Wolfsberg tunnel

Wolfsberg tunnel
use	Railway tunnel
traffic connection	Mannheim – Saarbrücken railway , Palatinate Ludwig Railway
place	Neustadt an der Weinstrasse
length	320 m
Number of tubes	1
construction
Client	Palatine Ludwig Railway Company
start of building	1845
business
operator	Deutsche Bahn
release	August 25, 1849
location
Coordinates
North portal	49 ° 21 ′ 40 "  N , 8 ° 6 ′ 23"  E
South portal	49 ° 21 ′ 30 ″  N , 8 ° 6 ′ 24 ″  E

 Map with all coordinates: OSM | WikiMap

The Wolfsberg Tunnel is one of a total of twelve tunnels on the Mannheim – Saarbrücken railway line that emerged from the Palatinate Ludwigsbahn and, at 320 meters, is the third longest after the Heiligenberg and Schönberg-Langeck tunnels .

location

The tunnel is located in the district of Neustadt an der Weinstrasse not far from the north-western edge of the settlement in the form of the Sauloogsiedlung . It is used to shorten a loop of the Speyerbach to cross under the Wolfsberg , which gives it its name, and is located in the middle of the nature reserve on Wolfsberg . The ruins of Wolfsburg are in the immediate vicinity of the tunnel . There is a sewage treatment plant at the south portal. Until a few years ago, a factory in this area still had a siding.

history

On December 21, 1837, the Bavarian King Ludwig I approved the construction of a main line in an east-west direction from the Rheinschanze to Bexbach . Between Neustadt and Frankenstein numerous hills and foothills had to be conquered for the ascent. Among them was the Wolfsberg . This required the construction of a 320 meter long tunnel in this area. Traffic from Ludwigshafen to Neustadt had already been opened in 1847, and in 1848 the Homburg – Frankenstein section followed in two stages . On August 25, 1849, the gap between Frankenstein and Neustadt including the Wolfsberg tunnel was closed. Carriages had previously taken over the traffic between the two sections of the route. In July 1856, the Ludwig Railway was then consistently double-tracked.

Since the main line from Mannheim to Saarbrücken has always been of great importance for long-distance traffic, it was gradually electrified from 1960. The Wolfsberg tunnel had to be widened for electrification. This delayed the completion of the electrical operation, which could finally be started on March 12, 1964 on the entire length.

literature

• Heinz Sturm: The Palatinate Railways (= publications of the Palatinate Society for the Advancement of Science. Volume 53). New edition. pro MESSAGE, Ludwigshafen am Rhein 2005, ISBN 3-934845-26-6 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Heinz Sturm: The Palatinate Railways . 2005, p. 53 .
2. ↑ Heinz Sturm: The Palatinate Railways . 2005, p. 96 .
3. ↑ Heinz Sturm: The Palatinate Railways . 2005, p. 113 ff .
4. ↑ Heinz Sturm: The Palatinate Railways . 2005, p. 146 .
5. ↑ Fritz Engbarth: From the Ludwig Railway to the Integral Timed Timetable - 160 Years of the Railway in the Palatinate . 2007, p. 23 f .