The Mannheim–Saarbrücken railway () is a railway in the German states of Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate and the Saarland that runs through Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Neustadt an der Weinstraße, Kaiserslautern, Homburg and St. Ingbert It is the most important railway line that runs through the Palatinate. It serves both passenger and freight transport and carries international traffic.
The route was largely opened from 1847 to 1849 as the Pfälzische Ludwigsbahn (Palatine Ludwig Railway) between Ludwigshafen and Bexbach. The line is identical with the Ludwig Railway between Ludwigshafen and Homburg and it therefore often referred to as the Pfälzische Ludwigsbahn. The remaining sections went into operation between 1867 and 1904. The line was electrified from 1960 to 1964. In its present form, the line has existed since 1969, when Deutsche Bundesbahn moved the Ludwigshafen Hauptbahnhof to its current location. Deutsche Bahn operates the route under timetable number 670. Some sections of the line are cleared for speeds of 200 kilometres per hour for the ICE and TGV services between Paris, Kaiserslautern, Mannheim and Frankfurt. The Mannheim–Homburg section was integrated in the network of the Rhine-Neckar S-Bahn in two stages in 2003 and 2006.
History
Historically, the trunk line from Mannheim to Saarbrücken is a combination of different lines, due to the former Bavarian-Prussian national border and the interests of the towns along the Blies and the Würzbach in the shortest possible connection between Homburg and Saarbrücken. The Rhine, which formed the land border between Baden and Bavaria, had to be crossed between Ludwigshafen and Mannheim. For these reasons the line was completed in its present form only in 1904, with the exception of the relocation of the Ludwigshafen Hauptbahnhof in 1969. This is reflected in the chainage. The initial line was gradually opened from 1847 to 1849 as the Palatine Ludwig Railway (Pfälzische Ludwigsbahn) between Ludwigshafen and Bexbach. With the exception of the western Homburg–Bexbach section, it is now part of the Mannheim–Saarbrücken main line.
Ludwigshafen–Homburg
The initial planning of a railway line in the north–south direction within the Palatinate, which had belonged to Bavaria since 1816, was set aside for an east–west line, which was mainly promoted by Palatine entrepreneurs as facilitating the transport of Saar coal to the Rhine. The planners revised their initial considerations of St. Ingbert as the western terminus, under pressure from Prussia, which wanted to have the long-term connection to Saarbrücken passing as far as possible over its own territory. That is why the planners considered Bexbach, with an extension via Neunkirchen and the Sulzbach valley. A suggestion that the railway line run via Zweibrücken and from there along the Schwarzbach via Rodalben, Annweiler and Langenkandel on the Rhine, did not proceed. The eastern terminus was disputed between Speyer, the capital of the Palatinate and the emerging port and trading centre of Rheinschanze. A memorandum supporting the interests of Speyer argued that it was an old trading town, whereas Rheinschanze was just a military base that would merely serve the transfer of goods. These endeavours were unsuccessful, as the part of the up-and-coming Rhine-Neckar Region to the east of the Rhine, especially Mannheim, was the focus of attention and the export of coal to the area beyond the Rhine was considered more important. Proposals for a line along the Dürkheim Valley also failed, since its side valleys were too low and, above all, the Frankensteiner Steige (Frankenstein climb) would have had too steep. This route would have required stationary steam engines and rope haulage to overcome the differences in altitude. For this reason it was decided to proceed with a route along the valley through Neustadt.
On 30 March 1838, some businessmen founded the "Bavarian railway company of the Palatine-Rheinschanze-Bexbach Railway" (Bayerische Eisenbahngesellschaft der Pfalz-Rheinschanz-Bexbacher Bahn) to develop the project. In May 1844, the company was renamed the Palatine Ludwig Railway Company (Pfälzische Ludwigsbahn-Gesellschaft). From March 1845, construction began under the leadership of Paul Denis. Coal from the Bexbach area would reach the industrial centres in the south of Germany and Switzerland via Rheinschanze. The line was named after the Bavarian King Ludwig I and the town of Ludwigshafen am Rhein, which was then developing from Rheinschanze. The opening of the Ludwigshafenn–Neustadt section took place on 11 June 1847, the Homburg–Kaiserslautern section followed on 2 July 1848 and the Kaiserslautern–Frankenstein section was completed on 2 December of that year. On 6 June of the following year, the Ludwig Railway reached Bexbach in the west. From August 1849, trains could run over the line from Ludwigshafen via Neustadt, Kaiserslautern and Homburg to Bexbach. The main line was completed to Neunkirchen in 1850 and two years later to Saarbrücken.
Mannheim – Ludwigshafen
Because of the rapid increase in traffic on both sides of the Rhine, there were calls for the construction of a line between Ludwigshafen and Mannheim in Baden from the end of the 1850s. In addition, there were plans for a Baden Odenwald Railway between Heidelberg and Würzburg, which was completed in 1866. In combination with this, a rail link across the Rhine would connect the Ludwig Railway with Bavarian Lower Franconia without crossing Württemberg. Added to this was that the upgrading of the Mainz pontoon bridge and the extension of the Appenweier–Kehl railway to Strasbourg in 1861 threatened to reduce the competitiveness of the Ludwig Railway.
In a treaty concluded at the beginning of 1862, the two countries agreed that Baden would take over the construction of the pylons and abutments. Bavaria was given responsibility for the superstructure including tracks and flooring. In July of that year, Baden and Bavarian representatives reached an agreement on the location of the bridge. This required the closure of the original Mannheim station, which was opened in 1840 at the current Tattersall tram stop north of the current Hauptbahnhof as the western terminus of the Baden main line. There was no consensus on this approach, so that further planning could only proceed at the beginning of 1864. The Ludwigshafen–Mannheim train ferry provided a provisional service from 1863. The ferry service quickly reached its limits, so there was strong support in both cities for a bridge. Construction began in February 1865 and the work went well. The masonry material was sourced from the quarries along the Haardt; The railway carried about 24.000 cubic metres of ashlar. The iron superstructure was installed in July 1866. This was followed by load testing of the bridge on 21 and 22 January 1867 and the first train crossed the Rhine bridge on 25 February. However, there were no festivities. The Rhine bridge was initially single track until the second track opened on 10 August 1867. The railway ran along the southern side of the bridge and the road along the northern side. Mannheim received a new station with the new line in 1876.
St. Ingbert – Saarbrücken
As early as the end of the 1860s, local committees were involved in the establishment of a connection from St. Ingbert to Saarbrücken. St. Ingbert had been connected to the railway network since 1867 by the Würzbach Railway (Würzbachbahn) which began in Schwarzenacker. In 1869, both the Bavarian and Prussian governments were approached by committees with related plans. Due to financial stringencies, Bavaria rejected direct intervention, but the Saarbrücken Committee agreed to take over the costs on condition that the line was linked to the Saarbrücken–Sarreguemines railway. The Franco-Prussian War, however, prevented the conclusion of a treaty.
After the end of the war, the construction of a main railway from Bruchsal via Germersheim, Landau and Zweibrücken to St. Ingbert was planned, which was finally built in the period from 1872 to 1877. The Palatinate Railway (Pfälzische Eisenbahnen), which the Palatine Ludwig Railway Company had been part of since 1870, benefitted from the adoption of an interest rate guarantee law on 28 April 1872. Nevertheless, the talks with Saarbrücken were difficult as the approach to the very busy St. Johann-Saarbrücken station and the allocation of railway operations caused problems. In 1877, a treaty that guaranteed the construction of the line was concluded. This meant that St. Ingbert station had to be completely rebuilt. It received a new entrance building and its tracks were raised one metre higher. Land was acquired in the winter of that year and the construction began in March of the following year. The connection was 12.568 kilometres long. The tracks were built partly over rocks, but major earth moving was necessary.
The connection was opened on 15 October 1879. It amounted to an extension of the Würzbach Railway (Schwarzenacker–St. Ingbert), which had been completed in 1866 and 1867 and branched off the Homburg–Zweibrücken railway. Its main purpose was to provide a connection for coal trains from the Saarbrücken area to the South Palatinate Railway (Südpfalzstrecke; Landau–Zweibrücken), which opened in 1875, to avoid the detour via Neunkirchen and Bexbach and a reversal in Homburg station. In this way the route used for transport of coal was shortened and the costs were reduced. The same thing applied to products from industrial towns such as Dillingen and Saarlouis, as well as from neighbouring Lorraine (then German Lothringen). In addition, this resulted in a shorter connection between Homburg and Saarbrücken than the previous route via Bexbach and Neunkirchen.
Homburg – St. Ingbert
The Hasseler Tunnel on the Würzbach Railway east of St. Ingbert became increasingly an operational problem due to its geological instability. The first option was a new lining for the existing tunnel, the second a new tunnel and the third a completely new route to Rohrbach that would not need a tunnel. Due to the strategic importance of the line, the Imperial Government intervened in the matter and chose the third option. Since the Palatinate Railway was not able to finance it fully, the Imperial Government subsidised the project. An approximately 5.7 kilometre long loop was built between Würzbach and St. Ingbert through Rohrbach and put in operation on 7 September 1895. The closing and dismantling of the direct connection from Würzbach to St. Ingbert followed and all trains ran on the new line between Hassel and Rohrbach.
Already during the planning of the Würzbach Railway both Homburg and St. Ingbert had originally promoted a connection by the shortest route, which was, however, opposed by the communities along the Blies and the Würzbach. For strategic reasons, the decision was made to build a direct link from Homburg via Limbach and Kirkel to Rohrbach. This line opened on 1 January 1904; at the same time a second track was built between Scheidt and Rohrbach. The line was initially designated as part of the Glan Valley Railway (Glantalbahn), which was opened on 1 May of the same year and was also built as a strategic railway.
Further development (1904–1919)