Hardt Railway

Hardt Railway

Hardt Railway Hardtbahn
Historical development of the Hardt Railway
Legend S1 S11 junction with the Karlsruhe tram network Karlsruhe Städtisches Klinikum/Moltkestr. Karlsruhe Knielinger Allee Karlsruhe August-Bebel-Str. Karlsruhe Kurt-Schumacher-Str. 0,0 Karlsruhe Haus Bethlehem Haus Betlehem loop VBK (BOStrab) / AVG (EBO infrastructure boundary) line to the Maxau Railway (freight only since 1967) 1,3 Karlsruhe-Neureut Welschneureuter Str. 1,8 Karlsruhe-Neureut Bärenweg 2,0 Neureut 2,3 Karlsruhe-Neureut Adolf-Ehrmann-Bad 2,7 Karlsruhe-Neureut Kirchfeld Neureut Kirchfeld loop Industrial siding (freight only) former trackbed to the old main station (closed 1913, US airfield siding 1952-1974) Karlsruhe city boundary 4,9 Eggenstein Süd 5,4 Eggenstein Station 5,9 Eggenstein Spöcker Weg 6,6 Eggenstein Schweriner Str. former trackbed to Graben-Neudorf (closed 1990) Pfinz-Entlastungskanal 7,2 Leopoldshafen Viermorgen 8,1 Leopoldshafen Leopoldstr. 8,5 Leopoldshafen Frankfurter Str. Leopoldshafen Frankfurter Str. loop 9,2 (junction since 1989) former trackbed to Graben-Neudorf KIT Campus Nord (only for employees) 10,5 Linkenheim Süd 10,9 Linkenheim Friedrichstr. 11,3 Linkenheim Rathaus 11,9 Linkenheim Schulzentrum 12,2 Hochstetten Grenzstr. 12,7 Hochstetten Altenheim 12,9 Hochstetten S1 S11 loop and storage sidings The junction to the Karlsruhe tram network is at the Yorckstrasse halt, the section between Yorckstrasse and Haus Bethlehem is counted however as tramway so the kilometrage of the Hardt Railway does not start until Haus Bethlehem.

The Hardt Railway (German: Hardtbahn) is a railway line in the Karlsruhe region of Germany. Originally built as part of a through main line, it now forms a branch line from Karlruhe to Hochstetten. The line runs along the western edge of the forest of Hardtwald, from which it takes its name.

Today the line is owned and operated, as part of the Stadtbahn Karlsruhe, by the Albtal-Verkehrs-Gesellschaft (AVG).

History

The Hardtbahn originally ran between Karlsruhe and Graben and was built in 1870 as part of the Rhine Railway from Mannheim to Karlsruhe. In 1895, after a shorter link was built as part of the strategic railway from Graben via Blankenloch to Karlsruhe, the Karlsruhe–Graben section – henceforth known as the Hardtbahn – lost a lot of its traffic and was downgraded into a branch line as a result. Because the demand for passenger services fell significantly after the Second World War, it was closed in 1967 and the Leopoldshafen–Graben section subsequently dismantled.

In 1979 a tram service was opened on the section in the Karlsruhe quarter of Neureut operated by the Albtal-Verkehrs-Gesellschaft (AVG). This was extended in 1986 to Leopoldshafen and in 1989 to Hochstetten. In Leopoldshafen, Linkenheim and Hochstetten the trackbed was moved closer to the villages.

Operation

The passenger services of the Hardtbahn are provided by routes S1 and S11 of the Karlsruhe Stadtbahn, which are operated by the Albtal-Verkehrs-Gesellschaft (AVG). A typical off-peak service consists of six trains an hour, of which three terminate at Kirchfeld, and three continue to Hochstetten. More trains may operate during peak periods, and fewer on a Sunday or in the evenings.

The S1 and S11 continue south of the Hardtbahn, across city tram tracks operated by the Verkehrsbetriebe Karlsruhe, and then to the south of Karlsruhe on the AVG owned Albtalbahn, to Ettlingen, Bad Herrenalb and Ittersbach.

References

Bibliography

Retrieved from : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardt_Railway