Rankbach Railway
| Rankbach Railway | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Overview | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Locale | Baden-Württemberg, Germany | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Termini |
Renningen 48°46′31″N 8°55′58″E / 48.7752°N 8.9327°E Böblingen 48°41′17″N 9°00′17″E / 48.6880°N 9.0048°E |
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| Line number | 4870 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Technical | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Line length | 14.253 km (8.856 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 | 790.60 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: German railway atlas
The Rankbach Railway (German: Rankbachbahn) is a 14.253 km long single-track railway line from Renningen to Böblingen in the southwestern region of Stuttgart in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. The line is named after the Rankbach stream. It is served by the Stuttgart S-Bahn between Böblingen and Renningen.
The Ranbbach Railway opened on 1 October 1915. The reason it was opened was because the Germans needed a quicker means of transport to the front line during World War I and was used commercially once the war ended. On 29 September 1970 passenger operations between Renningen and Sindelfingen were abandoned. As part of the planning for the Stuttgart S-Bahn, capacity was created by shifting the operation of freight trains from sections of the Stuttgart–Würzburg and Gäu lines to the Rankbach line, which was upgraded in the early 1970s. The line has been electrified since 10 April 1972. In the course of the electrification the line speed was also increased from 60 km/h to 80 km/h.
The section between Maichingen and Böblingen was opened as part of the Stuttgart S-Bahn network on 10 June 2010. Regular operations started on 14 June 2010. The remaining section to Renningen was opened on 8 December 2012.
Freight services use the line in particular to:
Every day about 40 freight trains run on the line, most of which start or finish at Sindelfingen.
From late March to mid-October 2008 the line between Sindelfingen and Renningen was closed for the upgrade of the line for the introduction of S-Bahn services. All freight trains were diverted to the Gäu Railway and the freight curve between Stuttgart Nord station and Kornwestheim.
Prior to 10 December 2004 the line was only regularly served by the so-called “Daimler trains” between Sindelfingen and Horb via Böblingen, running at shift changes from the station located at DaimlerChrysler’s Sindelfingen plant.
On 14 June 2010, the Böblingen–Maichingen section was taken into regular S-Bahn service as line S 60. For this service, the Sindelfingen–Maichingen section was duplicated and the Böblingen station was rebuilt, among other things. The platforms at all stations were also rebuilt and all level crossings were eliminated. As of June 2006 the total cost of the investment for the reconstruction and development was about €120 million.
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