Nördlingen–Pleinfeld railway

Nördlingen–Pleinfeld railway
Overview
Line number912, 12990
Service
Route number5330
Technical
Line length56.164 km (34.899 mi)
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in) standard gauge
Minimum radius400 m (1,300 ft)
Maximum incline0.56%
Route map

km
0.000
Nördlingen
430 m
to Dombühl
to Wemding
1.269
DB Netz
BayernBahn
infrastructure boundary
7.51
Dürrenzimmern
425 m
Heuberg military airfield siding (1934–48/49)
13.01
Oettingen
418 m
20.67
Auhausen
425 m
24.80
Wassertrüdingen
428 m
28.0
Arrabach
28.54
Unterschwaningen
31.55
Cronheim
456 m
36.3
Wurmbach viaduct
Unterwurmbach (planned)
38.754
BayernBahn
DB Netz
infrastructure boundary
38.933
Altmühl (156 m)
39.467
Gunzenhausen
421 m
47.268
Langlau
421 m
47.5
Bundeswehr depot siding
(to Dec 2007)
52.245
Ramsberg
56.294
Pleinfeld
394 m
Source: German railway atlas

The Nördlingen–Pleinfeld railway is a railway line in Bavaria, Germany that was originally built and operated as part of the Ludwig South-North Railway. It runs in southern Middle Franconia and in northern Swabia from Nördlingen via Gunzenhausen to Pleinfeld and opens up the southern Franconian Lake District (Fränkischen Seenland), the Hesselberg region and parts of the Nördlinger Ries.

The 16.8-kilometre-long Gunzenhausen–Pleinfeld section, sometimes referred to as the Seenland-Bahn ("Lakeland railway"), is a main railway and is served by a regional railway line for passenger services operated by Verkehrsverbund Großraum Nürnberg (Nuremberg Region Transport Association, VGN). On the 39.5 km long branch line section from Nördlingen to Gunzenhausen, on the other hand, there is now a heritage railway, operated with a passenger train that is known as the Seenland-Express ("Lakeland Express") after the Franconian Lake District (Fränkischen Seenland). There are plans for a permanent reactivation of passenger traffic on the whole route. Along with the Nördlingen–Dombühl railway, the Nördlingen–Gunzenhausen section is also known as the Hesselbergbahn ("Hesselberg Railway").