The Elz Valley Railway (German: ''Elztalbahn'') is a long, single-tracked,
standard gauge
A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...
branch line
A branch line is a phrase used in railway terminology to denote a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line.
Industrial spur
An industri ...
in the
Black Forest
The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is t ...
area of the
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
state of
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...
. The line branches off the
Freiburg im Breisgau
Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population o ...
to
Offenburg
Offenburg ("open borough" - coat of arms showing open gates; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemmanic: ''Offäburg'') is a city located in the state of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With nearly 60,000 inhabitants (2019), it is the largest city and the ad ...
section of the
Rhine Valley Railway
), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source1_coordinates=
, source1_elevation =
, source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein
, source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source2_coordinates=
, source ...
at
Denzlingen
Denzlingen is a municipality in the district of Emmendingen, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated north of Freiburg.
Geography
Denzlingen is located in the Upper Rhine Valley (''Oberrheinische Tiefebene'') at the edge of the Black F ...
and runs up the valley of the
River Elz to
Waldkirch
Waldkirch is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located 15 kilometers northeast of Freiburg im Breisgau. While the English translation of its name is ''Forest Church'', it is known as the "town of mechanical organs", where fairground organs ...
and
Elzach
Elzach (; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Elze'') is a town in the Emmendingen (district), district of Emmendingen, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated on the river Elz (Rhine), Elz, 26 km northeast of Freiburg.
Geography ...
.
Whilst the track is owned by
DB Netz AG
DB Netz AG is a major subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn that owns and operates a majority of the German railway system (2019: 33,291 km). It is one of the largest railway infrastructure manager by length and transport volume of its network.
Th ...
, passenger services on the ''Elztalbahn'' are provided by the
Breisgau S-Bahn
The Breisgau S-Bahn, branded as Breisgau-S-Bahn 2020, is an S-Bahn network centered on Freiburg im Breisgau in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
Lines
The network comprises six lines, three operated by DB Regio Baden-Württemberg and three by SWE ...
, whose trains continue over the
Upper Rhine Valley
The Upper Rhine Plain, Rhine Rift Valley or Upper Rhine Graben (German: ''Oberrheinische Tiefebene'', ''Oberrheinisches Tiefland'' or ''Oberrheingraben'', French: ''Vallée du Rhin'') is a major rift, about and on average , between Basel in the s ...
line to
Freiburg Central Station. Typical service is two trains per hour from Freiburg to Waldkirch, with one train continuing to Elzach.
History
Because no private investors were willing to finance a connection to the Elz Valley, the town of Waldkirch took the initiative and had the 7.1 kilometre-long line from Waldkirch to Denzlingen built as a private railway. The Baden government established the legal basis for the construction on 30 March 1872 and a concession for it was granted on 29 August of the same year. Operation of the line, which was opened on 1 January 1875, was transferred to the
Grand Duchy of Baden State Railways
The Grand Duchy of Baden was an independent state in what is now southwestern Germany until the creation of the German Empire in 1871. It had its own state-owned railway company, the Grand Duchy of Baden State Railways (''Großherzoglich Badische ...
(''Großherzoglich Badische Staatseisenbahnen'') in 1887.
Extension to Elzach
Although traffic—especially passenger transport—developed satisfactorily, the financial burden for the town of Waldkirch was too high in the long run. So it gratefully accepted the offer of the state to purchase the railway on 1 April 1886. The Elz Valley Railway was extended by twelve kilometres to its current terminus in
Elzach
Elzach (; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Elze'') is a town in the Emmendingen (district), district of Emmendingen, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated on the river Elz (Rhine), Elz, 26 km northeast of Freiburg.
Geography ...
in 20 August 1901. An electrified
750 mm gauge railway to the Gütermann sewing thread factory connected at
Gutach station. Different options for an extension via Oberprechtal to
Hausach
Hausach (; gsw, label= Low Alemannic, Huusä) is a town in the Ortenaukreis, in western Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
History
Hausach was founded in the 13th century, below Husen Castle. In the 14th century, it became a possession of the County ...
were often planned—most recently in the 1950s—but never realised.
Pilot line for the Breisgau S-Bahn
In 1997 the Elz Valley Railway was selected by the ''Zweckverband Regionalverkehr Breisgau'' (Breisgau regional transport association, ZRF) together with the
Freiburg–Breisach railway, as a pilot line for the ''Breisgau-S-Bahn 2005'' integrated regional transport concept.
In the following years the passenger service was expanded and the railway facilities were completely refurbished and renewed. As a first step, operations were closed on Sundays in 1997. Two years later, an hourly service was introduced to Elzach, with additional trains between
Freiburg
Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population of about 230,000 (as o ...
and Waldkirch. The planned improvements to the service were implemented in December 2001 with half-hourly services to Waldkirch and hourly services to Elzach on workdays. In the evenings and on Sundays and public holidays there were hourly services to Elzach.
From May to June 2009 the tracks between Waldkirch and Elzach were renewed. The original
trough-shaped steel sleepers were replaced by steel
Y-shaped sleepers. The superstructure allows an axle load of 22.4 tons and it should be 70 to 80 years before the tracks need to be relayed.
Operations
![Bahnhof Elzach (1)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/Bahnhof_Elzach_%281%29.jpg)
Today the line is owned by
DB Netz
DB Netz AG is a major subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn that owns and operates a majority of the German railway system (2019: 33,291 km). It is one of the largest railway infrastructure manager by length and transport volume of its network.
The ...
. Since 15 December 2002, local rail transport services have been provided by
Breisgau-S-Bahn
Breisgau-S-Bahn GmbH (''BSB'') was a regional railway operator in the Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg. It was a subsidiary of Südwestdeutsche Verkehrs-Aktiengesellschaft (SWEG), a transport company owned by the state of Baden-Württ ...
, which was merged into its parent company
Südwestdeutsche Verkehrs-Aktiengesellschaft (Southwest German transport, SWEG) in December 2017.
Regio-Shuttle
The Stadler Regio-Shuttle RS1 is the first widely used, new-generation, diesel railcar in Germany and Czech Republic for local railway services. Its most characteristic feature is the trapezium-shaped window frames. The Regio-Shuttle is classified ...
railcars run regularly from Freiburg to Elzach every hour with trains crossing in Waldkirch at the usual
symmetry minute
The symmetry minute is a significant time point in the clock face timetables used by many public transport
Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport fo ...
, that is shortly before the half hour. In addition, there are additional trains to Waldkirch on weekdays, so that there is a half-hourly cycle between Freiburg and Waldkirch, but in the opposite direction services run at a less regular alternating interval of 39 and 21 minutes.
Rolling stock
Deutsche Bundesbahn
The Deutsche Bundesbahn or DB (German Federal Railway) was formed as the state railway of the newly established Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) on 7 September 1949 as a successor of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft (DRG). The DB remained ...
and
DB Regio
DB Regio AG is a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn which operates regional and commuter train services in Germany. DB Regio AG, headquartered in Frankfurt am Main. It is a 100% subsidiary of the Deutsche Bahn Group and there part of the DB Regio bus ...
used locomotives of
DB Class 218
The DB Class 218 (before 1968 the DB Class V 164) are a class of 4-axle, diesel-hydraulic locomotives acquired by the Deutsche Bundesbahn for use on main and secondary lines for both passenger and freight trains.
The class represents the final m ...
until 2002, previously
DB Class 212
These DB Class V 100 diesel locomotives were produced in the late 1950s by the Deutsche Bundesbahn for non-electrified branch lines as a replacement for steam locomotives. The V 100 class was built in three different variants.
Decommissioned loc ...
locomotives hauling
Silberling
Silberling is the colloquial name for the n-coaches of the Deutsche Bundesbahn, a type of regional Passenger car (rail), passenger coach of which more than 5,000 units were built from 1958 to 1981. Nearly all of the coaches have undergone exten ...
coaches and
control car
A control car, cab car (North America), control trailer, or driving trailer (UK and Ireland) is a non-powered rail vehicle from which a train can be operated. As dedicated vehicles or regular passenger cars, they have one or two driver compartm ...
s were used. From around 1960, class V 100
10 (211) locomotives had hauled
rebuilt three-axle coaches, which in turn had replaced
Baden VI c
The first steam locomotives of the Baden Class VI c were delivered in 1914 by the Maschinenbau-Gesellschaft Karlsruhe for service in southwestern Germany with the Grand Duchy of Baden State Railway (''Großherzoglich Badische Staatsbahn'').
Desig ...
(class 75.4) tank locomotives. The Breisgau S-Bahn has been using
Regio-Shuttle
The Stadler Regio-Shuttle RS1 is the first widely used, new-generation, diesel railcar in Germany and Czech Republic for local railway services. Its most characteristic feature is the trapezium-shaped window frames. The Regio-Shuttle is classified ...
railcars since December 2002. Due to the lack of rolling stock, multiple units from other
SWEG networks are also used. The
SWEG, who will operate the Elztalbahn after its modernization and electrification in 2020, ordered 12
Talent 3 railcars which are supposed to replace the old
Regio-Shuttle
The Stadler Regio-Shuttle RS1 is the first widely used, new-generation, diesel railcar in Germany and Czech Republic for local railway services. Its most characteristic feature is the trapezium-shaped window frames. The Regio-Shuttle is classified ...
railcars in December 2020.
Planning
The cooperation agreement between RVG and ''Nahverkehrsgesellschaft Baden-Württemberg'' (Baden-Württemberg local transport company; NVBW) of 11 March 2009 provides for the development of the Elz Valley Railway. The electrification of the line, the construction of a crossing loop in Gutach and the modernisation of the signal technology with the building an
electronic control centre in Waldkirch were planned to be completed by 2018.
However, the upgrade, including the electrification of the future S 2 line, was not commenced until 2020. After the timetable change on 15 December 2019, the old diesel railcars operated until March 2020. Afterwards the line was under reconstruction and trains only ran between Freiburg and Denzlingen. A substitute bus service was due to run to Elzach until mid-December 2020.
References
Footnotes
Sources
*
*
*
*{{cite book, title=140 Jahre Eisenbahn in Freiburg – Nebenstrecken, trans-title=140 years of railways in Freiburg – branch lines, location=Freiburg , date=1985, type=brochure, language=de, ref={{SfnRef, 140 Years, 1985
Railway lines in Baden-Württemberg
Railway lines in the Black Forest
Railway lines opened in 1875
Emmendingen (district)