High Rhine Railway

The High Rhine Railway (German: Hochrheinbahn) is a Deutsche Bahn railway line from Basel Badischer Bahnhof in the city of Basel to Konstanz on Lake Constance. It was built by the Grand Duchy of Baden State Railways as part of the Baden Mainline, which follows the Rhine upstream from Mannheim Hauptbahnhof to Konstanz. The line derives its name from the High Rhine (Hochrhein), which it follows between Basel and Waldshut and on a short section in Schaffhausen.

The line crosses the Germany–Switzerland border three times and passes through Swiss territory two times within the canton of Basel-Stadt and whilst crossing the main part of the canton of Schaffhausen. The other sections of the line run through the German state of Baden-Württemberg. Schaffhausen station is congruemtly owned by Deutsche Bahn (DB) and SBB Infrastructure, while the line is operated throughout by DB, and parts by SBB GmbH and Thurbo.

The High Rhine Railway was opened on 4 February 1856 from Basel Bad Bf to Bad Säckingen and extended to Waldshut on 30 October 1856. Construction then stopped for a while, but on 15 June 1863, the whole line to Konstanz (Constance) was completed. Meanwhile, the Turgi–Koblenz–Waldshut railway was opened on 18 August 1859, connecting to the Swiss railway network across the Rhine at Koblenz. On 1 July 1871, the Swiss Northeastern Railway (NOB) opened the Lake Line section between Romanshorn and Konstanz. On 17 July 1875, the Swiss National Railway (SNB) opened the Winterthur–Etzwilen railway, Etzwilen–Konstanz/Kreuzlingen Hafen railway and Etzwilen–Singen railway lines, which connect to the High Rhine railway line in Konstanz and Singen, respectively.

The whole line — including the sections on Swiss territory — was owned under treaty by Baden State Railways and still belongs to Deutsche Bahn. The 1852 treaty allows Switzerland to reclaim ownership of the section on Swiss territory on five year's notice. Although this possibility was discussed after the First World War, it was never implemented. In the Second World War, cross-border traffic was severely limited and military traffic did not pass through Switzerland. In 1944/45, four pairs of passenger services each day ran all the way between Basel Bad Bf and Singen. In the timetable, however, it was expressly stated: "transit through the canton of Schaffhausen only permitted with passport with exemption (visa)". Between 8 June 1945 and 1 August 1953 the German railway infrastructure in Switzerland was managed by a trust authority established by the Swiss Federal Council.

Between 1873 and 1899, train ferries operated from Konstanz over Lake Constance to ports in Germany and Austria.

The railway follows the High Rhine upstream between Basel and Waldshut. It crosses the Germany-Switzerland border for the first time between Basel and Grenzach-Wyhlen. East of Waldshut, the tracks divert from the river and run in northeastward direction towards Klettgau valley. It crosses the German-Swiss border between Erzingen and Trasadingen. The highest elevation is reached near Beringerfeld. At the eastern end of Klettgau valley, the line runs through Engi, a narrow valley between Beringen and Neuhausen. Between Neuhausen and Schaffhausen, the line approaches the High Rhine and follows it for a short distance before turning northwards just south of Schaffhausen station, again diverting from the river. The line then runs in northeastward direction and crosses the Swiss-German border between Thayngen and Bietingen. Passing through the Hegau region, the line turns southeastwards east of Singen. It runs along the western shore of the Bodanrück peninsula, along the Gnadensee part of Lower Lake Constance. Shortly before reaching Konstanz, its eastern terminus, the line crosses the Seerhein over the Old Rhine Bridge.

The scenic route along the river includes towns with historic town centers, such as Rheinfelden, Laufenburg, Waldshut, Schaffhausen, Radolfzell and Konstanz. The Rhine Falls (Rheinfall) can also be seen on route.

Since 1987, most of the route has been double-tracked; only the section between Waldshut and Erzingen and a very short section in Konstanz, between Konstanz-Petershausen and Kostanz station, is single tracked. The section between Laufenburg and Murg was duplicated a few years ago.^[when?]