Bavarian Zugspitze Railway

Last updated

Garmisch–Zugspitzplatt
Bundesarchiv Bild 102-11678, Bergbahn auf die Zugspitze.jpg
Early photograph from May 1931
LandkarteZugspitzbahn.jpg
Overview
Line number9540
Locale Bayern
Service
Route number11031
Technical
Line length19.0 km (11.8 mi)
Rack system Riggenbach
Track gauge 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+38 in) metre gauge
Electrification Catenary (1500 V   DC)
Operating speed70 km/h (43 mph) max.
Maximum incline Adhesion 3.51   %
Rack rail 25   %
Route map

Contents

BSicon STR.svg
BSicon KBHFa.svg
BSicon BHF.svg
0,0
Garmisch-Partenkirchen
705 m
BSicon STR.svg
BSicon ABZgl.svg
BSicon HST.svg
BSicon HST.svg
1,2
Hausbergbahn
BSicon eHST.svg
BSicon eHST.svg
2.0
Rießersee
closed in 1985
BSicon STR2.svg
BSicon STR3u.svg
3.0
Bridge over the Außerfern Railway
BSicon STR+1u.svg
BSicon STR+4.svg
BSicon TUNNEL2.svg
3.1
Katzenstein Tunnel (75 m)
BSicon HST.svg
4.1
Kreuzeck- / Alpspitz Railway
754 m
BSicon HST.svg
5.5
Hammersbach
766 m
BSicon BHF+Za.svg
7.5
Grainau
Start of rack
751 m
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BSicon ABZgr.svg
Depot
BSicon eDST.svg
8.4
Crossing loop 1
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9.8
Crossing loop 2
BSicon BHF.svg
10.7
Eibsee
1008 m
BSicon eBST.svg
11.9
Water tank station
1152 m
BSicon TUNNEL2.svg
13.0
Kleiner Tunnel (70 m)
BSicon DST.svg
13.4
Crossing loop 3
1478 m
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14.1
Riffelriss
1640 m
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14.2
1640 m
BSicon etHST.svg
15.0
Window 1
1820 m
BSicon tDST.svg
16.2
Crossing loop 4
2115 m
BSicon etHST.svg
17.1
Höllental
not realized, now Trafo station
BSicon extSTR+l.svg
BSicon etABZgr.svg
18.1
0.0
2525 m
BSicon extSTR.svg
BSicon tSTR.svg
BSicon extKBHFe.svg
BSicon tSTR.svg
18.6
Schneefernerhaus
2650 m
BSicon tSTR.svg
Rosi Tunnel (975 m)
BSicon tKBHFe@g.svg
0.9
Zugspitzplatt
2588 m

The Bavarian Zugspitze Railway (German : Bayerische Zugspitzbahn) is one of four rack railways still working in Germany, along with the Wendelstein Railway, the Drachenfels Railway and the Stuttgart Rack Railway. The metre gauge line runs from Garmisch in the centre of Garmisch-Partenkirchen to the Zugspitzplatt, approximately 300 metres below Zugspitze, the highest mountain in Germany. The line culminates at 2,650 metres above sea level, which makes it the highest railway in Germany and the third highest in Europe. It is also the railway in Europe with the biggest height difference: 1,945 metres (6,381 feet), the lower half being open-air and the upper half being underground.

The line is operated by the Bayerische Zugspitzbahn Bergbahn AG (BZB), whose majority owner is the Garmisch-Partenkirchen Municipal Works. In 2007 the Zugspitze Railway was nominated for a Historic landmarks of civil engineering in Germany  [ de ] award.

The Zugspitze is accessible via the Seilbahn Zugspitze from Eibsee Lake or Tyrolean Zugspitze Cable Car.

History

Opening of the line

The railway was built between 1928 and 1930 and opened in three stages. The first was the 3.2 kilometres (2.0 mi) long centre section between Grainau and the Eibsee which went into operation on 19 February 1929. On 19 December 1929 it was followed by the 7.5 kilometres (4.7 mi) long section between Garmisch and Grainau, including the important tourist connexion to the main railway network of the Deutsche Reichsbahn. On 8 July 1930 the last 7.9 kilometres (4.9 mi) long section between the Eibsee and the – now closed – summit station of Schneefernerhaus was opened, including the final 4,466 metres (14,652 ft) long Zugspitze Tunnel.

New summit section since 1987

In 1987 the route of the railway in the summit area was changed and the 975 metres (3,199 ft) long "Rosi Tunnel" opened. The tunnel was named after the skier, Rosi Mittermaier, who was the tunnel patroness (Tunnelpatin) at the time. The tunnel branches from the 1930-built Zugspitze Tunnel about three-quarters of the way along it, and runs to the somewhat lower Zugspitzplatt plateau at 2,588 metres (8,491 ft). Here, below the Sonn-Alpin Restaurant is the new Glacier Station (Gletscher-Bahnhof) in the middle of the ski area.

The overall length of the Zugspitze Railway was extended from 18.6 kilometres (11.6 mi) to its current 19.0 kilometres (11.8 mi). For five years, both termini were worked in parallel, but since November 1992 the old route to the Schneefernerhausis is no longer routinely worked.

Route

Detailed diagram of the Zugspitze Tunnel Zugspitztunnel.svg
Detailed diagram of the Zugspitze Tunnel

The Zugspitze Railway starts in the quarter of Garmisch at a height of 705 metres (2,313 ft). Here the BZB runs its own terminal station which is operationally entirely separate from the adjacent standard gauge station of the Deutsche Bahn AG. Moreover, it is still just called Garmisch, whereas the DB station bears the double-barrelled name of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, reflecting the contentious merger, formally in 1935, of the two municipalities. [1]

For the first 7.5 kilometres (4.7 mi), as far as Grainau, the Zugspitze Railway runs as an adhesion line. Of this section, the first 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) run parallel to the Ausserfern Railway, built in 1913. The mountain section begins in Grainau station, is equipped with a Riggenbach rack system, and is 11.5 kilometres (7.1 mi) long.

Simplified profile of the line Profil Zugspitzbahn.png
Simplified profile of the line

The railway climbs steeply uphill from Grainau, passes Eibsee station and finally arrives at the halt of Riffelriss. Immediately after the halt is the entrance to the Zugspitze Tunnel, which together with the Rosi Tunnel takes trains to the current terminus at Zugspitzplatt. About a kilometre before it reaches the terminus, the underground section of the line passes almost exactly below the summit of the Zugspitze, and a few metres away from the border with the Austrian state of Tyrol. [2]

Technical

The Zugspitzbahn runs from Garmisch-Partenkirchen to Zugspitzplatt, a distance of 19.0 km. The track gauge is 1,000 mm and the electrification system is 1,500 V D.C. overhead line. The lower section from Garmisch to Eibsee is operated as an adhesion railway with rack assistance (i.e. using a cog-wheel system) from Grainau to Eibsee. The section above Eibsee is operated as rack only using the Riggenbach system. Passengers travelling the whole line from Garmisch to Zugspitzplatt stay on the same train. [3]

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References

  1. "Die erzwungene Vereinigung". Alois Schwarzmüller, Garmisch-Partenkirchen. 2006. Archived from the original on 22 February 2016. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
  2. Retrieved from the Google Earth geoinformation system
  3. Karl Arne Richter (editor), Europäische Bahnen '11, Eurailpress, Hamburg, 2010, ISBN   978-3-7771-0413-3;

Bibliography

47°29′30″N11°05′49″E / 47.491785°N 11.097019°E / 47.491785; 11.097019