Bavarian Zugspitze Railway

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Garmisch–Zugspitzplatt
Catenary (1500 V DC)
Operating speed	70 km/h (43 mph) max.
Maximum incline	Adhesion 3.51  % Rack rail 25  %
Route map Legend from Munich 0,0 Garmisch-Partenkirchen 705 m Mittenwald Railway to Innsbruck 1,2 Hausbergbahn 2.0 Rießersee closed in 1985 3.0 Bridge over the Außerfern Railway to Kempten (Allgäu) 3.1 Katzenstein Tunnel (75 m) 4.1 Kreuzeck- / Alpspitz Railway 754 m 5.5 Hammersbach 766 m 7.5 Grainau Start of rack 751 m Depot 8.4 Crossing loop 1 9.8 Crossing loop 2 10.7 Eibsee 1008 m 11.9 Water tank station 1152 m 13.0 Kleiner Tunnel (70 m) 13.4 Crossing loop 3 1478 m 14.1 Riffelriss 1640 m 14.2 1640 m 15.0 Window 1 1820 m 16.2 Crossing loop 4 2115 m 17.1 Höllental not realized, now Trafo station 18.1 0.0 2525 m Zugspitze Tunnel (4466 m) 18.6 Schneefernerhaus 2650 m Rosi Tunnel (975 m) 0.9 Zugspitzplatt 2588 m

The Bavarian Zugspitze Railway (

The line is operated by the Bayerische Zugspitzbahn Bergbahn AG (BZB), whose majority owner is the Garmisch-Partenkirchen Municipal Works. In 2007 the Zugspitze Railway was nominated for a Historic landmarks of civil engineering in Germany [de] award.

The Zugspitze is accessible via the Seilbahn Zugspitze from Eibsee Lake or Tyrolean Zugspitze Cable Car.

History

Opening of the line

The railway was built between 1928 and 1930 and opened in three stages. The first was the 3.2 kilometres (2.0 mi) long centre section between Grainau and the Eibsee which went into operation on 19 February 1929. On 19 December 1929 it was followed by the 7.5 kilometres (4.7 mi) long section between Garmisch and Grainau, including the important tourist connexion to the main railway network of the Deutsche Reichsbahn. On 8 July 1930 the last 7.9 kilometres (4.9 mi) long section between the Eibsee and the – now closed – summit station of Schneefernerhaus was opened, including the final 4,466 metres (14,652 ft) long Zugspitze Tunnel.

New summit section since 1987

In 1987 the route of the railway in the summit area was changed and the 975 metres (3,199 ft) long "Rosi Tunnel" opened. The tunnel was named after the skier,

The overall length of the Zugspitze Railway was extended from 18.6 kilometres (11.6 mi) to its current 19.0 kilometres (11.8 mi). For five years, both termini were worked in parallel, but since November 1992 the old route to the Schneefernerhausis is no longer routinely worked.

Route

Deutsche Bahn AG. Moreover, it is still just called Garmisch, whereas the DB station bears the double-barrelled name of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, reflecting the contentious merger, formally in 1935, of the two municipalities.^[1]

For the first 7.5 kilometres (4.7 mi), as far as

Riggenbach rack system

, and is 11.5 kilometres (7.1 mi) long.

Tyrol.^[2]

Technical

The Zugspitzbahn runs from Garmisch-Partenkirchen to Zugspitzplatt, a distance of 19.0 km. The

Garmisch to Eibsee is operated as an adhesion railway with rack assistance (i.e. using a cog-wheel system) from Grainau to Eibsee. The section above Eibsee is operated as rack only using the Riggenbach system. Passengers travelling the whole line from Garmisch to Zugspitzplatt stay on the same train.^[3]

Gallery

This section contains an unencyclopedic or excessive gallery of images. Please help improve the section by moving relevant images beside adjacent text, in accordance with the Manual of Style on use of images. (December 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this message )

• 
  The starting point of the railway in August 1982
• 
  ...... and in June 2010
• 
  View from the halt at Riffelriss, immediately before the entrance to the summit tunnel
• 
  height signpost in the tunnel
• 
  Share of the Bayerische Zugspitzbahn AG, issued August 1977

References

1. ^ "Die erzwungene Vereinigung". Alois Schwarzmüller, Garmisch-Partenkirchen. 2006. Archived from the original on 22 February 2016. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
2. ^ Retrieved from the Google Earth geoinformation system
3. ISBN 978-3-7771-0413-3
   ;

Bibliography

• Paul Schultze-Naumburg: Zugspitzbahn. in Zs. Deutsche Rundschau, November 1926
• Die Bayerische Zugspitzbahn. AEG-Mitteilungen, Heft 4, April 1931
• Erich Preuß: Die Bayerische Zugspitzbahn und ihre Seilbahnen, Transpress, Stuttgart 1997,
  ISBN 3-613-71054-4
• Gerd Wolff: Deutsche Klein- und Privatbahnen. H. 7: Bayern. Eisenbahn Kurier, Freiburg,
  ISBN 3-88255-666-8

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bayerische Zugspitzbahn.

• Official website
• Photos of the tunnel portals on the Bavarian Zugspitze Railway
• Photos of the Zugspitze Railway
• Documents and clippings about Bavarian Zugspitze Railway in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW

47°29′30″N 11°05′49″E / 47.491785°N 11.097019°E / 47.491785; 11.097019