Stuttgart Rack Railway Explained
The Stuttgart Rack Railway (German: Zahnradbahn Stuttgart) is an electric rack railway in Stuttgart, Germany, known affectionately as the Zacke (spike) by the local residents.[3] The line opened on 23 August 1884 and links Marienplatz in the city centre to Degerloch on the Filder plateau. It is integrated with the Stadtbahn network of the Stuttgarter Straßenbahnen (SSB) as Line 10. At Marienplatz it connects with lines U1 and U14 and at Degerloch it connects with lines U5, U6, U8 and U12.[4] Ordinary VVS tickets are valid.
The line one of only four rack railways operating in Germany, along with the Bavarian Zugspitze Railway, the Drachenfels Railway and the Wendelstein Railway, and is the only one used primarily as public transport.[1] The rack railway is one of two working railway lines that are tourist attractions in Stuttgart; the other being the Stuttgart funicular railway that leads to the forest cemetery, and operates as SSB line 20.
Route
The line connects the urban districts of Stuttgart South (Marienplatz) and Degerloch (Albplatz). The route runs along the Alte Weinsteige, which was historically the main route to the Filder towns until the Neue Weinsteige was built in 1826.
Over its first 1.7km (01.1miles) route the line climbs a height of (from 260to AMSL), before descending slighty to the terminus at Degerloch. The maximum grade on the route is 17.8% (between Liststraße and Pfaffenweg). From Liststraße there is a branch line to the depot with a maximum gradient of 20.0% (1 in 5). The line is entirely single track except a passing loop at Wielandshöhe. Between the stops at Pfaffenweg and Wielandshöhe there is a view of Stuttgart's city centre.
Bicycle Transport
Each of the third and fourth generation railcars has a trailer for the transport of bikes. These are flat wagons which are always on the uphill side of the railcar. Bikes can only be carried in the uphill direction and only for the entire journey from Marienplatz to Degerloch.[5]
Rolling Stock
ZT 4.1
The rack railway was modernised in 1982 with the third generation of electric railcars.[2] These bogie railcars are type ZT 4.1 and as well as being numbered 1001-1003 were named Heslach, Degerloch and Helene. The bodies were built by MAN, and have a similar design to the SSB DT 8 built at the same time, while the rack bogies were supplied by SLM.[6] Each of the railcars had a special low wagon for transporting bikes, with a capacity of 10 bikes.[5] Following their replacement by the ZT 4.2 railcars one of the ZT 4.1 (1003, Helene) is in the .[2]
ZT 4.2
The fourth generation of electric railcars were built by Stadler Rail, with the first delivered to Stuttgart in Autumn 2021 and entering service in October 2022.[7] [8] They are type ZT 4.2 and are numbered 1101-1103. The railcars look similar to the DT 8.12 vehicles, also built by Stadler, but the rack railway vehicles are only single cars and have a low-floor section in the centre, to improve accessibility for wheelchairs and pushchairs. Each railcar has 51 seats and a total capacity of 115 passengers.[2]
Three new bike trailers were also built for use with the new railcars. These are more than twice as long as the previous bike trailers and have capacity for 20 bikes and one cargo bike.[2]
History
- 23 August 1884: Opening of the Stuttgart - Degerloch rack railway, the first section of the Filderbahn line, as a narrow gauge steam-operated railway with a Riggenbach system. The Filderbahn Company operated the route from Stuttgart to Degerloch station.
- 1902: Electrification of the rack railway and the adhesion routes from Degerloch to Hohenheim and from Möhringen to Vaihingen. Electrification of the rack railway line was delayed by two years due to technical problems.
- 1903: Relocation of the passing track from Haigst to Wielandshöhe.
- 1904: Electrical operation begins on the rack railway, steam operation limited to Sunday excursions.
- 1918: Two additional steam engines taken over second-hand from the Swiss Brünigbahn railway for steam services which had increased due to the war.
- 1920: Filderbahn taken over by the city of Stuttgart and its management transferred to the Stuttgarter Straßenbahnen (Stuttgart Tramways).
- 1921: Steam operations ended.
- 1926: All passenger coaches on the rack railway and Filderbahn repainted to SSB livery. However, to distinguish SSB-owned vehicles from Filderbahn-owned vehicles, the latter provisionally prefixed their vehicle numbers with the letter "F".
- 1934: Filderbahn and the rack railway transfer to the ownership of the Stuttgarter Straßenbahnen.
- 1935: First two railcars with 3 axles are delivered, number 101 (in service until 1982) and 102 (scrapped due to damage in 1974).
- 1936: Relocation of the rack railway's Stuttgart terminal station from the valley to Marienplatz to improve transfers to the trams.
- 1937: Motor coach 103 was the first vehicle built entirely of steel to be delivered to the SSB.
- 1950: Last two coaches of the second generation railcars delivered, number 104 (today a museum railcar) and 105 (dismantled in 1995).
- 1954: Last railcar of the first generation, number 109, is taken out of service.
- 1956: Transfer of trailer(s) from the Filderbahn to the rack railway to handle the increased school traffic. This was however extremely rarely done and then only up to 1965 when the practice was discontinued.
- 1965: Replacement of the old cast iron bridge (commonly called the Turkish bridge because its manufacturer, Maschinenfabrik Esslingen, originally intended to deliver the bridge to Turkey.) over the Neue Weinsteige by the present-day reinforced concrete bridge.
- 1971: As a result of changes to the track layout at Marienplatz and the construction of the underground station the double-tracked valley station at Marienplatz was replaced by a single-tracked station, half of which is located on the bridge across a water reservoir (later filled in).
- 1974: Railcar number 102, recently taken out of service, is paraded in the Stuttgart Shrove Tuesday procession as an attraction.
- 1977: As a result of the rebuilding of the rack railway's Degerloch station, the connecting track to the adhesion railway was lifted and the rack railway became isolated from the rest of the SSB network.
- 1978: Cessation of routine three-coach working.
- 1980: Refurbishing of the complete rack railway track for use with newly commissioned railcars of type ZT4.
- 1984: Centenary celebrations and last school run on the traditional rack railway route by motor coach 104 and demonstration car 120.
- 1989: Replacement of the former swinging leaf doors on the ZT4 by appropriate external swing out doors on the DT8.
- 1992: Sale of display car 117 (built 1896) to the Härtsfeld Museum Railway (HMB) in Neresheim. Hitherto it had been displayed by a private collector as a monument. The museum employs it today as narrow gauge passenger vehicle on its own line.
- 1994: Extension of the route at the top of the line to the Albplatz to improve the connection to the Stadtbahn.
- 2002: Reopening of the rebuilt terminal and bridge at the entirely redesigned and modernized Marienplatz (6 December).
- 2004: Replacement of the track superstructure; partial laying of a new, slightly narrower rack rail.
Notes and References
- Web site: Zahnradbahn. ssb-ag.de. Stuttgarter Straßenbahnen. 2024-07-26. de.
- Haas. Andreas. April 2022. Zackige Zukunft. Straßenbahn Magazin. GeraMond. de.
- Web site: Just arrived in Stuttgart: The city’s first new rack-railway unit. 2021-10-02. urban-transport-magazine.com. Urban Transport Magazine. 2024-07-31.
- Web site: Stadtbahn Liniennetz. 2024-07-26. ssb-ag.de. Stuttgarter Straßenbahnen. 2024-07-31. de.
- Web site: Regeln Zahnradbahn. 2019-06-24. ssb-ag.de. Stuttgarter Straßenbahnen. 2024-07-31. de.
- Kochems. Michael. August 2019. Zacke vor Wandel. Straßenbahn Magazin. GeraMond. de.
- Web site: 2024-07-31 . 2022-10-08 . de . . Zahnradbahn: Erster neuer Zug jetzt im Linienverkehr . ssb-ag.de.
- Web site: 2024-07-31. 2022-10-13. Metro Report International. Stuttgart places LRV order as rack railcar enters service.
