History of the railway in Württemberg

The history of railways in Württemberg describes the beginnings and expansion of rail transport in Württemberg from the first studies in 1834 to today.

From the start of the 19th century, transport planning in the Kingdom of Württemberg revolved primarily around the construction of canals, which were meant to connect the rivers Neckar and Danube, and Lake Constance, with each other. As a result of the advent of railways elsewhere, King William I of Württemberg commissioned a study to determine whether the construction of railways instead of canals would be more appropriate. The report of the commission undertaking the study agreed and recommended the construction of a railway between Stuttgart and Ulm, running through the valleys of the rivers Rems, Kocher, and Brenz. Toward the end of 1835, additional demands developed in Ulm for a railway running from Stuttgart, via Ulm, along the Fils river, all the way to Lake Constance.

Despite the early and systematic state support of railway construction, it was another 10 years before the opening of the first railway in Württemberg. In the other larger states of the German Confederation (Deutscher Bund), such as Bavaria, Saxony, Prussia, Austria, Brunswick, Baden, and Hanover, at least one, and in some cases, several railways had been put into service by that time.

The late adoption was caused by the conclusion that the expensive construction of railways would not be cost-efficient in the relatively poor state. The total cost of building the main railways was thought to be about 30 million guilders, which was the equivalent of three years of the gross domestic product of Württemberg. This relatively costly estimate was largely due to the hilly topography of Württemberg, and in particular the need to cross the Swabian Jura added to the expense. This mountain range splits the state into two sections, and the steep escarpment on the northern edge, the Albtrauf, posed a particularly challenging obstacle. In the southwestern part, the Black Forest formed part of the border with the neighbouring state of Baden. The planned routes, which were initially limited to running in river valleys, were also complicated by the interlocking of parts of the routes, such as in the Upper Neckar and Upper Danube valleys, with territory of the neighbouring states of Baden and Hohenzollern.

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