About this journey

Kork station, in the Baden village of the same name, sits on the Appenweier–Strasbourg railway, a cross-border line that has been in operation since 1844. The station's layout is immediately distinctive: its two platforms are staggered rather than opposite each other, with a level crossing separating them. The line carries considerable international traffic — TGV services between Paris, Stuttgart and Munich have passed through here since 2010 — and it forms part of the Magistrale for Europe, a corridor project aimed at high-speed rail connection between Paris and Bratislava. Crossing the Rhine into France and back into Germany involves no border formality, as both sides lie within the Schengen Area.

The route continues south before entering Switzerland, ending at Muttenz station in the canton of Basel-Landschaft. Muttenz sits at a junction of significance: it is an intermediate stop on both the Bözberg and Hauenstein lines, two of Switzerland's principal east–west routes. Immediately east of the station lies the northwestern portal of the Adler Tunnel, which bypasses two intermediate stations and carries trains directly toward Liestal. The journey thus moves from a modestly scaled Rhine-crossing halt — notable for its age and its unusual platform arrangement — to one of the key nodal points at the southern edge of the Basel rail network.