Karlsruhe Hauptbahnhof is a railway station in the German city of Karlsruhe . The station is classified as a Category 1 station, as it is a major hub where several railways connect.
89-476: When the Baden Mainline was built between Mannheim and Basel , the original Karlsruhe station was built on Kriegsstraße between Ettlinger Tor and Mendelssohnplatz about 500 metres south of Karlsruher Marktplatz, the central square of Karlsruhe. The station was designed by Friedrich Eisenlohr and it was opened on 1 April 1843 with two platforms. From the beginning, it was designed as a through station. South of
178-544: A railway line in another country. The route from Haltingen to Basel was opened on 20 February 1855, followed by the section to Bad Säckingen on 4 February 1856, continuing on 30 October 1856 to Waldshut, where, with the opening of the bridge over the Rhine on 18 August 1859, the first railway connection was made between Baden and Switzerland. While the focus during the construction of the Mannheim–Basel/Waldshut railway
267-519: A route through Jestetten in Baden. It could not, however, insist on its preference and the continuation of the main line from Baden to Konstanz, opened on 13 June 1863, ran from Waldshut not through Jestetten, but via Erzingen and Beringen . This last section, directed by Robert Gerwig , completed the construction of the Baden main line. Already in the Act of 1838, the construction was planned for two branch lines:
356-547: A second northern access to Strasbourg on the Graben-Neudorf–Karlsruhe–Rastatt– Rœschwoog route. Simultaneously this route relieved the Baden main line. In 1966, the Rastatt–Rœschwoog section was closed, but the section north of Rastatt continues to operate. During the construction phase of this strategic railway , Rastatt station was relocated and expanded. Due to the strong growth in traffic,
445-479: A third platform track. The track is equipped with the latest signalling technology ( colour lights ) and equipped for speeds of up to 160 km/h. The “other needs” section of the Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan ( Bundesverkehrswegeplan ) provides for the refurbishment of the track for a top speed of 200 km/h, but, so far, the top speed is 160 km/h. IC and ICE trains run on
534-463: Is a German railway line that was built between 1840 and 1863. It runs through Baden , from Mannheim via Heidelberg , Karlsruhe , Offenburg , Freiburg , Basel , Waldshut , Schaffhausen and Singen to Konstanz . The Baden Mainline is 412.7 kilometres long, making it the longest route in the Deutsche Bahn network and also the oldest in southwest Germany. The section between Mannheim and Basel
623-614: Is a hub for S-Bahn train services of the Karlsruhe Stadtbahn of the Albtal-Verkehrs-Gesellschaft . Most of the Karlsruhe Stadtbahn services, however, use platforms A to D on the station forecourt (officially: Bahnhofplatz ), which is shared with urban trams and buses. otherwise 20 minute intervals otherwise 20 minute intervals Baden Mainline The Baden main line ( German : Badische Hauptbahn )
712-788: Is also served by Regional-Express services to Neustadt an der Weinstraße , Mainz , Stuttgart and Konstanz as well as local and S-Bahn services in the Karlsruhe region. According to DB the station receives about 60,000 passengers and visitors each day. The tracks are designed for through services, with platform tracks 1–4 being used for services on the route to Mannheim and Basel, tracks 5–8 for services to and from Heidelberg and Rastatt, tracks 9–14 for services to and from Rastatt and Pforzheim and tracks 101 and 102 for services between Karlsruhe and Neustadt. The through tracks 1–14 can be approached from all lines while tracks 101 and 102 can only be used by services to and from Wörth and Durmersheim. West of
801-407: Is on the north side of the tracks. The building has both neoclassical and Art Nouveau features. East of the station building there is a second underpass, which originally served as an outlet for arriving passengers and was used for a time mainly as an underground car park and a few years ago for secure bicycle parking, but it is now back in use as a pedestrian underpass. A five-span, steel concourse
890-618: Is one of the busiest railway lines in Germany. It runs on the eastern edge of the Upper Rhine valley. While the line is mostly straight, it has, in the southern section between Schliengen and Efringen-Kirchen a winding route passing between the Rhine and the Isteiner Klotz ridge above the villages on the slopes of the Black Forest. A lower alignment similar to the A 5 autobahn was not possible at
979-691: Is the most important northern approach to the Swiss Alpine passes, whilst the section between Basel and Konstanz is only of regional significance. The stretch from Karlsruhe to Basel is also known as the Rhine Valley Railway ( Rheintalbahn ) and the Basel–Konstanz section as the High Rhine Railway ( Hochrheinstrecke ). The Upper Rhine Valley has been an important trade route from Central Europe to Switzerland and Italy since Roman times. With
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#17330851216401068-564: Is the oldest railway in southwestern Germany. It runs almost straight across the Upper Rhine Plain and originally only had a single intermediate station at the halfway point in Friedrichsfeld. Originally it was planned to build the line a little further to the north, which would have allowed a better connection with Seckenheim. However, these plans were thwarted by the resistance of the local population. The Main-Neckar Railway connects to
1157-573: Is very extensive. In addition to Deutsche Bahn AG, Swiss Federal Railways operates one third of all freight trains on this route, especially as combined transport . Following the development of railway crossings across the Alps in Switzerland, a sharp increase in freight traffic on the Rhine Valley Railway is expected in Switzerland. The Upper Rhine line runs from Basel initially on the right bank of
1246-471: The Appenweier–Kehl line , connecting to Alsace, was opened on 1 June 1844 and the short branch line from Baden-Oos to Baden-Baden on 27 July 1845. On 11 February 1872 the bridge over the Rhine between Weil am Rhein and St. Louis was opened and the opening of the connection from Müllheim to Mulhouse on 6 February 1878 provided a further connections to Alsace. Connections to Switzerland were provided with
1335-574: The Baden-Kurpfalz-Bahn (Baden–Palatinate Railway), as Heidelberg was the historic capital of the Palatinate . The section of line between Heidelberg and Karlsruhe runs along the eastern edge of the Upper Rhine Valley from north to south. From Heidelberg station, the line runs south through the stations of Heidelberg-Kirchheim , St. Ilgen and Wiesloch-Walldorf and passes under the A 6 in
1424-667: The Intercity-Express network and the access stairs were complemented with lifts and escalators. In 1995, there was a further reorganisation of the station forecourt, during which the pedestrian underpass was closed and the tram station was rebuilt. In 1996, a rail link was built between the western track south of the station and the Albtalbahnhof (the Karlsruhe station of the Alb Valley Railway), over which Stadtbahn (light rail) services could run to Rastatt as line S 4/S 41 of
1513-588: The Karlsruhe Stadtbahn between the rail network and the tram network. As a result, two terminating tracks, 103 and 104, were no longer necessary and, in the mid-2000s, they were closed, so the station now has 14 through tracks, 1–14, and two terminating tracks, 101 and 102. The Karlsruhe station is classified by Deutsche Bahn as a category 1 station. It is served by Intercity-Express trains to Berlin , Hamburg , Dortmund and Basel , from Intercity trains to Stralsund , Cologne , Nuremberg , Munich and Konstanz and by TGV trains to Paris and Stuttgart . It
1602-606: The Württemberg Western Railway and the Bruhrain Railway terminate. The track then runs along the edge of the Kraichgau via Untergrombach and Weingarten to Karlsruhe-Durlach station and passes under the A 5 and reaches Karlsruhe Central Station . In 1911, the route in the area of Durlach changed as a result of the relocation of Durlach station to the west in order to increase the curve radii. Karlsruhe station
1691-587: The line to Stuttgart , in 1863 the Maxau Railway ( German : Maxaubahn ) connecting with the Palatinate , in 1870 the Rhine Railway to Mannheim, in 1879 the Kraichgau Railway and in 1895 the strategic railway from Graben-Neudorf via Rastatt to Haguenau . The tracks ran at ground level and the approach lines were built with sharp curves because of the confined spaces. The increased rail traffic and
1780-537: The tram and bus network within the city, as well as the Turmbergbahn funicular railway . The VBK is a member of the Karlsruher Verkehrsverbund (Karlsruhe Transport Association, KVV) that manages a common public transport structure for Karlsruhe and its surrounding areas. The VBK is also a partner, with the Albtal-Verkehrs-Gesellschaft (Alb Valley Transport Company, AVG) and Deutsche Bahn (DB), in
1869-494: The 414 km line. By comparison, trains from Mannheim to Konstanz via Basel takes about 4 hours today; those running over the Black Forest Railway take about 3.5 hours. The traffic on the Baden main line was rising rapidly, so duplication soon became necessary. Duplication was completed between Mannheim and Heidelberg in 1846, to Offenburg in 1847, to Freiburg in 1848 and to Basel in 1855. The Appenweier–Kehl branch line
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#17330851216401958-509: The Baden Parliament by the priest and liberal politician Gottlieb Bernhard Fecht (1771–1851) in the autumn of 1831. He was accused of being ahead of his time and his proposal received no support. The first real initiative for a railway was made in 1833 by the Mannheim businessman Louis Newhouse, but just like the suggestion of Friedrich List , it was not supported by the Baden government. It
2047-543: The Baden line to the north and then veered to the west and ran to the Bosch factory. In Weingarten and Untergrombach tracks formerly branched off to quarries, which have since been converted into lakes for swimming ( Baggersee ). In Bruchsal freight sidings run to the south of the city, in addition, there are still sidings at Wiesloch-Walldorf station. During the introduction of the S-Bahn, stations were modernised and made accessible for
2136-676: The Baden main line was in sharp competition with the Alsatian railway, because the travel times between Basel and Frankfurt and between Basel and Mannheim were almost identical. During World War I, the fast trains ran only on the Baden main line as the Alsace lines in Mulhouse were within reach of the French artillery. After Alsace had returned to France after the First World War, all German trains ran to Basel on
2225-597: The Baden main line. After the founding of Deutsche Reichsbahn in 1920, the Baden main line along with the rest of the Grand Duchy of Baden State Railway became part of the Reichsbahn, so in addition to the Baden-built locomotives and locomotives built by the other former state railways, newly developed steam locomotives were used on the Baden main line. The assignment of Alsace-Lorraine to France after World War I meant that
2314-608: The Baden main line. Rheingold trains were restored on the Baden main line after the Second World War and ran from 1951 to 1987 as Fernzug (long-distance express) or Trans Europ Express services. The Orient Express also operated over the Baden main line: coming from Strasbourg, it ran on the route on the section between Appenweier and Karlsruhe. During the Second World War, the Baden main line—like all major lines in Germany—was affected by heavy bombardment of railway junctions and
2403-517: The Baden railway network isolated. There were already connections to standard gauge lines to neighbouring states in Heidelberg (from 1846) and Bruchsal (from 1853). Through freight had to be reloaded at these points. Therefore, the lines were rebuilt to standard gauge during 1854/55. A total of 203 km of double track and 79 km of single-track were converted, as well as the existing 66 locomotives and 1,133 carriages and wagons. These measure allowed
2492-519: The Federal government. After the founding of the Deutsche Bundesbahn in 1949, the operation of the line returned to single management. The second track of the line between Offenburg and Denzlingen was dismantled and transferred to the French occupation forces in 1946 as reparations . Since the single-track section became a bottleneck on this heavily used route, the second track was restored in 1950 at
2581-427: The Heidelberg freight yard and the locomotive depot were closed and only one pair of tracks of the four-track railway between Friedrichsfeld and Wieblingen is currently in use. The line is used by Intercity (IC) or Intercity-Express (ICE) services every hour. S-Bahn services (since 2003), local services and freight trains run at high frequencies. For several years this section has been called for marketing purposes
2670-572: The High Rhine Railway between Konstanz and Singen was electrified as part of the electrification of the Black Forest Railway to Singen in 1977. The gap between Singen and Schaffhausen was electrified in 1990. Verkehrsbetriebe Karlsruhe The Verkehrsbetriebe Karlsruhe (Karlsruhe Transport Company, VBK) is the municipal transport company of the city of Karlsruhe in Germany . It runs
2759-604: The Hochholz forest. This is followed by Rot-Malsch, Kislau castle on the western side of the line and Ubstadt-Weiher station. The Kraich Valley Railway and the Katzbach Railway connect to the line from the left, then it passes under that the Mannheim–Stuttgart high-speed line, which is connected to the east by curves to and from the Baden main line at Bruchsal Rollenberg junction . It continues to Bruchsal station , where
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2848-558: The Höllental (Hell Valley), they did not provide a permanent alternative to the Baden main line. Nevertheless, the events showed the susceptibility of the Baden main line to French assaults. As a result, plans were made for developing a Germany–Switzerland–Italy transport corridor via the Gäu Railway and Zürich. From 1928 to 1939, the Rheingold luxury trains ran between Karlsruhe and Basel on
2937-573: The Mannheim–Heidelberg line in Friedrichsfeld at a “wye” junction. The first Mannheim station was built to the north of the existing facility at the current Tattersall tram stop and designed to allow an extension to the north, but this never came to pass. During the construction of the bridge over the Rhine to Mannheim (now the Konrad Adenauer Bridge ), the station was rebuilt at its present location with completion in 1876. A freight yard
3026-532: The Rhine Valley line is notable for its international long-distance passenger and freight traffic. Every hour one or two IC, EuroCity (EC) or ICE services run. Three times daily TGV services also run from Stuttgart via Karlsruhe to Strasbourg. Local services runs at least hourly as Regionalbahn (stopping) and Regional-Express or Interregio-Express services. Albtal-Verkehrs-Gesellschaft also operates Karlsruhe Stadtbahn services between Karlsruhe and Achern . In
3115-526: The Rhine route and TGV Duplex trains between Paris and Stuttgart. Karlsruhe – Germersheim – Speyer – Ludwigshafen – Frankenthal – Worms – Mainz – Frankfurt Karlsruhe Huaptbahnhof is start and end station of Rhine-Neckar S-Bahn line S3 service on the Karlsruhe– Bruchsal–Heidelberg– Mannheim– Ludwigshafen– Speyer– Germersheim route. peak hours: 30 minute intervals Karlsruhe station
3204-525: The Rhine to Waldshut, where it leaves the Rhine valley and crosses the northern Klettgau to Schaffhausen and it then runs through southern Hegau to Radolfzell on the Untersee . The railway then follows the banks of the Untersee to Konstanz, where it crosses a bridge over the Rhine. The terminus of the Baden main line at Konstanz station is on the left (south) bank of the Rhine between the old town of Konstanz and
3293-410: The Second World War, the station was damaged by bombing, but not destroyed, so that it could be rebuilt after the war. The period after 1950 was characterised by a continuous modernisation of the station and the forecourt. In 1957, the electrification of the railway was completed. In 1969, the rebuilding of the station forecourt began, where—in the spirit of the times—a pedestrian underpass was created and
3382-537: The Swiss border near Basel at public expense, as had been called for on 31 July 1835 by the Freiburg historian Karl von Rotteck . The line would serve as the main line of Baden and would therefore have a generally straight route on the eastern edge of the Upper Rhine Valley. Baden was the only German state to choose initially to build its new rail network with 1600 mm broad gauge . Construction began as soon as September 1838 on
3471-421: The beginning. Baden later also moved to this system. Trains in Baden operated on the left on two track sections until 1888 and later switched to the right in stages. The first sections of track on the Baden main line were built to a broad gauge of 1,600 mm ( 5 ft 3 in ). It soon became apparent, however, that the other Central European states had chosen standard gauge, which would have left
3560-456: The car and tram traffic were reorganised. In 1977, a new interlocking controlled by pushing buttons was put into operation. At the end of the 1980s, the station was expanded to include three through tracks, 12–14, and a parking garage was built. This was intended to be followed by a redesign of the area immediately south of the station, but this has still not been implemented. Two platforms were extended and modernised for Karlsruhe's inclusion in
3649-725: The construction of the Gotthard Railway in 1882 emphasised the continuing importance of the Mannheim–Basel line. In contrast, the Upper Rhine line between Basel and Konstanz did not benefit from this development as the building of the Basel Connecting Line (1873) and the Bözberg line (1875) provided a direct route between Baden and central Switzerland, so that the border crossing in Waldshut lost its importance and international traffic
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3738-469: The course of the line was damaged at several points by guerrillas. The completion of the section to Haltingen was delayed to 22 January 1851. Once it became clear that all the neighbouring countries had chosen standard gauge for their railways, the Grand Duchy of Baden State Railway ( Großherzogliche Badische Staatsbahn ) rebuilt its lines and rolling stock to standard gauge within a year in 1854/55. While
3827-645: The destruction of bridges and buildings. After the war, the line was divided into two parts: the Mannheim–Karlsruhe section was in the American occupation zone, the Rastatt–Konstanz section was in the French zone and under the management of the Betriebsvereinigung der Südwestdeutschen Eisenbahnen (Southwestern Railways Association). The sections within Switzerland were operated under a trust administered by
3916-417: The development of railways in the early 1830s, considerations arose of building a railway from Mannheim to Basel in order to handle the movement of people and goods faster and cheaper than was possible with carts, especially as the Upper Rhine south of Mannheim only allowed restricted navigation. George Stephenson ’s locomotive and the opening of the line between Liverpool and Manchester was first discussed in
4005-634: The disabled and the signalling and interlockings were renewed. In Weingarten, Untergrombach and Bruchsal Bildungszentrum, the platform heights were raised to 55 cm for step-free access to the Karlsruhe Stadtbahn trains. At all stations between Bruchsal and Heidelberg the platform heights were raised to 76 cm for step-free access to the Rhine-Neckar S-Bahn trains. At Karlsruhe-Durlach and Bruchsal stations there are platform at both heights, as they are served by both networks. Several stations (e.g., Bad Schönborn Süd and Walldorf-Wiesloch) also have
4094-579: The district of Beiertheim and also occupied a significant part of the Stadtgarten (city garden, the location of Karlsruhe Zoo ) and the garden behind the Stephanienbad (now Paul-Gerhardt) church. This resulted in the cutting down of the then oldest eastern cottonwood poplar in Europe. The platforms and the approach tracks were built on an embankment, with access via a pedestrian underpass. The entrance building
4183-546: The early 1980s, a series of stations were abandoned, especially between Rastatt and Offenburg. After the quadruplication of the line, Stadtbahn stations in Haueneberstein, Sinzheim , Steinbach (now Baden-Baden-Rebland) were put back into operation and a new station was established in Sinzheim Nord. Local services between Basel and Freiburg are to be integrated into the future Basel Regional S-Bahn network. Freight transport
4272-478: The efficiency of the line. Due to its largely straight alignment, speeds on the line could be increased on most sections to 160 km/h. The Upper Rhine line between Basel and Konstanz, however, remained unelectrified. The Singen–Konstanz section was electrified on 24 September 1977 as part of the electrification of the Black Forest Railway. In 1990, the Singen–Schaffhausen section was electrified as part of
4361-504: The entire line has also been part of the Rhine-Neckar S-Bahn. During the introduction of the S-Bahn, stations were modernised and made barrier-free and the signalling and interlocking systems were renewed. Each hour S-Bahn line S 4 operates between Heidelberg and Bruchsal and line S 3 runs between Heidelberg and Karlsruhe, together providing a service every half-hour between Heidelberg and Bruchsal. The line between Karlsruhe and Basel
4450-469: The existing railway station lost its function as a railway station and continued to be used until the 1960s as a market hall. Today, the Baden State Theatre is located on the former railway yard. Some of the remaining tracks were used over the decades as sidings, but have since been entirely removed. The freight yard was used as a repair shop until 1997. Ludwig-Erhard-Allee was built in the meantime on
4539-504: The financial resources to build the line, so the license lapsed. Only the Baden-Swiss treaty signed on 27 July 1852 could achieve a durable solution for the continuation of the Baden main line: the treaty provided for the further construction from Haltingen on the east bank to Basel and continuing through Bad Säckingen to Waldshut. This led to the unusual situation, which still persists, of a German state railway company building and operating
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#17330851216404628-537: The first section between the two new terminal stations in Mannheim and Heidelberg . After two years of construction, this section was officially opened on 12 September 1840. The continuation of the line to the south took place in the following stages: Heidelberg– Bruchsal – Karlsruhe on 10 April 1843, Karlsruhe– Ettlingen – Rastatt on 1 May 1844, Rastatt–Oos (now Baden-Baden station ) on 6 May 1844, Oos– Offenburg on 1 June 1844 and Offenburg– Freiburg on 1 August 1845. All
4717-583: The former stations at Mühlburger Tor in Karlsruhe and in Beiertheim and Rüppurr were closed. The stations in Mühlburg and Durlach were relocated and the tracks of the line to Mühlacker , which had previously ended in Durlach, were extended to the new Hauptbahnhof, so that there were now four tracks between Durlach and Karlsruhe. Also the new Karlsruhe-West station was opened for passenger services. The station forecourt
4806-424: The grounds of the freight yard, the workshop area is currently being redeveloped with blocks of flats (2010). The station building, which continues in use, was built about a kilometre south of its predecessor between Südstadt and the marshalling yard. Construction began in 1910 to the plans of August Stürzenacker and the station was opened on the night of 22/23 October 1913. The station and access tracks were built in
4895-416: The harbour. The line is continued by two curves connecting to Kreuzlingen and Kreuzlingen Hafen, but the latter is currently only used for freight. The line between Basel and Waldshut was duplicated during the 1980s, with the exception of the Laufenburg – Laufenburg-Ost section. There is also double track line between Beringen and Konstanz-Petershausen, the other sections are single track. The section of
4984-447: The increased traffic with a new freight yard in 1905 and a new passenger station and a new marshalling yard in 1913. The marshalling yard is partly on German and partly on Swiss territory. The railways of three counties cooperated in building extensive rail infrastructure in Basel connecting the Baden station for trains arriving from Germany to the Central station and the adjacent French station (part of SNCF since 1938). In addition to
5073-428: The insistence of Switzerland, which considered that the congestion endangered the approach to the Gotthard Pass. As early as the 1950s, Deutsche Bundesbahn began the electrification of the Mannheim–Basel route. The electrification was carried out in several stages: Associated with the electrification was also the relocation of Heidelberg Central Station in 1955. The electrification shortened travel times and increased
5162-427: The international connection between Stuttgart and Zürich. In the 1980s, the Basel–Waldshut section of the line was duplicated to provide improved local services on an integrated regular interval timetable. The heavy traffic of the Baden main line led to plans from the 1970s to upgrade the line as a multi-track route. Congestion was relieved on the northern section of the main line between Mannheim Baden and Bruchsal with
5251-448: The larger railway stations had to be expanded in the early 20th century. So a new Karlsruhe freight bypass was completed in 1895 together with the extension of the Rhine Railway to Rastatt, allowing the main line through the Karlsruhe urban area to be relieved of freight trains. A new Karlsruhe station was opened in 1913. In 1911, Offenburg station was rebuilt and extended with a marshalling yard. The railway tracks in Basel were adapted for
5340-458: The law of 1838 only referred to the construction of a route "from Mannheim to the Swiss border at Basel," discussions turned to the question of an appropriate end point and the connection to the Swiss rail network. While the city of Basel called for a connection to Basel, there were other suggestions in Baden. There was scepticism about a foreign end point for the line, so the Baden town of Lörrach or even Waldshut were preferred. The political debate
5429-483: The line and connect Heidelberg, Karlsruhe and Stuttgart. Since 2007, TGV trains on the Paris – Strasbourg – Stuttgart route run on the southern section between Karlsruhe and Bruchsal. The line is supplemented by S-Bahn services between Heidelberg and Karlsruhe and Karlsruhe Stadtbahn services operated by Albtal-Verkehrs-Gesellschaft (Alb Valley Transport Company) between Karlsruhe and Bruchsal, so that at least two trains operate each hour in each direction. Since 1994,
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#17330851216405518-408: The marshalling yard at the Baden station, there is another, larger marshalling yard in Muttenz . The passenger trains on the Baden main line usually end at Basel Baden station, only the international trains continue through to Basel Central Station. The importance of the line meant that it was duplicated between 1847 and 1855 and electrified between 1952 and 1957. The quadruplication of the tracks and
5607-552: The opening of the Mannheim–Stuttgart high-speed railway in stages between 1987 and 1991. The Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan ( Bundesverkehrswegeplan ) of 1985 also listed the quadruplication of the Karlsruhe–Offenburg section and the addition of a third track between Offenburg and Basel as part of the construction of a Neu- und Ausbaustrecke Karlsruhe–Basel (i.e. a mixture of new high-speed line and upgraded line) as urgently needed. The railways of Baden main line can be categorised as follows: The Mannheim–Heidelberg section
5696-454: The opening of the Rhine Bridge at Waldshut in 1859, the Konstanz–Kreuzlingen link in 1871 and the Basel Connecting Line , connecting the Baden station in Basel with the Basel central station in 1873. In the north connections were established in Heidelberg to the Main-Neckar Railway towards Darmstadt and Frankfurt in 1846 and in Mannheim to Ludwigshafen , Mainz and Cologne in 1867. The first section between Mannheim and Heidelberg
5785-474: The operation of the Karlsruhe tramway network , and the Karlsruhe Stadtbahn , the pioneering tram-train system that serves a larger area around the city. Verkehrsbetriebe Karlsruhe and its predecessor have operated bus services since 1911, some with their own vehicles and some operated by subcontractors. The first bus line opened between Mühlburg and Daxlanden on 30 December 1911 and operated for only three months due to large losses. In 1926, another bus service
5874-408: The operations of cross-border freight services. Construction of railways meant that Mannheim, the largest and most important commercial city of Baden, was now in a peripheral location, as most north–south traffic now ran from Frankfurt to Switzerland via the Main-Neckar Railway to Heidelberg and from there on the Baden main line to Basel. Therefore, Mannheim tried to provide a direct rail connection to
5963-410: The railway post office, which had a railway siding on the tramway as well. A week before the opening of the station a tram line was opened between Ettlinger Tor and the new station, which—after removal of the access tracks to the old station—was connected to the city centre. A new terminus for the Alb Valley Railway ( Albtalbahn ) was opened 300 meters west of the station in Ebertstraße in 1915. In
6052-401: The resulting frequent closures of the level crossings disrupted the ever-growing city and made its expansion more difficult. After several years of discussion, which considered, among other things, the raising of the level of the tracks, the Baden parliament decided in 1902 to relocate the station to a site one kilometre south of the existing site. After the opening of the new station in 1913,
6141-450: The section between Karlsruhe and Bruchsal has been integrated in the Karlsruhe Stadtbahn network. Services were introduced over two years, to Menzingen on the Kraich Valley Railway in 1996 and to Odenheim on the Katzbach railway in 1998. In early 1996, the new Bruchsal Bildungszentrum station was opened between Untergrombach and Bruchsal stations, this station mainly serves the Bildungszentrum , an educational facility. Since December 2003,
6230-571: The south and sought to build a railway to Karlsruhe via Schwetzingen . The opening in 1870 of the Rhine Railway ( Rheinbahn ) attracted part of the railway traffic between the Rhine-Neckar region and Karlsruhe from the Baden main line and created an alternative line for the relief of the main line in this area, which had reached the limits of its capacity. This relief route was extended in 1895 for strategic reasons further south to Rastatt (via Durmersheim ), so that there are now also two lines between Karlsruhe and Rastatt. The ever-increasing traffic and
6319-412: The state of Baden, and with it the Baden main line, were now on the periphery of Germany. This also meant, according to military strategists, that it did not allow reliable operations. In particular, the line near the Isteiner Klotz ridge (near Istein) is within sight of the German-French border. During the occupation of the Ruhr , French troops occupied Offenburg and Appenweier in February 1923, so traffic
6408-460: The station are carriage sidings with a turntable and the Karlsruhe depot of DB Regio . East of the station there is a second set of carriage sidings. A connecting track allows shunting between the station and Karlsruhe freight yard. According to DB, the station is used by 130 long-distance trains, 133 regional trains and 121 S-Bahn trains each day (as at 29 June 2011). The station is served by 130 long-distance trains each day, mainly ICEs and ICs on
6497-535: The station buildings on the line from Mannheim to Freiburg, some of which have been preserved, were planned by the Baden architect Friedrich Eisenlohr . It was followed by the Freiburg– Müllheim section on 1 June 1847, Müllheim– Schliengen on 15 June 1847 and Schliengen– Efringen-Kirchen on 8 November 1848. The ongoing construction to the Swiss border was disrupted by the events of the March Revolution and
6586-400: The station there was a locomotive depot and to its east there was a freight yard and a central workshop. It was built to Irish gauge ( 1,600 mm ( 5 ft 3 in )), as were all railways built by the Grand Duchy of Baden State Railway in the early days. It was converted to standard gauge in 1855. In the following years other routes were connected to Karlsruhe station: in 1859
6675-414: The station was partially converted into a through station. A new freight yard was completed on the western outskirts of Heidelberg in 1914. Work was already underway for the relocation of Heidelberg's main station to the western suburbs, but this was interrupted by World War I and it continued until after World War II. The construction of the new station as a through station was completed in 1955. Meanwhile,
6764-462: The time of the construction of the railway, because the Rhine had not yet been straightened in this area so the areas below the villages were still in the flood plain of the Rhine. In 1895, another main line railway was opened between Karlsruhe and Rastatt next to the Baden main line, further to the west through Durmersheim . The reason for this was the demand of the German military for the construction of
6853-539: The trains ran over the Gäu Railway to Hochdorf and from there over the Nagold Valley Railway to Pforzheim and the Karlsruhe–Mühlacker line to Karlsruhe. Although these long-range detours were established in the first month of the occupation, they showed that, with trains having to be reversed in both Hochdorf and Pforzheim and the need to operate over single-track branch lines and the steep sections in
6942-522: The upgrading for a top speed of 250 km/h has been under way as part of the Karlsruhe–Basel new and upgraded line ( Neu- und Ausbaustrecke Karlsruhe–Basel ) project since the late 1980s. In 1971 there was an accident at Rheinweiler when an express train that was running too fast on the twisty section between Efringen-Kirchen and Schliengen road was derailed and crashed down the railway embankment. 23 people were killed and 121 injured. The traffic on
7031-484: Was built in Mannheim harbour in 1854, which was followed by the building in 1906 of a marshalling yard south of Mannheim station, which is now Germany's second largest marshalling yard. The original Heidelberg station was at today's Adenauerplatz and designed as a railway terminus so that it could be built as close to town as possible. The terminus of the Main-Neckar Railway was directly adjacent. As early as 1862
7120-471: Was built to cover five island platforms. Later an eleventh platform track was built and, in the 1980s, three more platform tracks were created south of the station concourse. West of the station building a station annex was built with four terminal tracks, where the lines from the Palatinate and Graben-Neudorf ( via Eggenstein ) terminated. The construction of the new station also affected the access routes. Thus,
7209-402: Was designed by Wilhelm Vitalli. The square with a rectangular ground plan is surrounded by arcades. At the end of the square to the east and the west are two hotel buildings and on the northern side is the entrance to the Stadtgarten and the commercial buildings. The station forecourt is a typical ensemble of urban architecture from the last years before the First World War. East of the station was
7298-592: Was dominated by many national arguments and reservations. So, in 1846, Baden granted the Swiss Northern Railway Company ( Schweizerische Nordbahn , SNB) the concession to build a railway from Basel/Lörrach to Waldshut, continuing through Switzerland to Zürich in order to achieve a connection with the Swiss railway network in Waldshut in Baden rather than to Basel in Switzerland. However, the Swiss Northern Railway Company could not muster
7387-591: Was duplicated in 1846/1847. In contrast, the High Rhine Railway between Basel and Konstanz remained single track. On 22 July 1870, the mobilisation for the Franco-Prussian War made the main line unusable by the public at several points between Rastatt and Offenburg. The Baden State Railway's rolling stock fleet at that time mostly consisted of two-axle compartment coaches, while the Royal Württemberg State Railways had sets of open coaches from
7476-666: Was handled through the border crossing at Basel. Connections from the Lake Constance region have since 1873 primarily been over the shorter Black Forest Railway, so the Upper Rhine line has become a regional east–west route with no national significance. Due to the growing traffic between Mannheim and Basel and the growth of cities it had become necessary to remodel the major rail nodes. Thus between 1895 and 1914 new freight and marshalling yards were built at Karlsruhe, Mannheim, Basel, Freiburg and Heidelberg and new passenger stations were built in Karlsruhe and Basel. From about 1895 to 1914,
7565-471: Was on the international north–south traffic and the connection of the largest cities of Baden, the Baden-Swiss treaty already provided for its continuation with a rail connection towards the Lake Constance area and Konstanz . But disagreements on the route led to the delays on the approach to Schaffhausen: while the Swiss side preferred a route through the northern Klettgau on Swiss territory, Baden favoured
7654-420: Was on the southern edge of the city centre until 1913. Due to the limited capacity of this station, a new station was opened on the southern outskirts in 1913. In 1895, a marshalling yard was created on the southern outskirts of the city, but its operations were moved to Mannheim a few years ago. Approximately level with Durlach an industrial siding formerly branched off and ran for about a kilometre parallel with
7743-528: Was only when a railway company was founded in neighbouring Alsace in 1837 with the goal of building a west bank line between Basel and Strasbourg that Baden began to plan the building of a railway to avoid a shift of the traffic flow on the Rhine to the Alsace shore. A specially convened meeting of the Baden Assembly of the Estates ( Badische Ständeversammlung ) decided in 1838 to build a railway from Mannheim to
7832-467: Was originally served by four daily passenger train pairs that took about 35–40 minutes each way. By comparison, the same route takes about 12–17 minutes now. Freight was added in 1845 and the first express train ran between Schliengen and Mannheim in 1847. With further extensions of the Baden main line this express was extended to Basel, Waldshut and Konstanz. From 1863, two pairs of expresses operated daily between Mannheim and Konstanz, needing 12–14 hours for
7921-651: Was stopped on the main line and trains had to be diverted over a large area. Both the Elz Valley Railway and the Murg Valley Railway had no connections to the rail network at this time. The bypass route from Freiburg ran by the Hell Valley Railway to Donaueschingen , continued on the Black Forest Railway to Hausach and from there over the Kinzig Valley Railway to Freudenstadt . From here,
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