Kinzig Valley Railway (Black Forest)

The Kinzig Valley Railway (German: Kinzigtalbahn) is a railway line in Germany that runs from Hausach to Freudenstadt and follows the Kinzig River that gives it its name. The line has numerous tunnels, is single-tracked and unelectrified.

This article is about the railway line in the Black Forest. For the line of the same name in Hesse, see Kinzig Valley Railway (Hesse).
Kinzig Valley Railway
Overview
Line number4251 (Hausach-Schiltach)
4880 (Schiltach-Freudenstadt)
Service
Route number721
Technical
Line length39.1 km (24.3 mi)
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Operating speed100 km/h (62.1 mph) max.
Route map
 Black Forest Railway
 0,0 Hausach
 Black Forest Railway to Singen
 2,9 Wolfach-Kirnbach
 4,4 Wolfach
Wolfach Tunnel
 285 m
 9,0 Wolfach-Halbmeil
Kinzig Bridge by the Schmelze Tunnel
Tunnel by the Schmelze
 87 m
 11,2 Wolfach-Sankt Roman
14,2
54,8
 Schiltach Bf.
 to Schramberg
Schiltach Tunnel
 117 m
 Schiltach Mitte
Kinzig Bridge by the Schenkenberg Tunnel
Schenkenberg Tunnel
 100 m
 51,1 Schenkenzell
Kinzig Bridge by the Stock Tunnel
 60 m
Stock Tunnel
 78 m
Dais Tunnel
 58 m
Kinzig Bridge by the Dais Tunnel
 46,1 Alpirsbach
Farbmühle Tunnel
 90 m
Kinzig Bridge by the Farbmühle Tunnel
 40,3 Ehlenbogen
Schwenkenhardt Tunnel
 370 m
Lossburg Tunnel
 380 m
 35,7 Loßburg-Rodt
Lauterbadviadukt
 213 m
 Freudenstadt-Lauterbad
 29,9 Freudenstadt Hbf
terminus of S 31
 Murg Valley Railway
 Gäu Railway

History

The Kinzig Valley Railway was opened on 5 July 1878 from Hausach to Wolfach by the Grand Duchy of Baden State Railway and extended on 4 November 1886 to Schiltach. At the same time the Royal Württemberg State Railways cleared the section from Schiltach to Freudenstadt Hbf for traffic.

Route

In Hausach the Black Forest Railway line branches off at kilometre stone 33.17. Until just beyond Schiltach (kilometre 14.760) the kilometre numbering increases; from there on, beginning in Eutingen im Gäu, it decreases, because the line beyond Schenkenzell switches from Baden to Württemberg territory. At the terminus of Freudenstadt Hbf the Murg Valley Railway to Rastatt begins, as does the Gäu Railway which heads off towards Eutingen and Stuttgart.

The Schiltach-Schramberg railway used to branch off at Schiltach. This line was opened in 1892, but closed in 1959 to passenger services and in 1990 to goods traffic as well. At Schiltach station a railbus rake and the old railway bridge over the Kinzig recalls this branch that, today, has been full dismantled. In Schramberg there is still an overgrown buffer stop and the former station tavern, which is used today as a clubhouse for the Black Riders. The old trackbed is used today as a cycle path.

Operations

The Kinzigtalbahn is owned by DB Netz AG.[1] It was formerly operated by Deutsche Bahn, but services were taken over on 12 December 2004 by the Ortenau S-Bahn (OSB). Since then it has run hourly through services from Freudenstadt Hbf to Offenburg, the section from Hausach to Offenburg being the Baden Black Forest Railway The trains usually cross in Alpirsbach at the usual meeting time just before the hour. The majority of trains run on past Offenburg to Bad Griesbach, the terminus of the Rench Valley Railway. At the weekend a morning train runs through to Strasbourg in France.

Air-conditioned Regio Shuttles of the Ortenau S-Bahn are used. On "normal days" about 2200 people use the trains on the Kinzig Valley Railway.[2]

At Freudenstadt, the Ortenau S-Bahn services meet those of the Karlsruhe Stadtbahn, operating by Albtal-Verkehrs-Gesellschaft (AVG), using their fleet of tram-trains, over the Murgtalbahn to Karlsruhe.[1]

References
  1. Eisenbahnatlas Deutschland. Verlag Schweers + Wall GmbH. 2009. p. 102. ISBN 978-3-89494-139-0.
  2. "Felsbrocken blockiert Kinzigtalbahn" [Boulders block Kinzig Valley Railway] (in German). SWR. Retrieved 2008-12-22.
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