Munich–Rosenheim railway

The Munich–Rosenheim railway is a 65 kilometre-long double-track main line of the German railways. It connects Munich Central Station with Rosenheim station, where it connects with the Rosenheim–Salzburg railway, which connects with the line to Vienna at Salzburg, and the line to Kufstein, which continues to Innsbruck and the Brenner line to Italy. The line is part of the Magistrale for Europe, connecting Paris with Bratislava and Budapest and the almost identical line 17 of Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T). It is part of the line 1 of TEN-T. It is electrified at 15 kV, 16.7 Hz. It was opened between Munich and Rosenheim in 1871.

History

Already in the 1860s, it was clear that the Mangfall Valley Railway (German: Mangfalltalbahn), which had been opened between 1854 and 1857, could no longer absorb the increase in traffic on the main lines towards Austria. Duplication of the Mangfall Valley Railway was not an option due to its twisty and hilly route. In addition, a new line via Grafing would be ten kilometres shorter than the Mangfall Valley Railway and it would also mean that locomotives would avoid wheel-slip because the slope was significantly more gradual. On 16 May 1868, it was decided to build a single-track line from Munich to Rosenheim via Grafing. The government of Bavaria provided four million guilders for the construction. The railway line was opened on 15 October 1871. All trains now used the line through Grafing instead of the Mangfall Valley Railway, shortening travel time considerably. As a result of the numerous services established on the line shortly after its opening, it became a major international route for European long distance services.