Hohenzollerische Landesbahn

The Hohenzollerische country Bahn AG (HzL) is the largest non-federally owned railway company in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the Albtal-Verkehrs-Gesellschaft and Südwestdeutsche Verkehrs-Aktiengesellschaft. It has operates passenger and freight traffic since 1900. Its field of activity now extends to large parts of southern Baden-Württemberg.

The focus of its business in 2011, with revenue of €32.4 million (80%), is railway passenger operations, 11% (€4.3 million) of revenues come from road transport bus operations and revenue of €3.6 million (9%) is produced by rail freight operations.

The HzL is a member of the Tarifverband der Bundeseigenen und Nichtbundeseigenen Eisenbahnen in Deutschland ("fare association of federally-owned and non-federally owned railways in Germany", TBNE) and the Verband Deutscher Verkehrsunternehmen ("association of German transport companies").

History

The Hohenzollern Lands

The HzL was founded in 1899 as the Actiengesellschaft Hohenzollern’sche Kleinbahngesellschaft (Hohenzollern light railway company) in order to build Kleinbahn (light railways as authorised by a Prussian law of 1892) in the Prussian region of Sigmaringen (part of the Province of Hohenzollern).

Since the Province of Hohenzollern was an elongated territory partly surrounded by the Kingdom of Württemberg, the Royal Württemberg State Railways’s railway at this time only used the shortest route through this "foreign" area and only served the two district towns of Hechingen (from 1869) and Sigmaringen (from 1878).

As the founder of Hohenzollerischen Landesbahn, the government of Prussia took over 50 percent of the capital, and the Landeskommunalverband der Hohenzollerischen Lande (a collective local government body body of the Province of Hohenzollern) and the Westdeutsche Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft (West German Railway Company) took about 25 percent each. Since 1972, the majority shareholder has been the state of Baden-Württemberg with 71.934%, while Zollernalbkreis and Sigmaringen district each have 14.033%. The HZL in turn holds 7.5% of the share capital of the Verkehrsverbund Neckar-Alb-Donau (Neckar-Alb-Donau transport association, naldo).^[2]

The HzL began to build branches from the lines of the Württemberg State Railways to develop the Prussian territory. The first was opened on 28 March 1900 in the Danube Valley, running upstream of Sigmaringendorf through the Lauchert valley to the Laucherthal goods yard at the Fürstlichen steelworks and continuing to Bingen. The following year the HzL brought three more branch lines into operation:

• on 18 March 1901 from Hechingen to Burladingen,
• on 7 June 1901 from Eyach via Haigerloch to Stetten and the Stetten salt mine and
• on 7 November 1901 branching off the Reutlingen–Schelklingen railway at Kleinengstingen and running to Gammertingen.

After a break of several years, during which the company was renamed Hohenzollerische Landesbahn AG on 18 June 1907, four lines were selected for extension as a connected network.

On 6 December 1908, the railway was extended from Burladingen to Gammertingen, which is still the location of the HzL’s operating center with its main workshop, and it continued to the southeast via Hanfertal to Bingen, where it connected with the existing line to Sigmaringendorf on the Danube Valley Railway.

On 5 October 1910, a shortcut was completed from Hanfertal to Sigmaringen state railway station. At Christmas 1912 (24 December) the last gap was closed between Stetten and Hechingen, providing a continuous line from Eyach via Hechingen–Gammertingen–Hanfertal to Sigmaringendorf with a length of 86 km. With the branches to Kleinengstingen (20 km) and to Sigmaringen (2 km), the HzL network comprised a total length of almost 107.4 km, including 15 km of lines in Württemberg.

It was managed by the operations branch, based in Stuttgart, of the Westdeutsche Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft (WeEG) of Cologne until 1928 and following the WeEG’s merger with Aktiengesellschaft für Verkehrswesen, it was managed by the Vereinigte Kleinbahnen. From 1 July 1933, the HzL has managed its operation itself. Its seat of administration is Hechingen.

Development of HzL network

Route network of HzL passenger services plus the freight-only line to Eyach (HzL mainline network and links with non-HzL lines) plus selected bus services

The main line network of the HzL, which was completed almost a hundred years ago, is still in operation today. Passenger services are operated between Hechingen and Sigmaringen, continuing to Eyach on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. The rest of the network was converted to bus operations between 1968 and 1973 section by section:

• 29 September 1968: Sigmaringendorf–Bingen–Hanfertal (school trains continued until 30 May 1991)
• 1 June 1969: Kleinengstingen–Trochtelfingen
• 28 May 1972: Trochtelfingen–Gammertingen
• 1 October 1972: Eyach–Haigerloch
• 3 June 1973: Haigerloch–Hechingen

The HzL bus services launched in 1947 today cover an 800-km route network with hubs in Reutlingen, Horb, Sigmaringen and Riedlingen.

In 2000, the Gammertingen–Kleinengstingen railway was reactivated for excursion trips of the Rad-Wander-Shuttle, running from May to October, supporting cycling tourism.

The 107.5 km long main line of the HzL was extended in January 2001 by the leasing of the 12.9 km-long non-dismantled section of the DB-owned Balingen–Rottweil railway between Balingen and Schomberg. This line is used by HzL freight traffic and is also served by the Rad-Wander-Shuttle during the summer. In addition, the HzL operates on behalf of the Ringzug the 2.8 km-long Bräunlingen–Hüfingen section of the Breg Valley Railway, which was originally owned by the Südwestdeutsche Verkehrs-Aktiengesellschaft.

The main lines of the HzL

Eyach–Hechingen line

Eyach–Hechingen railway (ZAB 4)
Overview
Locale	Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Technical
Line length	27.9 km (17.3 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Route number	9460
Route map Legend Upper Neckar Railway from Tübingen Eyach 0.0 Eyach Landesbahn 374 m Connecting track realigned in 1984 0.3 L360 Upper Neckar Railway to Horb 0.6 Eyach 3.7 Mühringen 387 m 6.0 Bad Imnau 394 m 9.7 Trillfingen 415 m 10.3 Steinbruch siding 10.9 Haigerloch 425 m 11.5 Haigerloch Tunnel (146 m) 12.8 Stunzach 13.3 Stetten (bei Haigerloch) 440 m 14.0 Eyach 14.0 track 15.9 summit ("Weißes Kreuz") 492 m 18.1 Hart (Hohenz) 455 m 20.0 L410 20.8 Bach 21.6 Rangendingen 419 m Tubex siding 22.0 Dieringer company siding 23.3 Starzel 23.5 Lindich-Weilheim 436 m 25.2 Starzel 25.6 Stein (Hohenz) 456 m 26.3 Starzel 26.3 Haigerlocher Straße 26.8 Municipal gasworks siding 26.9 Sickingen-Friedrichstraße 476 m zig zag to Hechingen DB (see below) 27.9 Hechingen Landesbahn 492 m line to Gammertingen (see below) Source: German railway atlas[3]

Radwander-Shuttle of the HzL in Balingen

Regio-Shuttle on the Lautlingen viaduct

Heavy trains hauled by locomotives cannot be operated on the Stetten (bei Haigerloch)–Weißes Kreuz section.

In the autumn of 2008, the HzL resumed the operation of classic railway passenger services, as distinct from excursion trains In 2009, after an absence of 30 years. Leisure traffic was operated as the 3-Löwen-Takt Radexpress Eyachtäler in 2009 and gradually expanded. Since 2012, it runs on Sundays and public holidays from 1 May to the 3rd Sunday in October. This involves a railcar shuttling at 2-hour intervals between Eyach and Hechingen Landesbahn (timetable route 767). Until 2011, it was operated mainly with a historical MAN Schienenbus (railbus), which was replaced from 2012 by a modern Regio-Shuttle. Further trips have been run every year for the Haigerloch Christmas market. The HzL foresees future timetables having a 30-minute interval service to connect with tourist traffic from the metropolitan region of Stuttgart on the Stuttgart–Hattingen railway.^[4]

Hechingen–Gammertingen line

Hechingen–Gammertingen railway (ZAB 2)
Technical
Line length	27.0 km (16.8 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Route number	9466
Route map Legend Line from Eyach (see above) zig zag for transferal of goods wagons Upper Neckar Railway from Tübingen 0.0 Hechingen Landesbahn 492 m Hechingen DB 498 m 0.4 sawmill siding 493 m 0.7 Walkmühle junction since 1997 494 m 0.7 B 27 1.1 B 32 approach 1.4 Tübingen–Sigmaringen railway to Sigmaringen 1.4 Starzel 4.7 Schlatt (Hohenz) 553 m 7.1 Jungingen (Hohenz) 590 m 9.3 Killer 632 m 11.0 Hausen-Starzeln 674 m 13.0 summit 735 m 13.6 Burladingen West 734 m 14.7 Burladingen 729 m 16.7 Fehla 19.0 Gauselfingen 700 m 22.5 Fehla 22.9 Neufra (Hohenz) 682 m 25.0 summit ("Fehla Höhe") 726 m 25.1 Gammertingen Tunnel (48 m) 25.5 Gammertingen Europastraße 701 m 25.6 Europastraße 26.1 Hochbergstraße 26.1 Alte Steige 26.4 B 32 Hechinger Straße 26.6 Lauchert 26.7 L313 Reutlinger Straße line from Kleinengstingen (see below) 27.0 Gammertingen with HzL locomotive depot 673 m line to Sigmaringen (see below) Source: German railway atlas[3]

HzL locomotive depot in Gammertingen with V 124 and V 151 locomotives

Regio-Shuttle of the HzL near Hohenzollern Castle

Kleinengstingen–Sigmaringen line

Kleinengstingen–Sigmaringen railway
Technical
Line length	42.9 km (26.7 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Route number	9461
Route map Legend Reutlingen–Schelklingen railway from Schelklingen Connecting track Kleinengstingen ENAG (ehem. DB) 0.0 Kleinengstingen Landesbahn 691 m former Reutlingen–Schelklingen railway to Reutlingen 0.7 Großengstingen 695 m 4.4 Haidkapelle 729 m 6.8 Hasental 720 m 9.0 Trochtelfingen ALB-GOLD 715 m 10.9 Seckach 11.6 Trochtelfingen (Hohenz) 695 m 12.0 Seckach 14.1 Linkstraße 14.1 Seckach 14.7 Mägerkingen 690 m 16.2 Mariaberg 678 m 18.2 Bronnen 670 m line from Hechingen (see above) 19.7 Gammertingen with HzL depot 673 m 21.9 Lauchert 23.6 Hettingen Tunnel (124 m) 23.7 Hettingen Tunnel 646 m 24.3 Hettingen (Hohenz) 644 m 25.5 Fehla 26.6 Hermentingen 635 m 26.7 Lauchert 27.1 Lauchert 27.4 Lauchert 28.3 Lauchert 28.4 track 28.9 Schwörer Haus siding 29.4 Veringenstadt 633 m 29.6 Veringen Tunnel (91 m) 30.1 track 32.3 Veringendorf 627 m 32.9 B 32 Jungnauer Straße 33.0 Lauchert 35.2 Jungnau 610 m 39.5 Lauchert 39.7 track 40.5 Hanfertal 619 m line to Sigmaringendorf (see below) 40.7 Hanfertal Tunnel (65 m) 41.8 B 32 Binger Straße 42.0 Am Schönenberg 42.4 Danube 42.5 Hintere Landesbahnstraße Danube Valley Railway from Aulendorf entrance to the DB station since 1994 42.8 Sigmaringen Landesbahn 572 m 42.9 Sigmaringen DB 572 m Tübingen–Sigmaringen railway to Tübingen Source: German railway atlas[3]

Junction of the rail networks of HzL and DB near Sigmaringen station. The single track on the left: HzL line towards Hanfertal, on the right: DB tracks towards Sigmaringendorf

Sigmaringendorf–Hanfertal line

Sigmaringendorf–Hanfertal line
Technical
Line length	9.7 km (6.0 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Route number	9462
Route map Legend Danube Valley Railway from Aulendorf 0.2 Sigmaringendorf (junction) (since 1992) 573 m 0.4 Lauchert on new connecting curve (since 1992) old entrance to Sigmaringendorf (until 1992) 0.0 Sigmaringendorf (former station) 574 m Danube Valley Railway to Tübingen 0.8 Schaal siding 578 m 2.0 L455 2.4 Laucherthal Hp 585 m 2.8 Laucherthal Bf 587 m 4.9 Hitzkofen 592 m 5.0 Lauchert 5.5 Bingen (Hohenz) Bf 594 m 5.8 Lauchert 6.3 Bingen Hp 603 m 7.2 Lauchert 8.0 Hornstein 606 m 8.0 Lauchert line from Sigmaringen (see above) 9.7 Hanfertal 619 m line to Kleinengstingen (see above) Source: German railway atlas[3]

Expansion on the lines of other railways

Goods locomotive V 124 of the HzL

Regio-Shuttle of the HzL in Tübingen in 1997

HzL railway workshop built for the Ringzug in Immendingen in 2003 with Regio-Shuttle, built in 2003

Aulendorf station in 2011 with trains of three different companies

Over the past 20 years, the field of activity of the Hohenzollerischen Landesbahn has significantly expanded.

In freight operations, since 1990, the HzL has taken over the hauling of salt block trains from Stetten (b Haigerloch) on DB lines to Ulm. The HzL also hauls freight on flat wagon between Tübingen, Sigmaringen, Bad Saulgau and Schelklingen in cooperation with Deutsche Bahn (DB Cargo).

Its passenger operations now operate over a route network of more than 400 kilometres. From 1993, the HzL took over the operation of the Bodensee-Oberschwaben-Bahn, which now runs between Aulendorf and Friedrichshafen. In 1997, the HzL received a contract from the State of Baden-Württemberg for the operation of Regionalbahn services on the Tübingen–Sigmaringen railway, Danube Valley Railway and Herbertingen–Aulendorf railway, forming the Zollernalb Railway between Tübingen and Aulendorf.

Since September 2003, it has operated the Ringzug in the Schwarzwald-Baar-Heuberg region; this is an S-Bahn-like transport system connecting Blumberg, Tuttlingen, Rottweil, Villingen-Schwenningen and Donaueschingen, for which the Verkehrsbetrieb Ringzu branch was built with its own management and depot. The most recent expansion took place on Lake Constance: in December 2006, it over operations under a new contract of the 17 kilometre-long route of the Seehäsle service over the Stockach–Radolfzell line from SBB GmbH, the German subsidiary of the Swiss Federal Railways.

The HzL also hauls passenger trains for Deutsche Bahn (DB Regio) on the Rottweil–Horb and Tübingen–Herrenberg routes. The railcars and locomotives the HzL are regularly hired out for special trains and work trains throughout Baden-Württemberg and Switzerland.

References

Sources

• Michael Kochems; Frank von Meißner (2004). Regionalbahnen im Südwesten: HzL, SWEG, AVG und WEG auf ihrem Weg in die Zukunft (in German). Düsseldorf: ALBA-Verlag. ISBN 3-87094-240-1. 
• Botho Walldorf (2007). Die Hohenzollerische Landesbahn in den 1960er-Jahren (in German) (2 ed.). Erfurt: Sutton Verlag. ISBN 978-3-86680-125-7. 
• "KBS 768". Das große Archiv der Eisenbahnstrecken (in German). GeraMond. 
• Günter Zieger (1999). 100 Jahre HzL. Geschichte der Hohenzollerischen Landesbahn AG. 1899 - 1999 (in German). HzL. 
• Guido Motika (2004). "3.b.-f.". Schienen an der Zollernalb (in German). 3. Self-published on order. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hohenzollerische Landesbahn.

• "Hohenzollerische Landesbahn website" (in German). Retrieved 21 June 2016. 
• "HZL line 9460" (in German). Die Tunnelportale. Retrieved 21 June 2016. 
• "HZL line 9461" (in German). Die Tunnelportale. Retrieved 21 June 2016. 
• "HZL line 9466" (in German). Die Tunnelportale. Retrieved 21 June 2016. 
• "Rolling stock list" (in German). www.privat-bahn.de. Retrieved 21 June 2016.