Built in the 1890s, the narrow-gauge Bottwartalbahn once connected Marbach am Neckar and Heilbronn. In the 1960s, passenger traffic on the line was largely discontinued, followed later by freight traffic. The line has since been closed and most of it has been decommissioned.
As early as the 1990s and 2000s, there were initial considerations about reactivating the line in diesel mode or as a light rail line.
The districts of Ludwigsburg and Heilbronn in cooperation with the neighboring municipalities along the Bottwartal and the city of Heilbronn have now taken up the topic again and have jointly commissioned a new feasibility study including a standardized assessment for the connection from Marbach via Beilstein to Heilbronn. The aim of the study is to examine the technical and operational feasibility of a continuous BOStrab connection and then to demonstrate the economic benefits required for funding.
On Tuesday, July 25, 2023, the results of the feasibility study were presented to the committees of the participating districts and municipalities at an information event in the Reblandhalle in Neckarwestheim.
The Ludwigsburg section from Marbach, via Murr, Steinheim, Großbottwar, Oberstenfeld to Beilstein was examined. On the Heilbronn side, four variants were examined.
Based on the Standardized Assessment 2016+, which gives greater weight to climate protection targets, for example, the variants have estimated benefit-cost factors of 1.59 to 1.91 in an initial rough assessment.
On March 18, 2024, the Heilbronn district council decided that variant I, which runs along the original route from Beilstein via Ilsfeld, Talheim and Sontheim to Heilbronn, should be pursued further.
Further planning and the standardized assessment can now be tackled. In addition, the route of the railroad in Heilbronn will be examined.
