Württemberg Central Railway

Central Railway (situation in 1854)
Rosenstein Castle with the old Rosenstein Tunnel
Overview
Native name	Zentralbahn/Centralbahn
Locale	Baden-Württemberg
Technical
Minimum radius	373 m (1,224 ft)
Maximum incline	1%
Route map  Operating points and lines  14.1 Ludwigsburg 295 m 10.7 Kornwestheim 300 m 6.5 Zuffenhausen 281 m 4.6 Feuerbach 276 m 4.3 Prag Tunnel (829 m) 0.0 Stuttgart 249 m Rosenstein Tunnel (362 m) Neckar, Rosenstein Bridge (75 m) 3.9 Cannstatt 222 m 7.4 Untertürkheim 9.8 Obertürkheim 229 m 13.7 Eßlingen 236 m

The Central Railway (German: Zentralbahn or Centralbahn) was the first phase of the Württemberg railways. It was built between 1844 and 1846 by the Royal Württemberg State Railways (Königlich Württembergischen Staats-Eisenbahnen) and consisted of two branches, running from Stuttgart to Ludwigsburg in the north and from Stuttgart to Esslingen in the east.

The term Zentralbahn did not last long, as the two branches were soon extended to Heilbronn and Ulm, and were then known as the Nordbahn (Northern Railway) and the Ostbahn (Eastern Railway) or Filsbahn (Fils Valley Railway). The Ludwigsburg–Stuttgart–Esslingen section as a whole was still of great importance, since it continued to be the core of the network and was the busiest section of the Württemberg railways and it also served the largest metropolitan area in the country. For these reasons, it has undergone many changes and enhancements over time.

The two branches began at Stuttgart Central Station (Zentralbahnhof), which was a terminal station and was located south of the current Stuttgart Central Station (Hauptbahnhof) on Schlossstraße.

Both lines ran initially to the northeast. The northern branch, once it had gained altitude, curved to the left past the former cavalry barracks (now in the station track field) and then took another curve towards the suburb of Prag. This line left the Stuttgart basin by the first Prag Tunnel, which was originally 828-metre long. It passed through Feuerbach and Zuffenhausen, where it left the valley of the Feuerbach, then through Kornwestheim and originally ended in Ludwigsburg.