Müllheim–Mulhouse railway

Overview

Locale

Baden-Württemberg, Germany and Alsace, France

Line number

4314 (Germany)
124 (France)

Technical

Line length

22.140 km (13.757 mi)

Track gauge

1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in) standard gauge

Minimum radius

450 m (1,476 ft)

Electrification

15 kV/16.7 Hz AC overhead catenary (Germany)
25 kV 50 Hz (France)

Maximum incline

0.5%

Route number

703

Route map

0.000

3.322

4.592

17.548

Germany–France border Neuenburg–Chalampé bridge

16.937

Chalampé (Eichwald)

from Neuf-Brisach

14.330

Bantzenheim (Banzenheim)

10.555

Grunhutte (Grünhütte)

Rhone–Rhine Canal

4.520

Île Napoléon (Mülhausen-Hardtwald)

from Basel

0.000

Mulhouse (Mülhausen)

to Strasbourg

to Paris

Source: German railway atlas

The Müllheim–Mulhouse railway is a 22.140 km-long single-track railway, crossing the Upper Rhine between Baden, Germany and Alsace, France. The whole line is electrified with catenary, using different national electrification standards on either side of the Rhine. It branches off the Rhine Valley Railway (Rheintalbahn) in Müllheim and it connects with the Paris–Mulhouse railway and the Strasbourg–Basel railway in Mulhouse.

Since the closure of the Freiburg–Colmar railway, it the only railway that crosses the Rhine between Strasbourg and Basel and thus it is an important connection between Freiburg im Breisgau and Alsace. Scheduled passenger services resumed on the line on 9 December 2012, after services had been abandoned in 1980. Since August 2013, TGV services have run on the Freiburg Hauptbahnhof–Paris Gare de Lyon route over the line.

In 1865, the first petitions of some neighboring communities were made to the government of the Grand Duchy of Baden, to build a railway from Müllheim to Mulhouse. The Baden government granted a concession under a 30 March 1872 law "concerning the creation of a railway from Müllheim to Neuenburg and possibly to Mulhouse." On 13 May 1874, concessions were awarded for three lines crossings over the Rhine; construction began on the line from Müllheim to Mulhouse at the end of 1876. The line was opened on 6 February 1878 to supply the Mulhouse area with food and wood from the Müllheim area. The owners of the railways to the east of the Rhine with 4,592 km of track, the Grand Duchy of Baden State Railway (Großherzoglich Badische Staatseisenbahnen) and the railways to the west of the Rhine with 17,548 kilometers, the Imperial Railways in Alsace-Lorraine (Reichseisenbahnen in Elsaß-Lothringen), also ran operations until 1919. Initially it was served by one or two pairs of trains daily. There were five pairs of trains between Mulhouse and Freiburg in 1891. A second track was added to the bridge over the Rhine in 1906. In 1913, 13 pairs of trains operated over the line daily; one pair ran as an express between Freiburg and Mulhouse. After the First World War, services over the whole line recommenced on 1 February 1921. Passenger services in France were operated with De Dietrich diesel railcars and in Germany they were operated with class DW steam-powered rail cars built by Maschinenfabrik Esslingen for the Royal Württemberg State Railways.

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Wikipedia