Wiesloch-Walldorf station

Wiesloch-Walldorf station is in the towns of Wiesloch and Walldorf in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. The station is classified by Deutsche Bahn as a category 3 station.^[1] Leimbach Park and the Wiesloch Feldbahn and Industrial Museum are located to the north of the station, with the headquarters of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen and SAP SE on the south-western side.

Wiesloch-Walldorf
General information
Location	Wiesloch, Baden-Württemberg Germany
Coordinates	49°17′27″N 8°39′51″E
Owned by	Deutsche Bahn
Operated by	DB Station&Service
Line(s)	Rhine Valley Railway (KBS 701)
Platforms	3 (1-3)
Construction
Accessible	Yes
Other information
Station code	6759[1]
DS100 code	RWS[2]
Category	3[1]
Fare zone	VRN: 155 and 165[3]
Website	www.bahnhof.de
History
Opened	1843
Services
Preceding station DB Fernverkehr Following station Heidelberg Hbf One-way operation ICE 13 Vaihingen (Enz) towards Stuttgart Hbf Bruchsal towards Westerland IC 26 Stuttgart Hbf Terminus Bruchsal One-way operation IC 34 Heidelberg Hbf towards Dortmund Hbf Heidelberg Hbf towards Dresden Hbf IC 55 Vaihingen (Enz) towards Stuttgart Hbf or Tübingen Hbf Heidelberg Hbf towards Frankfurt (Main) Hbf IC 87 Stuttgart Hbf towards Zürich HB or Singen Preceding station DB Regio Mitte Following station Bad Schönborn-Kronau towards Karlsruhe Hbf RE 73 Heidelberg Hbf Terminus St Ilgen-Sandhausen towards Frankfurt (Main) Hbf RB 68 Terminus Preceding station Rhine-Neckar S-Bahn Following station St Ilgen-Sandhausen towards Germersheim S3 Rot-Malsch towards Karlsruhe Hbf St Ilgen-Sandhausen towards Ludwigshafen (Rhein) BASF Nord S4 Rot-Malsch towards Ludwigshafen (Rhein) Hbf
Location

History

19th century

The Karlsruhe—Heidelberg section of the Rhine Valley Railway was opened on 15 April 1843 as part of the construction of the Baden Mainline from Mannheim via Heidelberg, Karlsruhe, Baden-Baden and Freiburg to Basel, which was initially built to 1600 mm broad gauge. As a result, Walldorf and Wiesloch gained a connection to the rail network. A few years later the line was duplicated. Since the Grand Duchy of Baden State Railway’s broad gauge was not compatible with the gauge of neighbouring countries, it now feared the loss of lucrative transit traffic. Therefore, in 1854, Baden began to regauge its lines to 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge and this was completed in just four months from Mannheim to Bruchsal.

20th and 21st century

Since the station is located about three kilometres from both Wiesloch and Walldorf, both towns only gained a limited benefit from the line. In 1901, a private branch line, the Wiesloch-Meckesheim/Waldangelloch railway, was opened connecting the centre of Wiesloch with Wiesloch-Walldorf station. This line continued to Meckesheim, providing a connection between the Rhine Valley Railway and the Neckargemünd–Bad Friedrichshall-Jagstfeld railway. The services of this line operated from a platform in the station forecourt, where there was a connecting track to the state line. Passenger services on this line closed in 1980 and freight traffic was discontinued in 1990.

A tramway was built 1902 to connect to the town of Walldorf from the station forecourt, but it was closed in 1954. The station building was demolished sometime before 1990.

On Sunday 18 January 1959 a North American F-100 Super Sabre crashed a couple of hundred metres from the station.^[4][5]

In 2000, the Zweckverband Bahnhof Wiesloch-Walldorf (Administrative Association of Wiesloch-Walldorf station) was founded to promote the redevelopment of the station and the upgrading of the station's environment.

Tracks running parallel to the River Leimbach and Tonwaren Industrie Wiesloch factory, with a southbound steam train about to enter the station c.1925. The area would later contain the Landratsamt, Wiesloch Feldbahn and Industrial Museum and Leimbach Park.

Operations

Today, 135 long-distance trains stop at the station each week. It is served by trains every two hour on Intercity line 26 as well as some trains of IC line 87 and an Intercity-Express service. Regional-Express services stop every two hours on the route between Heidelberg and Stuttgart. The station is also integrated in the S-Bahn network of the Rhine-Neckar S-Bahn and is served by lines S 3 and S 4 at half-hourly intervals towards Heidelberg/Mannheim and Bruchsal/Karlsruhe.

Rail services

Long distance

Line	Route	Frequency
ICE 26	(Ostseebad Binz – Stralsund) – Hamburg – Hannover – Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe – Gießen – Frankfurt – Heidelberg – Wiesloch-Walldorf – Karlsruhe	Every 2 hours
IC 87	Frankfurt – Heidelberg – Wiesloch-Walldorf – Stuttgart – Böblingen – Horb – Rottweil – Tuttlingen – Singen – Schaffhausen – Zürich	Some trains

Regional services

Line	Route	Frequency
RE 17b	Heidelberg – Wiesloch-Walldorf – Bruchsal – Bretten – Mühlacker – Vaihingen (Enz) – Bietigheim-Bissingen – Stuttgart	120 min
RE 73	Heidelberg – Wiesloch-Walldorf – Bruchsal – Karlsruhe	60 min
RB 68	Frankfurt – Darmstadt – Hähnlein-Alsbach – Bensheim – Heppenheim – Weinheim – Neu-Edingen/Friedrichsfeld – Heidelberg – Wiesloch-Walldorf	60 min (weekdays)

Rhine-Neckar S-Bahn services

• S3 Germersheim - Speyer – Schifferstadt – Ludwigshafen – Mannheim – Heidelberg – Wiesloch-Walldorf – Bruchsal – Karlsruhe
• S4 Germersheim - Speyer – Schifferstadt – Ludwigshafen – Mannheim – Heidelberg – Wiesloch-Walldorf – Bruchsal