Bavarian Zugspitze Railway

History

Opening of the line

The railway was built between 1928 and 1930 and opened in three stages. The first was the 3.2 km 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 km long section between Garmisch and Grainau, including the important tourist connection to the main railway network of the Deutsche Reichsbahn. On 8 July 1930 the last 7.9 km long section between the Eibsee and the – now closed – summit station of Schneefernerhaus was opened, including the final 4466 m long Zugspitze Tunnel.

New summit section since 1987

In 1987 the route of the railway in the summit area was changed and the 975 m long "Rosi Tunnel" opened. The tunnel was named after the skier, Rosi Mittermaier, who was the tunnel patroness (Tunnelpatin) at the time. The tunnel branches from the 1930-built Zugspitze Tunnel about three-quarters of the way along it, and runs to the somewhat lower Zugspitzplatt plateau at 2588 m. Here, below the Sonn-Alpin Restaurant is the new Glacier Station (Gletscher-Bahnhof) in the middle of the ski area.

In 1985, during the construction of this uppermost section of the new railway tunnel to the Zugspitzplatt ski area, massive ice was unexpectedly encountered across the entire tunnel cross-section, extending for 19 meters. At the altitude of 2570 meters, the bedrock lays within a permafrost region, the ice temperatures were −1.5 °C. The ice was evidently part of an ice-filled cave system within the extensive karst region of the Zugspitze. The stability of the rack railway tracks was ensured by extensive insulation of the track bed and the entire tunnel cross-section. With this new section, the overall length of the Zugspitze Railway was extended from 18.6 km to its current 19.0 km. 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

For the first 7.5 km, as far as Grainau, the Zugspitze Railway runs as an adhesion line. Of this section, the first 3 km run parallel to the Ausserfern Railway, built in 1913. The mountain section begins in Grainau station, is equipped with a Riggenbach rack system, and is 11.5 km long.

Technical

The Zugspitzbahn runs from Garmisch-Partenkirchen to Zugspitzplatt, a distance of 19.0 km. The track gauge is 1,000 mm and the electrification system is 1,500 V D.C. overhead line. The lower section from 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.

Gallery

Zugspitzbahn - train at Garmisch-Partenkirchen - geo.hlipp.de - 3748.jpg|The starting point of the railway in August 1982 250610 Bayerische Zugspitzbahn 03.JPG|...... and in June 2010 Haltestelle Riffelriss Ausblick.jpg|View from the halt at Riffelriss, immediately before the entrance to the summit tunnel Altitude sign - Zugspitzbahn.jpg|height signpost in the tunnel Bayerische Zugspitzbahn 1977.JPG|Share of the Bayerische Zugspitzbahn AG, issued August 1977 File:Gipfelstürmer 1-04-2008 14-34-09.JPG|Gipfelstürmer, a locomative of the Bayerische Zugspitzbahn

References

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,
• Gerd Wolff: Deutsche Klein- und Privatbahnen. H. 7: Bayern. Eisenbahn Kurier, Freiburg,

References

1. Roland Ulrich, Lorenz King. (1993). "Influence of Permafrost on Construction in the Zugspitze Mountains, Bavarian Alps, Germany".
2. (2006). "Die erzwungene Vereinigung". Alois Schwarzmüller, Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
3. Retrieved from the [[Google Earth]] geoinformation system
4. Karl Arne Richter (editor), ''Europäische Bahnen '11'', Eurailpress, Hamburg, 2010, {{ISBN. 978-3-7771-0413-3;