Royal Württemberg State Railways

The Royal Württemberg State Railways (Königlich Württembergischen Staats-Eisenbahnen or K.W.St.E.) were the state railways of the Kingdom of Württemberg (from 1918 the People's State of Württemberg) between 1843 and 1920. Please see also the main article History of the railway in Württemberg.

As in many other states of the German Empire, there was increasing debate about how to improve transport communications across the country from about 1825. Private interest groups were formed and, from 1834, the state also worked on the question, giving experts the task of finding suitable solutions. After years of preparatory work, it was decided to set up a railway network, the main lines of which would be built by the state.

The Railway Bill of 18 April 1843, established the legal foundation for the construction of the railway network; this date is seen as the birthday for the K.W.St.E.. The law expressly envisaged that the construction of branch routes by private companies should also be possible. This law was at the same time the impetus for the foundation of the Maschinenfabrik Esslingen ('Esslingen Engineering Works'), that played a decisive role in railway construction and railway technology in Württemberg.

In the Kingdom of Württemberg the state railway started with the so-called Württemberg main lines. They ran from Stuttgart, along the River Neckar, on one side via Ulm to Friedrichshafen on Lake Constance, on the other side via Bretten to Bruchsal in the Grand Duchy of Baden. From Bietigheim the Lower Neckar Railway (North Railway or Nordbahn) branched off toward Heilbronn.

After a pause of several years, work began on the Upper Neckar Railway that ran from Plochingen and reached Reutlingen in 1859, the bishop's town of Rottenburg am Neckar via Tübingen in 1861 and Eyach and the junction of Horb am Neckar in 1864/66.

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