Montafonerbahn

Railway line in Austria From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Montafonerbahn (German: Montafonerbahn, lit. 'Montafon railway') is a railway line in the Austrian state of Vorarlberg. It runs 12.8 kilometers from the Schruns railway station in Schruns to Bludenz railway station in Bludenz, where it connects to the Arlberg railway and the Vorarlberg Railway, which together form the east–west main line in Vorarlberg. Local services on the line are designated the ● S4 of the Vorarlberg S-Bahn and are operated by the Montafonerbahn railway company (MBS), which also operates freight traffic on the line.

Native nameMontafonerbahn
OwnerMontafonerbahn AG
LocaleMontafon Valley, Vorarlberg, Austria
Termini
Quick facts Montafon Railway, Overview ...
Montafon Railway
A train on the line passing through a field with a mountain in the background.
An NPZ of the Montafonerbahn between Tschagguns and Kaltenbrunnen in 2010.
Overview
Native nameMontafonerbahn
OwnerMontafonerbahn AG
LocaleMontafon Valley, Vorarlberg, Austria
Termini
Connecting linesAt Bludenz:
Former connectionsAt Tschagguns:
  • Tschagguns–Partenen railway [de]
Stations9
Service
TypeBranch line
SystemVorarlberg S-Bahn
History
Opened1905
Technical
Line length12.874 km (8.000 mi)
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
Minimum radius170 m (560 ft)
Electrification15 kV 16.7 Hz
Operating speed90 km/h (56 mph)
Route map
Montafonerbahn
Legend
elev (M)
or length (m)
in metres
 Vorarlberg Railway
 to Lindau S1
0.000
 Bludenz ↑S1 ↓S4
 Arlberg Railway
 to Innsbruck
0.637
ÖBB
MBS
ownership
1.685
Bludenz substation siding
1.868
 Bludenz-Moos
2.786
 Brunnenfeld-Stallehr
2.792
siding
Alfenz River
2.976
Lorüns cement works
3.049
Ill River
4.075
 Lorüns
6.916
 St. Anton im Montafon
8.150
 Vandans
10.276
 Kaltenbrunnen
10.477
Rodund Power Station [de]
11.056
Tschagguns goods yard (closed)
Ill River
Litz River
11.753
 Tschagguns
Former Break of gauge
1,435 mm
760 mm
12.721
 Schruns S4
12.869
end of line
Former Tschagguns–Partenen railway [de] to Partenen


Sources: [1][2]

Close

Operations

Current

Per the December 2024 ÖBB schedule, the line sees two service patterns, both belonging to the Vorarlberg S-Bahn, the ● S4, and the ● REX 1. The resulting combined frequency is 30 minutes on the Montafonerbahn, where both services make local stops. While the S4 terminates at the end of the branch in Bludenz, the REX 1 continues along the Vorarlberg railway to Lindau, as an express service to the ● S1.[3][4]

Diesel locomotive in siding.
MBS V100 locomotive in Schruns.

Freight service on the line is operated by MBS using a V100 diesel locomotive.[5]

Former

In the 1970s and 1980s Deutsche Bundesbahn ran a long-distance through-car service from Schruns to Dortmund under the Fern-Express [de] designation.[a][6] On the line, the through-car was coupled to an MBS motorcar or locomotive.[5]

From 1980[7] and until 2009, the MBS operated two ÖBB class 1045 [de] locomotives for freight service on the line. They were replaced by a V100 diesel locomotive and were sent to preservation with the Austrian Society for Railway History.[5]

History

Black and white photograph of an electric multiple unit train in the snow with a crowd in front of it posing for the camera.
The inaugural train of the Montafonerbahn in 1905.

Rail transport reached the area in 1884, with the opening of the Arlberg Railway to Bludenz, and initial plans for a railway in the Montafon Valley appeared at around this time. A contract for the construction of railway electrification was signed with the electrical manufacturer Siemens & Halske in 1893, though the character of the line was still undecided at this time. Preparatory work on a standard gauge, electric railway line started in 1903 with Josef Riehl [de] as contractor.[7]

The Montafonerbahn opened on 18 December 1905 as both Austria's westernmost private railway [de], and the first electric local railway in Austria-Hungary.[8] The line was originally operated by the KkStB, or the Austro-Hungarian national railways.[7] The line was originally electrified with 650 V direct current.[8]

MBS railcar along the line in 1984.

MBS took over operations of the line from the Austrian Federal Railways in 1926.[7]

The connecting narrow gauge Tschagguns–Partenen railway [de] opened in 1928 and connected to the railway.[7] Parts of the narrow gauge railway would survive in some form until 2013.[5]

The line switched its volage in 1950, to 720 V and later 900 V, before adapting the Austrian standard of 15 kV 16.7 Hz alternating current in 1972.[8]

Bludenz-Moos railway station opened in 1965.[7]

The Montafonerbahn received new NPZ railcars in 1994.[5]

In 2015, there were plans from the Austrian Tourist Board to extend the line 8 kilometers further up the valley to Sankt Gallenkirch in order to better connect with the Silvretta Montafon ski area.[9]

Stations

More information Kilometric Point, Station ...
Kilometric Point Station Image Municipality Connections Position
0.000 km Bludenz Bludenz[b] 47°09′18″N 09°48′53″E
1.685 km Bludenz-Moos 47°08′32.6508″N 09°49′50.9484″E
2.786 km Brunnenfeld-Stallehr 47°08′11.0004″N 09°50′19.9536″E
4.075 km Lorüns Lorüns 47°07′50.0592″N 09°51′13.3164″E
6.916 km St. Anton im Montafon St. Anton im Montafon 47°06′36.126″N 09°51′58.5144″E
8.150 km Vandans Bartholomäberg[c] 47°05′54.8232″N 09°52′7.1472″E
10.276 km Kaltenbrunnen Schruns[d] 47°05′7.5732″N 09°53′16.17″E
11.753 km Tschagguns 47°04′44.8176″N 09°54′16.7652″E
12.721 km Schruns 47°04′46.6392″N 09°55′2.9136″E
Reference: [1]
Close

Notes

  1. [a]
    Being part of FD 712/713 in earlier years and FD 1912/1913 in later years, both named "Allgäu" from Dortmund to Oberstdorf.
  2. [b]
    Brunnenfeld-Stallehr station also serves Stallehr.
  3. [c]
    The station also serves Vandans.
  4. [d]
    Kaltenbrunnen and Tschagguns stations also serve Tschagguns.

External links

  • Media related to Montafonerbahn at Wikimedia Commons

References

Related Articles

Wikiwand AI