Backnang station

Backnang station is located on the Waiblingen–Schwäbisch Hall railway and is the starting point of the Backnang–Ludwigsburg railway in the city of Backnang in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is served by Regional-Express services. It is the terminus of lines S 3 and S 4 of the S-Bahn. It is classified by Deutsche Bahn as a category 3 station.HistoryIn the 1860s, the citizens of the Oberamt of Backnang sought a connection to the rail network. In 1863, the Backnang trade association, together with trade associations in other towns, wrote a petition to the Württemberg ministry of foreign affairs, which was then in charge of railway construction. By the autumn engineers had travelled to the area to make surveys.State Railways and Deutsche Reichsbahn periodsOn 26 October 1876, the Royal Württemberg State Railways (Königlich Württembergischen Staats-Eisenbahnen) opened the Murr Valley Railway between Waiblingen and Backnang. The station is located on a slope above the old town and a temporary entrance building was built. In 1877, work began on the permanent station building, made of sandstone and brick. On 18 October 1877, a restaurant was opened in the partially completed building. The temporary building was demolished in November 1877. The new station building was inaugurated along with the opening of the Backnang–Murrhardt section on 18 April 1878. It was a long two and a half storeys high central block with two three-story wings, which were covered with a hipped roof. The ground floor was made of sandstone. The doors and windows were built with round arches. The upper floors were made of brick, with the lintels and cornices built of sandstone as a contrast.