Baden-Baden station is the most important of the three

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

s in the city of

Baden-Baden Baden-Baden () is a spa town in the states of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany, at the north-western border of the Black Forest mountain range on the small river Oos (river), Oos, ten kilometres (six miles) east of the ...

in the German state of

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

. It is regularly served by local and long distance trains operated by Deutsche Bahn. It is also the served by two lines of the

Karlsruhe Stadtbahn The Karlsruhe Stadtbahn is a German tram-train system combining Karlsruhe trams, tram lines in the city of Karlsruhe with railway lines in the surrounding countryside, serving the entire region of the middle upper Rhine valley and creating connec ...

, operated by

Albtal-Verkehrs-Gesellschaft ''Albtal-Verkehrs-Gesellschaft'' ('Alb Valley Transport Company', AVG) is a railway company owned by the city of Karlsruhe that operates rail and bus services in the Karlsruhe area, southwest Germany. It is both a train operating company, as well ...

("Alb Valley Transport Company", AVG). The station is located at chainage 105.3 km on the Rhine Valley Railway (based on the original distance from

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (), is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, second-largest city in Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, the States of Ger ...

) in the Baden-Baden district of Oos. Until 1977, it was also the starting point of a branch line to the centre of Baden-Baden.

History

On 6 May 1844, the

Grand Duchy of Baden State Railway Grand Duchy of Baden had its own state-owned railway company, the Grand Duchy of Baden State Railways (''Großherzoglich Badische Staatseisenbahnen or G.Bad.St.E.''), which was founded in 1840. At the time when it was integrated into the Deutsche ...

() opened the station along with the Rhine Valley Railway from

Rastatt Rastatt () is a town with a Baroque core, District of Rastatt, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located in the Upper Rhine Plain on the Murg river, above its junction with the Rhine and has a population of around 51,000 (2022). Rastatt was an ...

. At that time the station was called ''Oos''. Initially it had a small wooden station building. For a year passengers used horse buses to be transported to Baden-Baden until finally on 27 July 1845 a branch line was opened to Baden-Baden with a terminal station in the city centre. In 1904, the station received a new station building, which continues to serve as such. In 1908, it was renamed ''Baden-Oos''. In 1928 the community of Oos was incorporated into Baden-Baden and the station was renamed ''Baden-Baden West''. This change of name, however, was reversed in 1937 and the station was again called ''Baden-Oos''. On 2 January 1945 the station was heavily damaged by bombs during an air raid.Dieter Baeuerle et al. ''Stadtführer Baden-Baden'', p. 14. Baden-Baden 1994 From 1926 to 1949 the station had a tram connection to Lichtental. In 1949 the trams were replaced by

trolleybus A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or troll ...

es, which in 1971 were closed. In the 1950s, the railway lines through the station were electrified. Therefore, it was served at the time mainly by

electric multiple units An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number ...

. On 24 September 1977, the last train operated on the branch line to Baden-Baden city, after which its station was closed down and its tracks removed. Baden-Oos station was finally renamed ''Baden-Baden''. In the course of the upgrading of the Rhine Valley Railway to four tracks as part of the '' Neu- und Ausbaustrecke'' (new and upgraded line) project between

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( ; ; ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, after its capital Stuttgart a ...

and

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

there was a fundamental modernisation of the railway facilities and the entrance building between 1997 and 2005. All of the platforms were provided with lifts accessible to all. In addition, the facade was repainted and the interior was renovated. This renovation cost a total of about €14.9 million. The Architectural Association of Baden-Württemberg awarded the "Award for exemplary Building, 2008" to the city Baden-Baden for the modernisation of the station. The Alliance for the Rail Station Association awarded the title of "Station of the Year" in the category of small town station to the station in 2010.

Layout of the station

The station has five platform tracks, all of which are through tracks. Track 1 is the main platform next to the entrance building. Tracks 2 and 3 are on an island platform. Tracks 4 and 7 are on two platforms with one side used by stopping trains. Between platforms 4 and 7 are two tracks used by non-stopping trains, including the majority of

Intercity-Express Intercity Express (commonly known as ICE () and running under this Train categories in Europe, category) is a high-speed rail in Germany, high-speed rail system in Germany. It also serves destinations in Austria, France, Belgium, Switzerland an ...

services. All platforms are connected by two subways that are accessible by the disabled. The station building houses a DB ticket office, two cafes, a bookstore and a hotel. The bus station is located east of the station building and is connected directly by a covered walkway to platform 1. The bus station has connections, inter alia, to the Baden-Baden city centre. The buses are operated by the Baden-Baden-Linie company.

Operations

143 trains a day stop at Baden-Baden station, 43 of which are long-distance trains.

Long distance

Regional Transport

Karlsruhe Stadtbahn

Notes

External links

* * *{{cite web, url=http://www.bahnbilder.de/name/galerie/kategorie/Deutschland~Bahnh%F6fe+%28A+-+E%29~Baden-Baden.html , title= Photos and Videos , publisher=bahnbilder.de, accessdate=17 April 2011, language=German Railway stations in Baden-Württemberg Railway stations in Germany opened in 1844 Karlsruhe Stadtbahn stations Buildings and structures in Baden-Baden 1844 establishments in Baden Mannheim–Karlsruhe–Basel railway