Bietigheim-Bissingen station

Bietigheim-Bissingen station is a junction station in the town of Bietigheim-Bissingen in the German state of Baden-Württemberg where the Württemberg Western Railway separates from the Franconia Railway. With its eight station tracks it is the largest station in the district of Ludwigsburg. It is served by regional trains, line S 5 of the Stuttgart S-Bahn and line S 5 of the Karlsruhe Stadtbahn.HistoryBietigheim station was opened on 11 October 1847 along with the Ludwigsburg–Bietigheim section of the Northern Railway, connecting Stuttgart with Heilbronn. The station was about two km outside the town in the forest of Laiernwald. The Royal Württemberg State Railways had rejected all efforts by the town council to have the station built closer to the town. In addition to the station building, there were initially a building for other offices, a goods shed and a locomotive depot. On 25 July 1848 the remainder of the Northern Railway between Bietigheim and Heilbronn was opened.According to Charles Vignoles’ proposals of 1843/44 the Western Railway to Bruchsal would have separated from the Northern Railway near Tamm. Karl Etzel proposed in 1845 the more northerly branch in Bietigheim, since the Enz valley was at its narrowest there and therefore a shorter and lower bridge was required than under the original plan. Under Vignoles' plan from a 46 m high and 515 m long viaduct would have been required at Bissinger Sägmühle; under Etzel’s plan the viaduct would be only 26 m high and 287 m long. Despite its longer route, Etzel’s alignment saved 400,000 gulden. In February 1846 the Württemberg Treasury agreed to the construction of the Bietigheim Enz Valley Viaduct.