Wehra Valley Railway

The Wehratalbahn was a 19.7 km long branch line from Schopfheim to Bad Säckingen. She followed partially the same river Wehra. Was at the track with the " driving Auer tunnel " one of the then longest railway tunnel ( 3.169 km ) in Germany. The Wehratalbahn was designed as a strategic path for bypassing the Switzerland in Basel and was prepared for the laying of a second track.

History

The railway line was inaugurated on 20 May 1890. Because of the existing hydropower plants and the long driving Auer tunnel was electrified in 1913 simultaneously with the meadow valley railway. First we used single-phase AC at a frequency of 15 Hz and the voltage to 15 kV. The current supplied the water power plant Augst -Wyhlen. Used were specially designed locomotives of the Baden State Railways. Even if the frequency was in 1936 increased to 16 ⅔ hertz, so now other vehicles could be used, the electrical traction remained until 1955, a stand-alone operation.

Passenger traffic on the Wehratalbahn was set on 23 May 1971 so that the stations hazel, Weir, Öflingen and Brennet / Wehratal were closed. Freight between Bad Säckingen and defense has been carried out until 1 September 1990. As of 31 December 1994, the line was closed.

The town of Wehr ( Baden ) announced in a council meeting on 19 April 2005, a report commissioned aimed at showing whether a restart is possible. This scheme developed by the Tübingen transport consultant Ulrich Big report was positive, but a reconstruction would be relatively expensive and only possible in the long term. To a similar reach a technical feasibility study of the company Pöyry Infra from Lörrach.

First, the route is to be protected, on the one hand by preventing overbuilding, on the other hand by the monument. So the Wehra railway bridge was declared a National Monument and the track lead in driving Auer tunnels are recognized as a cultural monument. Currently, the reactivation of the vehicle is examined Auer tunnel. The acquisition of the building by the city Schopfheim is not intended.