The Ulm–Augsburg line is a German railway line. It was constructed as part of the

Bavarian Maximilian's Railway The Bavarian Maximilian Railway (German: ''Bayerische Maximiliansbahn'') was as an east–west line built between the Bavarian border with Württemberg at Neu-Ulm in the west via Augsburg, Munich and Rosenheim to the Austrian border at Kufstein a ...

. It was built for the

Royal Bavarian State Railways The Royal Bavarian State Railways (''Königliche Bayerische Staats-Eisenbahnen'' or ''K.Bay.Sts.B.'') was the state railway company for the Kingdom of Bavaria. It was founded in 1844. The organisation grew into the second largest of the German ...

as part of the east-west connection between

Neu-Ulm Neu-Ulm ( Swabian: ''Nej-Ulm'') is the capital of the Neu-Ulm district and a town in Swabia, Bavaria. Neighbouring towns include Ulm, Senden, Pfaffenhofen an der Roth, Holzheim, Nersingen and Elchingen. The population is 58,978 (31 December 2019 ...

in the west via

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

and

Rosenheim Rosenheim is a city in Bavaria, Germany. It is an independent city located in the centre of the district of Rosenheim (Upper Bavaria), and is also the seat of its administration. It is located on the west bank of the Inn at the confluence of the ...

to the

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n border at

Kufstein Kufstein (; Central Bavarian: ''Kufstoa'') is a town in the Austrian state of Tyrol, the administrative seat of Kufstein District. With a population of about 19,600 it is the second largest Tyrolean town after the state capital Innsbruck. The great ...

and

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian) is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the ...

in the east.

History

The line was constructed as part of the ''Bavarian Maximilian Railway'' (

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 ...

:''Bayerische Maximiliansbahn''), named after Maximilian II, king of

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

from 1848 to 1864. In 1851, it was decided to build a line connecting the German states and Italy via the

Brenner Pass The Brenner Pass (german: link=no, Brennerpass , shortly ; it, Passo del Brennero ) is a mountain pass through the Alps which forms the border between Italy and Austria. It is one of the principal passes of the Eastern Alpine range and has ...

and via

towards

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

and the

Semmering Pass Semmering () is a mountain pass in the Eastern Northern Limestone Alps connecting Lower Austria and Styria, between which it forms a natural border. Location Semmering Pass is located west of Sonnwendstein and Hirschenkogel and east of the P ...

. It promised good traffic flows to and from the

Adriatic The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) ...

port at

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...

. Appropriate conventions were agreed with the Kingdom of

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Würt ...

and with the Austrian government in 1851. The Munich–Augsburg line, which had been opened by the

Munich–Augsburg Railway Company The Munich–Augsburg Railway Company (''München-Augsburger Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft''), the second private railway company in Bavaria, built the Munich–Augsburg line between 1838 and 1840. It was nationalised in 1846 and became part of the Royal ...

(''München-Augsburger Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft)'' in 1839 and 1840 and nationalised in 1846 was included in the new line. The line connected to the Württemberg Southern Railway in

Ulm Ulm () is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Danube on the border with Bavaria. The city, which has an estimated population of more than 126,000 (2018), forms an urban district of its own (german: link=no, ...

and ran for 84 kilometers to Augsburg.

Construction

The 83.7 km line from Augsburg to Ulm was opened in four sections: * 1 May 1854 – Mitte Donaubrücke Ulm–Neu-Ulm, 1.3 km. * 26 September 1853 – Neu-Ulm–Burgau, 38.1 km. * 1 May 1854 – Burgau–Dinkelscherben, 17.9 km. * 26 September 1853 – Dinkelscherben–Augsburg, 26.4 km.

The line today

The line is a major traffic axis. Every hour or two

Intercity-Express The Intercity Express (commonly known as ICE ()) is a system of high-speed trains predominantly running in Germany. It also serves some destinations in Austria, Denmark (ceased in 2017 but planned to resume in 2022), France, Belgium, Switzerla ...

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 m ...

trains run from Munich via Augsburg and Ulm to

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

and from there to various other destinations.

Ulm–Augsburg upgraded line

The line between Ulm and Augsburg is part of the Stuttgart–Augsburg new and upgraded line project. Eventually this line should be part of the Magistrale for Europe from

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

via

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

and Ulm to Munich,

and

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Notes

References

*Ücker, Bernhard, 150 Jahre Eisenbahn in Bayern, Fürstenfeldbruck 1985 * Wolfgang Klee/Ludwig v. Welser, Bayern-Report, volumes 1–5, Fürstenfeldbruck, 1993–1995. *Dt. Reichsbahn, Die deutschen Eisenbahnen in ihrer Entwicklung 1835–1935, Berlin, 1935.

External links

Deutsche_Bahn
_site_for_the_NBS/ABS_Augsburg-Olching-München_project.html" ;"title="Deutsche Bahn">Deutsche Bahn
site for the NBS/ABS Augsburg-Olching-München project">Deutsche Bahn">Deutsche Bahn
site for the NBS/ABS Augsburg-Olching-München project {{DEFAULTSORT:Ulm-Augsburg railway Railway lines in Bavaria Rail transport in Augsburg Transport in Ulm Railway lines opened in 1853 1853 establishments in Bavaria Buildings and structures in Augsburg (district) Buildings and structures in Günzburg (district) Neu-Ulm (district)