Ulm Hauptbahnhof is the main station in the city of Ulm, which lies on the Danube, on the border of the German states of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria in the Danube-Iller region (Region Donau-Iller).
Ulm Hauptbahnhof has twelve platforms, of which five are terminating platforms, and forms a major railway junction. Other stations in the city are Ulm-Söflingen to the west and Ulm Ost (east) to the east and Ulm-Donautal (Danube valley) in the industrial area. The Ulm marshalling yard is located to the west of the city. Neu-Ulm (New Ulm), which lies across the Danube in Bavaria, has the stations of Neu-Ulm, Finningerstraße and Gerlenhofen.
Ulm is located on the railway line from Stuttgart to Munich, over which Intercity-Express trains operate, and part of the Magistrale for Europe (trunk line) from Paris to Budapest. European cities such as Amsterdam, Budapest, Paris and Linz can be reached without transfers. Every day, about 29,000 passengers use the station. It is used daily by about 335 trains operated by Deutsche Bahn, SWEG, Arverio, Schwäbische Alb-Bahn and Agilis, 75 long-distance and 260 regional trains. The station is served by local trains that are coordinated by the Donau-Iller-Nahverkehrsverbund (Danube-Iller Local Transport Association, DING).
Location
Ulm Hauptbahnhof is to the west of central Ulm. The station building is located in the east of the tracks on Bahnhofplatz (station square or forecourt). East of the station is Friedrich-Ebert-Strasse, which becomes Olgastraße at the forecourt. Opposite the station building Bahnhofstrasse (station street) runs from the forecourt towards Münsterplatz (cathedral square), which is about 500 metres away. Schillerstraße runs west of the station. Federal highway 19, which is called Karlstraße at this point, crosses the tracks to the north of the station over Ludwig Erhard Bridge, formerly called the Blaubeurer-Tor (Blaubeuren Gate) bridge. In the south, Neuen Straße runs under the tracks through the Ehinger-Tor (Ehingen Gate) underpass and Zinglerstraße crosses over the tracks on Zingler Bridge. Southeast of the station building is the Ulm central bus station.
Railway lines The Ulm Hauptbahnhof is the hub of several major railway lines. The Fils Valley Railway, running via Geislingen, Göppingen and Plochingen to Stuttgart, is a double-track and electrified main line, used for domestic and international long-distance traffic at a maximum speed of 160 km/h. Long-distance services also run from Ulm on the electrified and double-track main line via Günzburg to Augsburg, which has a maximum speed of . Both railways are used by InterCity Express, Intercity and EuroCity trains. The Ulm–Friedrichshafen railway, running via Biberach (Riss), Aulendorf and Ravensburg to Friedrichshafen is a double track and non-electrified line. The route is upgraded for 140 km/h and serves mainly regional traffic, although an intercity train pair runs over it each day.
In addition, two lines begin in Ulm: the Ulm–Sigmaringen railway via Ehingen (Donau) to Sigmaringen (continuing as the Tuttlingen–Inzigkofen railway to Tuttlingen and the Black Forest Railway to Donaueschingen) and the Aalen–Ulm railway via Heidenheim to Aalen. These two lines are single track and non-electrified railways that are used by regional services, although the Ulm–Sigmaringen railway has two tracks as far as Herrlingen.
Specifically Ulm is served by the following timetable (KBS) routes: KBS 750: Ulm–Geislingen–Göppingen–Plochingen–Stuttgart KBS 751: Ulm–Biberach (Riss)–Aulendorf–Ravensburg–Friedrichshafen KBS 755: Ulm–Ehingen (Donau)–Sigmaringen–Tuttlingen–Donaueschingen KBS 756: Ehingen (Donau)–Ulm–Memmingen KBS 757: Ulm–Heidenheim–Aalen KBS 975: Ulm–Memmingen–Kempten–Oberstdorf KBS 980: Ulm–Gunzburg–Augsburg KBS 993: Ulm–Günzburg–Donauwörth–Ingolstadt–Regensburg.
History
As early as 1834, there were plans for a railway between Cannstatt, Ulm and Friedrichshafen. In August 1835, some citizens of Ulm joined formed an initiative to promote its construction. Then on 21 December 1835, the Ulm Railway Company (Ulmer Eisenbahngesellschaft) was founded; it had already spent 80,000 guilders on the day of its incorporation. On 18 April 1843, the construction of the section from Stuttgart through the Swabian Alb (Swabian Jura) range to Ulm was approved rather than the originally planned, longer variation via Aalen. However, there were arguments about the location of Ulm station. The military architect Moritz Karl Ernst von Prittwitz and the city and cathedral architect Ferdinand Thrän favoured an option for a station to the north of the centre on an east–west alignment. Because this option would have meant that the extension of the line to Friedrichshafen would have run through Bavarian territory, the Württemberg engineers instead planned a railway station aligned north–south at its current location to the west of the city. Although the price of this land was higher and nine roads were disrupted, compared to the disruption of only three roads under the northern option, the north–south option was chosen. Ulm’s western suburbs are now separated from the inner city as a result.
In the race against Bavaria and Baden to complete the first rail connection to Lake Constance, Württemberg began building the Southern Railway to Friedrichshafen via Biberach, with major work beginning in the summer of 1847. The first earthworks and foundation works for Ulm station in August 1848 and work began on the buildings in March 1849. The contracts for the excavation, blasting and construction were awarded by the Royal Württemberg State Railways to small contractors. Because of possible landslides on Kuhberg (hill), just before Ulm station, the Danube was moved and the Southern Railway was built on reclaimed land on the old river bed. The economy of Ulm benefited from the construction, particularly establishments supplying meals for the workforce. The first locomotive trial ran from Biberach to Ulm on 17 May 1850.
1850–1866: opening and connecting to other railway lines
Ulm station was officially opened together with the last section of the Southern Railway from Biberach to Ulm on 1 June 1850. On 29 June 1850, the railway up the Geislinger Steige pass over the Swabian Alb between Geislingen and Amstetten was completed, allowing the Württemberg East Railway (Fils Valley Railway), running to Stuttgart via Göppingen, to be taken into operation, so that through trains could run from Heilbronn to Friedrichshafen. Thus, the first railway line across Württemberg was completed. The climb over the Geislinger Steige was a technical masterpiece for the time and attracted attention throughout Europe. Three trains ran each day through the three tracks of the station towards Stuttgart and Friedrichshafen. The travel time between Ulm and Stuttgart was four hours and between Ulm and Friedrichshafen it was three hours and 15 minutes. The station building, which was designed by the architect Ludwig Friedrich Gaab in a style combining gothic revival and neoclassical elements, was opened in December 1850. It consisted of a two-story central building, which had three-storey side towers at each end, and contained on the ground floor an entrance hall, two waiting rooms, a station restaurant, a luggage room, a room for the service staff, a room for the porter and two cash rooms with anterooms. Upstairs there were storage rooms and living areas. Ashlar, brick and crushed stone were used as materials. Two entrance halls to the station building were built in 1851. Also built were a roundhouse, a carriage house, a goods shed, a water station and several other buildings. Railway telegraph was connected to the station on 16 April 1851 and Ulm station opened a porter service on 9 October 1851.
On 25 April 1850, the Kingdom of Bavaria signed a treaty with the Kingdom of Württemberg to extend the railway line between Munich and Augsburg to Ulm and connect with the Württemberg railway network. In March 1852, construction began on the railway bridge over the Danube. The first train arrived at Neu-Ulm station after 25 December 1853; this was officially opened on 26 September together with the Neu-Ulm–Burgau section of the Bavarian Maximilian’s Railway. Since the Danube bridge had not yet been completed, a droshky service operated between Ulm and Neu-Ulm station. The Danube bridge, which from the beginning was designed for two tracks, was completed on 1 May 1854. This consisted of Keuper sandstone and was 123 metres long and 8.55 metres wide. It was called the Wilhelm-Maximilian Bridge in honour of the reigning kings of Württemberg and Bavaria and it had iron gates at both ends. On 1 June, the entire Maximilian’s Railway from Ulm to Augsburg was opened to Munich and Ulm station became a railway junction. Four trains ran daily each way on the new line, with express trains taking three hours 30 minutes and ordinary passenger trains taking five to six hours. The station was a border station and an interchange station between Bavaria and Württemberg with separate station facilities operated by the two kingdoms. The Royal Bavarian State Railways’ operations were in the southern part of the station in its own wing of the station building, which had bay platforms. It became known as the Bayerischer Bahnhof (Bavarian station). Since Bavarian time was ten minutes ahead of Württemberg time, there were two different times used at the station. At the end of 1856, the line between Ulm and Neu-Ulm was duplicated.
In 1855, a separate winter and spring timetable was introduced. On 17 May 1856, the connection through Ulm was opened to international trade, allowing the transportation of wood, grain, tobacco, cement, bricks and coal for the steam engines by rail. Steam engines were being installed because the current of the Blau was no longer sufficient to supply the increasing demand for energy. Ulm doubled its exports between 1852 and 1855. A post office opened in February 1856 and the first hotel (Hôtel de Russie, later renamed Zum Russischen Hof) was opened at the station on 1 May 1857. On 12 October 1862, the Iller Valley Railway was opened from Neu-Ulm to Memmingen with four trains running daily and it was extended to Kempten on 1 June 1863. The same day, the second track of the Fils Valley Railway from Ulm to Stuttgart was taken into operation after four years of construction. Once the Royal Bavarian Railways Office was moved to New Ulm, on 1 January 1861, the operations of the existing Württemberg and Bavaria joint station was transferred completely to Württemberg, with the exception of vehicle and locomotive operations, by 1 December 1863. Part of Bahnhofstraße (station street), which was completed in 1867, was built in January 1865, covering over the Blau. Part of the fortress wall built in the Middle Ages was demolished at the end of 1866 to give the station direct access to the city centre. In 1866, the private entrepreneur Philip Berblinger built the Berblinger building with 36 apartments at the end of Karlstraße as the first building in Ulm for railway workers.
1867–1891: first and second phase of expansion