The Basel Connecting Line (german: Basler Verbindungsbahn) is a railway line in the Swiss city of

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

and connects

Basel Baden station Basel Badischer Bahnhof (literally "Basel Baden Railway station", the name referring to the Grand Duchy of Baden State Railways, which built the station) is a railway station situated in the Swiss city of Basel. The station is situated on Swiss s ...

on the right bank of the Rhine and

Basel SBB station Basel SBB railway station (german: Bahnhof Basel SBB, or in earlier times ''Centralbahnhof'' or ''Schweizer Bahnhof'') is the central railway station in the city of Basel, Switzerland. Opened in 1854, and completely rebuilt in 1900–1907, it is E ...

on the left bank. It is located on Swiss territory. Most of the German long-distance trains on the

Rhine Valley Railway ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , source ...

end at Basel SBB station and run along the Connecting Line. Many Regional-Express trains of

Deutsche Bahn The (; abbreviated as DB or DB AG) is the national railway company of Germany. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). The Federal Republic of Germany is its single shareholder. describes itself as the se ...

(from Freiburg) and S-Bahn trains of the

SBB GmbH SBB GmbH, also known as SBB Deutschland, is a railway company that operates services in Germany and the cantons of Basel-City and Schaffhausen in Switzerland. It is a subsidiary of Swiss Federal Railways, the state railway company of Switzerland ...

(from Zell) also run over the Connecting Line to Basel SBB.

History

The railway line was authorised by Article 4 of an international agreement of 15 October 1869, concerning the construction and operation of the

Gotthard Railway The Gotthard railway (german: Gotthardbahn; it, Ferrovia del Gottardo) is the Swiss trans-alpine railway line from northern Switzerland to the canton of Ticino. The line forms a major part of an important international railway link between no ...

. The building of the Connecting Line was licensed by the Swiss federal government on 14 March 1870. On 3 November 1873 the line was opened, including a one-line bridge over the Rhine. Following an agreement between the then

Swiss Central Railway The Swiss Central Railway (''Schweizerische Centralbahn''; SCB or S.C.B.) was one of the five major private railway companies of Switzerland. The SCB with a track length of 332 kilometres was integrated into the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) in 19 ...

and the Grand Duchy of Baden State Railways, the Connecting Line was built as a joint line by both companies. The project was exclusively funded by the Central Railway, which became its owner and it is now owned by the

Swiss Federal Railways Swiss Federal Railways (german: link=no, Schweizerische Bundesbahnen, ''SBB''; french: link=no, Chemins de fer fédéraux suisses, ''CFF''; it, Ferrovie federali svizzere, ''FFS'') is the national railway company of Switzerland. It is usuall ...

(SBB). Since the railway reform, the rail infrastructure is managed exclusively by the SBB. SBB, Deutsche Bahn and many other companies operate on the line. The property boundary is at the 3.537 km chainage mark (at the north head of the Rhine bridge).

Technology

The Basel Connecting Line, including railway Basel Baden station, Basel SBB station and Basel marshalling yard is equipped for Swiss locomotives without special technical equipment and can be used by services from Germany. The line is equipped with the German intermittent cab signalling system (

Punktförmige Zugbeeinflussung PZB or Indusi is an intermittent cab signalling system and train protection system used in Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Romania, Israel, Serbia, on two lines in Hungary, on the Tyne and Wear Metro in the United Kingdom, and formerly on th ...

) and the Swiss train protection system ( Integra-Signum). Trains runs on the right, unlike elsewhere in the SBB network, in order to avoid the need to switch sides at Basel Baden station. The overhead line can be used by trains with both Swiss and German pantographs (maximum lateral deviation of 200 mm). The border between the overhead electrification systems is at the property boundary.

References

Footnotes

Sources

* {{cite book, editor=SBB Cargo, title= Transit Basel: Die Basler Verbindungsbahn - Nadelöhr im europäischen Schienenverkehr , publisher= Christoph Merian Verlag , location= Basel, year= 2004 , ISBN= 3-85616-231-3 , language=de Railway lines in Switzerland Railway lines opened in 1873 Swiss Federal Railways lines Standard gauge railways in Switzerland