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The Mannheim–Karlsruhe–Basel railway is a double-track electrified mainline railway in the German 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 ...
. It runs from
Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's ...
via
Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...
,
Bruchsal Bruchsal (; orig. Bruohselle, Bruaselle, historically known in English as Bruxhall; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Brusel'') is a city at the western edge of the Kraichgau, approximately 20 km northeast of Karlsruhe in the state ...
,
Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the German States of Germany, state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital o ...
,
Rastatt Rastatt () is a town with a Baroque core, District of Rastatt, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located in the Upper Rhine Plain on the Murg river, above its junction with the Rhine and has a population of around 50,000 (2011). Rastatt was an ...
,
Baden-Baden Baden-Baden () is a spa town in the state of Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany, at the north-western border of the Black Forest mountain range on the small river Oos, ten kilometres (six miles) east of the Rhine, the border with France, ...
,
Offenburg Offenburg ("open borough" - coat of arms showing open gates; 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 administrative capital ...
and
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 ...
to
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) ...
, Switzerland. It is also known as the Rhine Valley Railway (german: Rheintalbahn) or the Upper Rhine Railway (''Oberrheinbahn''). The line was built as part of the Baden Mainline (''Badische Hauptbahn''). Between Mannheim and Rastatt it runs parallel to the Baden Rhine Railway (''Rheinbahn''). The
Karlsruhe–Basel high-speed railway The Karlsruhe–Basel high-speed railway (''Ausbau- und Neubaustrecke Karlsruhe–Basel'', literally "Upgraded and new line Karlsruhe–Basel") is a new line being built on the route of the Mannheim–Karlsruhe–Basel railway (Rhine Valley Railw ...
, called the ''Ausbau- und Neubaustrecke Karlsruhe–Basel'' in German (literally: "Upgraded and new line Karlsruhe–Basel"), has been under construction since April 1987. This includes upgrading the current line to four-tracks in places and the construction of new line elsewhere. It was originally envisaged as being completed in 2008, but no final date for completion is now envisaged (as of 2015). The Mannheim–Basel railway is one of the most important routes in the
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 ...
network.


History


Baden main line

The railway on the German side of the Rhine was financed and built by the
Grand Duchy of Baden State Railway 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 ...
(''Großherzogliche Badische Staatsbahn''). At the enactment of the Baden law permitting the construction of the Baden main line on 28 March 1838, only the starting point in Mannheim and the end point in Basel had been determined. The route was determined by the ''Technischen Baukommission'' (“Technical Building Commission”), which was formed in 1837. It adopted as its basic aims that the construction cost should be as low as possible as was consistent with good running times and that the line should be built as straight as possible to connect the major cities. It decided that the should be built, if possible, in the
Upper Rhine Plain 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 ...
. The first section between
Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's ...
and
Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...
was opened in 1840 and the line was completed in several section to Basel until 1855. The first route designs provided for a route from Heidelberg via
Schwetzingen Schwetzingen (; pfl, Schwetzinge) is a German town in northwest Baden-Württemberg, around southwest of Heidelberg and southeast of Mannheim. Schwetzingen is one of the five biggest cities of the Rhein-Neckar-Kreis district and a medium-size ...
to Karlsruhe. After the then third largest city in the
Grand Duchy of Baden The Grand Duchy of Baden (german: Großherzogtum Baden) was a state in the southwest German Empire on the east bank of the Rhine. It existed between 1806 and 1918. It came into existence in the 12th century as the Margraviate of Baden and sub ...
,
Bruchsal Bruchsal (; orig. Bruohselle, Bruaselle, historically known in English as Bruxhall; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Brusel'') is a city at the western edge of the Kraichgau, approximately 20 km northeast of Karlsruhe in the state ...
learned of these plans, the Baden Parliament sat to consider a connection via Bruchsal and
Durlach Durlach is a borough of the German city of Karlsruhe with a population of roughly 30,000. History Durlach was bestowed by emperor Frederick II on the margrave Hermann V of Zähringen as an allodial possession. It was chosen by the margrave Ch ...
. On 2 January 1846, two trains ran into each other in St. Ilgen, a village near Leimen. One person died and 16 others were injured. This was one of the first fatalities in a rail accident in Germany. The line was originally built to , but since the surrounding countries built their railways to , the line was converted to standard gauge between 1854 and 1855. Since
Schwetzingen Schwetzingen (; pfl, Schwetzinge) is a German town in northwest Baden-Württemberg, around southwest of Heidelberg and southeast of Mannheim. Schwetzingen is one of the five biggest cities of the Rhein-Neckar-Kreis district and a medium-size ...
and
Hockenheim Hockenheim () is a town in northwest Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about 20 km south of Mannheim and 10 km west of Walldorf. It is located in the Upper Rhine valley on the tourist theme routes "Baden Asparagus Route" () and Bertha Benz ...
were not on the line through Heidelberg, another line was opened in 1870 on the Mannheim–Schwetzingen–Graben–Eggenstein–Karlsruhe route. A shorter and more direct line from Graben to Karlsruhe via Blankenloch was added in 1895 as a
strategic railway A strategic railway is a railway proposed or constructed primarily for military strategic purposes, as opposed to the usual purpose of a railway, which is the transport of civilian passengers or freight. Although the archetypal strategic railwa ...
. This converted the Karlsruhe–Eggenstein–Graben section of the old line into a branch line, now known as the
Hardt Railway The Hardt Railway (german: Hardtbahn) is a railway line in the Karlsruhe region of Germany. Originally built as part of the Rhine Railway, a through main line, it now forms a branch line from Karlsruhe to Hochstetten. The line runs along the w ...
and partly incorporated into the
Karlsruhe Stadtbahn The Karlsruhe Stadtbahn is a German tram-train system combining tram lines in the city of Karlsruhe with railway lines in the surrounding countryside, serving the entire region of the middle upper Rhine valley and creating connections to neighbou ...
.


Developments in the 20th century

In the northern section between Mannheim and Karlsruhe there are two different lines, the Mannheim– Graben-Neudorf–Karlsruhe line (the Baden Mainline as such) as well as the Mannheim–Heidelberg–Bruchsal–
Durlach Durlach is a borough of the German city of Karlsruhe with a population of roughly 30,000. History Durlach was bestowed by emperor Frederick II on the margrave Hermann V of Zähringen as an allodial possession. It was chosen by the margrave Ch ...
–Karlsruhe line (the Baden-Kurpfalz Railway). Particularly after
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
it became a major line for international traffic. Beginning in the 1950s,the Rhine Valley line was progressively electrified, with the line fully electrified by the middle of 1958. In the late 1960s, a fundamental renewal of signaling installations began on the 120 km-long section between Offenburg and Basel. The line, which was previously equipped with mechanical interlockings—with the exception of Freiburg Hauptbahnhof—was converted to control by
relay interlocking In railway signalling, an interlocking is an arrangement of signal apparatus that prevents conflicting movements through an arrangement of tracks such as junctions or crossings. The signalling appliances and tracks are sometimes collectively r ...
s. By the late 1960s the line was already being used by well over 100 trains per day in each direction. With the commissioning of the first section of the Mannheim–Stuttgart high-speed railway between Mannheim and Graben-Neudorf, the Rhine Valley Railway was relieved, making an integrated regular interval service possible. The signal boxes in
Achern Achern (; gsw, label= Low Alemannic, Achre) is a town in Western Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located approximately 18 km southwest of Baden-Baden and 19 km northeast of Offenburg. Achern is the fourth largest town in the distric ...
and Freiburg were built as electronic interlockings. The signal boxes at Leutersberg,
Bad Krozingen Bad Krozingen (; Alemannic: ''Bad Chrotzige'') is a spa town in the district Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated 15 km southwest of Freiburg. In the 1970s, the previously independent villages Biengen, H ...
, Heitersheim and Müllheim (Baden) have been modified under CIR ELKE and equipped with LZB. The current Baden-Baden station was originally called Oos, between 1906 and the closure of the old Baden-Baden town station in 1977 it was called Baden-Oos and then it received its current name.


Developments in the 21st century

As part of the construction of the
Karlsruhe–Basel high-speed railway The Karlsruhe–Basel high-speed railway (''Ausbau- und Neubaustrecke Karlsruhe–Basel'', literally "Upgraded and new line Karlsruhe–Basel") is a new line being built on the route of the Mannheim–Karlsruhe–Basel railway (Rhine Valley Railw ...
, it was planned in 1990 to upgrade the railway between Karlsruhe and Offenburg for continuous operations at 160 km/h. Under a German-Swiss convention, the entire line was supposed to be converted to at least four lines by 2008, so that it could serve as the main northern approach route to the new
Gotthard Base Tunnel , rm, Tunnel da basa dal Sogn Gottard , image = 20141120 gotthard-basistunnel02-wikipedia-hannes-ortlieb.jpg , image_size = 250 , caption = Turnout at Faido multifunction station , line = Gotthard Line , location = Switzerland ( Uri, Grisons a ...
line to Italy. As a result,
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 ...
is building a high-speed line from Karlsruhe to Basel, including new and upgraded sections. Between Karlsruhe and Rastatt two lines run relatively near each other, effectively providing four tracks. The double-track section between Rastatt station and Rastatt-Niederbühl is to be increased to four lines with the construction of the Rastatt Tunnel. Between Rastatt-Niederbühl and Offenburg, two new high-speed tracks have been completed next to the old double-track line. A new section of line from
Schliengen Schliengen is a municipality in southwestern Germany in the state of Baden-Württemberg, in the '' Kreis'' (district) of Lörrach. Schliengen's claim to international fame is the Battle of Schliengen (24 October 1796), fought between forces of t ...
to Haltingen between Freiburg and Basel, including the 9385 metre-long
Katzenberg Tunnel The Katzenberg Tunnel is a railway tunnel on the Karlsruhe–Basel high-speed railway that opened in December 2012. The tunnel was built to increase the capacity and speed of the Mannheim–Karlsruhe–Basel railway (Rhine Valley Railway, or ' ...
, was opened on 9 December 2012 to avoid a narrow, winding section between the
Rhine The Rhine ; french: Rhin ; nl, Rijn ; wa, Rén ; li, Rien; rm, label=Sursilvan, Rein, rm, label=Sutsilvan and Surmiran, Ragn, rm, label=Rumantsch Grischun, Vallader and Puter, Rain; it, Reno ; gsw, Rhi(n), including in Alsatian dialect, Al ...
and the Isteiner Klotz hills. The remaining sections between Offenburg, Freiburg and the Katzenberg Tunnel are still being planned.


Operations

The Rhine Valley Railway is now one of the most important lines of Germany both for passenger and goods traffic, including international traffic to and from Switzerland and France. An investigation by the Hochschule Kehl (a school of public administration) estimated the traffic to be up to 286 trains a day. The line is overloaded and was considered to have an occupancy rate of 126 percent in 2011. Trains have to run at especially close intervals. All long-distance services stop at
Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's ...
,
Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...
,
Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the German States of Germany, state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital o ...
,
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
Basel Bad Bf 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 ...
, some stop at Wiesloch-Walldorf,
Bruchsal Bruchsal (; orig. Bruohselle, Bruaselle, historically known in English as Bruxhall; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Brusel'') is a city at the western edge of the Kraichgau, approximately 20 km northeast of Karlsruhe in the state ...
,
Karlsruhe-Durlach Durlach is a borough of the German city of Karlsruhe with a population of roughly 30,000. History Durlach was bestowed by emperor Frederick II on the margrave Hermann V of Zähringen as an allodial possession. It was chosen by the margrave Ch ...
,
Rastatt Rastatt () is a town with a Baroque core, District of Rastatt, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located in the Upper Rhine Plain on the Murg river, above its junction with the Rhine and has a population of around 50,000 (2011). Rastatt was an ...
,
Baden-Baden Baden-Baden () is a spa town in the state of Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany, at the north-western border of the Black Forest mountain range on the small river Oos, ten kilometres (six miles) east of the Rhine, the border with France, ...
and
Offenburg Offenburg ("open borough" - coat of arms showing open gates; 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 administrative capital ...
. Since December 2003, line S3 of the
Rhein-Neckar S-Bahn The Rhine-Neckar S-Bahn ''(S-Bahn RheinNeckar)'' forms the backbone of the urban rail transport network of the Rhine Neckar Area, including the cities of Mannheim, Heidelberg and Ludwigshafen. The S-Bahn operates over 437 km of route in the ...
has operated on the Mannheim–Karlsruhe section of line and S4 (
Speyer Speyer (, older spelling ''Speier'', French: ''Spire,'' historical English: ''Spires''; pfl, Schbaija) is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located on the left bank of the river Rhine, Speyer li ...
–Bruchsal) on the (Speyer–Karlsruhe) section. Lines S31, S32, S4 and S41 of the
Stadtbahn Karlsruhe The Karlsruhe Stadtbahn is a German tram-train system combining tram lines in the city of Karlsruhe with railway lines in the surrounding countryside, serving the entire region of the middle upper Rhine valley and creating connections to neighb ...
operate between Bruchsal and
Achern Achern (; gsw, label= Low Alemannic, Achre) is a town in Western Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located approximately 18 km southwest of Baden-Baden and 19 km northeast of Offenburg. Achern is the fourth largest town in the distric ...
. Lines S32 and S4 continue from Rastatt to Achern.
Regional-Express In Germany, Luxembourg and Austria, the Regional-Express (RE, or in Austria: REX) is a type of regional train. It is similar to a semi-fast train, with average speed at about 70–90 km/h (top speed often 160 km/h) as it calls at ...
(RE) services of the Black Forest Railway have run hourly between Karlsruhe and Offenburg since December 2009; at times they run every half-hour; RE and Regionalbahn services together provide a half-hourly service between Offenburg and Basel. At each end of the line are two of the largest
marshalling yard A classification yard ( American and Canadian English ( Canadian National Railway use)), marshalling yard ( British, Hong Kong, Indian, Australian, and Canadian English ( Canadian Pacific Railway use)) or shunting yard (Central Europe) is a ra ...
s in
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...
: Mannheim marshalling yard and Basel SBB marshalling yard in
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 ...
. One marshalling yard of this line—in
Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...
—has been closed and the new district of ''Bahnstadt'' has been built on its site. There are still DB freight yards in Karlsruhe, Offenburg, Freiburg and Basel. Karlsruhe freight yard is equipped with electronic interlocking and is controlled from the control centre in Karlsruhe. The other are still operated locally, some using electromechanical interlocking. The double-track high-speed line through the
Katzenberg Tunnel The Katzenberg Tunnel is a railway tunnel on the Karlsruhe–Basel high-speed railway that opened in December 2012. The tunnel was built to increase the capacity and speed of the Mannheim–Karlsruhe–Basel railway (Rhine Valley Railway, or ' ...
between
Schliengen Schliengen is a municipality in southwestern Germany in the state of Baden-Württemberg, in the '' Kreis'' (district) of Lörrach. Schliengen's claim to international fame is the Battle of Schliengen (24 October 1796), fought between forces of t ...
and Haltingen has been in operation since 9 December 2012. This will be complemented in the future by the segregation of fast long-distance passenger traffic and freight traffic in the Basel area. This will be made possible by the construction of another bridge over the Rhine on the so-called
Connecting Line The Connecting Line (russian: link=no, Соединительная ветвь) is a historical railway line in the southern part of Saint Petersburg, Russia, that may be considered as initial element in the process of forming the whole Russia' ...
(''Verbindungsbahn'') between Basel Badischer Bahnhof (north of the Rhine) and Gellert junction (south of the Rhine). The section between Schliengen and Haltingen via Bad Bellingen was completely renovated while it was completely closed in the summer of 2014. Its tracks, sleepers and the tunnels were renewed. As part of the expansion of the operations of the Rhine-Neckar S-Bahn, a three-track section is planned between
Mannheim Hauptbahnhof Mannheim Hauptbahnhof (German for ''Mannheim central station'') is a railway station in Mannheim in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is the second largest traffic hub in southwestern Germany after Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof, with 658 train ...
and Mannheim-Friedrichsfeld Süd. Any further quadruplication towards Heidelberg is at the design phase (as of 2012). In March 2014, the EU provided grants amounting to 30 to 40% of the cost. Operations between Rastatt and Baden-Baden were blocked from 12 August 2017 as a result of subsidence caused by the boring of the Rastatt Tunnel under the line.


Rolling stock

The long-distance services towards Hamburg and Berlin are operated with
ICE 1 The ICE 1 is the first batch-produced German high-speed train and one of six in the Intercity Express family. Revenue service at speeds up to started in 1991. It was raised to in May 1995 and temporary reduced to again, as a result of ...
trains and towards Dortmund with
ICE 3 ICE 3, or Intercity-Express 3, is a family of high-speed electric multiple unit trains operated by Deutsche Bahn. It includes classes 403, 406, 407 and 408, which are known as ICE 3, ICE 3M, New ICE 3 and ICE 3neo respectively. Three multisyste ...
trains.
EuroCity EuroCity, abbreviated as EC, is a cross-border train category within the European inter-city rail network. In contrast to trains allocated to the lower-level "IC" (InterCity) category, EC trains are international services that meet 20 criteri ...
and
Intercity InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to regional, local, or commuter trains) generally call at ma ...
services are mostly hauled by class 101 locomotives and regional services consist of class 146 and class 111 locomotives hauling double-decker coaches or Silberling coaches. In central Baden, the Albtal-Verkehrs-Gesellschaft (AVG) operates the
Karlsruhe Stadtbahn The Karlsruhe Stadtbahn is a German tram-train system combining tram lines in the city of Karlsruhe with railway lines in the surrounding countryside, serving the entire region of the middle upper Rhine valley and creating connections to neighbou ...
services. Two system light rail vehicles of the GT8-100C/2S and GT8-100D/2S-M classes are used; some have toilets and panoramic windows. In the Upper Rhine, Regionalbahn services often use class 425 EMUs and occasionally they are operated with class 111 locomotives hauling Silberling coaches. Südwestdeutsche Verkehrs-Aktiengesellschaft and the Breisgau S-Bahn operate Stadler Regio-Shuttle RS1 and Talent 2 EMUs. The
Ortenau S-Bahn Ortenau-S-Bahn (''OSB'') is a brand name of the Südwestdeutsche Verkehrs-Aktiengesellschaft (SWEG), a transport company owned by the state of Baden-Württemberg. It is employed for regional railway services in the Ortenau area, centering on . Be ...
also operates Regio-Shuttle EMUs. 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 ...
operate Stadler Flirt EMUs between Basel SBB and
Basel Badischer Bahnhof 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 ...
. SNCF operates
TGV Duplex The TGV Duplex is a French high-speed train of the TGV family, manufactured by Alstom, and operated by the French national railway company SNCF. It is unique among TGV trains in that it features bi-level carriages. The Duplex inaugurated th ...
sets between
Bruchsal Bruchsal (; orig. Bruohselle, Bruaselle, historically known in English as Bruxhall; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Brusel'') is a city at the western edge of the Kraichgau, approximately 20 km northeast of Karlsruhe in the state ...
and
Appenweier Appenweier ( gsw, label= Low Alemannic, Appewiir) is a municipality in western Baden-Württemberg, Germany in the district of Ortenau. Geography Appenweier consists of the main municipal Appenweier (4,075 inhabitants), Urloffen (4,301 inhabita ...
and 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
Müllheim Müllheim (High Alemannic: ''Mille'') is a town in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It belongs to the district Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald. Müllheim is generally considered to be the center of the region known as Markgräflerland. History ...
, stopping in
Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the German States of Germany, state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital o ...
, Freiburg and some also in
Baden-Baden Baden-Baden () is a spa town in the state of Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany, at the north-western border of the Black Forest mountain range on the small river Oos, ten kilometres (six miles) east of the Rhine, the border with France, ...
.


Rail services


Long-distance services

The Rhine valley Railway is traversed by several
Intercity-Express The Intercity Express (commonly known as ICE ()) is a system of high-speed rail, high-speed trains high-speed rail in Germany, predominantly running in Germany. It also serves some destinations in Austria, Denmark (ceased in 2017 but planned to ...
and
Intercity InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to regional, local, or commuter trains) generally call at ma ...
services.


Regional services

The Rhine valley Railway is used by two Interregio-Express services and a variety of
Regional-Express In Germany, Luxembourg and Austria, the Regional-Express (RE, or in Austria: REX) is a type of regional train. It is similar to a semi-fast train, with average speed at about 70–90 km/h (top speed often 160 km/h) as it calls at ...
, Regionalbahn,
S-Bahn The S-Bahn is the name of hybrid urban-suburban rail systems serving a metropolitan region in German-speaking countries. Some of the larger S-Bahn systems provide service similar to rapid transit systems, while smaller ones often resemble c ...
and
Stadtbahn ' (; German for "city railway"; plural ') is a German word referring to various types of urban rail transport. One type of transport originated in the 19th century, firstly in Berlin and followed by Vienna, where rail routes were created that co ...
services. In November 2015, the operation of a group of services called ''Netz 4 Rheintal'', was tendered as three lots. The transport contracts for regional services on the line would cover a total of approximately 4.7 million kilometres per year and run from December 2019 to December 2032. The investment of €250 million has been earmarked for its new rolling stock, which must be suitable for the Katzenberg Tunnel. In December 2015, the operational concept of a regional transport timetable between Offenburg and Basel was presented. It provided an hourly service over the whole route with stops at all stations as a backbone. In addition, two Regional-Express services would run every two hours: a faster regional train would run every two hours between Offenburg and Basel in less than 90 minutes, with stops in Offenburg, Lahr, Hebolzheim, Kenzingen, Riegel-Malterdingen, Emmendingen, Denzingen, Freiburg Hauptbahnhof, Bad Krozingen, Heitersheim, Müllheim, Weil am Rhein and Basel SBB. A slower RE would stop in addition at Orschweier, Ringheim, Schallstadt, Bad Bellingen, Efringen-Kirchen and Haltingen. For many stations, the number of train stopping would significantly increase. The tendering of the ''Freiburger Y'' network (''Netz 9b'') is also provided. The target concept for rail services in 2025 of the state of Baden-Württemberg, which provides—three trains each hour and in each direction between Offenburg and Freiburg and four between Riegel-Malterdingen and Freiburg—cannot be implemented because of the congestion of the line. The infrastructure needed for this is expected to be opened in 2031.


References


Footnotes


Sources

* * (Publication no. 2 of the city of Bruchsal Historical Commission). *


External links

* Location, course, speed, and signals on th
OpenRailwayMap
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mannheim-Karlsruhe-Basel Railway Railway lines in Baden-Württemberg High-speed railway lines in Germany Railway lines opened in 1840 1840 establishments in Baden Rhine-Neckar S-Bahn Karlsruhe Stadtbahn Buildings and structures in Ortenaukreis Transport in Mannheim Transport in Heidelberg Buildings and structures in Rhein-Neckar-Kreis Rail transport in Karlsruhe Buildings and structures in Rastatt (district) Emmendingen (district) Buildings and structures in Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald Buildings and structures in Karlsruhe (district) Buildings and structures in Lörrach (district) Cross-border railway lines in Germany Cross-border railway lines in Switzerland