Wiese Valley Railway

Overview

Native name

Wiesentalbahn

Type

Suburban railway

System

Locale

Baden-Württemberg, Basel-Stadt

Termini

Basel Bad Bf
Zell (Wiesental)

Line number

S 6 (tri-national S-Bahn Basel)
4400 (DB)
501 (SBB CFF FFS)

Operation

Owner

DB (infrastructure)

Operator(s)

SBB CFF FFS (Swiss Federal Railways)

Technical

Line length

28.75 km (17.86 mi)

Number of tracks

Track gauge

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

Minimum radius

300 m (980 ft)

Electrification

15 kV/16.7 Hz AC overhead catenary

Maximum incline

1.1%

Route number

735

Route map

Rhine Valley Railway from Mannheim

-1.59

Basel Bad BfRE RB

Basel Trams

Basel Link Line to Basel SBB

High Rhine Railway to Singen RB

0.8

Riehen Niederholz

2.92

Riehen

4.31

Switzerland/Germany border

Gartenbahn from Weil am Rhein S 5

5.02

Lörrach-Stetten

5.8

Lörrach Museum/Burghof

6.51

Lörrach Hbf

7.8

Lörrach-Schwarzwaldstraße

9.06

Lörrach-Haagen/Messe

10.21

Lörrach-Brombach/Hauingen

Wiese (51 m)

13.75

Steinenterminus S 5

Wiese (45 m)

16.7

Maulburg

18.3

Schopfheim West

19.92

Schopfheim

Wehra Valley Railway to Bad Säckingen

21.93

Fahrnau

24.03

Hausen-Raitbach

Wiese (55 m)

27.16

Zell (Wiesental)terminus S 5

Todtnauerli to Todtnau

Source: German railway atlas

The Wiese Valley Railway (German: Wiesentalbahn) is a 27.2 km long, electrified main line in German Baden-Württemberg in the tri-national area of Germany, Switzerland and France near the Swiss city of Basel. It is part of the Regio S-Bahn Basel and referenced as S 6. It runs alongside the river Wiese from Basel Badischer Bahnhof in Basel (on Swiss territory) to Zell (Wiesental). It is operated by the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB CFF FFS)

The line was built as the first private railway in the Grand Duchy of Baden by the Wiese Valley Railway Company (Wiesenthalbahn-Gesellschaft) and opened on 7 June 1862 to Schopfheim with a length of 20 km. It was continued up the valley as the Hintere Wiesenthalbahn (“rear” Wiese Valley Railway) on 5 February 1876 by the Schopfheim-Zell Railway Company (Schopfheim-Zeller Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft).

This was followed on 7 July 1889 by a narrow-gauge railway owned by the Baden railway consortium of Herrmann Bachstein, later called the South German Railway Company (Süddeutsche Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft AG), the Zell im Wiesental–Todtnau railway, known as the Upper Wiese Valley Railway (Obere Wiesentalbahn) and also as the Todtnauerli.

Because the German Empire demanded that the Grand Duchy of Baden construct an efficient railway from Weil am Rhein to Säckingen for military reasons (in order to avoid crossing Switzerland), including the existing Lörrach–Schopfheim section, all of the line from Basel to Zell was taken over by the Baden government and incorporated it into the Grand Duchy of Baden State Railway. The transfer of ownership took place to Schopfheim on 1 January 1889 and a year later to Zell. It was one of the first lines in Germany to be electrified in 1913, together with the Wehra Valley Railway (Wehratalbahn), as a result of its strategic importance and the abundant hydroelectricity available nearby.

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Wikipedia