Vorarlberg Railway

47.22006669.6391945Koordinaten: 47 ° 13 ' 12 " N, 9 ° 38' 21" E

The Vorarlberg train (also Vorarlberg train) refers to a railway line, which runs through the Austrian state of Vorarlberg. Your route is similar to the Rhine Valley / Walgau motorway from the border at Lindau or Hörbranz to Bludenz, where it merges into the Arlberg railway. The entire route is owned and operated by ÖBB and also used by this.

As Vorarlberg train the western continuation of the Arlberg Railway ( ÖBB timetable number AT 401) is designated by the Walgau and the Vorarlberg Rhine Valley.

History

Planning phase

Already in 1847 recognized the later designated as the main representative of railway construction in Vorarlberg entrepreneur Carl Ganahl the importance of a railway line in Vorarlberg. Initially, however, many problems arose in opposition to this suggestion, the largest being of course given. A mountain railway, as it was necessary to cross the Arlberg, had not yet been built so far in Austria and a route with no connection to the Tyrolean areas seemed useless. In addition, Vorarlberg was not an independent crown land of Austria-Hungary and thus possessed no representatives in Vienna.

In 1853, the traffic on the Bavarian Ludwig South - North train to Lindau and 1857 the Swiss routes from Rorschach to Rheineck and Rheineck was opened to Chur. On the Austrian side was made in 1859 the Innsbruck connection via Wörgl Kufstein on the railway network. Already in 1856 handed the nunmehrige President of the newly founded Vorarlberg trade and industry chamber, Carl Ganahl a petition for approval of preliminary work. Then he had only two years later prepare a detailed project first, which he paid out of pocket. In the same year he set a definite concession request to the imperial Department of Commerce. There the application was provisionally postponed because first consultation with the littoral states had to be kept. This could only be completed in 1865 with the signing of treaties.

Previously, the Department of Commerce had submitted a railway program in 1864, which provided also the construction of a route from Innsbruck to Dornbirn first time. In March 1867 a first concept of Vorarlberg side was presented, which provided also the construction of a tunnel between St. Anton and Langen. The Imperial Council dealt with the request, although already in 1867, the building was decided, however, only on 1 May 1869.

Implementation and construction

After Carl Ganahl prevailed among two other competitors for the railway construction, construction began on the construction of the first railway line in Vorarlberg in October of 1870. The majority of the construction work was carried out in 1871, with only partial sections could be built and partly because objections considerable loss of time had to be taken into account. The newly created joint-stock company of the Imperial and Royal priv Vorarlberg lift with seat in Vienna received its corporate charter by the Home Office on May 5, 1871 June 9, the statutes were approved, on July 3 was the Constitutional Act, and on the 8th July, she was entered in the commercial register. You could have a virtually unlimited capital, as their shares had been oversubscribed twenty times.

The first pageant sailed the route Bludenz- Lochau on 30 June 1872 with a steam locomotive, which was given the name " Bregenz ". Finally, the railway line was opened to the public transport on 1 July 1872. Only in 1884 the railway line but was connected with the construction of the Arlberg tunnel to the rest of Austrian railway network. Previously, the links were already on October 14, 1872 opened after book and Lindau as well as the connection after St.Margrethen on 23 November of the same year. A first continuous express sailed the route from 1 November 1873 en route from Zurich to Munich. By following the path to the rest of Vorarlberg public Austrian railway network at the same time ended its era of independence, it was state-owned.

The railway line was fully electrified until 1954. The dual improvement of the section of Bludenz to Feldkirch in 1991, the route from Feldkirch to Bregenz in 1995. The section from Lochau / Hörbranz to Bregenz harbor is still only one track.

Construction and technology

The main route of the railway line, with the exception of the section Bregenz Lochau expanded to double track and fully electrified, with the portion of the state border so far is a special feature to Lindau Hauptbahnhof than that the overhead electrical lines were created by the ÖBB workshop in Bludenz due to German regulations. As in Germany there is no connection to the German railway power network, this section is supplied with power from Austria. For this reason (and because of the Lindau railway station is a railway terminus ), the locomotives of the SBB and ÖBB (electric) to DB locomotives ( diesel ) to be replaced in almost all international trains in Lindau.

Connecting line Feldkirch- Buchs SG

After the station in direction Bregenz Feldkirch branches a single-track, electrified, 18.5 km long route from Buchs. Also, this route is a special feature: the track on Liechtenstein territory is fully operated and maintained by the ÖBB.

In the exposition, the connection is made to the St. Gallen- St. Margrethen -Sargans -Chur SBB. Together with the part of the main route from Bludenz, Feldkirch to this connecting line is therefore an important part of the East-West Euro City connections from Vienna to Zurich. However, this must change direction in the book and it is simultaneously a change of locomotive ÖBB - on SBB locomotives or vice versa.

Diversion Lauterach -St. Margrethen

In the field of stop Lauterach (formerly Station ) was created a track triangle for the connection to Switzerland. While the diversion from the direction Feldkirch is used to Switzerland only by freight trains to Switzerland or to the petroleum storage of OMV in Lustenau, the diversion from Bregenz is mainly used by passenger trains and is part of the major route Munich - Zurich.

In St.Margrethen the connection is made to the St. Gallen- St. Margrethen -Sargans -Chur SBB, with no change in direction of the train is required in the direction of St. Gallen and most international trains between Germany and Switzerland are drawn with SBB locomotives that have special pantograph for ÖBB and DB routes.