New life for old tracks: The forgotten train from Kaufering to Rott

New life for old tracks: The forgotten train from Kaufering to Rott

Penzing, Deutschland - The history of the railway line from Kaufering to Rott is a multifaceted narrative that extends over more than a century. There is an idea of ​​creating a railway line that leads to Rott via Landsberg for over 120 years. These considerations started on a memorable April day in 1905. On this day, 23 municipalities gathered in Pflugdorf to advise on the construction of the railway line. Among the supporters was the pastor of Hofstetten, Johann Jaumann, a central figure that campaigned tirelessly for railway construction. Augsburger Allgemeine continues that the city of Landsberg has already been closed because it already had its own rail connection.

Extensive meetings, especially one on April 30, 1905 with 250 participants, showed the great interest of the population. Despite a possible donation of 50,000 marks by the mayor of Ludenhausen, Josef Schamper, the plans met with setbacks; The city of Landsberg was not very cooperative. In 1910, Jaumann turned to a Munich newspaper and expressed his resentment about the lack of support from Landsberg.

The financial concerns of the Munich authorities and the complexity of the financability of the route inhibited the progress. Despite the rejection and skepticism that surrounded the plan, a draft for a runway up to Landsberg-Ost was drawn up in 1912, which was never implemented. The outbreak of the First World War in the same year also ensured that it became quietly about rail planning. Jaumann died in 1916, and the ideas of a rail connection sank in forgetting.

The turn came in 1936 when a connecting train from Epfenhausen to Penzing, the connection to the Landsberg/Lech military airport, was put into operation. This route, which has a length of 6.3 kilometers, primarily served to transport fuel, machines and ammunition, as well as at times also non -public passenger transport for soldiers and employees. Wikipedia reports that the track connection was not closed until 2020 with the closure of the airfield.

During the entire time, the railway was a driving force for development in Germany, which ranged from the beginning with the first route between Nuremberg and Fürth 1835 to the foundation of Deutsche Bahn AG in 1994. The railway infrastructure was essentially subject to political and economic decisions, which often led to a decline in the routes abruptly. In the course of the 20th century, the rail network of almost 60,000 kilometers in 1914 sank to around 38,000 kilometers in 2005.

But even today, the track systems are considered to reactivate the track systems. The unused routes and the powerful return of nature ask the question: What role could the historical railway line play again in the future? With a clear vision, the return of the railway could herald a new era for the residents and the region.

The history of this railway line is not only a look back into the past, but also a look into the future. How could the Kaufering-Rott connection become a pulse provider for local development again? It remains exciting, because there is certainly still a lot of potential to raise.