The Stuttgart-Untertürkheim–Kornwestheim railway (known regionally as the Schusterbahn) is an 11.5-kilometre-long freight bypass in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. The double-track electrified main line connects Untertürkheim with Kornwestheim and serves primarily as a bypass for freight around Stuttgart Central Station (Hauptbahnhof). In the Deutsche Bahn timetable as route 790.11.

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Stuttgart-Untertürkheim–Kornwestheim
Overview
Line number	4720
Locale	Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Service
Route number	790.11
Technical
Line length	11.5 km (7.1 mi)
Minimum radius	350 m (1,148 ft)
Electrification	15 kV/16.7 Hz AC overhead catenary
Route map Legend Franconia Railway from Würzburg 11.495 Kornwestheim Pbf 301 m Franconia Railway to Stuttgart Connecting line from Kornwestheim yard Connecting line from HSL from Mannheim 8.897 Stuttgart-Zazenhausen 291 m 8.100 Feuerbach (266 m) 7.900 Stuttgart-Zazenhausen (old) 7.720 Stuttgart-Zazenhausen Hp 273 m 6.600 Schnarrenberg tunnel (272 m) Münster–Cannstatt industrial railway 5.209 Stuttgart-Münster 251 m 5.100 Stuttgart-Münster viaduct (855 m) Stuttgart Stadtbahn Münster–Cannstatt industrial railway Neckar Stuttgart Stadtbahn 4.300 3,005 Stuttgart Ebitzweg 234 m Rems Railway Stuttgart–Waiblingen Freight line from the Rems Railway 0.800 Stuttgart-Untertürkheim freight yard 226 m Fils Valley Railway from Stuttgart 0.000 Stuttgart-Untertürkheim 229 m Fils Valley Railway to Ulm Source: German railway atlas[1]

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The name Schusterbahn (“Shoemaker Railway”) refers to the Salamander shoe factory founded in Kornwestheim by a relative of Albert Einstein in 1899. The passenger trains on the route mainly served employees of the shoe factory and the railways, as Untertürkheim and Kornwestheim both contained the homes of many railway workers, and ended originally in Kornwestheim not at Kornwestheim station, but to its east in the old Kornwestheim marshalling yard, the remains of which were demolished after the completion, in 1918, of the new marshalling yard, which is separate from and to the west of Kornwestheim station.

The line was opened on 30 September 1896 with the inauguration of Stuttgart-Münster station in order to bypass the Stuttgart Central Station (Zentralbahnhof). Previously, all freight trains in Stuttgart had to operate through the Central Station, the predecessor of the current Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof (“central” or “main station”), which, like the current station, was a terminus, requiring all through trains to reverse.

At its opening on 1 October 1896, the line was single track, with its foundations and its engineering works already prepared for a second track. Due to increasing traffic, the government made available a million marks for the construction of the second track on 23 January 1902. In the winter of 1901/1902 it was served by some 50 freight and five passenger trains daily. Under several pieces of legislation in 1902, 1903 and 1905, a total of 1.8 million marks was allocated for the project. The second track was put into operation on 23 September 1904.^[2]

In Untertürkheim the line branches from the Fils Valley Railway (Filstalbahn) from Plochingen and Ulm and passes through Untertürkheim freight yard. A rail link makes a direct transition to the Rems Railway (Remsbahn) possible from the south, while trains coming from the north must pass through to the freight yard. In Bad Cannstatt, the line passes through the Kurpark (spa park) and over the Neckar on the Stuttgart-Münster viaduct at a height of 30 metres.

The line leaves the Neckar valley passing through the Schnarrenberg Tunnel then the Feuerbach valley is crossed between Rot and Zazenhausen over a second viaduct. On the southern outskirts of Kornwestheim the tracks lead onto the Franconia Railway (Frankenbahn), the Kornwestheim marshalling yard and the Mannheim–Stuttgart high-speed railway.

Up to 120 freight trains run on the freight bypass railway daily.