On 10 January 1838, a provisional company was formed to build the line from Rheinschanze (renamed
Ludwigshafen in 1865) to Bexbach. On 30 March of that year, the company was formally established as the
Bayerische Eisenbahngesellschaft der Pfalz-Rheinschanz-Bexbacher Bahn (Bavarian Railway Company of the Palatine-Rheinschanz–Bexbach Railway). In May 1844, the company was finally renamed as the Palatine Ludwig Railway Company. From the end of March 1845, the construction of the line was directed by
Paul Camille von Denis, at that time one of the leading pioneers of Germany's railways. It served primarily as a means for transporting Saar coal from the Bexbach area for the Bavarian government to the port and trading centre of Rheinschanze. The line was named after the
Bavarian King Ludwig I. In addition, it was agreed to connect Rheinschanze to the Bavarian Rhine district, by means of a branch from the line at
Schifferstadt to
Speyer. The section from Homburg to Bexbach, which was located on Bavarian territory, opened on 6 June 1849. Bexbach station is the oldest, still existing station in the Saarland. The Prussian section of the line from
Neunkirchen to Wellesweiler was put into operation on 20 October 1850. In July 1856, the line was duplicated over its entire length between Ludwigshafen and Neunkirchen. After the First World War the Saar came under the administration of the
League of Nations. So in 1920, this line came under the administration of the Saar Railway (
Saareisenbahn). With the inclusion of the Saar region in Germany in 1935, the line was taken over by
Deutsche Reichsbahn.
Developments after the Second World War (1945) After the Second World War, the line returned to its own administration, this time called the Railways of the Saarland (
Eisenbahnen des Saarlandes, EdS). The EdS was incorporated in
Deutsche Bundesbahn in 1957 with the inclusion of the Saarland in the
Federal Republic of Germany. ==Notes==