Czerwonka – Ełk railway line

Czerwonka – Ełk (Rothfließ – Lyck)
Route number :	223 (PKP)
Course book range :	DR 118c and 118v (1940) or 136f and 136g (1944)
Route length:	121.270 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Top speed:	80 km / h
Legend from Olsztyn (Allenstein) by Lidzbark Warmiński (Heilsberg) 0.000 Czerwonka (Rothfliess) 145 m to Korsze (Korschen) 7.527 Biskupiec Reszelski (Bishop's Castle ) 156 m to Szczytno (Ortelsburg) 11,122 Parleza Wielka (from 1959) 154 m 16,290 Dąbrówka Kobułcka (Dombrowken) 158 m 22.938 Sorkwity (Sorquitten) 143 m 28,943 Bagienice (Alt Bagnowen / Althöfen; since around 1930) 159 m State road 59 from Kętrzyn (Rastenburg) Roads 16 and 59 Mrągowo Wąskotorowe 34.076 Mrągowo (Sensburg, formerly a personal stop) 160 m to Ruciane-Nida (Rudczanny / Niedersee) Roads 16 and 59 41,420 Kosewo (Kossewen (Ostpr.) / Rechenberg (Ostpr.)) 143 m Landesstrasse 16 46.171 Baranowo (Barranowen / Hoverbeck) 140 m Landesstrasse 16 Landesstrasse 16 51.206 Zełwągi (Selbongen) 132 m Landesstrasse 16 Śniardwy (Spirdingsee) Landesstrasse 16 56.731 Mikołajki (Nikolaiken (Eastern Pr.)) 130 m 61.916 Woźnice (Wosnitzen / Julienhöfen) 125 m 65.513 Olszewo (Olschewen (Kr.Sensburg) / Erlenau (Ostpr)) 130 m 70.049 Dąbrówka Górkło ( Oak Village ) 133 m Landesstrasse 16 75.433 Tuchlin (Sdengowen / Tuchlinnen) 125 m Landesstrasse 16 80.585 Okartowo (Eckersberg (East Pr.)) 120 m from Pisz (Johannisburg) 86.032 Orzysz (Arys) 121 m to Giżycko (Lötzen) Landesstrasse 16 Landesstrasse 63 94.325 Odoje (Odoyen / Nickelsberg) 138 m 100.424 Skomack Wielki (Skomatzko (Kr. Lyck) / Dippelsee) 132 m 106.162 Rogale (Rogallen (East Pr.)) 130 m 110.95 Mołdzie (Moldzien / Mulden; from 1925) 144 m 113.983 Bartosze (Bartossen (Ostpr.) / Bartendorf) 138 m Landesstrasse 16 118.583 Ełk Zachód (Lyck West) 133 m by Korsze (Korschen) from Gołdap (Goldap) 121.270 Ełk (Elk) 128 m to Olsztyn (Allenstein) to Prostki – Białystok (Prostken – Bialystok)

The railway line Czerwonka-Ełk ( German  Rothfließ-Lyck) runs in a west-east direction through the once East Prussian Masurian landscape and now the Polish Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship . It connects the circles Olsztyn , Mrągowo , Pisz and Elk with the cities Biskupiec (Bischofsburg) , Mrągowo (Sensburg) , Orzysz (Arys) and Elk (Elk) over a length of 121 km.

Course and condition

The train station in Czerwonka (Rothfließ)

The line begins at the Czerwonka (Rothfließ) railway station on the Toruń – Chernyachovsk railway line , the beginning of the former Czerwonka – Kornewo railway line and runs eastwards via Biskupiec Reszelski (Episcopal Castle; km 7.527), the beginning of the former Szczytno – Biskupiec railway ; km Reszelski , Mrągowo (Sensburg; 34.078), the beginning of the Sensburg – Niedersee railway line , which was no longer in operation after 1945, and the end point of the former Kętrzyn – Mrągowo narrow-gauge railway operated by the Rastenburger Kleinbahnen , Mikołajki (Nikolaiken (East Pr.); Km 56.731) and Orzysz (Arys; km 86.032), intersection with the since 1945 no longer operated railway line Lötzen – Johannisburg , to Ełk (Lyck; km 121.270) on the railway line Białystok – Głomno , terminus of the railway line Olsztyn – Ełk and beginning of the railway line Ełk – Tschernjachowsk and the Ełcka Kolej Wąskotorowa, which is only operated in freight traffic .

The line is single-track and not electrified, impassable between Czerwonka and Orzysz, between Orzysz and Ełk it can be used by passenger trains at eighty kilometers per hour and freight trains at sixty.

history

The train station in Elk (Lyck)

Historically, the Czerwonka – Ełk railway does not belong together. It was only in the period after 1945 that the Czerwonka – Mrągowo (Rothfließ – Sensburg) section of the former Zinten – Niedersee railway line (Kornewo – Ruciane Nida) and the independent Mrągowo – Ełk line were merged into a single line.

The small town of Rothfließ , then part of the Rößel district, became a train station on the newly built Toruń – Tschernjachowsk (Thorn – Insterburg) railway in 1872 . 26 years later, the long-cherished plan to connect the city of Königsberg (Prussia) ( Kaliningrad in Russian ) with the Masurian Lake District became a reality . For this purpose, the line from Zinten (in Russian Kornewo) to Rudczanny (in Polish Ruciane-Nida) was put into operation. On September 1, 1898, she met the village of Rothfließ, which thus advanced to become a railway crossing point. On June 15, the section to Bischofsburg (Polish: Biskupiec Reszelski) had already been opened, on which the railroad traffic to Ortelsburg (Szczytno) was later also handled.

On September 1, 1898, traffic on the section from Bischofsburg ( Polish: Biskupiec ) to Sensburg (Mrągowo) began, and on June 1, from Sensburg to Rudczanny (Ruciane-Nida).

It was not until October 2, 1911 and June 15, 1915 that the railway line from Sensburg (Mrągowo) to Arys (Orzysz) and from Oszysz to Lyck (Ełk) was opened, with the Orzysz on the Lötzen – Johannisburg (Giżycko– Pisz) and in Ełk on the three railway lines Königsberg (Prussia) –Prostken – Brest (today traffic only on Polish territory), Lyck – Insterburg (no longer regular operation today) and Allenstein – Lyck .

With the end of the Second World War , the line became Polish, came to the Polish State Railways and was reopened in 1947-1949.

From April 30, 2007, the "Masuren-Express" of the DB AutoZug started daily in the summer months between Berlin-Charlottenburg and Ełk via Gdańsk and Olsztyn, with stops also in Czerwonka, Biskupiec, Sorkwity, Mrągowo, Mikołajki and Orzysz. The train carried a sleeping car, two couchettes and a sitting car with Deutsche Bahn wagons.

On September 1, 2009 the passenger traffic Mrągowo – Ełk, on May 1, 2010 the rest of the Czerwonka – Mrągowo was suspended because the line was in urgent need of renovation. The maximum speed between Czerwonka and Biskupiec Reszelski and between Baranowo and Mikołajki was recently only 20–30 km / h.

It is intended to reopen the line for passenger traffic after modernization.

In March 2017, the Czerwonka – Mrągowo line was reopened for occasional freight traffic. The trains are operated by Lotos Kolej . On October 1, 2018, the Orzysz – Ełk line was reopened for use by freight trains because it is of military importance.

Literature and web links

Commons : Czerwonka – Ełk railway line  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Siegfried Bufe (Ed.), Railways in West and East Prussia , Egglham, 1986, ISBN 3-922138-24-1
• Ryszard Stankiewicz and Marcin Stiasny: Atlas Linii Kolejowych Polski 2014 . Eurosprinter, Rybnik 2014, ISBN 978-83-63652-12-8 , pp. B9 – B11
• Description on atlaskolejowy.net (Polish)

Individual evidence

1. ^ German names 1917 or at the opening and possibly changed name from 1943, each according to the course book
2. ↑ ^{a b c} railway line Czerwonka – Ełk (Ogolnopolska Baza Kolejowa)
3. ↑ Maximum speeds for wagon trains , multiple units and freight trains from December 1, 2016
4. ^ Czerwonka – Kornewo railway line
5. ↑ Toruń – Chernyakhovsk railway line
6. ^ Railway line (Czerwonka–) Biskupiec – Szczytno
7. ↑ Railway line Mrągowo – Ruciane-Nida
8. ↑ Giżycko – Orzysz railway line
9. ^ Pisz – Orzysz railway line
10. ^ Białystok – Głomno railway line
11. ^ Ełk – Gołdap railway line
12. ^ Olsztyn – Ełk railway line
13. ↑ Masurian Express . masuren-online.de
14. ↑ The history of the temporarily suspended railway lines - Part 1 http://tgalicki.salon24.pl/
15. ↑ ^{a b} Martyn Janduła: Najkrótsza trasa kolejowa na Mazury ma szansę powrócić? In: rynek-kolejowy.pl. September 18, 2017, accessed December 21, 2018 (Polish). 
16. ↑ Linia Czerwonka - Ełk (223). In: bazakolejowa.pl. Ogólnopolska Baza Kolejowa, accessed December 20, 2018 (Polish).