The Buchloe–Lindau railway is a double-track, largely non-electrified main line in the German state of
Bavaria
Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...
. It runs through the
Allgäu
The Allgäu (Standard ) is a region in Swabia in southern Germany. It covers the south of Bavarian Swabia, southeastern Baden-Württemberg, and parts of Austria. The region stretches from the pre-alpine lands up to the Alps. The main rivers flo ...
from
Buchloe
Buchloe (; Swabian: ''Buechla'') is a community raised to town status in 1954, lying in Ostallgäu district in Bavaria. Together with the neighbouring communities of Jengen, Lamerdingen and Waal, Buchloe belongs to the ''Verwaltungsgemeinschaft' ...
to
Lindau
Lindau (, ''Lindau am Bodensee''; ; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Lindou'') is a major Town#Germany, town and Lindau (island), island on the eastern side of Lake Constance (''Bodensee'' in German) in Bavaria, Germany. It is the capital ...
in
Lake Constance
Lake Constance (, ) refers to three bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (''Obersee''), Lower Lake Constance (''Untersee''), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Seerhein (). These ...
via
Kaufbeuren
Kaufbeuren (; Bavarian language, Bavarian: ''Kaufbeiren'') is an independent city, independent town in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Swabia (Bavaria), Swabia, Bavaria. The town is an enclave within the Districts of Germany, district of Ostallgäu.
...
and
Kempten
Kempten (; ) is the largest town of Allgäu, in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. The population was about 68,000 in 2016. The area was possibly settled originally by Celts, but was later taken over by the Romans, who called the town ''Cambodunum''. K ...
. Together with the connecting
Munich–Buchloe railway
The Munich–Buchloe railway is a double-track, electrified main line in Bavaria, Germany. The 60 kilometre-long line runs from via and to . Together with the Buchloe–Lindau railway, Buchloe–Kempten–Lindau line, it is known as the '' ...
it is known in German as the ''Bayerische Allgäubahn'' (Bavarian Allgäu railway).
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 ...
(''Königlich Bayerischen Staatseisenbahnen'') put the line into operation between 1847 and 1854 as part of the
Ludwig South-North Railway (''Ludwig-Süd-Nord-Bahn''). The
Hergatz
Hergatz is a municipality in the district of Lindau in Bavaria, Germany. The contemporary town was formed from the former municipalities of Wohmbrechts and Maria-Thann in the course of the municipal reform at the end of the 1970s.
Geography
Herga ...
–Lindau section was electrified between 2018 and 2020 as part of the Munich–Lindau upgraded line project, which uses a shorter but largely single-track route via
Memmingen
Memmingen (; Swabian German, Swabian: ''Memmenge'') is a town in Swabia (Bavaria), Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. It is the economic, educational and administrative centre of the Danube-Iller region. To the west the town is flanked by the Iller, the ...
.
History
The line from Buchloe to Lindau was built as part of the
Ludwig South-North Railway from Hof via Augsburg and Kempten to Lindau. The first 20.3 kilometres from Buchloe to were opened to traffic on 1 September 1847. This was followed by the 42.52 km over the
King Louis Bridge (''König-Ludwig-Brücke'', later replaced by the
Upper Iller bridge—''Obere Illerbrücke'') to the
former Kempten terminus on 1 April 1852. The 21.66 km to Immenstadt were added on 1 May 1853. Another 16.85 km section to
Oberstaufen
Oberstaufen ( Low Alemannic: ''Schtoufe'') is a municipality in the district of Oberallgäu in Bavarian Swabia, Germany, situated on the B 308 road from Lindau to Immenstadt.
History
It is first mentioned as ''Stoufun'' in AD 868. Historically ...
were inaugurated on 1 September 1853 and the next 49.8 km to the Lindau suburb of Aeschach on 12 October 1853. The last 1.8 km section from Aeschach via the Bodensee embankment to the
Lindau Stadt (Lindau town) terminus on the
island of Lindau finally went into operation on 1 March 1854. Duplication of the original single track was completed in 1907.
Until the journey times between Munich and Lindau was reduced by around 30 minutes with the introduction of
DB Class V 200
DB Class V 200 (also known as Class 220) was the first series production diesel-hydraulic express locomotive of the German Deutsche Bundesbahn and – as Am 4/4 – of the SBB-CFF-FFS in Switzerland.
History
DB Service
Five prototypes of ...
diesel locomotives in the mid-1960s, the line was operated with steam locomotives. The former
Bavarian S 3/6 (later class 18) locomotives provided high-quality, international express train services here for many decades. They were still used for express services at the end of 1967.
From 23 May 1954 to 31 May 1958,
railway buses ran from Augsburg and Biessenhofen via
Pforzen, continuing for a short time to run by rail to
Roßhaupten
Roßhaupten is a municipality in the district of Ostallgäu in Bavaria in Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the A ...
, before reaching Füssen by road.
The
Bundesbahn Central Offices tested almost every diesel locomotive class was on the line because of its hilly profile. These included the one-off 232 001 (later class V 320 001), which was subsequently operated as
Deutsche Bundesbahn
Deutsche Bundesbahn (, ) or DB () was formed as the state railway of the newly established West Germany (FRG) on 7 September 1949 as a successor of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft (DRG). The DB remained the state railway of West Germany u ...
's only six-axle diesel locomotive.
From 1975, Deutsche Bundesbahn intended to electrify the route between Munich and Lindau, although this was not implemented. The relocation of Lindau station to the mainland had already been considered at that time as it would make sense if a new railway tunnel was built through the Alps.
The then planned
Splügen
Splügen (Romansh language, Romansh: ''Spleia'', Italian language, Italian: ''Spluga'') is a former municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Viamala Region in the Switzerland, Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Graubünden. On 1 Ja ...
Railway (''Splügenbahn'') formed the background for the planning of the electrification and its timing. Switzerland in particular wanted to use the Munch–Memmingen–Lindau route as an important access route for this unrealised Alpine crossing.
Die Länderbahn operated a service known as the ''Allgäu-Express'' on the line from the end of 2003, initially in partnership with the
Swiss Federal Railways
Swiss Federal Railways (, SBB; , CFF; , FFS) is the national railway company of Switzerland.
The company was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Bern. It used to be a State-owned enterprise, government institution, but since 1999 it has be ...
. It was called the ''Arriva-Länderbahn-Express'' from 2007 to 2010 and then the ''alex'' until the end of its concession on 13 December 2020.
Heimenkirch
Heimenkirch is a municipality in the district of Lindau in Bavaria in Germany.
Geography
Heimenkirch is located in the Allgäu region. It consists of the subdivisions of Aspach, Berg, Biesenberg, Dreiheiligen, Engenberg, Geigersthal, Hofs, Kapp ...
station was reopened with the timetable change on 12 December 2010.
Since the beginning of 2011, individual sections of the Buchloe–Lindau line have been upgraded for the operation of
tilt trains, allowing operations at up to 160 km/h.
The tilting technology operation was integrated into the timetable at the timetable change on 11 December 2011. The journey time from Augsburg to Lindau was reduced by 25 minutes (from 2:32 to 2:07).
Beginning at the timetable change in December 2014, a total of seven trains were operated with new
TRAXX
Alstom Traxx (sold as Bombardier TRAXX before 2021) is a modular product platform of mainline diesel-electric and electric locomotives. It was produced originally by Bombardier Transportation and later Alstom, and was built in both freight an ...
(class 245) diesel locomotives and double-decker cars on the Munich–Füssen route and during peak hours on the Munich–Kempten route, replacing trains composed of
class 218 locomotives and single-decker
Silberling
The n-Wagen ("n-coaches") are a type of passenger coach used by Deutsche Bundesbahn and subsequently Deutsche Bahn. With two double-leafed doors per side to enable a high passenger throughput rate, the coaches were conceived for short dwell ...
cars.
The Oberstaufen Tunnel, which previously could only be operated at 30 km/h, was renovated in 2016 and extended to 160 metres. The line between Immenstadt and Oberstaufen was closed from 3 April
to 6 December 2016.
As part of the construction work, the Oberstaufen station was rebuilt with sets of points, restoring its status as a ''Bahnhof'' (full station).
In February 2008, Germany and Switzerland signed a letter of intent committing to upgrading the Munich–Lindau line and electrifying the previously non-electrified section between Geltendorf and Lindau.
It was eventually decided to electrify and upgrade the alternative route via Memmingen. On the Buchloe–Lindau line, only the 23 kilometre-long Hergatz–Lindau-Aeschach junction section was electrified. Deutsche Bahn commenced electrical operations on this section in December 2020. As a result, the international connections via Kempten were discontinued at the timetable change on 13 December 2020. During the construction phase, however, from December 2019, long-distance trains were routed over the Buchloe–Lindau line with a stop in Kempten. Electrification of the remaining Lindau-Aeschach junction–
Lindau-Insel section was completed by December 2021.
Operations
Long-distance services
A
Trans-Europ-Express (first class only) service was introduced in the 1969/70 winter timetable, running on the Munich–Lindau–
Bregenz
Bregenz (; ) is the capital of Vorarlberg, the westernmost states of Austria, state of Austria. The city lies on the east and southeast shores of Lake Constance, the third-largest freshwater lake in Central Europe, between Switzerland in the wes ...
–
St. Margrethen–
St. Gallen–
Winterthur
Winterthur (; ) is a city in the canton of Zurich in northern Switzerland. With over 120,000 residents, it is the country's List of cities in Switzerland, sixth-largest city by population, as well as its ninth-largest agglomeration with about 14 ...
–
Zurich
Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...
(lines 56 and 57), called the ''Bavaria''. On the evening of 9 February 1971 a TEE 56 service derailed on the Munich–Zurich route at
Aitrang
Aitrang is a municipality in the district of Ostallgäu in Bavaria in Germany.
Geography
Aitrang lies in the south Bavarian Region Allgäu.
It encompasses districts of: Aitrang, Huttenwang, Wenglingen. Administrative responsibility also exte ...
due to speeding, killing 28 people and seriously injuring 42. In 1977, the TEE service was replaced by a "D" (two-class express) service between Zurich and Munich (lines 276 and 277).
EuroCity
EuroCity (EC) is an international Train categories in Europe, train category and brand for European inter-city rail, inter-city trains that cross international borders and meet criteria covering comfort, speed, food service, and cleanliness. E ...
trains have operated on the line since the introduction of the train type in 1987, initially also called the ''Bavaria''. Four pairs of EuroCity trains ran daily between Munich and Zurich, but it has not been given a name since 2002. From the beginning of the 1990s, most EuroCity trains between Munich and Zurich ran via Memmingen to Lindau, with only a single EuroCity train pair running via Kempten (trains 196 and 197).
There is also a daily
Intercity
InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the train categories in Europe, classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to InterRegio, regional train, r ...
train pair between
Hamburg
Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
and Oberstdorf that uses the Buchloe–Immenstadt section of the Buchloe–Lindau line. Another InterCity train runs between
Magdeburg
Magdeburg (; ) is the Capital city, capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is on the Elbe river.
Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archbishopric of Mag ...
and Oberstdorf, using the Buchloe–Lindau line only between Kempten and Immenstadt.
The German EuroCity trains on the line were replaced by
ICE TD
The DBAG Class 605, commonly known as the ICE TD is a high-speed diesel multiple unit (DMU) train, formerly in service with Deutsche Bahn and DSB (railway company), DSB. It was retired from active passenger service in 2017 after years of o ...
(class 605) diesel multiple units in 2001/2002 on the Munich–Lindau–St. Gallen–Zurich route. These trains from the start, however, had significant defects that were resolved only gradually. The authorisation for the class to run on the line was cancelled from 24 July 2003 and EuroCity trains were reintroduced.
Operation of Eurocity services with ETR 610 electric multiple units on this line ended at the timetable change on 13 December 2020. Eurocity services have since been operated with
EuroCity-Express (ECE) sets, but only over the upgraded line via Memmingen and therefore only use the Buchloe–Lindau line on the electrified section between Hergatz and Lindau-Aeschach.
In long-distance traffic, the ''Nebelhorn''
Intercity
InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the train categories in Europe, classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to InterRegio, regional train, r ...
train pair from
Hamburg
Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
to
Oberstdorf
Oberstdorf (Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Oberschdorf'') is a Municipalities of Germany, municipality and skiing and hiking town in Germany, located in the Allgäu region of the Bavarian Alps. It is the southernmost settlement in German ...
uses the Buchloe–Immenstadt section of the line. The ''Allgäu'' Intercity from Oberstdorf to
Dortmund
Dortmund (; ; ) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the List of cities in Germany by population, ninth-largest city in Germany. With a population of 614,495 inhabitants, it is the largest city ...
runs on the line between Immenstadt and Kempten.
Regional services
All remaining stations on the Allgäu line have at least hourly services, except
Günzach
Günzach is a municipality in the district of Ostallgäu in Bavaria in Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps ...
, where trains run every two hours. The DB Regional Express service from Munich to
Lindau-Reutin (RE 70) runs every two hours. This is coupled with the RE 76 to Immenstadt, which continues to
Oberstdorf
Oberstdorf (Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Oberschdorf'') is a Municipalities of Germany, municipality and skiing and hiking town in Germany, located in the Allgäu region of the Bavarian Alps. It is the southernmost settlement in German ...
. The two-hourly RE 7 service from Augsburg to Lindau-Reutin, which is coupled between Augsburg and Immenstadt with the RE 17 service between Augsburg and Oberstdorf, also runs on the whole line. Together these two services provide an hourly service.
There are also regional services of
Bayerische Regiobahn (BRB) on the Buchloe–
Biessenhofen
Biessenhofen is a municipality in the district of Ostallgäu in Bavaria in Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the A ...
section operating between Munich and (RB 68; three train pairs a day) and between Augsburg and Füssen (RB 77; approximately hourly).
Freight traffic
The line is currently not a significant route for international freight. It serves as an important detour route around the Austrian
Arlberg railway
The Arlberg Railway (), which connects the Austrian cities Innsbruck and Bludenz, is Austria's only ''east-west'' mountain railway. It is one of the highest standard gauge railways in Europe and the second highest in Austria, after the Brenner ...
during disruptions.
On the line are still some companies that are served several times a week by rail.
Sources
Footnotes
References
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buchloe-Lindau railway
Railway lines in Bavaria
Railway lines opened in 1873
1873 establishments in Germany
Buildings and structures in Ostallgäu
Buildings and structures in Kempten
Buildings and structures in Lindau (district)