page_title: Franconia Railway
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Franconia Railway / History
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: DB 143 802 bei Kirchheim am Neckar mit RB 19176. English: DB 143 802, near Kirchheim am Neckar with train RB 19176
context_page_description: The Franconia Railway is a 180-kilometre-long railway line in the north of the German state of Baden-Württemberg and the Bavarian province of Lower Franconia that links Stuttgart and Würzburg. Its name comes from the fact that the majority of the line runs through Franconia. The first section of the line was opened in 1848 and is one of the oldest lines in Germany. The main line is now electrified and has been almost entirely upgraded to double-tracks.
context_section_description: The Franconian line was historically formed mainly from three different lines. The section between Stuttgart and Heilbronn was part of the Württemberg Central Railway or Northern Railway, which was built by the Royal Württemberg State Railways between 1844 and 1848. The section from Bad Cannstatt (near Stuttgart) to Ludwigsburg was opened on 22 October 1845 and it was extended to Bietigheim on 11 October 1847. The first section of the current Franconia Railway opened from Bietigheim to Heilbronn on 25 July 1848. The Grand Duchy of Baden State Railway built its Odenwald Railway (Odenwaldbahn) between 1862 and 1866 from Heidelberg via Mosbach and Osterburken to Würzburg. As part of a treaty between Baden and Württemberg, concluded in 1864, a link between the two lines was built, which was also referred to as the Lower Jagst Railway. It was built by Württemberg from Heilbronn via Jagstfeld to Osterburken and opened between 1866 and 1869.
  The importance of this line used to be much greater. In the period before the Second World War it was served by several important trains between Stuttgart and Berlin, and after 1945, between Stuttgart and Hamburg, as it was the shortest route between both pairs of cities. For example, the line was served in 1934 by the following pairs of trains:
  D 11/12 Stuttgart–Berlin Anhalt station
  D 13/14 Schaffhausen–Berlin Anhalt station, with coaches from Rome
  D 15/16 Stuttgart–Berlin Anhalt station
  After the Second World War, the line—along with many other important lines in Germany—was electrified. However, subsequently many of the line’s stations—particularly between Osterburken and Lauda—were abandoned for lack of profitability. Since the line is very twisty, it does not allow high speeds, and it has lost its usefulness for long-distance transport completely. Thus the InterRegio train "Rennsteig", which ran from Stuttgart to Erfurt, and the last remaining long-distance train on the Franconian line, was closed for the new timetable in 2001.
caption: Regionalbahn from Stuttgart in front of the Kirchheim Tunnel
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