Halle – Bebra railway line
The Halle – Bebra railway line (also: Thuringian Railway, Thuringian Stammbahn called) is a double-track , electrified main line in Saxony-Anhalt , Thuringia and Hesse . It runs from Halle (Saale) via Naumburg , Weimar , Erfurt , Eisenach and Gerstungen to Bebra . The route is part of the main connection between Berlin , Leipzig , Fulda and Frankfurt am Main .
The section to Gerstungen was created by the Thuringian Railway Company and that from Gerstungen to Bebra by the Hessian Friedrich-Wilhelms-Nordbahn-Gesellschaft . Both sections were completed at the same time and put into operation in 1849.
history
The Thuringian Railway is part of the south east-west route from Halle to Kassel . It follows the old trade route Via Regia between Leipzig and Frankfurt. Its construction began on December 20, 1841 between the Kingdom of Prussia , the Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach and the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha after the conclusion of a state treaty . The first section from Halle to Weißenfels was opened by the Thuringian Railway Company on June 20, 1846. Half a year later, on December 19th, Weimar was reached and on April 1st, 1847 the line to Erfurt was in operation. The Erfurt– Eisenach section was opened on June 24, 1847, the rest on September 25, 1849.
On December 21, 1959, electrical operation began on the Halle – Weißenfels line. At some distance followed on May 27, 1967 Weißenfels – Bad Sulza, on July 15, 1967 Bad Sulza – Apolda and on September 22, 1967 Apolda – Neudietendorf. From this point onwards, high-speed passenger trains were switched during the traffic stop at Erfurt Hbf, Neudietendorf was mainly used for changing locomotives for freight and transit trains.
Modernization since 1990
In February 1990, railway workers and executives from both state railways met in Eisenach to initiate the closing of the gap between Bebra and Eisenach. In May 1991 the first train ran on the rebuilt section. When the timetable changed in 1991, the Eisenach - Gerstungen section was reopened, and double-track commissioning followed on September 26, 1992. At the same time, the Förtha – Gerstungen railway line was shut down as a bypass for the FRG area and was dismantled in 1993.
The electrotechnical services of the Reichsbahn and the Bundesbahn started talks in February 1990 about the electrification of the 88 km long section between Bebra and Neudietendorf. This resulted in an expansion program that included, among other things, increasing the line speed to 160 km / h (200 km / h in perspective), eliminating crossings on the same rails and rebuilding the Berlin curve . By the beginning of 1993, a framework design plan was available for the Neudietendorf – Eisenach section, the planning for the free stretch between Eisenach and Gerstungen was completed and the preliminary design plan for Gerstungen station was confirmed. The regional planning opinion was available for the regional planning procedure for the 110 kV line in the state of Thuringia, and the fine alignment was under way in the spring of 1993.
The further modernization of the Erfurt – Bebra section was carried out as the German Unity Transport Project No. 7. The estimated costs for the section between Neudietendorf and the state border were 1.6 billion DM. The electrification of the section began in 1993, and commissioning took place when the timetable changed in the summer of 1995. Since May 1995, the line has been electrified throughout and the maximum speed is in major parts 160 km / h, exceptions are, for example, the Erfurt and Bebra stations and the Hönebach tunnel (983 meters long, 90 km / h there) Electronic signal boxes ( ESTW) were built in Eisenach and Neudietendorf, later another one was added for the Erfurt main station. The ESTW in Neudietendorf is responsible for the section from Erfurt- Bischleben to Wandersleben , the Eisenacher ESTW for the section Wandersleben-Gerstungen. The section from Gerstungen is remote-controlled from the track plan signal box in Bebra. In exceptional cases, the unmanned signal box in Hönebach will be manned by staff. In Eisenach, the freight yard is also controlled by a track plan signal box.
The project was implemented by Deutsche Bahn AG. A total of 913 million euros were invested in the transport project German Unity No. 7, the travel time between Bebra and Erfurt in long-distance traffic decreased from 135 minutes (in 1990) to 59 minutes.
Since 2015, the Erfurt – Leipzig / Halle high-speed line has been running parallel to the eastern section between Halle and Erfurt . This route runs north of the Thuringian Railway through sparsely populated areas, takes over a large part of the long-distance traffic from the Thuringian Railway, thereby relieving the busy old route and also shortens travel times.
From October 2005, the first construction phase of the redesign of the southern entrance to Halle to introduce the new line into the city began. At the Halle-Ammendorf train station, new outer platforms were built south of the previous location. A new electronic signal box took over the functions of four previous signal boxes , a total of 6300 meters of noise barriers were built. The driving speed was increased in this section from 120 to 160 km / h. A total of 92.5 million euros were invested in the measure, 64.4 million euros of which from the European Regional Development Fund . The expansion of the 5.6 kilometer section was completed at the end of May 2008. In a second construction phase, the threading of the new line including an intersection structure was built from 2010 to 2011.
In the years 2010 to 2012, extensive construction work took place between Erfurt and Weimar. The embankment between Erfurt and the branch of the new line to Leipzig / Halle was renewed, the stations in Weimar and Vieselbach were renovated and the over 40-year-old contact line systems from 1967 were renewed. Here, too, the integration of the new line was prepared.
The Merseburg railway junction has been extensively modernized since March 2011 . Track and overhead line systems as well as an electronic signal box were newly built. At the station, the platforms and the pedestrian tunnel were completely renewed. It was largely completed in 2013. The Schkopau train station was modernized in 2017.
According to the planning status from 1997, some sections of the old route between Erfurt and Leipzig or Halle should also be upgraded for speeds of up to 200 km / h. An expansion of the section between Neudietendorf and Eisenach for a maximum speed of 200 km / h was provided as an option.
outlook
In connection with the German Unity Transport Project No. 8 , the Erfurt – Eisenach section was expanded over a length of around 54 km for 200 km / h. A maximum speed of 140 to 160 km / h is planned from Erfurt to Wandersleben, and 200 km / h in the further course to Eisenach. This does not apply to the Gotha thoroughfare, which is being expanded to a speed of 180 km / h. The superstructure was renewed over a length of 28 km and 30 points were replaced. Several received movable frog tips. In addition, the planum layer is to be improved over a length of four kilometers along the Leinakanal and two bridges in Fröttstädt and Seebergen are to be rebuilt. Between Wandersleben and Eisenach, the bedding cross-section was brought to regular size in July 2017. ETCS Level 2 is installed as a linear train control system. The measures are intended to shorten travel time by up to three minutes and achieve a travel time of four hours and 15 minutes between Dresden and Frankfurt am Main. According to earlier information, the expansion should be finished in 2017. The travel time between Erfurt and Frankfurt Airport should be less than two hours. Commissioning could initially not take place due to the illness of an acceptance tester. ETCS has been available for regular traffic since August 8, 2018.
The Free State of Thuringia has announced the expansion of the Erfurt or Neudietendorf – Eisenach line to 200 km / h for the Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan 2030 in order to optimize connections to and from Frankfurt at the new Erfurt ICE junction. A bridge was built to replace the Schönau level crossing by December 1, 2017. The state also announced the expansion of the line from Erfurt in the direction of Leipzig / Halle, on which the maximum speed is to be increased to 160 km / h for all conventional trains, which is currently only the case for tilting technology trains.
As part of the Fulda – Erfurt axis, the line will be upgraded for the use of the ICE 3 eddy current brake by the end of 2017 [obsolete] . Between Eisenach and Gerstungen , a 19-kilometer section of the route was to be expanded largely to 160 km / h by 2017. The aim is to reach the Erfurt hub. Around 8 million euros are being spent on expanding the seven-kilometer section between Stedtfeld and Herleshausen.
Planning for the replacement or upgrading of the Hönebach tunnel to the east has been in progress since 2014 , also for 160 km / h. After completion of the measures, the section between the Berlin curve and Erfurt would be largely passable with at least 160 km / h.
Around 94 million euros are being invested in the expansion for 200 km / h. With federal and state funds, modernization including barrier-free expansion of the Bad Kösen station is planned over the next few years .
service
The Thuringian trunk line is served by both long-distance and local passenger transport. Along with the Weimar – Gera railway line, it is the railway line in Thuringia that is most susceptible to delays, which is related to the high volume of traffic on this route with mixed operation of fast and regional passenger traffic with long routes and freight traffic.
Public transport
The rail transport is traveling while the sections of the railway line Bebra Hall. In the Hessian section between Bebra and Eisenach, the NVV line R6 has been running with Flirt trains from Cantus Bahn since December 2006 . This section was previously served by Deutsche Bahn. Both Halberstadt center entry cars and double-deck cars were used here. During rush hour, some of the trains ran from Erfurt to Bebra or from Eisenach to Bad Hersfeld. The RB20 of the NVS Thuringia runs between Eisenach and Halle (Saale) . Until December 2015, this line was served by DB Regio trains, which also used Halberstadt center-entry cars or double-deck cars. In rush hour there was a line 22A Eisenach – Gotha – Erfurt / Erfurt – Weimar – Apolda with class 612 or Siemens Desiro Classic railcars until 2014 . These amplifier trains have been integrated into the RB20 line since December 2014. Some of them are also served between Erfurt and Apolda by railcars of the Erfurt Railway . In 2012, the services of the Thuringian Railway were also put out to tender as part of the Saale-Thuringia-South Harz electrical network. The winner was Abellio Rail Mitteldeutschland , which took over regional transport in December 2015 for 15 years. Three- and five-part Talent 2 multiple units are used .
Since then, in addition to the existing regional train line RB20, four new regional express and city express lines, each running every two hours, Erfurt – Halle, Erfurt – Großkorbetha– (Leipzig), (Saalfeld – Jena) –Bad Kösen – Halle and (Saalfeld–) have been on the eastern section. Jena) –Bad Kösen – Großkorbetha– (Leipzig) in order to compensate for the elimination of long-distance trains by opening the high-speed line Erfurt – Leipzig / Halle . As a result of the rebuilding of the Halle (Saale) main station , the express services in the Naumburg – Halle section will initially be served by the RE30 from DB Regio, which runs via Halle to Köthen and Magdeburg.
The express line RE1 runs on the Thuringian trunk line between Gotha and Weimar. These trains, formed with tilting technology multiple units of the 612 series, run from Göttingen to Glauchau. Before 2014, some RE1 trains also continued to Chemnitz and Zwickau. The combined express line RE3 / RE7 is added between Neudietendorf and Weimar, whose trains run from Würzburg via Schweinfurt, Suhl to Erfurt and from there, after a 20-minute stop with number change, continue via Weimar and Gera to Altenburg or Elsterberg. This line is also served by tilting multiple units of the 612 series. Between Wandersleben and Neudietendorf as well as Erfurt and Weimar, these trains are the only ones that can reach the top speed of 160 km / h. All non-tilting trains are allowed to travel on these sections at a maximum of 140 or 120 km / h.
Other regional transport lines use the short sections Naumburg – Saaleck and Erfurt – Neudietendorf.
Long-distance passenger transport
In long-distance passenger transport , the Thuringian trunk line represents an important part of the Frankfurt (Main) –Berlin and Frankfurt (M) –Dresden corridors. Even during the division of Germany up to 1989, transit trains between Frankfurt and Berlin and express trains between Dresden, Leipzig, Cottbus and Chemnitz ran here and Frankfurt (Main). Intercity has been using the main line since the fall of the Berlin Wall . The former line 9 ran every two hours from Saarbrücken via Frankfurt to Erfurt, Leipzig and Dresden. Within this line there was also the Eurocity pair of trains "Goethe", which ran from Paris via the Thuringian trunk line to Prague. These trains stopped on the main line only in Eisenach station as well as in Erfurt and Weimar.
In 1993, two interregional lines were added to the IC . The first line 36 ran from Frankfurt via Erfurt and Halle to Berlin and from there in part to the Baltic coast. The second line 20 ran from Aachen via Paderborn, Kassel and Erfurt to Gera and Chemnitz. These trains were converted to diesel locomotives in Weimar, as the wooden railway that followed in Weimar was not electrified. In addition to the intercity stops, both interregional lines also served the stations in Bebra, Gotha, Naumburg and Weißenfels.
With the expansion of the main line for the use of tilting technology , IC line 9 was converted to ICE T of the new ICE line 50 (Wiesbaden / Saarbrücken-Frankfurt-Erfurt-Leipzig-Dresden) in the summer of 2000 . Travel times were shortened by around 20 minutes and, for the first time, large parts of the main line were driven at a top speed of 160 km / h. In 2002, interregional traffic on the Bebra – Halle railway line was discontinued. The IR line 36 was converted to the IC line 15, the IR line 20 was merged into the new IC line 51, with the trains now ending and starting in Weimar. In 2004, IC line 15 was converted to ICE-T and integrated into line 50, which now ran every hour between Frankfurt (Main) and Dresden. The IC line 51, which previously ended in Weimar, was extended to Berlin and Stralsund.
In 2008, the tilting technology of the ICE-T had to be taken out of service due to a problem with the axes. The timetable has been revised in order to better cope with the resulting longer travel times. From 2010 to 2015, a mixed cycle of Intercity and ICE operated on the Thuringian main line, each under line number 50. The routes and types of train of the cycle trains were changed several times during these timetable periods. Basically, the timetable stipulated that a two-hour line served all intermediate stops in Eisenach, Gotha, Erfurt, Weimar and Naumburg, while the two-hour alternating line only stopped in Eisenach and Erfurt and their trains were therefore around 15 minutes shorter of the tilting technology era.
Since December 2015, long-distance trains on lines 15 Frankfurt – Berlin and 50 Frankfurt – Dresden have been running exclusively as ICE again and use the newly opened Erfurt – Leipzig / Halle high-speed line from Erfurt . The trains of line 15 stop on the main line only in Erfurt main station. In addition, there are still three pairs of IC trains from the former IC line 51, which, coming from Kassel, serve the stops in Bebra, Eisenach, Gotha, Erfurt and Weimar. One pair of trains travels from Weimar via Großheringen on the Saalbahn to Jena-Göschwitz, another pair of trains from Weimar via Naumburg to Halle. These are to be driven with new double-decker trains.
From January 12 to September 2016, the ICE line 28 Berlin – Munich was diverted to the Erfurt – Bebra section (Berlin curve) due to a line closure. In addition, a pair of night trains ran between Basel and Prague until it was discontinued in December 2016.
Freight transport
Important freight stations are located in Halle, Großkorbetha, Vieselbach ( freight traffic center ), Erfurt, Eisenach (automotive industry, wood), Gerstungen (traction change of the potash trains) and Bebra.
Route description
course
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Halle – Großkorbetha
The Halle – Bebra (Thuringian Railway) line begins at Halle (Saale) Hauptbahnhof station , which it leaves in a southerly direction. It is the most important railway line in southern Saxony-Anhalt. Immediately behind the train station the railway to Leipzig branches off to the east. Further south in the urban area of Halle the railway line leaves Halle – Hann. Open the route of the Thuringian Railway to the west. Shortly before the Ammendorf stop, a 3.614 km long connecting line branches off, which leads from the Thuringian Railway to the Erfurt – Leipzig / Halle high-speed line. The station of the same name is located in Halle- Ammendorf , behind which the line crosses the White Elster . This is followed by the crossing of the Saale and the Schkopau train station . This is where the Buna works are located , which are connected to the railway network via the Thuringian Railway and are part of the chemical triangle . South of Schkopau, Merseburg is the first medium-sized town on the route. Here the Merseburg – Querfurt railway branches off to the west through the Geiseltal to Querfurt and the Merseburg – Leipzig railway line , a branch line to Leipzig (closed), branches off to the east . To the south of Merseburg, the Leuna works follow immediately , through which the railway line runs, before it joins a main line coming from Leipzig in Großkorbetha . On the section to Weißenfels, the electric train service, which was terminated in 1946 by dismantling, was resumed in 1959 . In the GDR, this section of the route was particularly important for rush hour traffic from Halle-Neustadt to the Leuna and Buna chemical plants. In addition, from 1967 to 1990 passenger trains with up to three four-part double - decker DBv units ran. In Germany, these were the trains with the largest number of seats.
Großkorbetha branch point Saaleck
The 32-kilometer-long section from Groß Korbetha to Saaleck branch has the heaviest train traffic in central Germany , as east-west traffic (Dresden-Frankfurt) is bundled with north-south traffic (Berlin-Munich). As early as 1937, thirty long-distance trains ran here per day, in 1989 there were even 37 long-distance trains and in 2004 35 pairs of trains. Behind the Großkorbetha train station, the line approaches the Saale , in the valley of which it now runs to Großheringen and crosses it eight times. The next step is the town of Weißenfels , where a main route branches off via Zeitz to Gera . Up until the fall of the Berlin Wall, there was also a large freight yard with 252 points, today there are still twelve points and five tracks. The importance of Weißenfels as a railway junction has decreased in passenger traffic in favor of Naumburg and in freight traffic in favor of Großkorbetha. Naumburg is the next town on the route with long-distance stops. To the southwest of Naumburg, the route leads through the scenic Saale-Unstrut-Triasland , where the Saale Valley is lined with vineyards . Between Saaleck (Naumburg) and Großheringen the Saalbahn branches off to the south to Jena – Saalfeld – Munich. The Saaleck Castle and the Rudelsburg are located above the Saale Valley . Electric train operation was first possible on this section in 1941, but five years later, in 1946, all contact line systems had to be removed as part of the reparations payments to the Soviet Union. In 1967 the renewed electrification was put into operation , this time as far as Neudietendorf .
Saaleck – Erfurt
At Großheringen the railway line crosses into the Ilm valley , which it crosses four times. The area around the town of Bad Sulza , through which the route now leads, is also known as Thuringian Tuscany , as the gently rolling landscape with its vineyards and mild climate is reminiscent of Tuscany . The next larger town on the Thuringian Railway is Apolda . Until 150 years ago it was still a small agricultural town with around 2500 inhabitants, but with the construction of the railway line the city's textile industry took off and grew to almost 25,000 inhabitants by 1900. Further south-west, the next ICE stop is Weimar . The train station , from which the Weimar – Gera railway branches off to the east via Jena to Gera, is relatively far from the city center. In Weimar, the Halle – Bebra railway leaves the Ilm valley and initially runs along the foot of the Ettersberg, before reaching the flat Thuringian Basin , where it takes about twenty kilometers west to reach Erfurt , the capital of Thuringia. From Weimar there is also the so-called Central-Germany connection on the Thuringian Railway. In the Erfurt district of Vieselbach there is a freight traffic center on the route and to the east of Erfurt main station is the large Erfurt shunting and freight yard. Just before the main train station which open high-speed rail line between Erfurt and Leipzig / Halle , the railway Sangerhausen Erfurt and Nordhausen-Erfurt railway from the north in the Thuringian Railway one. Erfurt main station was extensively rebuilt between 2003 and 2008. This was done as part of the construction of a high-speed line from Nuremberg via Erfurt to Leipzig or Halle (see also high-speed line Erfurt-Leipzig / Halle and high-speed line Nuremberg-Erfurt ) which the long-distance traffic of the Thuringian Railway between Berlin, Leipzig and Halle on the one hand and Nuremberg and Munich has taken over on the other side. The northern section between Erfurt and Leipzig or Halle has been in operation since December 13, 2015. The southern section to Nuremberg was put into operation with the timetable change in December 2017.
Erfurt – Neudietendorf
This section is one of the busiest railway lines in Thuringia. The route is here in the valley of the Gera and the Apfelstädt . The twelve-kilometer section was given two additional freight train tracks 1910-1912 and station Neudietendorf a grade separated Ausfädelung the route track to Arnstadt the neudietendorf-ritschenhausen railway . These tracks were dismantled after 1945 as part of reparations payments.
In 1967 the section of the line was electrified and in 1975 a third track was laid again with the extension. Since 2005, the line of the high-speed line Nuremberg – Erfurt has run parallel for the first few kilometers between Erfurt and the Bischleben district .
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Neudietendorf – Eisenach
To the west of Neudietendorf station, the route leads past the Drei Gleichen in the direction of Gotha , which is reached after passing the Großer Seeberg . The western and central sections of Gotha train station were destroyed in bombing raids during World War II and either not or only partially rebuilt, so that the station building is much smaller today. The Thuringian Forest Railway , an overland tram (ÜStra) to Waltershausen , Tabarz and Friedrichroda, begins on the forecourt of the station . In Gotha station, the Ohratalbahn branch off to Gräfenroda in the south and the Gotha – Leinefelde railway towards Göttingen in the north. Shortly after Gotha, the route reaches the watershed of the Weser and Elbe at km 141.8 and has its highest point there at 324.4 meters above sea level . At distance km 142, the Leina Canal crossed the railway line with an aqueduct . Since the technical monument represented a bottleneck in the route electrification, it has been bypassed with a new route to the north since 1994, whereby the arc radius was also increased and the apex was raised by a few meters.
From 1912 until the route was relocated, the Leinakanal depot was located there, where passenger trains stopped during horse races in neighboring Boxberg until around 1950 . At Fröttstädt station , the oldest branch line in Thuringia branches off to the south with the Fröttstädt – Georgenthal line. There the Thuringian Railway also enters the Hörsel valley , which it follows to the Werra behind Eisenach. Here, the Hörsel forms a delightful breakthrough valley between Hörselberge in the north and the Thuringian Forest in the south, through which the route runs.
The Mechterstädt-Sättelstädt train station was built in the 1930s as a siding and storage facility for the Reichsautobahn under construction . After the war, the Red Army used the northern part of the station until 1990 as a collection point for military transports (tanks) to the nearby Kindel firing range. This station was unfavorable for tourist traffic in both communities, so when it was expanded in the 1990s, they were given their own stops. After crossing the federal highway 4 and crossing the community of Wutha-Farnroda , where the Wutha-Ruhla railway branched off, the line reaches the city of Eisenach , which is the next ICE stop after Erfurt.
Eisenach – Gerstungen
The Thuringian Railway leaves Eisenach in a westerly direction and reaches the Werra valley , which it crosses in Hörschel . The route then runs in the Herleshausen area for seven kilometers across Hessian territory before changing back to Thuringia and continuing to Gerstungen . As early as 1946, the Erfurt and Kassel railroad divisions agreed on a new delimitation of their districts in the Werra Valley, with the result that the 7.11 kilometer long Wommen – Herleshausen section, which was in the American occupation zone, was placed under the Erfurt management. The operation and maintenance was done by German citizens, employed by the Deutsche Reichsbahn and paid in D-Marks. Freight trains still drove via Herleshausen until 1978, then operations between Wartha and Gerstungen ceased and 23 employees were terminated. The last three of these Federal German Reichsbahner kept the unused systems in order in the following years. They were released when the section was handed over to the Federal Railroad on July 1, 1988, and the line was made impassable by dismantling around one hundred meters of track in Thuringia directly at the border. The Hessian section of the route was closed and the Federal Railway Directorate wanted to sell the terrain.
The fact that the inner-German border in the so-called Thuringian Strip was crossed five times (see the following section “Gerstungen – Bebra”) caused security problems on the part of the GDR during the division of Germany. For this reason, in 1961/1962, after the Berlin Wall was erected by the GDR, a single-track and steep bypass route, the Förtha – Gerstungen railway line , was built. The line branching off from the Werra Railway at Förtha rejoined the Thuringian Railway east of Gerstungen and bypassed the Herleshausen – Wommen section.
It was not until 1991, after reunification , that the old main line of the Thuringian Railway was rebuilt and put into operation on May 25, 1991, the bypass route, which was poorly routed due to the terrain, was then shut down and dismantled.
Gerstungen – Bebra
After the inauguration of the railway line in 1849, Gerstungen was a transfer station between the Thuringian Railway and Friedrich-Wilhelms-Nordbahn-Gesellschaft , from 1946 a border station between the Reichsbahndirektion (Rbd) Erfurt and the Rbd Kassel and between the GDR and the Federal Republic of Germany . In addition, the Gerstungen – Vacha railway branches off in Gerstungen , a branch line through the Werra valley via Heringen and Vacha to Bad Salzungen - today only to Heimboldshausen with a works connection to Unterbreizbach. It plays a major role , especially for the potash industry ( Kali und Salz AG ). Behind Gerstungen, the Thuringian Railway leaves the Werra valley, runs between the Hessian towns of Bosserode and Hönebach once again across Thuringian territory, which was part of the GDR until 1990, in the Großensee district and climbs to the Hönebach tunnel , which forms the watershed between Werra and Fulda marked. Due to the narrow clearance profile , it is only driven on at a top speed of 90 km / h. West of the tunnel, the route leads through Ronshausen in the valley between Seulingswald in the south and Richelsdorf mountains in the north to Bebra , where it ends at the routes to Frankfurt, Göttingen and Kassel. The Thuringian Railway will continue to be kilometered on the line to Kassel, where it ends in Baunatal-Guntershausen after 272 kilometers.
During the division of Germany, rail buses from the Fulda depot (later Marburg depot and Gießen depot) were sometimes used between Bebra and Obersuhl (last stop before the Gerstungen border crossing point) . After the Federal Railroad initially handled local traffic with locomotive-hauled passenger trains and turned the locomotives in Gerstungen on the turntable there , the Reichsbahn prohibited these journeys from April 1966. From then on, rail buses ran as a restricted journey between Hönebach and Obersuhl. The Obersuhl stop was relocated and a new transfer point was built. In 1990, the DB still carried out these journeys with rail buses.
Berlin curve
Since 1914, there is at the former branching point Faßdorf (km 206.39) a link to the North-South route Bebra - Bad Hersfeld , which trains from Erfurt to Frankfurt the change of direction saves in Bebra. Until 1952, there was also a third track from Faßdorf to the Hönebach tunnel due to a gradient of eleven per thousand. After 1945 the connecting curve was no longer used due to the usually required change of locomotive in Bebra and closed in 1989 because a bridge was in disrepair. With the modernization of the line after 1990, this section was also renovated and put back into operation. Since then, long-distance trains running from Dresden and Berlin to Frankfurt have been using this connecting curve.
Operating points
Weissenfels
Weißenfels station has existed since the line was opened in 1846 and became a separation station in 1859 with the opening of the line to Zeitz. Since the abandonment of the freight transport facilities at the end of the 1990s, it has only been used for regional travel.
Seamounts
Today's Seebergen station was built in 1912 and replaced a stop further east that had existed since 1847. In addition to the two main tracks, there is still a passing track today. The station building was demolished in 2016 after a long period of vacancy.
Gotha
Gotha station has existed since the line opened in 1847. With the opening of the lines to Leinefelde (1870) and to Ohrdruf and Graefenroda (1876/1892), Gotha became an important hub in central Thuringia. Since 1929, there has also been a transition to the Thuringian Forest Railway to Tabarz, an overland tram , at the station forecourt .
Gotha is still a stop in long-distance traffic, as of 2017 ICE trains from Dresden to Frankfurt (Main) Hbf stop every two hours. Freight traffic at the station is now of secondary importance.
Fröttstädt
Fröttstädt train station is seven kilometers from Gotha on the other side of the Leinakanal . It is a wedge station opened in 1876 with four tracks, on which the Fröttstädt – Friedrichroda line branches off from the Thuringian main line. In 2017, the passenger tunnel to platform 2 was filled and instead a stairway with a passenger elevator to Langenhainer Straße was installed, which passes under the main line immediately to the east of the station. This measure is part of the expansion of the Eisenach – Wandersleben railway line to a maximum speed of 200 km / h.
Railway accidents
On December 24, 1935, there was a train accident between an express train and a passenger train in the entrance area of the Großheringen station on the Saale bridge . 34 people died and 27 were seriously injured in the accident.
In the early morning of January 29, 1962, the express train D 28 from Berlin to Eisenach had an accident at the Mechterstädt-Sättelstädt station. The locomotive, a sleeping car and two seating cars of the D 28 derailed; 27 passengers and railway employees, some of whom were seriously injured, as well as enormous damage to property were registered. The state-controlled GDR media kept silent about the incident, only a local newspaper published a three-line note. The accident was caused by a scheduling error (newcomer to the signal box) and by capacity bottlenecks in rail operations. In the station area, there was a collision with an unscheduled arriving freight train from the DR track construction company Bitterfeld (twenty ballast wagons), which was also traveling in the direction of Eisenach. Due to deficiencies in the superstructure in the Fröttstädt – Mechterstädt-Sättelstädt section, the arriving express train only drove at 50 km / h, which means that when the locomotive staff recognized the obstacle, they were able to apply the brakes quickly and trigger an emergency signal 50 m before the collision.
On June 23, 1976 at 5:25 p.m., the international express train D 354 crashed at the western end of Eisenach station on its way from Berlin to Paris. The 118 class locomotive and two following passenger cars remained in the tracks when crossing a defective switch, the following cars derailed and collided with a mail car and a shunting locomotive that were traveling on an adjacent track. The mail car and the shunter crashed onto a street on the side of the embankment. There were a total of 26 injuries among staff and passengers.
On June 11, 1981 at around 4:50 p.m., the express train D 1453 from Düsseldorf to Chemnitz (then Karl-Marx-Stadt) had an accident at Erfurt- Bischleben station . Due to a track warping, two cars of the train fell down an embankment and one car crashed into the signal box. 14 travelers were killed, 93 were injured, some seriously.
On the Halle – Erfurt railway line, on the night of March 13, 1986, near the Leißling train station, in the Weißenfels district, 26 cement-loaded wagons of a freight train derailed, some of which overturned. People were not injured. Significant property damage occurred to the track and contact line systems. The cause of the accident was the breakage of a wheel disc on a freight car.
literature
- Bernhard Hager: Traces of another time. The Eisenach – Bebra Magistrale as reflected in history . In: Eisenbahngeschichte 25 (December 2007 / January 2008), pp. 10–25.
- Bernhard Hager: The Eisenach – Bebra Magistrale as reflected in history. Part 2: détente and reunification . In: Eisenbahngeschichte 26 (February / March 2008), pp. 14–29.
- Dieter Schuster-Wald: Interzone traffic between Bebra and Eisenach. History - memories - contemporary documents 1945 to 1989 . Eisenbahn-Kurier, Freiburg im Breisgau 1996, ISBN 3-88255-420-7 (= Regional Transport History Volume 9).
- Georg Thielmann, Roland Pabst: The Thuringian trunk line . Wachsenburgverlag, Arnstadt 2006, ISBN 3-935795-00-9 .
- Günter Walter: Aqueduct and Leinakanal station . Rockstuhl Verlag, Bad Langensalza 2005, ISBN 3-937135-50-2 .
- Günter Walter: Herleshausen in the west, but the railroad in the east . In: The Railway Engineer . (57) 12/2006, pp. 56-60.
Web links
- Route, operating points and permissible speeds on the OpenRailwayMap .
- Bridge renovations Weißenfels – Erfurt in the BauInfoPortal of Deutsche Bahn
- Operating locations, mileage and numerous photos
- Förtha – Gerstungen bypass route
- Files and plans in the holdings of the Reichsbahndirektion Halle in the State Archives Saxony-Anhalt, Dessau department
Individual evidence
- ↑ Route section (6340) ... (No longer available online.) In: stredax.dbnetze.com. DB Netze AG, formerly in the original ; accessed on January 24, 2018 . ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Information and pictures about the tunnels on route 6340 on eisenbahn-tunnelportale.de by Lothar Brill
- ↑ Information and pictures about the tunnels on route 6340 on eisenbahn-tunnelportale.de by Lothar Brill
- ^ Siegfried Knüpfer : Railway lines for German unity - an interim balance in 1996 . In: Eisenbahntechnische Rundschau , No. 7/8, July / August 1996, pp. 461–469.
- ↑ a b c Werner Gruner, Dietwalt Moschkau, Wolfgang Hubrich: Electrification of the Neudietendorf - Eisenach - Bebra line . In: Electric Railways . tape 93 , no. 9/10 , 1995, ISSN 0013-5437 , pp. 329-332 .
- ↑ a b c Planungsgesellschaft Bahnbau Deutsche Einheit mbH (Ed.): Information on the rail transport projects German unity in the state of Thuringia. Planungsgesellschaft Bahnbau Deutsche Einheit mbH as of June 1993 . June 1993.
- ↑ a b c d Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development: Status report on transport projects German unity ( Memento from December 21, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 623 KiB), May 2012.
- ↑ (without source)
- ↑ Planungsgesellschaft Bahnbau Deutsche Einheit (Ed.): Transport projects German unity: tasks - ways to implementation - results. Transport policy working group of the SPD parliamentary group in the German Bundestag. Conversation with Prof. Dr. S. Defects, spokesman for the management of the Planungsgesellschaft Bahnbau Deutsche Einheit mbH (PB DE) . Berlin, 1995, p. 5.
- ^ DB ProjektBau GmbH, Southeast branch (ed.): New Erfurt – Leipzig / Halle line, section south connection to Halle , 6 pages.
- ^ Deutsche Bahn AG: New southern connection Halle (Saale) of the railway goes into operation . Press release from May 28, 2008.
- ↑ Complete closure at Merseburg train station. supersonntag.web.de, June 6, 2013, accessed November 26, 2015 .
- ↑ Saxony-Anhalt station program. Retrieved December 7, 2017 .
- ^ Federal Ministry of Transport: Transport projects German unity. Status: 1997 . Brochure (50 A4 pages), Bonn 1997, p. 20.
- ↑ Federal Ministry of Transport (ed.): Transport projects German unity: projects, plans, laws, arguments . Bonn, August 1993, pp. 67-69.
- ↑ DB ProjektBau (publisher): Erfurt – Eisenach extension line and equipment for 200 kilometers per hour . Nuremberg April 2015 ( node Erfurt / 00 overview / VDE-81_Erfurt-Eisennach.pdf PDF file ).
- ↑ Matthias Benkenstein: At 200 kilometers an hour from Erfurt to Eisenach . In: Thuringian General . April 1, 2015, p. 4 ( similar version ).
- ^ Germany-Frankfurt am Main: construction work for railway lines. Document 2018 / S 096-220061. In: Supplement to the Electronic Official Journal of the European Union . May 23, 2018, accessed May 24, 2018 .
- ↑ a b Thuringia: Five rail projects registered for the 2015 Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan. In: eurailpress.de. DVV Media Group GmbH, March 28, 2013, accessed on September 21, 2018 .
- ↑ The level crossing in Schönau is history. GGP Ingenieurgesellschaft Gnauert und Partner mbH, December 5, 2017, accessed on September 21, 2018 .
- ^ Schönau: New railroad crossing in the east decided. In: Thüringische Landeszeitung. July 4, 2013, accessed September 21, 2018 .
- ↑ 16TEI21323 / route 6340, VP 20, abandonment BÜ Schönau km 157.517 In: TED 2016/06/20 Supplement to the EU Official Journal tendering number 210138-2016:.
- ^ André Daubitz, Frank de Gavarelli, Marcus Schenkel: A major project on the home straight - the new line between Erfurt and Leipzig / Halle . In: Railway technical review . tape 64 , no. 12 , 2015, ISSN 0013-2845 , p. 33-42 .
- ^ Fennel engineering services: speed increase Eisenach-Gerstungen; PFA 1; km 173.6 to km 176.7; Explanatory report . Meiningen October 1, 2015, p. 4, 15 ( thueringen.de [PDF]). Speed increase Eisenach-Gerstungen; PFA 1; km 173.6 to km 176.7; Explanatory report ( memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Expansion of Eisenach – Gerstungen as a connecting line for the new ICE interchange Erfurt. (No longer available online.) In: deutschebahn.com. Deutsche Bahn, March 8, 2017, archived from the original on March 12, 2017 ; accessed on March 9, 2017 .
- ↑ Expansion of Eisenach– Gerstungen as a connecting line for the new ICE interchange Erfurt. (No longer available online.) In: deutschebahn.com. Deutsche Bahn, September 14, 2017, archived from the original on September 17, 2017 ; accessed on September 17, 2017 .
- ↑ Bernd Jentsch: Erfurt Eisenach railway line closed for a week in September . In: Ostthüringer Zeitung . August 15, 2016, p. 5 .
- ↑ Modernization push for small train stations (including list of measures). Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure , June 16, 2016, accessed on June 17, 2016 .
- ↑ NASA announces tender for the Saale-Thuringia-Südharz electrical network
- ↑ Abellio will operate the Saale-Thuringia-Südharz railway network from 2015
- ↑ E-Netz Saale-Thuringia-Südharz: Abellio drives with Talent 2
- ↑ DB Netz route brochure SFS Erfurt-Halle / Leipzig ( Memento from February 14, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Hans-Joachim Kirsche: Railway Directorate Erfurt 1882-1993 . VBN Verlag B. Neddermeyer, Berlin 2006, ISBN 978-3-933254-76-4 , p. 87.
- ↑ Much faster with the ICE between Erfurt and Halle / Leipzig. (No longer available online.) Deutsche Bahn, December 9, 2015, archived from the original on December 11, 2015 ; Retrieved December 9, 2015 .
- ^ A b Günter Walter: Locomotive 01 142 versus wagon group. The background to the railway accident of 1962 in Mechterstädt . In: Heimatkreis Gotha city and country (ed.): Gothaer Heimatbrief . No. 53 . Gotha 2008, p. 83-87 .
- ↑ a b Bernd Troll: Nothing works that fast anymore. End of a German-German peculiarity . In: Hessisch-Waldeckische Gebirgs- und Wanderverein e. V. (Ed.): Hessischer Gebirgsbote . 90th JG. Issue 1. Melsungen 1989, p. 8-9 .
- ↑ Dieter Schuster-Wald: Interzone traffic Bebra-Eisenach . = EK series: Regionale Verkehrsgeschichte 9, Freiburg 1996, p. 98
- ↑ J.-U. Ebel, J. Högemann, Dr. R. Löttgers: Rail buses from Uerdingen, Volume 2 - Operation history . EK-Verlag, Freiburg, 2001, ISBN 3-88255-222-0 .
- ↑ Lena Dickgießer: Seebergen: Deutsche Bahn has the old station building torn down , Thüringer Allgemeine , September 6, 2016
- ↑ Erfurt - Eisenach ( Memento from December 2, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Norman Meissner: The Eisenach railway disaster of June 23, 1976: two contemporary witnesses report. In: Thüringische Landeszeitung . June 28, 2014, accessed September 9, 2015 .
