nine sections:

Section 1: Karlsruhe–Rastatt-Süd (km 60.66–100.87): 24.3 km (planned)
Section 2: Rastatt-Süd–Sinzheim (km 100.87–114.37): 13.5 km (open)
Section 3: Bühl–Ottersweier (km 114.37–121.75): 7.4 km (open)
Section 4: Achern–Sasbach (km 121.75–130.53): 7.8 km (open)
Section 5: Renchen–Appenweier (km 130.52–140.16): 9.6 km (open)
Section 6: Appenweier–Offenburg (km 140.16–145.48): 5.3 km (open)
Section 7: Offenburg–Herbolzheim (km 145.48–178.00): 32.6 km (planned)
- Section 7.1: Offenburg Süd–Hohberg (about 8.7 km): the proposal is to build new tracks for 250 km/h close to current line,^[4] in the summer of 2008 46,000 private objections were received^[5] and the planning process has not been completed.
- Section 7.2: Hohberg–Friesenheim (km 154.200 to 161.200): the proposal is to build new tracks for 250 km/h close to current line and Friesenheim station is to be rebuilt. The planning process is not complete.
- Section 7.3: Lahr–Mahlberg (km 161–172): the proposal is to build new tracks for 250 km/h on the western side of the current line.^[6] Planning approval is expected in 2011.
- Section 7.4: Ettenheim–Herbolzheim (km 172.1–178.0): the proposal is to build new tracks for 250 km/h on the western side of the current line, including the rebuilding of Ringsheim and Herbolzheim stations. The planning process is not complete.
Section 8: Kenzingen–Heitersheim (km 178.00–222.40): 44.4 km (planned), this involves a bypass for freight trains to the west of Freiburg, generally along the A 5 autobahn, including the Mengener Tunnel (1,956 m), designed for 160 km/h. Passenger trains will run on the current route through Freiburg. The planning process is not complete.
Section 9: Buggingen–Basel (km 222.40–271.61): 37.4 km (under construction):
- Section 9.0: Buggingen–Auggen: planning process is not complete.
- Section 9.1: Auggen–Haltingen this 21 km-long section, including the 9.4 km-long Katzenberg Tunnel, is under construction and is expected to be put in service in December 2011.
- Section 9.2: Haltingen-Weil am Rhein, planning approval for this 5 km-long section on the northern edge of Basel was achieved in 2010^[7] and construction has started.
- Section 9.3: Basel, planning process has not been completed.

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. Although, new lines in Germany are now planned to allow 300 km/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.^[3]

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.^[8]

Time frame

Originally the project was to have been completed in 2008, in accordance with an agreement with Switzerland. By 12 December 2004, sections 2-6, from Rastatt-Süd to Offenburg, were complete, and other sections were under construction, notably the Katzenberg tunnel. The remaining sections were still in the planning phase. With Federal Budget cuts the project will now not be completed until 2020.^[9] The Federal Government has indicated that it intends to make funds available for further sections as planning approvals are achieved.^[3]

Cost and finances

According to unofficial estimates the cost of the project is about 4.6 billion.^[10] In 2006 about euro 108 million was invested in it.^[11]

Notes

^ Meldung Bau der ABS/NBS Karlsruhe–Basel genehmigt. In: Eisenbahntechnische Rundschau. 36, Nr. 1/2, 1987, S. 102 (German)
^ Meldung Erster Abschnitt der Neubaustrecke Karlsruhe–Basel fertig. In Eisenbahntechnische Rundschau. 42, No. 5, 1993, S. 361 (German)
^ ^a ^b ^c "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" (in German). 2007-04-16. http://dipbt.bundestag.de/dip21/btd/16/050/1605037.pdf. Retrieved 2009-02-18.
^ DB ProjektBau (Hrsg.): Ausbau- und Neubaustrecke Karlsruhe–Basel: Planfeststellungsabschnitt 7.1: Offenburg Süd–Hohberg. 12 page Brochure with status of December 2008, Karlsruhe, (PDF-Datei, 2,0 MB).
^ Regierungspräsidium Freiburg: Aus- und Neubau der Rheintalbahn: Erste Bewertung des Regierungspräsidiums Freiburg im Anhörungsverfahren für Offenburg: Antragstrasse der Bahn in der vorgelegten Form nicht genehmigungsfähig. Press release of 18 January 2011.
^ DB ProjektBau (ed.): Ausbau- und Neubaustrecke Karlsruhe–Basel: Planfeststellungsabschnitt 7.3: Lahr–Mahlberg. 12 page brochure with status of December 2008, Karlsruhe (PDF-file, 1.7 MB)
^ Deutsche Bahn AG: Aus- und Neubaustrecke Karlsruhe - Basel: Planfeststellungsbeschluss für Haltingen - Weil am Rhein kann sofort umgesetzt werden. Press release of 11 February 2010, (PDF-file, 1.0 MB)
^ Jahresrückblick 1988. In Die Bundesbahn 1/1989, S. 63 (German)
^ "400 Millionen Euro für weiteren Aus- und Neubau der Bahnstrecke Karlsruhe–Basel" (in German) (PDF) (Press release). Deutsche Bahn. 15 September 2010. http://www.karlsruhe-basel.de/index.php/pressemitteilungen.html?file=tl_files/dokumente/Pressemiteilungen/Pressemitteilung_15_09_2010.pdf. Retrieved 2 September 2011.
^ Holzhey, Michael (31 May 2005). "Wachstumskerne der Schiene – Investitionsschwerpunkte der Zukunft". BDZ Workshop. http://www.promobilitaet.de/downloads/050531_vortrag_holzhey.pdf. Retrieved 2007-06-29. (German)
^ Investitionsbilanz 2006 der DB AG Eurailpress of 2 January 2007 (German)

References

Helmut Röth: Auf Schienen zwischen Odenwald und Pfalz. Fotografien 1955-1976. Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Verlag Pro Message. 2006. 168 pages. ISBN 3-934845-18-5. (German)

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