Kamptalbahn

Kamptalbahn Hadersdorf am Kamp – Sigmundsherberg
Railcar near Buchberg am Kamp.
Route number :	174 01
Course book route (ÖBB) :	820
Route length:	43.8 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Route class :	D4
Maximum slope :	21  ‰
Minimum radius :	181 m
Top speed:	80 km / h
Legend Kremser branch of the FJ railway from Krems an der Donau 0.000 Hadersdorf am Kamp 202  m above sea level A. Kremser branch of the FJ railway to Absdorf-Hippersdorf Retzer Strasse 2.101 Gobelsburg Kamptal road 4,180 Langenlois 212  m above sea level A. Kamptal road 5.875 Zoebing 8.776 Schönberg am Kamp Kamptal road 11,516 Camp 11,920 Boots 13.504 Altenhof 16,000 Camp 16,100 Camp 16,958 Plank am Kamp 236  m above sea level A. 18,594 Tobelbach 19,420 Camp 19.672 Buchberg 236  m above sea level A. 22.635 Gars-Thunau 250  m above sea level A. 24.171 Kamegg 25,132 Höllgraben 25,540 Stallegg 26.750 Camp Kamptal road 26,936 Taffa 27.008 Rosenburg 265  m above sea level A. 28,534 Taffa 31,300 Mold abandoned 9/30/1991 Waldviertel Street Kamptal road Horner Street 34,340 Horn train station 34.723 Breiteneich brook 35.810 Breiteneich near Horn 325  m above sea level A. Pulkautal street Pulkautal street planned clasp for the Franz-Josefs-Bahn Franz-Josefs-Bahn from Vienna 43.844 Sigmundsherberg 435  m above sea level A. Franz-Josefs-Bahn to Gmünd N.Ö.

The Kamptalbahn is a single-track, non-electrified, 43.8 km long regional train in the districts of Krems-Land and Horn in Lower Austria , which has existed since 1889 . It connects the Absdorf-Hippersdorf-Krems an der Donau railway from Hadersdorf am Kamp station with the Franz-Josefs-Bahn in Sigmundsherberg .

history

From 1862, the communities in the Kamptal and the towns of Horn , Eggenburg and Retz tried to establish a railway connection through the Kamptal, which would subsequently connect St. Pölten with the Znaim - Iglau area. In 1865, however, the consortium responsible for the construction of the railway decided to give preference to another route to southern Bohemia, the Franz-Josefs-Bahn from Vienna via Eggenburg to Gmünd, compared to the technically far more difficult Kamptal variant. In 1887, the Imperial and Royal Ministry of Commerce in Vienna approved the application from the private Austrian Local Railway Company to build the Hadersdorf – Sigmundsherberg local railway , as the Kamptal Railway was originally called. Although the construction of the railway was difficult because of the numerous rocks, but also the challenge of having to build five steel truss bridges, the Kamptalbahn was opened on July 16, 1889 with the first journey from Sigmundsherberg to Hadersdorf am Kamp.

Rosenburg station with a railway bridge over the Taffa. Postcard around 1900.

The construction of the railway line meant a great economic boom for the villages in the Kamptal. In this way, not only agricultural products such as wine from the wine-growing communities in the lower Kamptal and grain products from the numerous mills in the valley could be transported to Vienna by freight. With the easier accessibility, numerous places in the Kamptal such as Langenlois , Schönberg am Kamp , Stiefern , Gars am Kamp and Rosenburg developed into important summer retreats . In the heyday of summer, women and children mostly spent the entire summer in the country, while the men went to work in the city during the week. Because of the weekly greeting and farewell scenes at the train stations and stops of the Kamptalbahn, the nickname Busserlzug arose . After 1945 the Kamptal could no longer follow the tradition of the summer resort. Changed travel habits, but also the construction of the Kamptal reservoirs, which led to a sharp drop in temperature in the Kamp, which is lined with numerous bathing establishments, deprived tourism in the Kamptal of its most important foundations.

Railway bridge in Rosenburg am Kamp. Postcard around 1910.

In 1955, diesel locomotives were used for the first time on the Kamptalbahn. The scheduled traffic with steam locomotives ended in 1972. In the 1980s, the ÖBB planned to stop train traffic. A citizens' initiative - with the support of the Lower Austrian provincial government - was able to prevent this project. In 1998, the ÖBB wanted to replace the five steel truss bridges, which were in poor structural condition, but which had a major impact on the landscape of the Kamptal, with simple steel girder bridges. With financial support from the Lower Austrian provincial government, the ÖBB decided after long negotiations to rebuild four bridges in their previous appearance and to renovate the railway bridge in Rosenburg . In August 2002, a Kamp flood also caused considerable damage to the Kamptalbahn route, which led to the route being closed for several weeks.

In 2014 the Kamptalbahn celebrated its 125th anniversary. On August 30, 2014, a special train ran through the Kamptal on the occasion of the anniversary.

route

The railway line runs from the Hadersdorf am Kamp train station in the lower Kamptal on the left bank of the Kamp through the wine-growing towns of Gobelsburg , Langenlois and Zöbing to Schönberg am Kamp . Before Stiefern , the route crosses the Kamp for the first time on a steel truss bridge . Between the Altenhof stop, which was only set up in 1991, and the Plank am Kamp train station, the river sides change twice at a distance of just a few hundred meters. Passing the Plank / Kamp station , which is used for scheduled train crossings on the single-track route, shortly before Buchberg am Kamp there is a change to the left side of the Kamp. Train crossings are also possible at the next station, Gars-Thunau . Past the Kamegg and Stallegg stops , the route crosses the Kamp one last time on the only originally preserved steel truss bridge and turns east into the Taffatal a few meters before the Rosenburg train station in the Kamptal . Past the Mold request stop , which was closed in 1991 , the route continues to the district town of Horn, Lower Austria . Via the Breiteneich b. Horn reaches the Kamptalbahn after a distance of around 43.8 km and the overcoming of 233 meters in altitude in Sigmundsherberg the connection to the Franz-Josefs-Bahn . Along the Kamptalbahn there are numerous sights and tourist attractions such as the Loisium wine adventure world designed by the American star architect Steven Holl , the Heiligenstein , one of the best Riesling locations in Europe, with the Kamptalwarte observation tower , Gars am Kamp with the Babenberg fortress and the Rosenburg , the largest Renaissance castle in Austria.

vehicles

Railcar 5047 of the ÖBB in Gars-Thunau station.

Class 5047 diesel multiple units have been in service on the Kamptalbahn since 1987 . The first vehicles of this type completed for the ÖBB were presented in July 1987 during a press trip to Rosenburg . Some of the railcars used on the Kamptalbahn were modernized in 2004 and have the current local public transport color of the ÖBB in red-gray paintwork. Today all three paint variants of the ÖBB railcars of the 5047 series are used on the Kamptalbahn. In summer and autumn 2019, the "Cityjet eco" 4746 049 - an electric multiple unit with a battery - was tested on the Kamptalbahn, also in scheduled operation.

future

According to a joint agreement between ÖBB and the state of Lower Austria in June 2017, Horn is to have a direct connection to the Franz-Josefs-Bahn and thus to Vienna from 2025. For this purpose, a new line with a length of 3 km is to be built, which branches off from the FJB at Klein-Meiseldorf and connects to the Kamptalbahn behind Sigmundsherberg . Within 8 years, by 2025, the route planning would have to be agreed, an environmental impact assessment carried out and the construction of 3 km of electrified route carried out. In addition, the existing line between Sigmundsherberg and Horn would have to be modernized and electrified. The Kamptalbahn is to be electrified by 2027.

At the end of 2017, VOR ordered 10 additional trains on weekdays and 18 additional trains on weekends and public holidays for the route St. Pölten Hbf-Krems / Donau-Horn-Sigmundsherberg for the 2019 timetable year. Part of this improvement was the extension of the HVZ amplifiers to Horn, which had previously ended in Gars-Thunau , an hourly service on the weekend and the extension of the operating times by one hour in both directions between Krems and Horn.

The timetable change in December 2019 brought further traffic expansions due to a new transport contract between ÖBB, the federal government and the state of Lower Austria. Between Sigmundsherberg and Horn, the trains will run until midnight instead of the previous 9:00 p.m. and the last train to Horn leaves Krems at 10:44 p.m., two hours later than in the 2019 timetable.

Others

Interest group Kamptalbahn

The Kamptalbahn interest group , a non-partisan platform based in Gars am Kamp , advocates improvements on the railway line. Among other things, it calls for the renovation of the infrastructure, the barrier-free expansion of the larger stops, the use of more modern railcars and the improvement of the regular timetable. In order to emphasize her concern, she initiated the resolution “Pro Kamptalbahn” since the end of 2011.

Nostalgia trips

The train sets with which summer visitors once drove to the Waldviertel were called the Busserlzug because of the welcoming or farewell ceremonies . Diesel nostalgia trains operated by Dieselnostalgie GmbH from Hadersdorf am Kamp ran under this name from 2004 to 2009 as a tourist attraction. After ÖBB Personenverkehr AG withdrew as a partner of the private provider in 2009, there were only a few nostalgic trips in 2010. In 2011 the ÖBB again offered a few special trips, for example for the “Schönberger Advent”.

Sigmundsherberg Railway Museum

In 1987 the Sigmundsherberg Railway Museum was opened in Sigmundsherberg , providing detailed information on the Kamptalbahn, the Franz-Josefs-Bahn and the various former and current ÖBB, BBÖ etc. locomotives. Diesel multiple units of the Kamptalbahn can also be viewed.

Stations and stops of the Kamptalbahn

• 

  Hadersdorf / Kamp train station

• 

  Stop, demand stop, Gobelsburg

• 

  Langenlois train station

• 

  Stop, demand stop, Zöbing / Kamp

• 

  Schönberg / Kamp train station

• 

  Stop, demand stop, Stiefern , the platform has been asphalted since 2019, new benches have been set up and the lighting has been switched to LED

• 

  Stop, required stop, Altenhof am Kamp

• 

  Bahnhof Plank / Kamp

• 

  Stop, required stop, Buchberg am Kamp

• 

  Gars-Thunau train station

• 

  Stop, demand stop, Kamegg

• 

  Stop, demand stop, Stallegg

• 

  Rosenburg station

• 

  Horn Lower Austria train station

• 

  Stop, required stop, Breiteneich near Horn

• 

  Sigmundsherberg train station

literature

• Josef Filsmaier: Loatwagen and Busserlzug. The Kamptal around Schönberg as a landscape for winemakers and Viennese. Exhibition of the folklore collection of the Lower Austrian State Museum, March 19 to May 31, 1982 . Vienna 1982.
• Paul G. Liebhart: The railway in the Kamptal and the flood 2002. In: Das Waldviertel, 51st Jg. (2002), pp. 423-431.
• Paul G. Liebhart, Wolfgang Andraschek, Gerhard Baumrucker: The Kamptalbahn. Erfurt 2010, ISBN 978-3-86680-692-4 .
• Herbert Trautsamwieser: 90 years of the Kamptalbahn. Festschrift. Gars am Kamp 1979.
• Herbert Trautsamwieser: 100 years of the Kamptalbahn. Festschrift. Krems on the Danube 1989.
• Association of Waldviertel Railway Museum Sigmundsherberg: Festschrift 110 years of the Kamptalbahn. Sigmundsherberg 1999.

Web links

Commons : Kamptalbahn  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Current timetable of the ÖBB (.pdf)
• Website of the Kamptalbahn initiative
• Private website about the Kamptalbahn
• Literature about the Kamptalbahn in the Lower Austrian regional library
• Journal articles about the Kamptalbahn in Lower Austria Bibliography of the Lower Austrian State Library
• Pictures of the Kamptalbahn in the topographical collection of the Lower Austrian State Library
• Locomotive 2045.007 in Horn
• Locomotive 2045.001 in Gars-Thunau
• 80 years of the Kamptalbahn 1969 on YouTube , January 12, 2020, accessed on January 15, 2020 (silent film by Wolfgang Andraschek sen. 1969 shows special train with ÖBB 91.44 on the occasion of the 80th anniversary).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Opening of two local railways. In:  Neue Freie Presse , July 18, 1889, p. 5 (online at ANNO ).
2. ^ Paul G. Liebhart, Wolfgang Andraschek, Gerhard Baumrucker: The Kamptalbahn. Erfurt 2010, pp. 7-8, ISBN 978-3-86680-692-4 .
3. ↑ Joseph Filsmaier: Loatwagen and Busserlzug. The Kamptal around Schönberg as a landscape for winemakers and Viennese. Exhibition of the folklore collection of the Lower Austrian State Museum, March 19 to May 31, 1982 . Vienna 1982>
4. ^ Susanne Hawlik: Summer vacation in the Kamptal. The magic of a river landscape. Vienna-Cologne-Weimar 1995, ISBN 978-3-205-98315-6 .
5. ^ Helmut Holzinger, Andreas Jeschko, Jörgen Robra, Günter Ramberger: Strengthening of an Old Arch Truss Bridge, Austria . In: Structural Engineering International , Vol. 12, H. 4, (November 2002), pp. 276-280.
6. ^ Paul G. Liebhart, Wolfgang Andraschek, Gerhard Baumrucker: The Kamptalbahn. Erfurt 2010, pp. 9-10, ISBN 978-3-86680-692-4 .
7. ↑ 125 years of the Kamptalbahn. The Kamptal is celebrating with full steam. ( Memento from February 21, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) ErlebnisBahn, accessed on August 18, 2020.
8. ↑ "Cityjet eco" with a test drive on the Kamptalbahn, in Eisenbahnverkehr aktuell, ISSN 1663-5248, edition 7/2019, p. 341
9. ↑ ÖBB will be testing battery trains in passenger operation from September. Retrieved April 16, 2020 . 
10. ^ ORF Lower Austria: Horn receives connection to Franz-Josefs-Bahn , accessed on June 27, 2017.
11. ↑ Local transport strengthen multi-million euro package for rail expansion. noen.at, June 23, 2019, accessed on June 23, 2019 . 
12. ↑ Austria: Advance information before direct allocation of SPNV 2019 - diesel network. In: lok-report.de. VOR, December 8, 2017, accessed January 30, 2018 . 
13. ↑ Timetable 820. Accessed on December 20, 2018 . 
14. ↑ Preliminary information on direct allocation in rail transport. Retrieved December 20, 2018 . 
15. ^ Website of the Kamptalbahn initiative , accessed on April 19, 2018.
16. ↑ Private website about the Kamptalbahn ( memento of July 6, 2011 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on August 18, 2020.
17. ^ Website of the ÖBB , accessed on December 18, 2011.
18. ↑ Bibliographical reference. Retrieved January 3, 2019 . 
19. ↑ Bibliographical reference. Retrieved January 3, 2019 .