The Kißlegg–Hergatz railway is an 18.589 km long standard gauge main line that 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 ...

in the German states of

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, 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 i ...

and

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 forms part of the Munich–Lindau upgraded line, which was completed in 2020. It runs from Kißlegg via Wangen to

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 ...

and connects the Herbertingen–Isny railway (also known as the ''Württembergische Allgäubahn''—Württemberg Allgäu Railway) with the Buchloe–Lindau railway (also known as the ''Bayerische Allgäubahn''—Bavarian Allgäu Railway). It has been electrified since 2020 and is single-track throughout. It is operated by

Deutsche Bahn (, ; abbreviated as DB or DB AG ) is the national railway company of Germany, and a state-owned enterprise under the control of the German government. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). DB was fou ...

and is listed in its timetable as part of route number 753 from Aulendorf to Hergatz, which is alternatively called the ''Württemberg-Allgäu-Bahn'' (Allgäu-Württemberg Railway) and part of route number 971 from

Augsburg Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...

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 ...

. The Kißlegg–Wangen section is integrated in the network of the ''Bodensee-Oberschwaben Verkehrsverbund'' (

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 ...

Upper Swabia Upper Swabia ( or ) is a region in Germany in the federal states of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria.''Brockhaus Enzyklopädie.'' 19. Auflage. Band 16, 1991, p. 72. The name refers to the area between the Swabian Jura, Lake Con ...

Transport Association, ''bodo'').

History

Although Hergatz was connected to the Bavarian rail network in 1853 and Kißlegg was connected to the Württemberg network in 1870, Wangen lacked any connection. In 1876, it was decided to build the 13.3 kilometre line to Kißlegg, which was opened on 31 July 1880. In 1887, a treaty was contracted between Württemberg and Bavaria for the construction of the 5.3 km line between Wangen and Hergatz along with a line from Leutkirch to

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 ...

. The Wangen–Hergatz section went into operation on 15 July 1890. Since its completion the new link has provided a shorter route from

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

to Lindau than the Buchloe–Kempten–Lindau railway. Electrical operations began at the 2020/21 timetable change.

Operations

In 2020, three pairs of Eurocity services hauled by class 218 locomotives ran from Munich to Zurich (some to/from Basel) via Memmingen and Lindau without stopping. Since 13 December 2020, all EC services between Munich and Zurich, six pairs of trains per day each way, have been operated by SBB electric multiple units. The line is served by two services operated by Go-Ahead Bayern, the RE 96 (

–––Kißlegg–Wangen––– and the RB 92 (Memmingen–Kißlegg–Wangen–Hergatz–Lindau-Insel). Both services run every two hours, together providing an hourly service to all stations. During the day, the RB 53 service runs every two hours, conveying local traffic on the –Kißlegg–Wangen route, operated with

Stadler Regio-Shuttle RS1 The Stadler Regio-Shuttle RS1 is the first widely used, new-generation, diesel railcar in Germany and Czech Republic for local railway services. Its most characteristic feature is the trapezium-shaped window frames. The Regio-Shuttle is classified ...

(class 650) railcars (previously class 628 railcars).

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kisslegg-Hergatz railway Railway lines in Bavaria Railway lines in Baden-Württemberg Railway lines opened in 1880 Buildings and structures in Ravensburg (district) Buildings and structures in Lindau (district)