The Heiligenberg Tunnel is the longest of a total of twelve tunnels on the Mannheim-Saarbrücken railway and the longest in the Palatinate. The tunnel crosses the

Palatine Watershed The Palatine Watershed (german: Pfälzische Hauptwasserscheide) forms the main drainage divide in the Palatinate between the Upper Rhine and the Middle Rhine, the two successive sections of the river Rhine that flow through the German state of R ...

in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It was originally built for a single track, but a second track was built a few years later.

Location

The tunnel is located in the northwest of the Palatine Forest (''Pfälzerwald''). It is located mainly on the urban area of

Kaiserslautern Kaiserslautern (; Palatinate German: ''Lautre'') is a city in southwest Germany, located in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate Forest. The historic centre dates to the 9th century. It is from Paris, from Frankfur ...

; the smaller, eastern part is in Hochspeyer. The tunnel passes through the Heiligenberg mountain without a curve.

History

The Bavarian King Ludwig I approved the construction of a main line railway running east-west from Rheinschanze to Bexbach on 21 December 1837. Between Hochspeyer and Kaiserslautern numerous hills and mountains had to be overcome. The construction of the route was a problem, because line had to pass over the watershed between the

Lauter Lauter may refer to: People * Lauter (surname) Places *Lauter, Saxony, town in the district of Aue-Schwarzenberg, Saxony, Germany * Lauter, Bavaria, village in the district of Bamberg, Bavaria, Germany Rivers * Lauter (Baunach), tributary to th ...

and the

Hochspeyerbach The Hochspeyerbach is a long river in the Palatinate forest in Rhineland-Palatinate and a left tributary of the Speyerbach. Course The Hochspeyerbach rises in the municipality Hochspeyer in the immediate vicinity of the swimming pool. In ea ...

between these two towns. This required the construction of a 1347-metre-long tunnel. As early as 1847, railway traffic commenced between Ludwigshafen and Neustadt. The line between Kaiserslautern and Homburg opened on 2 July 1848; this was followed by the opening of the Frankenstein–Homburg section and then the Frankenstein–Kaiserslautern section, including the Heiligenberg Tunnel, which was opened on 2 December 1848. Since the main line from Mannheim to Saarbrücken had always been of great importance for long-distance traffic, it was gradually electrified from 1960 onwards. This required the enlargement of the Heiligenberg tunnel. Work was carried out with trains running, with one side of the tunnel being widened at a time with the affected track blockaded. This delayed the introduction of the electrical operation, which eventually commenced on 12 March 1964. The

loading gauge A loading gauge is a diagram or physical structure that defines the maximum height and width dimensions in railway vehicles and their loads. Their purpose is to ensure that rail vehicles can pass safely through tunnels and under bridges, and ke ...

was enlarged to allow the introduction of TGV services between November 2001 and May 2002. This was achieved by the installation of

ballastless track A ballastless track or slab track is a type of railway track infrastructure in which the traditional elastic combination of ties/sleepers and ballast is replaced by a rigid construction of concrete or asphalt. Characteristics In ballastless t ...

using the Getrac A3 system, which allowed a lowering of the superstructure by 20 cm because of its lower profile. It was designed by Kirchner on behalf of the DB AG Regionalbüro Südwest, Stuttgart and cost €3.1 million. A railway accident occurred in the Heiligenberg Tunnel on 28 June 1988. One passenger was killed on the D 2754 express (Heidelberg–Saarbrücken). 10 people had major and 28 had minor injuries. After a violent storm, part of the retaining wall east of the Heiligenberg Tunnel fell onto the tracks towards Mannheim. A freight train loaded with bulk goods from Saarbrücken ran into the rubble and partly derailed; the locomotive and three wagons were forced onto the track. An express train running immediately after it then ran straight into the damaged vehicles.

Sources

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Heiligenberg Tunnel Railway tunnels in Germany Tunnels completed in 1845 1845 establishments in Bavaria Buildings and structures in Kaiserslautern (district)