Line length 18.589 km (11.551 mi) 0.000 Kißlegg 9.000 Ratzenried Locale Bavaria | Route number Kißlegg–He
316e (1944) 5.200 Sommersried Line number 4560 | |
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Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ⁄2 in) standard gauge | ||
The Kißlegg–Hergatz railway is an 18.589 km long standard gauge main line in the Allgäu in the German states of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria. It runs from Kißlegg via Wangen to Hergatz and connects the Württemberg Allgäu Railway with the Bavarian Allgäu Railway. The line is not electrified and is all single-track. It is operated by Deutsche Bahn and is shown in its timetable as part of route number 753 from Aulendorf to Hergatz, which is alternatively called the Württemberg-Allgäu-Bahn (Allgäu-Württemberg Railway) and part of route number 971 from Augsburg to Lindau. The Kißlegg–Wangen section is also integrated in the network of the Bodensee-Oberschwaben Verkehrsverbund (Lake Constance-Upper Swabia Transport Association, bodo).
History
After the Bavarian town of Hergatz was connected in 1853 and the Württemberg town of Kißlegg was connected in 1870, Wangen remained unconnected to the rail network. 1876, it was decided to build the 13.3 kilometre line to Kißlegg, which was opened on 31 July 1880. In 1887, a treaty was contracted between Württemberg and Bavaria for the construction of the 5.3 km line between Wangen and Hergatz along with a line from Leutkirch to Memmingen. The Wangen–Hergatz section went into operation on 15 July 1890. Since its completion the new link has allowed a shorter route from Munich to Lindau than the Bavarian Allgäu Railway via Kempten.
It is planned to upgrade and electrify this line by 2020 as part of a transit route between Bavaria and Switzerland via the Buchloe–Memmingen, Leutkirch–Memmingen, Württemberg Allgäu, Kißlegg–Hergatz and Bavarian Allgäu railways.