<p><b>Freiberg </b> station is located at 19.4 kilometre point of the <a href="/pages/w/226820570677758">Backnang–Ludwigsburg railway</a> and is a station of the <a href="/pages/w/102586566462998">Stuttgart S-Bahn</a>. Until the end of World War II it was connected by a line to <a href="/pages/w/119467434796488">Bietigheim</a>, which was formally closed on 15 January 1958.</p><h2>History</h2><h3>Planning and Construction</h3><p>In the mid-1860s, the <a href="/pages/w/110097075707831">Royal Württemberg State Railways</a> planned the <a href="/pages/w/213615435338106">Murr Valley Railway</a> from <a href="/pages/w/113526062106719">Backnang</a> to Bietigheim, the starting point of the <a href="/pages/w/135487466484607">Western Railway</a>, for through traffic from <a href="/pages/w/106167856081249">Bavaria</a> to <a href="/pages/w/530676447018997">Baden</a>. It would run via <a href="/pages/w/103705979668109">Kirchberg</a>, <a href="/pages/w/113713895305868">Steinheim</a>, <a href="/pages/w/105570626142257">Pleidelsheim</a> and <a href="/pages/w/107593065930051">Großingersheim</a>.</p><p>After the <a href="/pages/w/109345625750379">Franco-Prussian War</a> of 1870/71, the railways administration amended these plans because, among other things, the Imperial Railway Office (<i>Reichseisenbahnamt</i>) in Berlin saw this east-west connection as having value for military strategy. It was now regarded as the fastest way for military trains to deploy troops from <a href="/pages/w/102888303085726">Middle Franconia</a> to the French border. At that time, it was envisaged that all trains would need to reverse in Bietigheim, which would have led to delays. To avoid this, it was then decided to build the southern section to reach Bietigheim station from the southeast. It was finally decided on 23 March 1873 to build a station in the village of Beihingen am Neckar. At a later stage a branch would be built to <a href="/pages/w/187185501325023">Ludwigsburg</a>.</p>