Maulbronn West – Maulbronn Stadt railway line
| Maulbronn West – Maulbronn City | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Route number (DB) : | 4841 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Course book section (DB) : | 772 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Route length: | 2.35 km | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Gauge : | 1435 mm ( standard gauge ) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Maximum slope : | 10 ‰ | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Minimum radius : | 200 m | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Top speed: | 50 km / h | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The Maulbronn West – Maulbronn Stadt railway is a 2.35-kilometer-long, single-track branch line opened in 1914 in northwest Württemberg . The branch line connects the city of Maulbronn to the peripheral Maulbronn West station on the Württemberg West Railway .
The Deutsche Bundesbahn discontinued local rail passenger transport in 1973 and freight transport in 1997. Since 1996, the route has been used on summer weekends by excursion trains - the so-called Klosterstadt-Express . For this purpose, the Albtal-Verkehrs-Gesellschaft (AVG) took over the route on a lease basis on behalf of the city of Maulbronn in 1998, but the city terminated the contract at the end of 2008. Nevertheless, excursion traffic will continue for the time being; however, the further future is uncertain.
course
The starting point of the route is the Maulbronn West train station, which is about 3.5 kilometers southwest of the city and has been converted into a wedge train station since the Westbahn was electrified . While the western line here, after passing the watershed between Neckar and Rhine, follows the course of the Salzach downwards, the branch line turns from here in a cut to the northeast and follows the Salzach upstream. The route ends at the southwest end of the village, the Maulbronn Stadt train station is around 800 meters from Maulbronn Abbey . Essential engineering structures did not have to be erected for the route.
history
Prehistory, planning and construction
The Maulbronn West – Maulbronn line owes its creation to the result of lengthy and compromise-prone negotiations between the states of Baden and Württemberg on the construction of a rail link from Stuttgart to Baden. After there was agreement that the Württemberg-Baden border should be crossed at Kleinvillars , a route over the Schmiebach - and the Salzach Valley would have been obvious, as this would also have given the Oberamtsstadt Maulbronn a direct connection to the railway network. However, this stood in the way of Baden's interests, which called for a route to the south-west via Mühlacker in order to be able to build a connection towards Karlsruhe with less effort . In the end, the State Treaty of December 4, 1850 stipulated a route via Mühlacker, Ötisheim , Ölbronn and further via a tunnel about four kilometers southwest of Maulbronn into the Salzach Valley for the construction of the Westbahn .
For Maulbronn this meant that the city could only be reached by rail via a train station three kilometers outside in the forest. This prompted the city of Maulbronn to submit various petitions for the establishment of a railway connection between the station and the city, which was justified with the need for a siding for the local, well-known sandstone quarries , the transport of agricultural goods, but also with the emerging tourism to the famous Maulbronn Monastery. One such petition from October 1904 suggested, for example, an extension of the narrow-gauge Zabergäubahn to Mühlacker, which should lead via Sternenfels , Freudenstein , Zaisersweiher , Maulbronn , Schmie and Lienzingen . Since the municipalities of Knittlingen , Großvillars , Oberderdingen and Kürnbach petitioned for an extension of the Zabergäubahn in the direction of Bretten at the same time, the first petition also contained corresponding profitability calculations that attested a higher return on the southern route.
Since the Baden side decided in favor of a standard-gauge branch line Bretten – Derdingen, a bill for a standard-gauge line was drawn up on the Württemberg side in 1909, which should only connect Maulbronn to the Western Railway. However, the terminus should be designed in such a way that an extension to Sternenfels would have been possible at a later date. On August 25, 1909, the Württemberg Chamber of Deputies passed the law to build the line, subject to the free provision of land worth 45,000 marks and a grant of 13,000 marks from the city of Maulbronn. After the city had created these prerequisites, on August 15, 1911, the state of Württemberg released the still required funds of 506,000 marks by law.
The first preparatory work began in the same year, and the actual construction began in 1912. In order to avoid increased costs for a possible extension in the direction of Sternenfels, the city train station was built in a slightly elevated position on the valley slope. The new station building was designed completely independently of the usual Württemberg railway station architecture: In neo-Romanesque style it refers to the monastery, the city's landmark . After around two years of construction, the line was opened to traffic on August 1, 1914, the day when the Germans were mobilized for the First World War . Accordingly, the celebrations were shortened and with only a few guests. The line begins in Maulbronn West station of the Westbahn, which was the start of the branch line under the name Maulbronn Hauptbahnhof , but received two new through tracks on the other side of the reception building when the Westbahn was electrified .
Decline
After the first trains in peripheral locations were replaced by rail buses in the 1960s , the last scheduled passenger train ran on June 3, 1973. The Maulbronn city station was still used for general cargo until 1975 , after which the station was unoccupied and there were irregular ones until 1997 Freight traffic , after Deutsche Bahn announced at the end of 1996 that it wanted to give up the route completely for economic reasons, although a concept commissioned by the state of Baden-Württemberg in 1994 as part of the regionalization of the regional rail transport was a light rail operation between Bretten and Mühlacker with the involvement of Maulbronn Stichbahn recommended. On July 31, 1999, Deutsche Bahn officially ceased operations in freight traffic.
Klosterstadt-Express
In order to point out the impending fate and to establish a permanent regional rail transport service , the Verkehrsclub Deutschland (VCD) and Pro Bahn organized special trips on the routes Bretten - Mühlacker and Maulbronn West - for the first time on a weekend in the summer of 1996 with financial support from the neighboring communities. Maulbronn. In the summer of 1997, the special trips on the occasion of the 850th anniversary of the monastery were expanded: a class 628 multiple unit shuttled between Mühlacker and Maulbronn Stadt as the "Klosterstadt-Express", four pairs of trains were offered. Due to its great success, the initiative was continued in the following year. In order to improve the accessibility from the direction of Karlsruhe, the city railways of the Karlsruhe – Bretten and Karlsruhe – Bruchsal – Bretten lines were extended to Maulbronn West, so that there was a direct connection to the Klosterstadt-Express. In 1998 the Albtal-Verkehrs-Gesellschaft (AVG) leased the line from the DB AG with the support of the city of Maulbronn in order to ensure its permanent maintenance.
In 1999, when the rail - forward operation of the line was added between Bretten and Muehlacker S9, the VCD and Pro Bahn took again the initiative and were in favor of the construction of a connecting curve Bretten Maulbronn from which a continuous rail traffic on the Western Railway with inclusion of Maulbronner rail station and should enable a change of direction there . The AVG also supported these projects. Nevertheless, there was no reactivation of local rail passenger transport .
In the summer of 1999, the Sunday train service was extended to include a shuttle service between the two Maulbronn train stations on a half-hourly regular schedule and supplemented by a Horb - Pforzheim - Maulbronn train connection . Since then, the train connection has been subtitled “in the footsteps of Hermann Hesse ”, which refers to the poet's life. From 2000 to 2007 there were four pairs of trains on the Tübingen – Horb – Pforzheim – Maulbronn route on the operating days. According to VCD, around 150 to 250 passengers use the offer every day of traffic. Due to a complete closure of the main line between Mühlacker and Bruchsal for construction work, no train service to Maulbronn could be offered in 2008.
Currently (since May 1, 2005) Stadler Regio-Shuttle RS1 multiple units of the Kulturbahn ( DB ZugBus Regionalverkehr Alb-Bodensee ) are in use.
business
The names of the two train stations have changed over the years. The starting point of the route was renamed with its opening from Maulbronn to Maulbronn Hauptbahnhof , soon after again to Maulbronn and later to Maulbronn West . The end point was initially called Maulbronn Stadt , then Maulbronn , although the names Maulbronn Stadtbahnhof and Maulbronn Stadt have remained informal. The station is officially called Maulbronn City again today by Deutsche Bahn .
passenger traffic
From the opening of the line to the cessation of passenger traffic , there was almost always an extensive range of trains that connected the passenger trains to the city in Maulbronn West. Over the years there have been a constant twelve to fourteen pairs of trains on the route , although the range had to be reduced during the First World War . During the economic crisis of 1923 , operations on the route ceased on Sundays. In the 1950s and early 1960s, the line experienced its last major boom with up to 20 pairs of trains per day, but from this period onwards, train operations in the morning, evening and on weekends were replaced by rail buses.
Due to the low number of passengers, the operation was carried out with railcars from the beginning , until 1948 a Kittel steam railcar stationed in Mühlacker was used, which commuted between the two stations. Another steam powered railcar was stationed in Mühlacker as a replacement vehicle. Between 1948 and 1955 the operation was carried out with the benzene railcar VT 75 900 stationed in Stuttgart , which was replaced by a Uerdinger rail bus of the VT 95 series stationed in Stuttgart until passenger traffic was discontinued.
Future prospects
In December 2008 the Maulbronn municipal council decided to terminate the lease agreement with the AVG, which would lead to the closure of the line. The reasons for this were the increased maintenance costs, upcoming investments in the infrastructure, as well as an expert opinion by the AVG, which confirmed that the route had negative future prospects.
The VCD, which, contrary to the expert opinion, grants the route a significantly higher passenger potential, was not heard by the local council with its alternative concept. However, according to its own statement, the AVG is not interested in decommissioning and de-dedication is not being considered. Regardless of the termination of the contract, the Klosterstadt-Express will continue to travel to Maulbronn. According to a response from the Baden-Württemberg state government to a request from the FDP , operations are secured until 2014.
In the 2016 season, six pairs of trains ran between Mühlacker and Maulbronn Stadt and one pair of trains to and from Pforzheim main station on Sundays and public holidays from May 1 to October 16 .
literature
- Hans-Wolfgang Scharf: The railway in Kraichgau. Railway history between the Rhine and Neckar . EK-Verlag, Freiburg (Breisgau) 2006, ISBN 3-88255-769-9 .
- Matthias Lieb, Jürgen Schedler: Hiking with the Klosterstadt-Express - around Maulbronn . In: Swabian homeland. 2/1999 ( PDF, 122 kB )
- Peter-Michael Mihailescu, Matthias Michalke: Forgotten railways in Baden-Württemberg . Konrad Theiss Verlag, Stuttgart 1985, ISBN 3-8062-0413-6 , p. 168 .
Web links
- Website of the Klosterstadt-Express
- Excerpt from the course book from 1944
- Route description at www.vergessene-bahnen.de
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Nadine Schmid: Railway expert opinion in question. In: Pforzheimer Zeitung . January 12, 2009, archived from the original on February 11, 2013 ; Retrieved January 28, 2009 .
- ↑ Nadine Schmid: Track shutdown: Klosterstadt-Express no longer runs to Maulbronn-Stadt. In: Pforzheimer Zeitung . December 17, 2008, archived from the original on February 11, 2013 ; Retrieved January 1, 2009 .
- ↑ a b Maulbronn: community against operation on branch line. In: Eurailpress. December 29, 2008, archived from the original on April 13, 2012 ; Retrieved January 1, 2009 .
- ↑ see Landtag printed paper 14/4447 (PDF file; 39 kB)
- ^ Website of the Klosterstadt-Express , accessed on April 19, 2016