Elz Valley Railway

Denzlingen-Elzach
Regio-Shuttle of the Breisgau-S-Bahn in Elzach terminus
Route number (DB) :	4311
Course book section (DB) :	726
Route length:	19.3 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Route class :	C2
Minimum radius :	450 m
Top speed:	100 km / h
Legend Rhine Valley Railway from Basel 0.0 Denzlingen Rheintalbahn to Mannheim Elz 3.6 Buchholz (Baden) 5.3 Batzenhäusle 7.1 Waldkirch Elz 8.5 Kollnau 10.2 Gutach (Breisgau) Transition to Gütermann - narrow-gauge railway Wild Gutach 12.0 Bleibach 14.2 Wind down 16.4 Upper winds 19.3 Elzach

The Elztalbahn is a 19.3 kilometer long, single-track, standard-gauge branch line that branches off the Rheintalbahn Offenburg - Freiburg im Breisgau at Denzlingen station and runs upwards in the Elztal into the Black Forest to Elzach .

history

Opening of the Denzlingen – Waldkirch section

Because no private investors could be found to finance a connection to the Elz Valley, the city of Waldkirch took the initiative itself and had the 7.1 kilometer long private railway from Denzlingen to Waldkirch built at its own expense . On March 30, 1872, the state of Baden created the legal basis for the construction, and the concession was granted on August 29 of the same year . The city of Waldkirch transferred the operation, which opened on January 1, 1875, to the Grand Ducal Baden State Railways .

Extension to Elzach

Although traffic - especially passenger transport - developed satisfactorily, the financial burden for the city of Waldkirch was too high in the long run. So she gratefully accepted the state's offer to purchase the railway on April 1, 1886. On August 20, 1901, the route was extended by 12.2 kilometers to Elzach. Am Bahnhof Gutach compound consisted of an electrified narrow-gauge railway with 750 mm gauge for sewing thread Gütermann . Different variants of an extension via Oberprechtal to Hausach were often planned - most recently in the 1950s - but never implemented.

Pilot route of the Breisgau S-Bahn

→ Main article : Breisgau-S-Bahn 2020

In 1997 the Elztalbahn was selected by the Zweckverband Regionalverkehr Breisgau (ZRF) together with the Freiburg – Breisach railway line as a pilot line for the integrated regional transport concept "Breisgau-S-Bahn 2005". In the following years, the range of passenger services was expanded and the railway facilities were comprehensively renovated and renewed. As a first step, the company closed down on Sundays in 1997. Two years later, an integral regular schedule was introduced with hourly intervals to Elzach, with additional trains between Freiburg and Waldkirch. In December 2001, the planned improvements to the range were implemented with half-hourly intervals to Waldkirch on workdays, hourly intervals to Elzach also in the evening and hourly intervals to Elzach on Sundays and public holidays.

From May to June 2009 the tracks between Waldkirch and Elzach were renewed. The original trough-shaped steel sleepers were replaced by Y-steel sleepers. The superstructure allows an axle load of 22.4 tons, the lay-time should be 70 to 80 years.

Railway stations and stops

Denzlingen train station

Waldkirch station

Station building of the Kollnau train station

Elzach train station

Denzlingen

The Denzlingen train station is the starting point of the Elztalbahn, with most trains already running from Freiburg (Breisgau) Hbf . There are connections to the regional trains in the direction of Basel Badischer Bahnhof and Offenburg . The trains to Offenburg stop on platform 1, the main platform , the trains to Basel and the SWEG trains to Freiburg stop on platform 2. Track 3 on the central platform of track 2 only serves as a sideline . The SWEG trains in the direction of Waldkirch / Elzach stop on track 5, which branches off from track 1. Track 6 for freight traffic is still visible today and is used by Deutsche Bahn as siding for construction trains. The municipality of Denzlingen plans to dismantle these tracks and use the area for a P + R parking garage. Buses run from Denzlingen to the surrounding towns and to Glottertal , St. Peter and the Kandel .

Waldkirch

The Waldkirch station was the end point of the Elz Valley Railway until 1901 and has remained the most important en route station to this day. There were extensive track systems for freight traffic, as well as a weighbridge (35 tons), a head and side ramp and a loading crane. At the site of the freight station , a parking facility for the railcars was built with the introduction of the S-Bahn . Train crossings are possible in Waldkirch; In the reception building there is a mechanical signal box of the standard design, which is the last of its kind in Baden to be equipped with simplified light signals.

Waldkirch is a category 6 train station and a connection point to several bus routes in the region that lead to Emmendingen , Elzach, Freiburg , Siensbach and Furtwangen .

Kollnau

The Kollnau stop went into operation with the extension of the Elztalbahn in 1901. The former station facility - consisting of a two-storey station building with side extensions ( waiting hall and goods shed ) - is now privately owned. There was also an outbuilding and a loading siding as well as a siding to the nearby Kollnau cotton spinning and weaving mill . Since the dismantling of the freight transport facilities and the siding, Kollnau has been a stopping point and is accordingly classified in station class 6. Buses for the Südbadenbus to Freiburg, Elzach, Siegelau , Furtwangen and Waldkirch stop at the Kollnau Bahnhof bus stop .

Elzach

When the line was extended in 1901, a new terminus was built in Elzach . A two-tier locomotive shed and a free-standing water tower were built for the operating machinery service, a free-standing goods shed, a head and side ramp, a weighbridge (35 tons) and a loading crane were available for freight traffic. Of the high-rise buildings, only the reception building is left .

business

Today the line is owned by DB Netz AG . Since December 15, 2002, the services in local rail passenger transport have been provided by Breisgau-S-Bahn GmbH , which was merged with its parent company Südwestdeutsche Landesverkehrs-AG (SWEG) in December 2017 . From Regio-Shuttle - Railcar coatings formed drive continuously from Freiburg to Elzach every hour with Train meeting in Waldkirch to the usual symmetry minute , that is just before the half hour. In addition, additional trains run to Waldkirch on weekdays, so that there is a half-hourly service between Freiburg and Waldkirch, but in the opposite direction there is only an alternating service with a 39/21 minute interval.

Train type	route
SWEG	Freiburg im Breisgau - Gundelfingen - Denzlingen - Buchholz - Waldkirch - Kollnau - Elzach
SWEG	Freiburg im Breisgau - Gundelfingen - Denzlingen - Buchholz - Waldkirch

Electrification and modernization

In the cooperation agreement between RVF and Nahverkehrsgesellschaft Baden-Württemberg (NVBW) of March 11, 2009, a further expansion of the Elz Valley Railway is also planned. The plan was to electrify the line, build a crossing track in Gutach and modernize the signaling technology by building an electronic interlocking in Waldkirch by 2018. Electrification and the crossing station were controversial in the Elztal; there were citizens' initiatives against and for. Since March 1, 2020, the Elztalbahn has been electrified and modernized as part of the Breisgau S-Bahn 2020 project . Initially, it was planned that the Elz Valley Railway would be restarted in December 2020. However, due to delays in delivery by Bombardier , which is producing the electric Talent 3 multiple units for the Elztalbahn, and due to foreseeable delays in the construction work, this schedule can not be implemented. The planned recommissioning was therefore postponed to June 2021, but it is planned to reconnect the section between Denzlingen and Waldkirch to the S2 in December 2020. While the Elz Valley Railway is being expanded, the old Regio Shuttle multiple units will shuttle between Denzlingen and Freiburg main station every half hour. From Denzlingen there is a rail replacement service to Elzach, which is organized and operated by the SWEG . About 23 kilometers of overhead lines will be built on the 19.3 kilometer stretch between Denzlingen and Elzach ; 320 new catenary masts are required for this. In the course of the expansion, a total of seven level crossings will be modernized, some bridges will be renewed and the interlocking technology will be adapted to the modernized route, with electrical interlockings in Waldkirch and Gutach , which will be controlled by the central interlocking in Freiburg-Wiehre in the future. The Gutach stop will be expanded into a double-track junction station in order to enable a full-day half-hourly service to Bleibach, and during rush hour to the terminus in Elzach. In order for the new trains to utilize their full potential, the track superstructure will be partially renewed in the area of ​​the city of Waldkirch, which will allow a speed of 80 km / h.

The costs of 53.4 million for the expansion of the Elztalbahn are financed by the federal government, the state of Baden-Württemberg and the regional regional transport association Freiburg .

After electrification & modernization, the trains will run as shown in the table below. The S2 is operated by SWEG .

line	route	Tact	HVZ cycle
S2	Freiburg im Breisgau - Gundelfingen - Denzlingen - Buchholz - Waldkirch - Kollnau - Bleibach	30 min	30 min
S2	Freiburg im Breisgau - Gundelfingen - Denzlingen - Buchholz - Waldkirch - Kollnau - Bleibach - Elzach	60 min	30 min

vehicles

The Deutsche Bundesbahn and the DB Regio used locomotives of the DB class 218 until 2002 , previously locomotives of the DB class 212 with n-cars and control cars were used. Before that, the V 100 ¹⁰ (211) series with converted three-axle vehicles was in use from around 1960 , which in turn had replaced the Baden VIc (75.4 series) tank locomotives. Since December 2002 the Breisgau-S-Bahn has been using regional shuttle railcars. Because of the lack of vehicles, railcars from other SWEG networks are also used. After completion of the electrification work at the end of 2020, four-car Bombardier Talent 3 trains are to be used, which was criticized by the ZRF because, in its opinion, they have too few doors, which would inevitably lead to delays. The ministerial director of the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Transport, however, threw back this criticism and countered that the dimensioning of the doors for the trains that are to run on the Elz Valley Railway after the modernization is complete was correct.

Accidents

The only major accident on the route happened on March 2nd, 1906, when the flood-washed embankment slipped between the upper and lower winds and a passenger train crashed into the Elz.

While there are several level crossings on the section to Waldkirch , the section to Elzach is free of crossings. After a near-accident at a barred level crossing near Batzenhäusle, rail vehicles are only allowed to travel at 20 km / h.

During a storm on June 22, 2011, a tree fell on the tracks between Denzlingen and Buchholz. The driver noticed the falling tree in time and braked the train, but the train rolled a little further and over the tree. The front railcar was damaged and one person was slightly injured.

On March 12, 2019, a train traveling in the direction of Freiburg collided with a van at an unbarred level crossing in Waldkirch-Buchholz. Its driver was thrown from his vehicle and died at the scene of the accident.

Web links

Commons : Elztalbahn  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento from December 15, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
2. ^ Deutsche Reichsbahn: The German Railways in their Development 1835-1935 . Berlin 1935, p. 109
3. ↑ ^{a b} Gerhard Greß: Transport node Freiburg and its surroundings in the fifties and sixties . EK-Verlag, Freiburg 1997, ISBN 3-88255-263-8 , p. 66
4. ↑ ^{a b} 140 years of the railway in Freiburg - branch lines . Freiburg 1985
5. ↑ Expansion of the “Elztalbahn” pilot line of the Breisgau S-Bahn 2005 enters the final round. (PDF file; 108 kB) ZRF press release from December 2, 2005
6. ↑ Million project: The tracks of the Elztalbahn are completely renewed. In: Badische Zeitung. June 3, 2009, accessed January 16, 2011
7. ↑ Own observation
8. ↑ Haggling around the railway site In: Badische Zeitung June 26, 2014, accessed on September 15, 2016
9. ↑ ^{a b} ⁣ Timetable search. Retrieved August 27, 2020 . 
10. ↑ Station directory of the railways of Europe. Barthol & Co, Berlin 1939
11. ↑ List of German signal boxes: W. at: www.stellwerke.de , accessed on January 15, 2010
12. ↑ Zweckverband Regio-Nahverkehr Freiburg, printed matter ZRF-bA / VV 2009.010. Retrieved February 24, 2020 . 
13. ^ Elztalbahn citizens' initiative
14. ↑ Citizens' Alliance Elztalbahn NOW
15. ↑ Modernization and electrification of the Breisgau-S-Bahn 2020 route network. Deutsche Bahn, accessed on August 16, 2020 . 
16. ↑ New start date on the modernized Elztalbahn. Retrieved August 26, 2020 . 
17. ^ Rail replacement services between Denzlingen and Elzach from March 1st. Badische Zeitung, March 1, 2020, accessed on March 7, 2020 . 
18. ↑ Breisgau-S-Bahn 2020: Groundbreaking ceremony for the expansion of the Elztalbahn. March 1, 2020, accessed August 16, 2020 . 
19. ↑ Max Schuler: Land will not deliver any other trains for Elztalbahn. Badische Zeitung, July 24, 2020, accessed on July 27, 2020 . 
20. ↑ BZ editorial team: man died when his vehicle collided with the Breisgau S-Bahn. Badische Zeitung, March 12, 2019, accessed on March 13, 2019 .