The Basel–Pratteln railway line is a railway line in Switzerland. It runs from to the border of

Basel-Stadt Basel-Stadt or Basel-City (german: Kanton ; rm, Chantun Basilea-Citad; french: Canton de Bâle-Ville; it, Canton Basilea Città) is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of three municipalities with Basel as t ...

, across the river

Birs The Birs (French: ''Birse'') is a long river in Switzerland that flows through the Jura region and ends as a tributary to the Rhine between Basel and Birsfelden. It is the most important river of the Swiss Jura. Course The Birs has its source i ...

from

St. Jakob-Park St. Jakob-Park () is a Swiss sports stadium in Basel. It is the largest football venue in Switzerland and home to FC Basel. "Joggeli", as the venue is nicknamed by the locals, was originally built with a capacity of 33,433 seats. The capacity w ...

, where it connects with the Basel tram network. The line was built by the in 1921 and is now owned by

Baselland Transport Baselland Transport AG (BLT) is a Swiss public transport operator in the cantons of Basel-Land, Basel-Stadt, Solothurn and in France. The BLT was founded in 1974, and is owned by the Canton of Basel-Land, located to the south of the city. It t ...

Basler Verkehrs-Betriebe Basler Verkehrs-Betriebe (BVB) is a public transport operator in the Swiss city of Basel, and is wholly owned by canton of Basel-Stadt, which consists of city of Basel and the municipalities of Bettingen and Riehen. The BVB was founded in 189 ...

operates line 14 of the Basel tram network over the line.

History

The opened a line from the existing tram network at Schänzli, on the river

, to

Muttenz Muttenz is a municipality with a population of approximately 17,000 in the canton of Basel-Country in Switzerland. It is located in the district of Arlesheim and next to the city of Basel. History Under the Roman Empire a hamlet called Montetum ...

, on 22 January 1921. Trains continued over the Basel tram network and terminated at . The line was further extended to its present terminus in

Pratteln Pratteln (Swiss German: ''Brattele'') is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Basel-Landschaft in Switzerland, located in the district of Liestal (district), Liestal. History Pratteln is first me ...

, near 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 ...

station there, on 20 October 1922. The line was electrified from opening at 550 V DC, later increased to

600 V DC This is a list of the power supply systems that are, or have been, used for tramway and railway electrification systems. Note that the voltages are nominal and vary depending on load and distance from the substation. Many modern trams and trains ...

. A planned extension from Pratteln to was never built. In 1974, the Basellandschaftliche Ueberlandbahn merged with three other companies to form

. A proposed extension northeast to the area was rejected by voters in 2021.

Route

The line begins from a turning loop south of the

station at . It runs east-west, roughly parallel to the standard gauge

Hauenstein Railway The Hauenstein Railway is a major railway line in Switzerland connecting the cities of Basel and Olten. The original line was built between 1853 and 1858 under the Unterer Hauenstein Pass, an ancient pass through the Jura Mountains, including ...

, and runs through the municipalities of Pratteln and

. The line is double-tracked, running at-grade on dedicated right-of-way. It crosses the river

near

, where it connects with the Basel tram network.

Operation

Basler Verkehrs-Betriebe operates line 14 of the Basel tram network over the line. Trams operate at frequent intervals from Pratteln via Aeschenplatz to , on the north side of Basel.

Notes

References

* * Railway lines in Switzerland Railway lines opened in 1921 1921 establishments in Switzerland Baselland Transport lines Metre gauge railways in Switzerland 600 V DC railway electrification {{DEFAULTSORT:Basel-Pratteln railway line