Leutkirch–Memmingen railway

History

Two years after the completion of the construction of the Neu-Ulm–Kempten railway in 1863, the citizens of Wangen campaigned for a cross-border line connecting the Bavarian Allgäu railway with the new line in Memmingen. Since this proposal lacked political support, the plans came to nothing and the Württemberg Allgäu Railway was opened through the Württemberg Allgäu in various stages until 1880. Nevertheless, there continued to be support for a connection to Bavarian Swabia and Upper Bavaria.

In 1876 and 1886 there were further proposals from Memmingen for building a direct connection to Lindau through Württemberg. The second proposal resulted in negotiations between the two countries, although this was initially unsuccessful because Bavaria insisted on responsibility for the management of the entire line to Lindau. However, starting in 1870, the German military increasingly urged the closure of the last gaps in the railway between the garrisons in southern Bavaria and Württemberg and southern Alsace, finally leading to the signing of a treaty in 1887.

After nearly three years of construction, the line from Leutkirch im Allgäu to Memmingen was opened on 2 October 1889. Leutkirch was connected to the existing Württemberg Allgäu Railway from Aulendorf via Kißlegg to Wangen and Isny. A new “wedge” station (Keilbahnhof) was built at Leutkirch.

The military was involved in the implementation: the tracks in the Württemberg area were commissioned for the Royal Württemberg State Railways (Königlich Württembergischen Staats-Eisenbahnen) by members of the Berlin railway regiment; its exercises sometimes involved participation in civil construction projects.

1889: on 2 September at 7 AM, a composite detachment of railway troops from Prussia, Saxony and Württemberg marched through the local town after laying the tracks on the new railway from Leutkirch to the Bavarian border. The detachment consisted of 230 men with 7 officers and it returned to its garrison in Berlin ... The new line is part of a strategic railway, but it is expected to bring economic benefits, especially for Memmingen.

The closure of the second gap at a border between Wangen and Hergatz on 15 July 1890 finally created an alternative connection to the Bavarian Allgäu Railway from Munich and Augsburg to Lindau via Buchloe, with the newer route through Württemberg shorter than the older Bavarian Allgäu Railway via Kempten.

Route

The railway line connecting the two endpoints of Leutkirch im Allgäu and Memmingen are not direct, but instead have two long curves.

At the start of the line at Leutkirch station it turns northwest to the now disused Unterzeil station and then swings back sharply to the northeast towards Memmingen, passing through the stations of Altmannshofen and Aichstetten. This curve came about due to the interest of the Earl of Waldburg-Zeil in having a rail link to Unterzeil, which lies below Zeil Castle. Aichstetten Shell siding is served daily by tankers hauled by private locomotives.

Shortly after Aichstetten, the line turns north again and runs directly line to the stations of Marstetten-Aitrach, Mooshausen, which has been disused since the 1970s, and Tannheim. At Tannheim the track takes another sharp turn to the east and crosses the Iller on a large viaduct; at this point the border runs along the river. On the Bavarian side the line passes through Buxheim station, which is now also closed, before making a wide curve to the south of Memmingen, the end of the line. Even this so-called Tannheim Arc (Tannheimer Bogen) has political origins: the route was originally selected at the wishes of the Earl of Waldbott von Bassenheim of Buxheim and the Earl of Schaesberg in Tannheim, who also wanted connections to the railway.

Operations

The line is served by EuroCity trains on the Zürich–Bregenz–Lindau–Memmingen–Buchloe–Munich route (EC 190/191, EC 192/193, EC 194/195, EC 196/197).

Freight

From 1958 to 1995, 200 tons of oil from the oil field of Mönchsrot was loaded daily at Tannheim station on tanker cars and carried to Memmingen. In the summer season gravel trains run and trains also serve the large Shell tank farm in Aichstetten-Altmann, which forms part of the German strategic oil reserve.

Future

On 15 February 2008, the German Minister of Transport, Wolfgang Tiefensee and his Swiss counterpart, Moritz Leuenberger signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Memmingen agreeing to upgrade the Munich–Lindau railway and electrify it between the current ends of electrification at Geltendorf and Lindau-Aeschach. The Leutkirch–Memmingen line is part of the upgraded line. The MoU was followed on 18 December 2008 by a statement on its financing. This project is related to the construction of the Gotthard Base Tunnel. In particular, Switzerland wants the Munich–Buchloe–Memmingen–Lindau–Bregenz route to be a feeder line for the new route. The upgrade will allow a reduction in times for passenger trains between Munich and Zurich from four hours to only three hours. Work was originally expected to begin in 2010 and it was expected to be completed in 2015.

The electrification of the line and its upgrade for tilting trains was originally estimated to cost the federal government about €210 million. Bavaria would provide finance of €55 million and Switzerland would have granted an interest-free loan of €50 million. The Swiss loan in expected to be granted in spite of the delay as the deadline for all access routes of the Gotthard Base Tunnel has been extended by five years. On 18 October 2012, Deutsche Bahn announced that the start of construction would be delayed indefinitely because of unexpected increases in costs of €88 million, raising total costs to €298 million. As a result, there would have to be new funding negotiations. Moreover, Deutsche Bahn does not currently have a long-distance train that is equipped with tilting technology and is approved to run on this route. So rolling stock using Swiss technology would be allowed to operate on the route.

The controversial Tannheim Arc

Plans for a possible relocation of the route cutting off the Tannheim Arc came up for discussion in 2009. According to the proposal, which was not approved, a new route would have roughly followed the route of the disused branch line to Legau from Memmingen to directly connect with Aichstetten, running south of Dickenreishausen and crossing the Iller near Illerbeuren.

The Bavarian Ecological Democratic Party, citizens of Buxheim and Memmingen’s Mayor Ivo Holzinger, in particular, were in favour of the proposed bypass of part of Württemberg. The municipality of Buxheim sees itself as most affected by the intensification of traffic and the associated noise levels because the town itself—now a suburb of Memmingen—has now spread close to the line.

The municipalities of Tannheim and Aitrach fought successfully against this proposal since its implementation would have meant that the railway would have cut through them. The state of Baden-Württemberg announced its rejection of the plan in March 2009.