Vaihinger light rail

Vaihingen (Enz) North - Enzweihingen

Route number :

9487

Course book section (DB) :

773 (until 2002)

Route length:

7.33 km

Gauge :

1435 mm ( standard gauge )

Maximum slope :

20 ‰

Minimum radius :

200 m

Top speed:

50 km / h

Legend

	from Bietigheim-Bissingen
0.00	Vaihingen (Enz) North	245 m
	to Bretten (until 1990)
1.40	Kleinglattbach	232 m
2.00	Vaihingen (Enz) WEG (from 1990)
2.20	Mannheim – Stuttgart high-speed line (170 m)
2.70	Nightingale Valley
3.20	from the north industrial area
4.00	from the Baresel farm
4.20	Vaihingen (Enz) Schlossberg	241 m
4.40	Heilbronner Strasse
4.50	Franckstrasse
4.70	Vaihingen (Enz) city	234 m
5.60	to the cardboard factory (from 1970)
6.60	Enz (91 m)
7.33	Enzweihingen	205 m

The Vaihingen (Enz) Nord - Enzweihingen railway line , last known as the Vaihinger Stadtbahn , is a disused branch line in Baden-Württemberg . The 7.33-kilometer standard-gauge railway line connected the city of Vaihingen an der Enz and its Enzweihingen district with the Vaihingen (Enz) Nord train station. This is located in the Kleinglattbach district , on the former route of the Württemberg West Railway from Stuttgart to Bruchsal , which from 1991 only had goods traffic and was closed on September 12, 2002 due to technical defects. On August 10, 2016, the operating Württembergische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft (WEG) published that it would like to shut down or give up the route in accordance with Section 11 AEG . It has since been shut down.

General

The name "Vaihinger Stadtbahn" stems from the fact that since Enzweihingen was incorporated into Vaihingen in 1971, the railway line has only been in the area of the latter. The route has the official route number 9487, the connecting line between the Westbahn and the Vaihingen (Enz) Nord station bears the number 4843. Here the kilometers follow the previous route of the Westbahn. Before it ceased operations in 2002, it was last recorded in the course book under table number 773. The Stuttgart Transport and Tariff Association (VVS), in whose joint tariff the route was integrated as of October 1, 1993 as part of the so-called network stage II, again ran it under the name R 51.

history

Former reception building of the Enzweihingen train station

Construction and planning of the route

After the western line from Stuttgart to Bruchsal was opened in 1853, the then upper administrative city of Vaihingen complained that it had not been included. In order to satisfy the city at first halfway, the nearest train station Sersheim was renamed in 1863 in "Vaihingen-Sersheim". But even this renaming of the station did not change the fact that the city, which had been ignored in terms of railways, had to fear an emigration of its workforce and the relocation of industrial areas was prevented. Therefore, in November 1889, a so-called "Railway Committee" was formed to work for a railway connection from Vaihingen. After various variants had been discussed, it was agreed on a connecting line from the Vaihingen-Sersheim train station to Vaihingen Stadt.

The Berlin company Arthur Koppel & Co. was then commissioned to build the line. In coordination with the aforementioned railway committee, however, the company suggested that the route should not end in Vaihingen, but that it should be linked to the then independent municipality of Enzweihingen. The Württembergische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft (WEG), which was founded in the meantime, concluded a contract on December 15, 1900 with the city of Vaihingen and the municipality of Enzweihingen on the cost sharing of the route. In return, WEG took over the construction and operation of the planned branch line. The concession was given the WEG on July 20, 1902, however, the groundbreaking ceremony took place only on 20 October 1,903th

Opening and subsequent years (1904–1945)

Locomotive shed at the terminal in Enzweihingen

Vaihingen (Enz) Nord station, formerly the Württemberg West Railway also ran here

The line finally opened on October 16, 1904. In the early years, operations were very positive. During the construction of the railway, a company discovered a shell limestone store near the railway line , which ultimately resulted in a quarry being set up so that the first siding was built just one year after the line was opened. In the period that followed, numerous industrial companies settled in Vaihingen, which created additional sidings and the line received a great deal of traffic. The exit station "Vaihingen-Sersheim" was finally renamed in 1906 to "Vaihingen (Enz) Staatsbahnhof". Due to the very good demand in passenger transport, the WEG reached an agreement with the Königlich Württembergische Staats-Eisenbahnen (KWSt.E) , which provided for the trains to be linked to Bietigheim. From 1906, three of a total of seven pairs of trains were tied through to Bietigheim .

However, after the First World War and the resulting poor economic situation, traffic stagnated. The plan to connect the line from Enzweihingen via Ober- and Unterriexingen to the Ludwigsburg – Markgröningen railway line, inaugurated in 1916 , was dropped. In 1928 the Reichsbahndirektion Stuttgart no longer allowed the connection of passenger trains to Bietigheim without giving reasons for the decision. The quarry, the most important customer in freight transport to date, was exhausted in 1939. In the course of the Second World War there were plans to build a retaliatory weapon production facility there, but these were never put into practice. From April 1, 1945, operations were temporarily suspended.

Development after the Second World War (1945–1995)

Platform of the Vaihingen (Enz) WEG stop with subsequent transfer of the high-speed line

Traffic was not resumed until May 2, 1946. However, the trains first had to end around 800 meters west of the Enzweihingen terminus at a temporary platform because the Enz Bridge had been blown up during World War II. After the starting point of the line was renamed "Vaihingen (Enz) Reichsbahnhof" in 1923, it was finally named "Vaihingen (Enz) Nord" in 1950. At the same time, a parallel bus line was set up to compete with the railway line, so that passenger traffic was discontinued on May 19, 1951. Since school traffic in Vaihingen continued to increase in the following period, the WEG decided to resume local public transport, which had previously been operated by steam trains, from June 1st, but this time with diesel multiple units . In the course of the incorporation of Enzweihingen to Vaihingen at the beginning of the 1970s, the railway line was also popularly known as the "Vaihinger Stadtbahn", since it has since run exclusively on the district of Vaihingen.

In connection with the construction of the Mannheim – Stuttgart high-speed line , the Westbahn was moved south between Illingen and Sersheim. The Deutsche Bundesbahn put the new Vaihingen (Enz) station into operation as a junction between the Westbahn and the new line, which is significantly closer to the city than the previous “Vaihingen Nord” station. The new station was built at the point where the new line crosses the Vaihinger Stadtbahn using the 170-meter-wide "Glattbachtal arched structure". For this purpose, the WEG route had to be relocated slightly to the northwest, whereby it runs parallel to state road 1125 in the area of the underpass. On January 7, 1991, the “Vaihingen (Enz) WEG” stop was set up there as a new transfer point to the Deutsche Bundesbahn. However, the WEG trains continued to run to the “Vaihingen (Enz) Nord” station.

Between 1990 and 2000 there were historical special trips with steam locomotives by the Society for the Preservation of Rail Vehicles (GES). With the integration into the VVS on October 1, 1993, ticket machines were installed and ticket sales on the train were discontinued.

Decommissioned in 2002

The prestressed concrete bridge over the Enz, used jointly with Bundesstraße 10 , 2002

Due to the new Vaihingen (Enz) train station and the associated restructuring of bus traffic, passenger traffic on the light rail system continued to decline, which is why the WEG subsequently thinned out the timetable. So she canceled all weekend traffic, so that passenger traffic was only handled on weekdays. In the end it was mainly used to transport pupils and therefore only took place on school days.

In 2001, around 50,000 passengers (mostly schoolchildren) and 26,000 tons of goods between Vaihingen Nord and Enzweihingen were carried independently. Four pairs of trains were offered for passenger transport Monday through Friday. As part of the program MORA C German Rail terminated the contract to operate the transfer station Vaihingen Nord. The WEG then announced that it would cease operations for the timetable change on December 15, 2002, as the lack of further transport of the freight wagons meant that the basis for economic operation of the route had been withdrawn.

After plans of continuous passenger traffic to Bietigheim-Bissingen no longer offered any prospects of success, the WEG stopped all traffic on December 13, 2002. However, until August 15, 2003, DB Cargo was still operating in Vaihingen. Now the city of Vaihingen wanted to take over the route to ensure freight traffic for the local industry, but many connections had already been dismantled. The purchase would have included the route as well as the structures along the route: train stations, crossings, bridges, locomotive sheds, etc. The connection to the Deutsche Bahn AG route network would also have been taken over. Ten hectares of land are allocated to the WEG and two hectares to the DB AG. The purchase price would have been around 400,000 euros. The area of the bus halls in Enzweihingen has been negotiated separately with the KVG (bus company of the WEG).

Conversion to a cycle path

At the beginning of 2008, the Eisenbahn-Service-Gesellschaft mbH (ESG) from Bietigheim-Bissingen made efforts to use the route for freight traffic in cooperation with the Deutsche Bahn subsidiary DB Schenker Rail (now DB Cargo ). The intention was to install three new points in the Vaihingen (Enz) Nord station in order to better handle the traffic. However, no possibility was seen for public transport on the route. The option of running a museum should be kept open at least until the city station.

The initiative Fahrradbahn Vaihingen brought a referendum on the way. They demanded the demolition of the tracks and the construction of a railway cycle path . The local council refused, whereupon a referendum had to take place. The project was discussed controversially, also within many parties. In addition to the estimated costs of around one and a half million euros, there were also fears that rail operations would no longer be possible on this route. Some opponents hoped to extend the Stuttgart S-Bahn from Bietigheim-Bissingen to Enzweihingen. Proponents countered that this was unrealistic. They emphasized the function of the cycle path as a way to school, a tourist attraction and as a fast connection to the local long-distance train station. On September 27, 2009, the majority of citizens rejected the so-called bicycle lane. In October 2015 the Vaihingen city council decided to create a cycle path on the railway line . That is why an application was made to de-dedicate the route. First of all, the section between the station on the new line and the city station is to be rebuilt, the costs are expected to be 1.5 million euros. The removal of the tracks began in December 2019.

Vehicle use

T 04, master vehicle of the Stadtbahn until the end of operation

Two three-axle tank locomotives were available for the opening of the line, as well as three passenger cars, a baggage car and four freight cars. Various four-axle steam locomotives were used on a temporary basis. In 1957, all steam locomotives were parked, the two-axle T 03 and T 04 railcars carried all traffic, some with the VB 208 trailer car. The modernized T 06 and T 36 were also used for overhauls of the main vehicles .

Most recently, passenger traffic was carried out exclusively by the T 04 diesel multiple unit, which was also popularly known as the "Bembele". This diesel multiple unit, built in the 1920s, was at that time the oldest vehicle that was used in regular passenger transport in Germany and was sufficiently powerful for the light rail in hilly terrain. From 1957 he also ran the freight trains as a tow car .

literature

Burkhard Beyer: The “Stadtbahn” has come to an end. Württemberg railway company . In: Lok Magazin . No. 255 . GeraNova, 2002, ISSN 0458-1822 , p. 20th ff .
Hermann Bürnheim: Württemberg Railway Company. The story of an important private railway . 1st edition. Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 1986, ISBN 3-613-01145-X .
Hans-Wolfgang Scharf: The railway in Kraichgau. Railway history between the Rhine and Neckar . EK-Verlag, Freiburg (Breisgau) 2006, ISBN 3-88255-769-9 .
Gerd Wolff, Hans-Dieter Menges: German small and private railways. Volume 3: Württemberg . EK-Verlag, Freiburg 1995, ISBN 3-88255-655-2 .

Web links

Commons : Vaihinger Stadtbahn - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

↑ Announcement according to § 11 AEG on the transfer of railway infrastructure (Vaihingen (Enz) Nord - Enzweihingen) ( Memento of the original from September 21, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. dated August 10, 2016, accessed on September 21, 2016 @1@ 2

^ Günter Dutt: A journey through 150 years of tunnel structures in Württemberg . In: Yearbook for Railway History . No. 28 . Uhle & Kleimann, 1996, ISSN 0340-4250 , p. 47-63 .

↑ Message if the DB (does not) want to . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International , issue 11/2002, ISSN 1421-2811 , p. 490.

↑ http://www.vkz.de/de/heute/redaktion/archiv/lokal/januar-2008/16/trassen-arbeitskreis-in-planung

^ Official homepage of the initiative

↑ Result of the vote (PDF; 8 kB)