Route of east–west line

The Stadtbahn trains on the S4 line coming from Karlsruhe enter the area administered by the Heilbronn Stadtbahn in Eppingen and initially run on the route of the Kraichgau Railway (Kraichgaubahn) via Gemmingen, Stetten, Schwaigern and Leingarten. The Kraichgau Railway then traverses the suburb of Böckingen, stopping at the Böckingen West, Berufsschulzentrum and Sonnenbrunnen stops. After the line crosses the bridge over Heilbronn canal harbour, it crosses the tracks of the Franconia Railway (Frankenbahn) on the level. Just before the Heilbronn Hauptbahnhof, the inner city line of the Stadtbahn, which is owned by Stadtwerke Heilbronn (the municipal utility company), branches off. Immediately after the transition from EBO to BOStrab the tracks run in front of the Hauptbahnhof to the Hauptbahnhof/Willy-Brandt-Platz stop; the change in the electrical systems is shortly later. Since the trains briefly coast here, an approximately 100-metre (330 ft)-long section is fitted with both systems. There is a tight squeeze between a dense hedge next to a walkway and the street, which is about a metre higher.

Trains then leave running under DC next to Bahnhofstrasse (station street) to the NeckarTurm am Kurt-Schumacher-Platz stop at its eastern end. In the immediate vicinity is the Experimenta Heilbronn, a science centre. A few metres later the Stadtbahn crosses the Friedrich Ebert bridge over the Neckar. The route now follows Kaiserstraße and in the vicinity of the marketplace is the Rathaus ("town hall") stop. At its eastern end, Kaiserstraße meets the Allee, where the northern branch carrying lines S41 and S42 turns off to the north along the Allee from the original east–west Stadtbahn line. The original line S4 line continues across the wide road axis to the Harmonie stop.

Then the route continues east in the middle of Moltkestraße to Friedensplatz stop, which is well-used by the students of the local high schools, and then changes to the side of street to run to Finanzamt stop. Subsequently, the Stadtbahn runs on the north side of Bismarckstraße and Jägerhausstraße to Pfühlpark stop, beyond which the inner-city line ends. A short ramp then carries the Stadtbahn back to the DB line, which then runs just past Trappensee station and through the Weinberg tunnel. The railway finally reaches Öhringen via Weinsberg, Ellhofen, Obersulm and Bretzfeld.

Route of northern branch

The northern line branches off from the original east–west Stadtbahn line at the Allee and runs to the north along this broad street. The tracks are laid on the sides of the roadway. Directly to the north of the junction are the Harmonie/Kunsthalle stop on the eastern side of the Allee for north-bound Stadtbahn trains and the Harmonie/Hafenmarktpassage stop on the western side of the Allee for south-bound trains. At the northern end of the Allee, the tracks turn to the left and run in the centre of Weinbergerstraße to the Theater stop. A little later, the Stadtbahn tracks turn right into Paulinenstraße and follow its course to the Technisches Schulzentrum stop. Beyond this stop the tracks pass under the Hohenlohe Railway and the Franconia Railway and continue to run next to Salzstraße to Industrieplatz where they then turn into Austraße and reach the Industrieplatz stop. The tracks leave the middle of Austraße next to the Hans-Riesser-Straße stop. There they swing into Hans-Riesser-Straße (street) and follow it up to its eastern end and continue on to meet the tracks of the Franconia Railway, which they then runs next to. The tracks then passes the Kaufland stop and the Neckarsulm Süd halt, which is located in the municipality of Neckarsulm.

East–west line

Terminus of the Stadtbahn in Öhringen-Cappel

The introduction of a Stadtbahn network on the Karlsruhe model was first discussed in 1991, over 35 years after the last Heilbronn tram ran. The public transport scheme that was subsequently developed was approved by the Heilbronn council on 6 September 1994. Even then, it was intended that today's S4 line would be the first service put into operation. An important step in this direction was made in June 1997 with the extension of Karlsruhe Stadtbahn line S4 to Eppingen in the western part of the Heilbronn district.

In anticipation of the new Stadtbahn line, tracks were already laid on Kaiserstraße during its reconstruction in 1998. As of 12 March 1998, the Stadtbahn ran between Eppingen and Heilbronn Hauptbahnhof, at first only on weekends, but from 27 September of the same year it ran all week. In parallel, the first section of the inner-city route to Harmonie was designed. Construction work on the track began in June 2000. The first test train ran on the track on 4 June 2001 and services commenced on 21 June.

The course of the route to Pfühlpark was finally determined on 5 July 2001 before the opening of the first section of track. Construction started on 9 September 2003, including the demolition of the bridge of the closed Bottwar Valley Railway (Bottwartalbahn) over Jägerhausstraße since it would have obstructed the line’s overhead wire. This section was opened on 25 November 2004.

The line was connected to the Crailsheim–Heilbronn railway on 10 December 2005 and since then line S4 has run to Öhringen. As part of the extension of the Stadtbahn line, Karlstor station, which was on the Hohenlohe Railway in the urban area, was closed.^[3]

Northern branch

Installation of a temporary bridge at the site of the underpass for the railway tracks at Am Sülmertor (June 2012)

Special train for the opening of the northern branch on 14 December 2013

Stadtwerke Heilbronn GmbH were awarded a contract worth €1.2 million for the planning of the construction of the northern branch after a Europe-wide tender on 21 June 2007.

On 22 June 2007, the neighbouring municipalities, the district of Heilbronn and Deutsche Bahn AG signed a planning agreement covering the extension of the Heilbronn Stadtbahn to the north, which would cost about €77 million. Overall, the extension would cost around €136 million.

On 4 May 2005, the Heilbronn council considered work for a new line through the city to operate under BOStrab, which was expected to cost €59 million.^[4] On 20 December 2007, the route along the Allee was adopted.^[5]

The CDU, FDP, FWV, SPD and Left parties made a joint submission to the Heilbronn council in September 2010, proposing that the route run instead through the city on Mannheimer Straße, running to Europaplatz and Weipertstraße. After several special sessions of the local council, the parties dropped their request and approved the planned route via Paulinenstraße.

The Stuttgart Regional Council adopted the planning approval for the section through the centre of the city of Heilbronn on 13 January 2011. Preparatory work was carried out from April 2010, including the construction of supply lines. In the summer of 2011, work began on the rebuilding of the underpass under Am Sülmertor. The Heilbronn city administration expected the completion of the overall project at the end of 2014.^[6] The total cost of the northern branch of the Stadtbahn was expected to amount to €84.2 million.

Because of delayed approval for the use of EEO for the ET 2010 (part of the Bombardier Flexity Swift family) vehicles, the section between Kaufland and Neckarsulm was temporarily dedicated as a BOStrab line.^[7] On 4 November 2013 the first test run took place on this section.^[8] Until the reclassification of the northern section of the line as an EEO route and its connection to the DB network in December 2014, Stadtbahn services could only operate as far as Neckarsulm. The operation of trains through to Sinsheim was delayed until 1 May 2015 by the renovation of a bridge in Bad Wimpfen.^[9]

Sources

• Die Stadtbahn Heilbronn. Schienenverkehr zwischen Eppingen und Öhringen (in German). Ubstadt-Weiher: verlag regionalkultur. 2005. ISBN 3-89735-416-0.