Kraich Valley Railway

Kraich Valley Railway
Overview
Native name	Kraichtalbahn
Locale	Baden-Württemberg
Line number	9412 (Bruchsal–Ubstadt) 9413 (Ubstadt–Menzingen)
Technical
Line length	19.2 km (11.9 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	15 kV/16.7 Hz AC Overhead catenary
Route number	710.3
Route map Katzbach Railway from Bruchsal S 31S 32 0.0 Ubstadt village Katzbach Railway to Odenheim S 31 0.7 Ubstadt Salzbrunnenstraße 3.0 Unteröwisheim Martin-Luther-Straße 3.5 Unteröwisheim 5.0 Oberöwisheim 7.8 Münzesheim 8.7 Münzesheim Ost 10.6 Gochsheim (Baden) 12.5 Bahnbrücken 14.6 Menzingen (Baden) terminus of the S 32 Source: German railway atlas

The Kraich Valley Railway (German: Kraichtalbahn) is a branch line in southwestern Germany running from Bruchsal to Menzingen. It is now integrated as line 32 of the Karlsruhe Stadtbahn.

The Kraich Valley Railway runs from Bruchsal in the Kraichgau. Its name is derived from the Kraichbach stream, whose course it follows from Ubstadt to Gochsheim, as well as the town of Kraichtal, to which all the settlements on the line belong apart from Bruchsal and Ubstadt. It lies entirely within the district of Karlsruhe.

Because the railway line largely follows the aforementioned river valley there are no large structures like tunnels or noteworthy bridges.

During the time up to 1874 when the city of Bruchsal became a railway hub, the municipalities along the Kraichbach were interested in obtaining a connection to the railway. Therefore, Bruchsal sought a railway in the Kraichbach valley through the towns of Ubstadt, Unteröwisheim, Oberöwisheim, Münzesheim and Gochsheim to Eppingen. However, the opening of the Kraichgau Railway on the Karlsruhe–Bretten–Eppingen route in 1879 delayed the construction of such a line.

In 1888, Bruchsal took the initiative in 1888 to build, along with the municipalities in the Kraichbach and the Katzbach valleys, a narrow gauge branch line with two branches, separating in Ubstadt. The northern line would run through Odenheim to Elsenz and the southern branch up the Kraichbach valley to Gochsheim.

Originally planned to run only as far as Gochsheim, it was finally decided to extend the line out of the Kraichbach valley to Menzingen. At the same time, it was also decided that the line would be built at standard gauge.

On 5 March 1896, the Kraich Valley Railway was opened together with the Katzbach Railway. The line was initially operated by the Westdeutsche Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft (West German Railway Company, WeEG).

In October 1898, the WeEG operations on the Katzbach and the Kraich Valley Railways were transferred to its subsidiary, the Badische Lokal-Eisenbahnen Aktiengesellschaft (Baden Local Railway Company, BLEAG). In the first years of operations, there was a high level of passenger traffic and some growth in freight traffic. The Kraich Valley and the Katzbach Railways were the two most profitable lines operated by BLEAG in the early years of the twentieth century.

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Wikipedia