Buchloe–Memmingen railway
The Buchloe–Memmingen railway is an approximately 45 kilometre long single-track, non-electrified main line in the German state of Bavaria. It connects Buchloe and Memmingen and is part of the railway axis from Augsburg to Lindau.
History
The line from Buchloe to Memmingen was opened in 1872. The line closed the gap between Buchloe and Leutkirch.Route
The line branches off the Bavarian Allgäu railway in Buchloe. The Türkheim–Bad Wörishofen railway branches off at Turkheim station. The Central Swabian Railway branches off towards Krumbach and Günzburg in Mindelheim. There are some through services on the Central Swabian Railway towards Memmingen and in the opposite direction. The Ungerhausen–Ottobeuren railway formerly branched off in Ungerhausen, but it has now been converted into a cycle path. In Memmingen the line connects with the Neu-Ulm–Kempten railway and the Leutkirch–Memmingen railway, which connects to Lindau via the Württemberg Allgäu and the Kißlegg–Hergatz railways.Current operations
Services on the line are set out in table 971 of the German railway timetable:| Train class | Route | Frequency | Rolling stock |
| Munich – Buchloe – Memmingen – Lindau – Bregenz – Zürich | 3 train pairs daily | Doubleheaded Class 218s with Apm/Bpm 61 carriages of the SBB | |
| Munich – Buchloe – Memmingen | Every 2 hours | Class 218 with Silberling carriages as a push–pull train | |
| Memmingen – Mindelheim – Krumbach | Individual services | class 642 | |
| Augsburg – Buchloe – Memmingen | Every 2 hours | Class 642 |
Trains to/from Augsburg or Munich operate on the Buchloe–Memmingen section hourly.
Since December 2011, coupled class 642 railcars operate from Augsburg to Memmingen every two hours. In Türkheim, these are uncoupled and one railcar runs to Bad Wörishofen.
The regional trains mostly meet regularly in Buchloe and Mindelheim. Some supplementary services run between Mindelheim and Memmingen for better accessibility to the Memmingen–Ulm regional trains and from there to the long distance trains from Ulm.
Future
On 15 February 2008, the German Federal Minister of Transport, Wolfgang Tiefensee and his Swiss counterpart, Moritz Leuenberger signed in Memmingen a Memorandum of Understanding in relation to the development of the Munich–Lindau route, including the electrification of the section between Geltendorf and Lindau Aeschach. This statement was followed on 18 December 2008 by a financial agreement. It was intended that work would begin in 2010 and would be completed in 2015. This schedule will not be met as planning is continuing and it is not clear when construction will begin. This project was developed to support the Gotthard Base Tunnel, which is expected to be completed in 2016. Switzerland particularly wants to use the Munich–Buchloe–Memmingen–Lindau–Bregenz connection as an access route to this new transit route. By upgrading passenger trains on the route between Munich and Zurich the current four hours running time would be reduced to only three hours. EuroCity services would be increased from four to eight pairs daily and freight traffic would also increase.The electrification of the line and its upgrade for tilting trains was originally estimated to cost the federal government about €210 million. Bavaria would provide finance of €55 million and Switzerland would have granted an interest-free loan of €50 million. The Swiss loan in expected to be granted in spite of the delay as the deadline for all access routes of the Gotthard Base Tunnel has been extended by five years. The many needed upgrades on the 197 kilometre route include the adjustment of level crossings and railway bridges, installation of a train monitoring system and technical adjustments to the signalling, the construction of platform subways at Türkheim and Kißlegg stations, the construction of a central platform in Türkheim, the construction of an inverter plant in the Leutkirch area and the tensioning of the electrical contact wire on about 3,200 catenary masts.
On 18 October 2012, Deutsche Bahn announced that the start of construction would be delayed indefinitely because of unexpected increases in costs of €88 million, raising total costs to €298 million. As a result, there would have to be new funding negotiations. Moreover, Deutsche Bahn does not currently have a long-distance train that is equipped with tilting technology and is approved to run on this route. So rolling stock using Swiss technology would be allowed to operate on the route.
After the upgrade, it is planned to integrate the Mindelheim–Memmingen route into the Ulm–Neu-Ulm–Günzburg–Mindelheim–Memmingen line of the Danube-Iller Regional S-Bahn.