The Ulm–Sigmaringen railway is a 92.670-kilometre-long railway in Baden-Württemberg in south-western Germany, which is largely single-tracked and for the most part not electrified. It runs from Ulm via Blaubeuren and Riedlingen to Sigmaringen mostly in the valley of the Danube. The line is part of the once important long-distance connection from Munich to Freiburg im Breisgau.
It forms part of the Danube Valley Railway of Baden-Württemberg. The line is famous especially for its charming course through the Upper Danube Nature Park (Naturpark Obere Donau), and is particularly attractive to bicycle tourists. The Royal Württemberg State Railways built the line as part of the railway projects undertaken between 1865 and 1873. Since 1901, the Danube Valley Railway, together with the Höllentalbahn, form part of the pan-regional railway link from Ulm to Freiburg im Breisgau.
Danube Valley Railway (Baden-Württemberg) The line forms part of the Danube Valley Railway (German: Donautalbahn or Donaubahn) of Baden-Württemberg, along with the Inzigkofen–Sigmaringen section of the Tübingen–Sigmaringen railway, the Tuttlingen–Inzigkofen railway, the Immendingen–Tuttlingen section, which is sometimes considered to form part of the Plochingen–Immendingen railway, and the Donaueschingen–Immendingen section of the Black Forest Railway.
Route details The Ulm–Sigmaringen railway runs alongside the Danube river and crosses it several times. At Ehingen (Donau), the line leaves what is known as the Danube valley today, and follows the valley formed by the Danube in times past, along the rivers Schmiech, Ach, and Blau. The railway touches the border of the Swabian Jura (Schwäbische Alb) between Allmendingen and Blaustein, and meets its eponymous river again at the line's terminus in Ulm.
The Donauradweg (Danube Bicycle Trail), which also goes from Donaueschingen to Ulm, and continues on to Vienna, runs parallel to the line for much of the way. The Danube Valley Railway has a reputation as one of the most beautiful railways in Germany, and its charming course through the Upper Danube Nature Park (Naturpark Obere Donau), and the boom in bicycle tourism on the Donauradweg, have made the line especially popular with bicyclists and hikers. The railway traverses three districts of the state of Baden-Württemberg, as well as Ulm, which is not a constituent of a district, and is managed by three public transport associations (Verkehrsbund). In Ulm, as well as in the districts of Alb-Donau and Biberach, namely between the stations Ulm Hauptbahnhof and Riedlingen, the Danube Valley Railway is part of the Donau-Iller-Nahverkehrsverbund (DING) transport association. In the district of Sigmaringen, between Herbertingen and Sigmaringen, the railway is part of the Verkehrsverbund Neckar-Alb-Donau transport association (naldo).
The route is largely unelectrified and, with the exception of the Ulm Hbf–Herrlingen section, is single-track. It is fully equipped for tilting technology.
Pan-regional significance Together with the Höllentalbahn, which runs between Freiburg im Breisgau and Donaueschingen, the Black Forest Railway (Baden) between Donaueschingen, Immendingen and the Tuttlingen–Inzigkofen railway and a short section of the Tübingen–Sigmaringen railway, the Ulm–Sigmaringen railway forms what is easily the shortest railway connection between the major cities of Ulm and Freiburg, both located in Baden-Württemberg. The line was therefore significant outside of the immediate region, especially in terms on connections between Augsburg and Munich to Freiburg, and from Ulm via Tuttlingen into Switzerland. However, the importance of this pan-regional East-West connection has been markedly reduced in recent times, primarily due to the relatively low average speed on the line. This low speed is caused by the limitations imposed by the single track, which means often lengthy halts at node stations, and required stops at crossing points. In addition, the route along the Schmiech and Blau rivers also adds to the length of the trip. Today, connections via Stuttgart and Karlsruhe are significantly quicker for the trip from Munich or Ulm to Freiburg. In addition, in 2003 the Deutsche Bahn discontinued the Kleber-Express, which had used large portions of the Danube Valley Railway since 1954 to make a daily direct trip between Munich and Freiburg. This meant the end of the use of the line in providing direct connections between major cities in the area.
History
Border politics and first railway construction initiatives The Danube Valley Railway was never conceived as one comprehensive railway from Ulm to Donaueschingen, and certainly not all the way to Freiburg im Breisgau, but came together as individual pieces of several railway projects, which were constructed over the course of about 25 years. Especially the borders between the states of Baden, Württemberg, and the Province of Hohenzollern, which became part of Prussia in 1850, made such comprehensive railway planning difficult. In just the section between Mengen in Württemberg and Immendingen in Baden, the Danube Valley Railway crosses state borders a total of ten times. The section between Ulm and Immendingen was built by the Royal Württemberg State Railways (Königlich Württembergischen Staats-Eisenbahnen or K.W.St.E.), while the section between Immendingen and Donaueschingen was constructed by the Baden State Railways (Badische Staatseisenbahnen). Prussia did not take part in the construction of the line, even though parts of it do run across the areas belonging to the Province of Hohenzollern.
Initial considerations of a rail line from Ulm along the Danube can be dated back to the 1850s. As was the case in other areas, cities and towns along the Danube started railway committees, which worked on finding support for the construction of a railway. In 1861, 17 of these committees published a memorandum, which argued for the construction of a line from Ulm via Ehingen, Mengen, Meßkirch, and Singen to Schaffhausen in Switzerland, with a connection to Tuttlingen as well as to the Black Forest Railway (Baden), which was still in its planning phase at the time. In addition, the construction of a railway along the Danube as part of a trans-European line between Vienna and Paris was under discussion. A connection between Ulm and Vienna already existed in the 1860s, and since Paris was already connected to Chaumont, Haute-Marne, closing the gap via construction of a railway from Ulm along the Danube to Donaueschingen, then further through the Schwarzwald to Freiburg, and across the Rhine river and the Vosges mountain range to Chaumont, found proponents amongst the committees along the Danube, and other parties, as the shortest route between Paris and Vienna. However, not only were there major topographical issues, which were difficult to solve given the knowledge of the day, but the many border crossings necessary to build this railway also added to the list of problems with the concept.
1865–1873: Construction of the Ulm–Sigmaringen and Tuttlingen–Donaueschingen sections Württemberg started with plans on a smaller scale, and, after negotiations with Baden and Prussia, received the right to build a railway to Sigmaringen in Hohenzollern, as well as to connect to the rail network of the state of Baden via the Hegau-Ablach Valley Railway in Mengen, which meant a connection to the western edge of the Bodensee. On 28 April 1865, the legislative body (Landtag) of the state of Württemberg passed into law a bill to construct a railway from Ulm along the rivers Blau, Ach, and Schmiech to Ehingen, and further along the Danube to Sigmaringen. An alternative route, which would have been much shorter and less expensive, and which would have branched off the already extant Südbahn at Erbach and followed the course of the Danube, was dropped in favour of a railway that would connect the towns of Blaubeuren und Schelklingen to the rail network. Crucial to this decision was the influence wielded by the member of the legislature from Blaubeuren, Ferdinand von Steinbeis, who was given an honorary citizenship of the town of Blaubeuren for his support. Construction started in 1865, and on 13 June 1868, the section between Ulm and Blaubeuren was opened for service.
In 1869 Ehingen was connected to the line, and the railway reached the town of Scheer on the border between Württemberg and Hohenzollern in 1870, with Charles I of Württemberg using the occasion to travel the line on a special train to Mengen. For the construction of the numerous tunnels and bridges across the Danube, the Royal Württemberg State Railways in particular hired workers from Italy. The advent of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870/71, as well as issues with the construction of some of the bridges, delayed the completion of the section from Scheer to Sigmaringen until 1873.
When the Royal Württemberg State Railways put into service the first section of the Danube Valley Railway between Ulm and Blaubeuren in 1868, construction by the Baden State Railways on the Schwarzwaldbahn in Baden from Singen to Offenburg had reached an advanced stage. On 15 June 1868, two days after the opening of the Danube Valley Railway section, the Black Forest Railway section between Engen and Donaueschingen was also opened for service, which, between Immendingen and Donaueschingen, follows the course of the Danube. Württemberg, which was following the progress of the Black Forest Railway construction with great interest, now formulated the goal to connect their rail network to the new line in Baden. However, building an extension to the Danube Valley Railway from Sigmaringen to the connection point in Immendingen in Baden, which would have meant the early completion of the line, was not in the plans. Instead, Württemberg wanted to extend the Upper Neckar Railway, which parted ways from the Fils Valley Railway near Plochingen, and then reached Reutlingen, Tübingen, and, in 1867, Rottenburg am Neckar, with the extension going through Horb and Rottweil, and further through the Neckar valley in a south-westerly direction to the border between the two states, to establish a connection to the Black Forest Railway there. In addition to a route between Rottweil and Villingen, another railway was built from Rottweil to Tuttlingen, which was completed on 15 July 1869. Württemberg then further constructed the connecting line from Tuttlingen to Immendingen through the Danube valley, which was completed on 26 July 1870. This meant that the section between Tuttlingen and Immendingen was completed as a connecting line to the Black Forest Railway, and the section between Immendingen and Donaueschingen was completed as part of the Black Forest Railway.
In 1873, railway lines now ran between Ulm and Sigmaringen, as well as between Tuttlingen and Donaueschingen. The connecting section between Tuttlingen and Sigmaringen was still outstanding. This gap was filled with the construction of the Tuttlingen–Inzigkofen railway, built between 1887 and 1890.
1890–1950: Expansion and destruction