Ausserfern Railway

The Ausserfern Railway (‹See Tfd›German: Außerfernbahn) is a cross-border railway line in the German state of Bavaria and the Austrian state of Tyrol. The single-tracked branch line starts from Kempten in Germany, before crossing into Austria just after passing through Pfronten. It then transits the Außerfern area around Reutte, before passing back into Germany in order to terminate at Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

Ausserfern Railway
Map of the Ausserfern railway line
Overview
Other name(s)	Garmisch-Partenkirchen – Kempten Railway
Native name	Außerfernbahn
Status	Operational
Owner	DB Netz (Germany) Austrian Federal Railways (Austria)
Line number	5452 (Garmisch-Partenkirchen–border) 352 01 (border–Reutte–border) 5403 (border–Kempten)
Locale	Bavaria in Germany Tyrol in Austria
Termini	Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany Kempten, Germany
Stations	31
Service
Route number	973 (Western part), 965 (Eastern part) (DB) 410 (ÖBB)
Operator(s)	DB Regio Bayern
History
Opened	Stages between 1895-1913
Technical
Line length	93.9 km (58.3 mi)
Number of tracks	Single track
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	15 kV/16.7 Hz AC Overhead line (Garmisch-Partenkirchen – Reutte)
Operating speed	70 km/h (43 mph)
Maximum incline	3.75 %
Route map Legend km elev from Munich 0.000 Garmisch-Partenkirchen 708 m Mittenwald Railway to Innsbruck 1.242 Garmisch-Partenkirchen Hausberg former Hausbergbahn 2.100 Rießersee 3.100 Bavarian Zugspitze Railway 3.400 Kreuzeck Railway 4.700 Obergrainau 5.458 Untergrainau 740 m 13.266 Griesen (Oberbay) 821 m 14.846 30.445 German–Austrian state border 29.200 Schober (closed on 29 May 1960) 27.600 Schanz turnout 25.900 Schanz (closed on 26 September 1971) 23.300 Ehrwald Zugspitze Cable Car 974 m 20.400 Lermoos 1004 m 19.000 Lermoos Tunnel (105,6 m) 16.400 Lähn 1106 m 13.100 Bichlbach-Berwang 1072 m 11.600 Bichlbach-Almkopf Railway 8.800 Heiterwang-Plansee 1012 m 6.900 Thanellerkar (closed on 7 November 1966) 5.000 Katzenberg Tunnel (512,5 m) 3.600 Bad Kreckelmoos 938 m 0.500 Reutte in Tyrol Schulzentrum 0.000 14.390 Reutte in Tyrol 850 m 12.000 Pflach 840 m 7.600 Musau 822 m 6.400 Ulrichsbrücke-Füssen 814 m 3.900 Vils 817 m 0.500 Schönbichl 831 m 0.000 34.300 Austro–German state border 33.000 Pfronten-Steinach 841 m 30.700 Pfronten-Ried 858 m 29.300 Pfronten-Weißbach 874 m 27.000 Pfronten-Kappel 23.900 Nesselwang 864 m 21.600 Maria Rain 19.800 Wertach-Haslach 891 m 17.600 Oy-Mittelberg 13.600 Zollhaus-Petersthal 909 m 12.000 Bodelsberg 8.400 Jodbad Sulzbrunn (station until 2008) 818 m 6.900 Sulzberg 3.900 Durach 1.800 St Mang (formerly Kottern-Neudorf) to the former Kempten Hauptbahnhof (to 1969) Neu-Ulm–Kempten railway from Memmingen and Buchloe–Lindau railway from Kaufbeuren (since 1969) Neu-Ulm–Kempten railway / Buchloe–Lindau railway (until 1969) Iller old trackbed (to 1969) 0.400 Kempten (Allg) Hbf (since 1969) 705 m 0.000 Kempten (Allg) Hbf (until 1969) to Isny from the old Kempten Hbf (to 1969) to Lindau km elev Source: German railway atlas[1]

The line provides the only rail access to Reutte and the Außerfern, albeit one that requires any journey to or from the rest of Austria to pass through German territory. The line connects with the Mittenwald Railway and the Munich–Garmisch-Partenkirchen railway at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, with the former providing a link to the Tyrolean capital of Innsbruck. It connects with the Buchloe–Lindau railway and the Neu-Ulm–Kempten railway at Kempten.

The line was built in stages, between 1895 and 1913. Although the Austrian section of the line is maintained by the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB), all train services are operated by Deutsche Bahn (DB).

The first plans for a mainline railway (Fernbahn) from Kempten over the Fern Pass to Innsbruck surfaced in the second half of the 19th century. On 1 December 1895^[2] the first section from Kempten to Pfronten-Ried was opened, followed in 1905 by its extension to Schönbichl. From Schönbichl there was a Lokalbahn branch line to Reutte. A further extension of the line was discussed. There were three variants: Reutte–Ehrwald–Gaistal–Leutasch, Reutte–Fern Pass–Imst (Fernbahn) or Reutte–Ehrwald–Garmisch. Because Garmisch already had a connexion to Munich at the time, a direct link from Munich to Innsbruck, and hence the development of the Außerfern region, suggested itself. The Mittenwald Railway from Garmisch to Innsbruck was opened in 1912 and the Garmisch–Reutte line on 29 May 1913. Both routes were electrified from the start.

Time and again there were discussions about building a line over the Fern Pass or to a junction with the line to Füssen only four kilometres away, but these plans were never realised.

At various times the closure of the line was also discussed, last time in 2001, when the catenary was in a poor condition. In 2003 DB Regio was tasked with operating passenger services through the state of Tyrol. The catenary was dismantled and operations switched to the use of diesel trains. Soon after the catenary was reinstalled. Today (2010) the line is worked hourly by electric multiples.

The railway begins in Kempten in the rolling Alpine Foreland and crosses the border with Austria between Pfronten and Schönbichl. It continues through Reutte and the surrounding Außerfern area around Reutte before crossing back to Germany between Ehrwald and Griesen. Its longest tunnel is the 512 metre long Katzenberg Tunnel, which is also called the Klausen Tunnel (after the Ehrenberger Klause) or Kesselwang Tunnel, between Reutte and Heiterwang. Its maximum gradient is 37.5‰ or 3.75%.

Today the railway is important for school, commuter and holiday traffic, but also handles a considerable amount of goods for a cement works and a wood yard in Vils. These goods trains only use the section from Vils to Garmisch however.

The section between Kempten and Reutte is mainly worked by diesel multiple units of classes 628 and 642; between Reutte and Garmisch electric multiple units of classes 425 and 426 are employed. The operators for the entire route are Deutsche Bahn (DB) (on the Tyrolean section BahnCards, Werdenfelstickets, Bayerntickets and Schönes-Wochenende-Tickets are valid^[3]), the maintenance of the infrastructure is the responsibility of the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB).

The stops on the Ausserfern Railway between Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Reutte in Tyrol (Griesen, Ehrwald, Lermoos, Lähn, Bichlbach-Berwang, Heiterwang-Plansee, Pflach) are start points for mountain tours in the Ammergau Alps (Friederspitz and Frieder, Schellschlicht, Daniel, Hochschrutte, Plattberg, Säuling), in the Mieming Chain (Ehrwalder Sonnenspitze) and in the Lechtal Alps (Thaneller, Roter Stein, Pleisspitze).

On 28 January 2007 the Hausbergbahn halt at the valley station of the Hausberg Gondola Lift, which serves a ski area, was opened again on a seasonal basis for winter sport tourists. In the first quarter of 2007 and in the winter of 2007/2008 only special winter sport trains from Munich via Garmisch-Partenkirchen to the Hausbergbahn stopped at weekends. From 14 December 2008 to the end of the ski season at Hausberg on 19 April 2009 all passenger trains on the Ausserfern Railway called at the station, which is why the halt in Griesen was dropped.^[4]

• Siegfried Bufe: Außerfernbahn. Kempten, Reutte, Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Bufe-Fachbuch-Verlag, Egglham 2001, ISBN 3-922138-75-6.
• Wolfgang Krutiak: Mittenwaldbahn. Innsbruck – Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Geschichte, Technik und Landeskunde der Mittenwald- und Außerfernbahn Innsbruck – Garmisch-Partenkirchen – Reutte. 1 Übersichtskarte. Slezak, Vienna 1976, ISBN 3-900134-30-8.
• Günter Denoth (Red.), Helmuth Petrovitsch: … über den Fern. Die Mittenwaldbahn Innsbruck – Garmisch – Reutte, aufgelegt anlässlich "90 Jahre Ausserfernbahn" 14 September 2003. Specialist railway publications, Vol. 1. Eigenverlag Eisenbahnarchiv Tyrol, Neugötzens 2003. ^[5]

• www.erlebnisbahn.at/ausserfernbahn
• www.mittenwaldbahn.de
• www.kbs-976.de
• Photographs of tunnel portals
• 1944 Bavarian railway route map

47°29′35″N 10°43′17″E / 47.49306°N 10.72139°E