Strasbourg–Basel railway

Strasbourg–Basel railway

Map of the line
Overview
System SNCF
Status Operational
Locale France (Alsace), Switzerland
Termini Strasbourg
Basel
Operation
Opened 1840 - 1844
Owner SNCF
Operator(s) SNCF
Technical
Line length 141.3 km (87.8 mi)
No. of tracks Double track[1]
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification 25 kV 50 Hz[2]
Route map
Legend
 Line from Paris-Est
to Lauterbourg
502.0
0.0
 Strasbourg-Ville(143m)
Line to Kehl (Germany)
to Strasbourg railroad bypass
Line to Saint-Dié
from Kehl (Germany)
7.0 Graffenstaden(141m)
 8.3 Geispolsheim(145m)
 11.8 Fegersheim-Lipsheim
 15.3 Limersheim(151m)
 19.8 Erstein(155m)
 22.8 Matzenheim(157m)
 26.7 Benfeld(160m)
 32.0 Kogenheim(162m)
 36.4 Ebersheim(167m)
Line from Saverne
43.2
Line to Saint-Dié
 43.2 Sélestat(176m)
48.5 St-Hippolyte(180m)
 52.8 Ribeauvillé(185m)
 56.1 Ostheim-Beblenheim(185m)
 59.3 Bennwihr(185m)
65.7 from Metzeral
 65.8 Colmar(197m)
67.1 to Neuf-Brisach and Ensisheim
70.0 Eguisheim(174m)
 72.4 Herrlisheim
 78.8 Rouffach(206m)
 84.1 Merxheim(213m)
 87.3 Raedersheim(229m)
from Lautenbach
 90.9 Bollwiller(240m)
 94.2 Staffelfelden250m
 95.3 Wittelsheim(250m)
 98.8 Richwiller(257m)
Line from Kruth
 102.5 Lutterbach(252m)
to Mulhouse-Nord
 105.1 Mulhouse-Dornach(246m)
Line from Paris-Est
 108.3 Mulhouse-Ville
to Müllheim (Germany)
to Mulhouse-Nord
113.7 Rixheim(239m)
 115.2 Habsheim(241m)
 120.9 Schlierbach(249m)
 124.9 Sierentz(258m)
 128.1 Bartenheim(263m)
 132.4 St-Louis-la-Chaussée
 135.2 Saint-Louis(258m)
136.0 to Huningue
136.9 Border FR/CH
 137.8 Basel St. Johann
 138.9 Kannenfeld Tunnel (800m)
 140.3 Schutzenmat Tunnel (285m)
 142.2 Basel SBB
Line to Karlsruhe
to Delémont
 Line to Zürich and line to Olten

The railway from Strasbourg to Basel is a French and Swiss 141.3-kilometre long railway line. It is used for passenger (express, regional and suburban) and freight traffic. The railway was opened in 1840-1844.[3]

Main stations

Line history

The concession for the railway Strasbourg–Basel was granted to the Compagnie du chemin de fer de Strasbourg à Bâle, founded by the Koechlin brothers, in 1838.[4] The first sections that were opened in 1840 led from Benfeld to Colmar, and from Mulhouse to Saint-Louis near the Swiss border. In 1841 Koenigshoffen (near Strasbourg) and Benfeld were connected, and Colmar was connected to Mulhouse. Finally in 1844 the sections between Strasbourg and Koenigshoffen, and between Saint-Louis and the Swiss border were opened.[3] The assets of the Compagnie du chemin de fer de Strasbourg à Bâle were bought by the Chemins de fer de l'Est in 1854.[4]

Keeping right

The line was, from the start, planned and opened as a double track route, with trains travelling on the right. It had been intended to switch to running the trains on the left side of the double track once the line had been extended and connected with the main Paris-Strasburg line, but this was not done.[5] After the transfer of Alsace into Germany in 1870, the region's railways were integrated into the German rail network, where travelling on the right-hand track of any double track was already standard procedure, so there was no longer any pressure for railways to switch to the Anglo-French convention of running trains on the lefthand track. In 1919 and again in 1945 the region reverted to French control, but on the Strasburg-Basel line, as in the rest of Alsace where twin tracks are involved, trains continue to travel on the right.

References

  1. ↑ RFF - Map of all railway lines PDF
  2. ↑ RFF - Map of electrified railway lines PDF
  3. 1 2 Direction Générale des Ponts et Chaussées et des Chemins de Fer (1869). Statistique centrale des chemins de fer. Chemins de fer français. Situation au 31 décembre 1869 (in French). Paris: Ministère des Travaux Publics. pp. 146–160.
  4. 1 2 Joanne, Adolphe (1859). Atlas historique et statistique des chemins de fer français (in French). Paris: L. Hachette. p. 39.
  5. ↑ De l'exploitation des chemins de fer Page 132 François Prosper Jacqmin 1867
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