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Strasbourg–Basel railway

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French and Swiss railway line
Strasbourg–Basel railway
Map of the line
Overview
StatusOperational
OwnerSNCF
LocaleFrance (Alsace), Switzerland (Basel-Stadt)
Termini
  • Strasbourg
  • Basel SNCF
Service
SystemSNCF
Operator(s)SNCF
History
Opened1840 - 1844
Technical
Line length141.3 km (87.8 mi)
Number of tracksDouble track
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification25 kV 50 Hz
Operating speed220 km/h (140 mph)
Route map

Legend
Line from Paris-Est
Line to Lauterbourg
502.0
0.0
 Strasbourg-Ville (143m)
Strasbourg railroad bypass
Line to Kehl (Germany)
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)
43.2
Line from Saverne
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 Staffelfelden 250m
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
Line 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. It was the first railway line to serve Switzerland.

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. 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 France–Switzerland border were opened. With its southern terminus at Basel St. Johann, it was the first railway line to serve Switzerland, before the Spanisch-Brötli-Bahn. 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. On June 15, 1860, the line was extended south to Basel Centralbahnhof (now Basel SBB), its present terminus.

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. 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 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). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-18.
  2. "RFF - Map of electrified railway lines" (PDF).
  3. ^ 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. ^ Joanne, Adolphe (1859). Atlas historique et statistique des chemins de fer français (in French). Paris: L. Hachette. p. 39.
  5. ^ Wägli, Hans G.; Jacobi, Sébastien (2010). Schienennetz Schweiz - Bahnprofil Schweiz CH+ [Swiss rail network] (in German) (3rd ed.). Zürich: AS Verlag. p. 15. ISBN 978-3-909111-74-9.
  6. De l'exploitation des chemins de fer Page 132 François Prosper Jacqmin 1867
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