Montafonerbahn

This article explains the Bludenz – Schruns railway line, for the operator, see Montafonerbahn (company) .

Bludenz-Schruns
Montafonerbahn between Tschagguns and Kaltenbrunnen
Course book route (ÖBB) :	420
Route length:	12.874 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Route class :	D4
Power system :	until April 1972: 800 V  =
Power system :	from April 1972: 15 kV 16.7 Hz  ~
Maximum slope :	25.25  ‰
Minimum radius :	170 m
Top speed:	90 km / h
Legend from Lindau 0.000 Bludenz Connection railway substation Bürs Arlbergbahn to Innsbruck 1.684 Connecting railway substation Bludenz ÖBB 1,872 Bludenz Moos 2.786 Brunnenfeld – Stallehr 2,792 Connecting railway Ökozentrum Bludenz Alfenz 2.871 Connection railway cement works Lorüns 3.046 Connection railway cement works Lorüns Ill 4.075 Lorüns Ill 6,906 St. Anton in the Montafon 8.142 Vandans 10.281 Cold well 10,477 Connecting line for the Rodund hydropower station 10,995 Loading point natural heat montafon 11.607 Litz 11,750 Tschagguns Tschagguns reloading point Narrow-gauge railway to Partenen 12.717 Schruns 681  m above sea level A.

Coordinates: 47 ° 4 '46.7 "  N , 9 ° 55' 2.6"  E

The Montafonerbahn is a standard gauge branch line in Austria . The 12.717 km long branch line since December 18 connects 1905 Schruns and the lower Montafon with Bludenz , there she is with the Arlberg railway and the railway Lindau-Bludenz linked. The route is integrated into the Vorarlberg transport association as the "S 4" line of the Vorarlberg S-Bahn and is owned by Montafonerbahn AG . It acts as both a railway infrastructure company and a railway transport company . The locals call the route "Bähnle" or - based on the operating company - "Mobah" . In Schruns, Tschagguns and Vandans it is possible to change to the regional buses.

history

In the railway literature from 1869 one comes across a reference to a planned railway under the Zeinisjoch as an alternative route to the Arlbergbahn. For the "Zeynesjochbahn" route and tunnel studies were carried out in 1872 and the professor of geology and mineralogy in Vienna, Gustav Adolf Koch , prepared a geological report. But the route through the Kloster- and Stanzertal turned out to be more advantageous, because the railway through the Montafon would have meant a longer route, a longer construction period and less favorable climatic and geological conditions.

The planning for the railway construction in the Montafon began with the opening of the Arlbergbahn in 1884. At that time, the representative and star landlord Jakob Stemer and the mill owner Wilhelm Mayer were significantly involved in these plans . In 1904, the newly founded Montafonerbahn-Aktiengesellschaft acquired the Litz power station built in 1895 .

The builders of the Montafonerbahn also considered extending the line to Davos and there was also talk of a rack railway to Gargellen and a trolleybus to Gaschurn .

Decorated train set for the opening on December 18, 1905 in Schruns station

It was the first electrically operated standard gauge railway of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy and today it is the only private railway in the Austrian state of Vorarlberg . In the first year of operation, the new means of transport carried almost 82,000 people. During a flood in June 1910, more than half of the railway line was destroyed - heavy rainfalls and delayed snowmelt combined. The operation could only be partially resumed in October and between July 1910 and September 1911 a rail replacement service with horse-drawn vehicles was set up between Lorüns and St. Anton.

Due to the electrification of the Arlbergbahn in 1924, the direct current operated overhead line of the MBS in Bludenz station had to be dismantled. For this reason, the trains of the Montafonerbahn could no longer enter the station on their own and had to be towed by steam locomotives. After experiments with electrical lead accumulators in the railcars did not provide a satisfactory solution, petrol engine units were finally installed in the railcars.

With the start of work by Vorarlberger Illwerke in 1924, freight traffic on the railway line to Schruns was greatly stimulated. In particular during the construction of the Illwerke facilities on Vermunt and Rodund between 1927 and 1948, the railway demonstrated its significant transport capacity. In 1954, the narrow-gauge railway to Partenen , which was built in 1927 to build the power plants, was also discontinued, which also carried people during and after the war.

In the early years, operations on the Montafonerbahn were carried out by the kk Staatsbahnen or BBÖ on behalf of the Montafonerbahn AG. From August 1, 1926, the Montafonerbahn took over the operation itself.

After the overhead line systems and the power supply systems were converted in 1950, the voltage of the overhead line was increased from 650 V to 750 V.

A special steam train in 1972

In 1955 the Montafonerbahn celebrated its fiftieth anniversary and with a diesel -powered " rail bus " the most modern vehicle of the German branch lines was purchased. This eliminated the problem of the two different electricity systems in Bludenz station (ÖBB: alternating current, MBS: direct current).

Montafonerbahn on the stump track she frequently uses (platform 11) in Bludenz

The overhead line voltage was further increased to 800 V in 1965 through a further conversion of the converter works. Since the end of 1960, the train sets have been given the red and yellow paintwork that has been typical for many years. In the 1970s and 1980s, a special steam train was also used for tourist purposes. After the conversion from 800 V direct current to alternating current on March 6, 1972, the Bludenz – Schruns railway line was fundamentally modernized. At the turn of the millennium, it was then integrated into the Vorarlberg transport association (VVV). The depot and workshop are at the end of the route in Schruns, there are opportunities to meet in St. Anton and, since 2010, at Bludenz Brunnenfeld.

In April 2005, the 100th anniversary was celebrated with an exhibition of modern and historic locomotives in the station area. In October 2007, work began on laying the railway line in the Alma area near St. Anton in Montafon, which was completed on April 12, 2008.

In the summer of 2010, a 1½ km long section was re-routed to accelerate the railway line in the Lorüns area. In addition, two bridges were built over the Alfenz and the Ill as well as an additional meeting point at the level of the Lorüns crushing and screening plant and the Brunnenfeld – Stallehr stop was rebuilt.

The regular travel time of passenger trains between Schruns and Bludenz is 19 minutes in both directions. All stations, with the exception of the two terminal stations, are on-demand stops. At some stops (e.g. Brunnenfeld – Stallehr) buttons are installed to announce the stop request.

Decades of disputes, including legal ones, between the railway and residents, who were annoyed by the loud screeching of the wheelsets in the narrow curve in front of Schruns station, were initially attempted with a sprinkler system in this curve. MBS later installed a lubrication system. After this worked unsatisfactorily, a system from a Slovenian company was installed around 2016, which largely eliminated the annoying noises.

In 2015, a possible expansion of the railway line to St. Gallenkirch was considered.

In 2019, a possible expansion of the railway line to Partenen was considered and detailed planning of the extension of the railway line to Gaschurn began. The estimated cost of this is around 284 million euros.

On behalf of the State of Vorarlberg and the federal government, Deutsche Bahn provides transport services in the Montafon within the framework of transport service contracts. Such a contract was last concluded in December 2019. As a result, barrier-free and air-conditioned vehicles are to be purchased and a continuous half-hourly service introduced. The public sector also participates in investments, for example in rail safety technology.

Vehicle use

For the opening of the railway line, two kkStB 20.0 series railcars , one passenger car and two freight cars were purchased.

Over the years, all vehicles owned by MBS were used, including Uerdinger rail buses at times . The now scrapped ET 10.101 was acquired by Bad Eilsener Kleinbahn in Lower Saxony / Germany , where it was used as the ET 204.

The first modern vehicle on the Montafonerbahn was the two-system ET 10.103 railcar, converted in 1965 in the company's own workshop from the DB diesel railcar VT 63.905 . In view of the foreseeable conversion of the Bludenz - Schruns line to the alternating current system used by the ÖBB, this vehicle was set up for use with 800 V direct current as well as 15 kV 16.7 Hz alternating current. After the conversion was carried out in 1972, the then comfortable rebuilding railcar in 1974 received a twin in the form of the ET 10.104, which was created on the undercarriage of the DB VT 63.907 and could only be used with an AC contact line. The vehicles that were kept in reserve until 2008 were taken over by the Pro Bahn Vorarlberg association , where the ET 10.104 can now be rented for special trips, while the ET 10.103 serves as a spare parts donor.

1969-1972 the Montafonerbahn took one after the DMUs ABPM 2/4 7-9 by the Swiss Mittelthurgaubahn which had become superfluous there through the 1965 carried electrification. The control cars ES 10.203 and 204 for use with the ET 10.103-104 emerged from the railcars 8 and 9. The ES 10.203 also ran until 1990 in the set of the school's train, which was formed from former steel wagons of the Swiss Federal Railways and was hauled by the ET 10.106 baggage rail car (ex ÖBB 4060.02 ). From 1990 to 2003, a four-part push-pull train with the ET 10.105 multiple unit, which had previously run as 4130.02 Transalpin in the higher-quality express train traffic of the Austrian Federal Railways , was used for the increasing school traffic . Until the end of the 1980s there were through car connections Dortmund-Schruns-Dortmund (FD 712/713).

In 1990 the Montafonerbahn also procured a brand-new, two-part shuttle train of the type " NPZ ", which is also used by the Swiss Federal Railways and several Swiss private railways. The railcar received the designation ET 10.107, the control car was designated as ES 10.207. A second identically constructed unit followed in 1994, consisting of the ET 10.108 and the ES 10.208. In 2007/2008, MBS also took over two of the four NPZ prototypes put into service in 1984 from the Swiss Federal Railways, which were added to the vehicle fleet as ET 10.121 and 10.122 and ES 10.221 and 10.222, respectively.

ET 10.109 between Vandans and Kaltenbrunnen (2010)

An MBS multiple unit with attached wooden transport wagons used in the scheduled passenger service is ready for departure at Schruns station (2015)

In 2000 and 2001, Stadler Rail delivered the two ET 10.109 and 10.110 railcars to the Montafonerbahn. These can run as single drivers or in double traction and also transport light loads.

A talent of the ÖBB in Schruns terminus (2007)

Only since the 10 December 2005 of a running kilometers compensation operate on the Montafonerbahn under schedule also vehicles of the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB), including low-floor railcars of type talent , City Shuttle - Wendezuggarnituren and with Taurus -Lokomotiven strung modern double-deck coaches . In return, MBS NPZ sets, partially reinforced with ÖBB CityShuttle wagons, run continuously from Schruns via Bludenz, Feldkirch and Bregenz to Lindau in Germany . MBS also provides some services on the line from Feldkirch to Buchs in Switzerland, which runs across Liechtenstein territory , so that the vehicles of the Montafonerbahn can regularly be found in four different countries.

Since 1980, two electric locomotives of the 1045 series (built in 1927) from the Austrian Federal Railways were used in freight transport . After their retirement in 2009, the 1045.01 and 1045.03 came to the ÖGEG ( Austrian Society for Railway History ) and are now based in the Ampflwang locomotive park. In 2009, MBS took over a diesel locomotive V 10.017 of the DR series V 100.1 (built in 1972) that had been converted by Alstom to transport the freight trains, and in June 2012 the six-axle ÖBB electric locomotive 1110.524 (built in 1960), which is now also in the yellow and white Color scheme of the mbs is painted.

Diesel locomotive converted by Alstom on the basis of the Reichsbahn series V 100.1 or BR 110 for the MBS (2015)

Accidents

With 36 level crossings, the Montafonerbahn has a high density of intersections due to road traffic. This repeatedly leads to accidents:

• In April 2014, a car driver died in a collision on an unguarded level crossing.
• On February 3, 2016 and May 3, 2017, truck drivers who overlooked the red light collided with MBS multiple units.
• Another truck driver tore up the overhead contact line when passing a level crossing in the fall of 2014 when the superstructure was too high.
• On October 26, 2019, a car driver crashed into a train on the open " Alma level crossing " (intersection of the L 188 with the railway line) southeast of Lorüns and was injured to an unspecified degree.

media

• Out and about with the Montafonerbahn . Andrej Púlui, Manfred Böhm, Bahn TV , 2007.

literature

• Karl Zwirchmayr: The Montafonerbahn - Bahn in Fig. 46 , Pospischil Verlag, Vienna 1985.
• Karl Zwirchmayr: 90 Years Montafonerbahn AG - Railway and Energy Supply , Hieronymus Münzer Verlag, Feldkirch 1994, ISBN 3-85176-029-8 .
• Lothar Beer: Bahnen in Vorarlberg (Volume III.) , Hecht Verlag, Bregenz 1999, ISBN 3-85298-063-1 .
• Peter Strasser: Along the Montafonerbahn (traveling on rails) , Verlag Sutton, Erfurt 2011, ISBN 978-3-86680-659-7 .

Web links

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

• Homepage of the Montafonerbahn AG
• Railway portrait Austria: The Montafonerbahn from Bludenz to Schruns. Documentation Center for European Railway Research, DEEF

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Montafoner Heimatbuch. As of Montafon, 1974
2. ^ Peter Strasser, Andreas Rudiger: montafon. 1906_2006 - A journey through time in pictures. (PDF) Heimatschutzverein Montafon, 2006, p. 14 , archived from the original on January 3, 2016 ; Retrieved March 7, 2008 . ISBN 978-3-902225-21-4 . 
3. ^ ^{A b c d} Mackinger, Gunter, Wegenstein, Peter: Private railways in Austria: routes - vehicles - operation . 1st edition. Transpress, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-613-71052-8 , Montafonerbahn Bludenz-Schruns (MBS), p. 237 ff .
4. ↑ 100 years of the Montafonerbahn: Open House (Das kleine Blatt, April 28, 2005)
5. ↑ Major investment in the Montafonerbahn . vol.at
6. ↑ Montafonerbahn open to traffic . meznar-media.de
7. ↑ Bridging the gap with the new mbs line. (pdf (282 kB)) Vorarlberger Nachrichten, July 8, 2010, accessed on April 13, 2015 . 
8. ↑ Montafonerbahn: Bludenz - St. Anton iM - Vandans - Schruns
9. ↑ is so popular on trains with a loudspeaker system ("Talent").
10. ↑ Dispute over noise pollution: residents condemned. November 7, 2014, accessed June 7, 2020 . 
11. ↑ Solution for squeaking Montafonerbahn. April 21, 2016, accessed June 7, 2020 . 
12. ↑ The action against the Montafonerbahn is suspended. May 17, 2016, accessed June 7, 2020 . 
13. ↑ “Setting the course”: project to expand the “MoBah” to St. Gallenkirch. VOL.at, February 5, 2015, accessed on April 13, 2015 . 
14. ↑ Montafonerbahn is to be extended. vorarlberg.orf.at, May 14, 2019, accessed on May 14, 2019 . 
15. ↑ Montafonerbahn is to be 15 km longer. vorarlberg.orf.at, July 11, 2019, accessed on July 11, 2019 . 
16. ^ State of Vorarlberg - press. Retrieved June 10, 2020 . 
17. ↑ Stress in the locomotive in: today noon , 13 May 2014, ORF2, 1:15 p.m.
18. ↑ Montafonerbahn: "Accident tragedy puts us in a difficult situation" (April 10, 2014)
19. ↑ Overlooked the red light: truck rammed into Schruns from the Montafonerbahn. In: Vorarlberg Online . February 4, 2016, accessed October 30, 2018 . 
20. ↑ The truck ran over a red light and collided with the Montafonerbahn. In: Tyrolean daily newspaper . May 3, 2017, accessed October 30, 2018 . 
21. Jump through the overhead line of the Montafonerbahn. In: Liechtenstein Fatherland . November 1, 2014, accessed January 20, 2020 . 
22. ^ Vorarlberg: car collides with Montafonerbahn. Retrieved February 5, 2020 .