The Kinzig Valley Railway (german: Kinzigtalbahn) is a railway line in Germany that runs from

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 Coun ...

Schiltach Schiltach is a town in the district of Rottweil, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated in the eastern Black Forest, on the river Kinzig, 20 km south of Freudenstadt. Geography Schiltach lies on the eastern side of the Black Forest ...

and follows the Kinzig River that gives it its name. The line has several tunnels, is single-tracked, and unelectrified.

History

The Kinzig Valley Railway was opened on 5 July 1878 from Hausach to

Wolfach Wolfach ( gsw, label= Low Alemannic, Wolfä) is a town in the Black Forest and part of the Ortenaukreis in Baden-Württemberg (Germany). It is a well-known spa town. Geography Geographical Position Wolfach lies where the two rivers Wolf and ...

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 ...

and extended on 4 November 1886 to

. At the same time the

Royal Württemberg State Railways The Royal Württemberg State Railways (''Königlich Württembergische Staats-Eisenbahnen'' or ''K.W.St.E.'') were the state railways of the Kingdom of Württemberg (from 1918 the ''People's State of Württemberg'') between 1843 and 1920. Please ...

cleared the section from Schiltach to Freudenstadt Hbf for traffic.

Route

The line diverges from the Black Forest Railway at Hausach and runs east along the Kinzig River to Schiltach, for a total length of . At Schiltach, the line continues as the

Eutingen im Gäu–Schiltach railway line The Eutingen im Gäu–Schiltach railway line (also called the Gäubahn in German—''Gäu Railway'') is a railway line in the German state of Baden-Württemberg that runs from the cultural landscape of the Gäu (Baden-Württemberg), Gäu to the e ...

. The

Schiltach-Schramberg railway The Schiltach–Schramberg railway line was a railway line in Germany. At one time, the line branched off at Schiltach from the Kinzig Valley Railway (Black Forest). The line connected the City of Schramberg to the international railway system. ...

used to branch off at Schiltach. This line was opened in 1892, but closed in 1959 to passenger services and in 1990 to goods traffic as well. At Schiltach station a

railbus A railbus is a lightweight passenger railcar that shares many aspects of its construction with a bus, typically having a bus (original or modified) body and four wheels on a fixed base, instead of on bogies. Originally designed and developed d ...

rake and the old railway bridge over the Kinzig recalls this branch that, today, has been full dismantled. In

Schramberg Schramberg is a town in the district of Rottweil, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated in the eastern Black Forest, 25 km northwest of Rottweil. With all of its districts (Talstadt, Sulgen, Waldmössingen, Heiligenbronn, Schönbron ...

there is still an overgrown

buffer stop A buffer stop, bumper, bumping post, bumper block or stopblock (US), is a device to prevent railway vehicles from going past the end of a physical section of track. The design of the buffer stop is dependent, in part, on the kind of couplings ...

and the former station tavern, which is used today as a clubhouse for the Black Riders. The old trackbed is used today as a cycle path.

Operations

The ''Kinzigtalbahn'' is owned by DB Netz AG. It was formerly operated by Deutsche Bahn, but services were taken over on 12 December 2004 by 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 ...

(OSB). Since then it has run hourly through services from Freudenstadt Hbf to

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 ...

, the section from Hausach to Offenburg being the Baden Black Forest Railway The trains usually cross in

Alpirsbach Alpirsbach () is a town in the district of Freudenstadt in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated in the Black Forest on the Kinzig river, south of Freudenstadt. Because of the local brewery “Alpirsbacher Klosterbräu“, the monastery ...

at the usual meeting time just before the hour. The majority of trains run on past Offenburg to Bad Griesbach, the terminus of the

Rench Valley Railway The Rench Valley Railway (German: ''Renchtalbahn'') is a 29.1 kilometre long branch line from Appenweier to Bad Griesbach (Schwarzwald), that mainly follows the valley of the River Rench in the Black Forest with maximum inclines of 1:99. The firs ...

. At the weekend a morning train runs through to

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 ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Air-conditioned Regio Shuttles of the Ortenau S-Bahn are used. On "normal days" about 2200 people use the trains on the Kinzig Valley Railway. At Freudenstadt, the Ortenau S-Bahn services meet those of 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 ...

, operating by Albtal-Verkehrs-Gesellschaft (AVG), using their fleet of

tram-train A tram-train is a type of light rail vehicle that meets the standards of a light rail system (usually an urban street running tramway), but which also meets national mainline standards permitting operation alongside mainline trains. This all ...

s, over the '' Murgtalbahn'' to

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...

References

External links

Private Internet page for the Kinzig Valley Railway

Tunnelportale/4251

Tunnelportale/4880

{{Authority control Railway lines in Baden-Württemberg Rottweil (district) Ortenaukreis Railway lines in the Black Forest