Through station | |
Location |
Bruchsal, Baden-Württemberg Germany |
Coordinates | 49°7′26″N 8°35′24″E / 49.12389°N 8.59000°ECoordinates: 49°7′26″N 8°35′24″E / 49.12389°N 8.59000°E |
Line(s) | |
Platforms | 8 |
Other information | |
Station code | 904 |
DS100 code | RBR |
Category | 2 |
Website | www.bahnhof.de |
Bruchsal station is the centre of the rail transport in the city of Bruchsal in the German state of Baden-Württemberg.
The original station of the baroque town of Bruchsal opened on 10 April 1843 as part of the Karlsruhe–Heidelberg section of the old Baden main line, which eventually connected Mannheim via Heidelberg, Karlsruhe, Baden-Baden and Freiburg to Basel and was initially built with 1600 mm (5 ft 3 in) broad gauge.
A few years later the line was duplicated. The station gained more importance with the opening on 1 October 1853 of the Württemberg Western Railway (Westbahn), which connected Stuttgart and Bruchsal. The Western Railway originally had its own standard gauge Württemberger Bahnhof (station) with two platform tracks, which was located on the eastern side of the original Baden station (Badischen Bahnhof). The locomotive depot and goods yard of the Württemberg railway were built to the south of the station.
Since Baden’s broad gauge was not compatible with the its neighbours, it became concerned by the loss of lucrative transit traffic. Therefore, in 1854 the Baden lines were converted to 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge in just four months, after which the tracks of the two Bruchsal stations could be linked.
When the Bruhrain Railway was opened between Bruchsal and Rheinsheim on 23 November 1874 and extended to Germersheim on 15 May 1877, Bruchsal’s development as a rail junction was complete. Long-distance services operated at first in all directions: north–south traffic from Heidelberg via Karlsruhe and Freiburg to Basel and continuing south and east–west, traffic from Munich via Stuttgart, continuing to Saarbrücken via Germersheim, Landau and Zweibrücken. In 1879, the Baden State Railways took over the operation of the Bruchsal–Bretten section of the Western Railway under contract.