Gößnitz – Gera railway line

Gößnitz – Abzw Gera-Debschwitz
Route number :	6268; sä. GGa
Course book section (DB) :	540
Route length:	35.042 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Route class :	D4
Maximum slope :	12  ‰
Minimum radius :	265 m
Top speed:	120 km / h
Legend from Glauchau-Schönbörnchen from Hof ​​Hbf −0.372 Goessnitz 208 m to Leipzig Bayer Bf 4,283 Abzw Saara 6.520 Großstöbnitz 200 m 10,382 Schmölln (Thür) 209 m 15.600 EÜ Lößigstrasse (10 m) 16,599 EÜ Lohmaer Strasse (35 m) 16,330 Nöbdenitz 238 m Federal motorway 4 from Meuselwitz ( Wismut-Werkbahn ) 22,527 Abzw Raitzhain (former wedge station ) 300 m to Seelingstädt ( Wismut-Werkbahn ) 23.939 EÜ Brunnenstrasse (30 m) 24.227 Ronneburg (Thür) 282 m (Re-alignment 1968) 24.845 Gessental Bridge (79 m) 25,646 Ronneburg Tunnel (196 m) 28.540 Bk Gera - Kaimberg 290 m 29.114 Gera- Gessental formerly Gera- Kaimberg 290 m Connection curve to Gera Süd Gbf from Weischlitz from Probstzella 32.674 Gera- Debschwitz junction to Gera Hbf – Leipzig-Leutzsch

The Gößnitz – Gera railway is a single-track main line in Thuringia , which was originally built and operated by the Gößnitz-Gera Railway Company . The route is an important part of the national long-distance connection between the industrial area in West Saxony and West Germany ( Central Germany connection ). It runs from Gößnitz on the Leipzig – Hof railway line via Ronneburg to Gera .

history

Schmölln train station

The railway line was opened on December 28, 1865 by the Gößnitz-Geraer Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft to connect the up-and-coming industrial center of Gera (at that time about 16,000 inhabitants) with the West Saxon industrial area. In the cities of Schmölln and Ronneburg, too, a rapid upswing began after the railway line opened. On January 1, 1878, the line went to the Kgl. Saxon State Railways over.

Due to the emergence of the Lichtenberg opencast mine in the course of uranium ore mining in the Ronneburg area, the route had to be relocated north of the Gessental in 1968 . Since a bridge foundation threatened to slip in the approximately 30 meter deep cut, a 196 m long tunnel was created by backfilling, the profile of which only allows single-track operation. As a result of the relocation, the route was extended by around 480 m. The kilometering was also changed west of Ronneburg:

• Gera-Kaimberg stop (today Gera-Gessental) from 28.57 km to 29.05 km
• Gera Süd train station from 33.00 km to 33.48 km

The re-kilometering between Gera Süd and Gera Hbf was not carried out, as the double-track railway structure, which ran parallel to the two-track Prussian line, was dismantled after 1945. There were concrete plans to completely relocate the route between Ronneburg and Gera. The new Ronneburg train station was to be rebuilt on the Dresden – Eisenach motorway and the route along the motorway to Gera.

The dam, which has blocked the Gessental valley since the route was laid, was removed in the run-up to the 2007 Federal Horticultural Show and replaced by a steel arch bridge.

outlook

The Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan includes an expansion of the route as a “further requirement”. In the currently valid plan, the continuous double-track expansion and electrification are planned as part of the overall double-track expansion between Weimar and Glauchau and the electrification gap between Weimar and Gößnitz. The last review of the requirements plan in November 2010 recommends that the double-track expansion be abandoned and merely adheres to electrification, since long-distance traffic on this route is not considered economical and the second track is therefore unnecessary. As a result, the overall project would now have a cost-benefit ratio of 1.3 to 1.5 instead of the previous 0.7, which would make the overall expansion economical. In July 2012, the Ministry of Transport announced that electrification could possibly be partly financed by EU funds. The State of Thuringia has re-registered the electrification of the route for the Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan 2030 .

Route description

Route

From the Gößnitz train station, the line initially runs parallel to the Leipzig – Hof railway line to meet the connecting line from Altenburg near Saara . From here it follows the course of the Sprotte in a south-westerly direction to Posterstein and crosses under the Federal Motorway 4 . At the Raitzhain junction, the Wismut-Werkbahn runs from the north , crosses the route and heads south again towards Seelingstädt . Behind Ronneburg, the new landscape is passed and the tunnel that was created when the route was relocated is crossed before entering the Gessental and entering the Gera Süd train station.

Operating points

Goessnitz ⊙

"Longest platform in Germany" at Gößnitz station (2007)

→ Main article : Gößnitz train station

The Gößnitz station is a junction with the Schönbörnchen – Gößnitz and Leipzig – Hof routes . It has existed as part of the Leipzig – Hof railway line since 1844. The neo-baroque reception building was demolished in 2010. A special operational feature is the 603.50 meter long island platform, where up to four trains can stop at the same time. According to the Deutsche Bahn AG, it is the longest platform in Germany.

Abzw Saara ⊙

The Saara junction is located in the Pleiße valley south of the eponymous village of Saara . It is the southern end point of the connecting arc from the Lehndorf stop (Kr Altenburg) on the Leipzig – Hof railway line in the direction of Gera. At the junction, trains from Gera run over the northern connecting bend to Altenburg and Leipzig or via the south connecting bend to Gößnitz and on to Zwickau or Chemnitz . The signal box, which opened in 1956, was closed in 2007.

Großstöbnitz ⊙

Großstöbnitz stop

The Großstöbnitz stop was put into operation on December 1, 1887. He had a massive waiting room. With the discontinuation of regional rail traffic on the Gera – Altenburg route when the timetable changed in December 2008, the stop in Großstöbnitz was no longer available . On December 12, 2010, the station was shut down.

Schmölln (Thür) ⊙

Schmölln train station (Thür)

The Schmölln (Thür) station went into operation on December 28, 1865. It had the following names:

• until 1922: Schmölln / Schmölln i. S.-A. / Schmölln (Sachs.-Alt.)
• until 1953: Schmölln (Thür)
• until 1954: Schmölln (Sachs)
• until 1990: Schmölln (Bz Leipzig)
• since 1990: Schmölln (Thür)

The station had a stately reception building, goods shed, a railway maintenance office and two signal boxes. The railway maintenance office was dissolved in 1933. The two signal boxes were dissolved in 2007 and then demolished. In 2002 it was replaced by an electronic signal box. At present the station has two through tracks. The reception building is presented in a refurbished state.

Nöbdenitz ⊙

Nöbdenitz station

The Nöbdenitz station was opened as a stop on December 28, 1865 and was consecrated as a station in 1905. In addition to the reception building, the farm building station had two through tracks and a large BHG building , all of which are still there today. The signal box was closed in 2007.

Abzw Raitzhain ⊙

In the Abzw Raitzhain from 1887 the Meuselwitz – Ronneburg railway from the north was integrated into the Gößnitz – Ronneburg railway that had existed since 1865. Due to an open- cast brown coal mine between Großröda and Meuselwitz , the railway line coming from Meuselwitz was interrupted in 1965 and closed in 1972 between Meuselwitz and Großenstein .

Due to the uranium mining of SDAG Wismut in the Ronneburg area, shift traffic began in the 1970s between the SDAG Wismut works station in Beerwalde on the remainder of the Meuselwitz – Ronneburg railway to and from Gera. Also within the framework of uranium mining in the Ronneburg area, the Schmirchau - Raitzhain - Paitzdorf section of the Seelingstädt – Paitzdorf railway south of the Gößnitz – Gera railway was opened on April 24, 1968 , and at the Raitzhain junction with the Gößnitz – Gera railway and the remainder connected to the Meuselwitz – Ronneburg railway (Beerwalde – Ronneburg section). Initially only freight trains ran on this.

In 1972 the passenger traffic system and the new signal box were opened in Raitzhain. The Raitzhain passenger station thus became a transfer station for shift workers on the Wismut factory railway between the trains on the Beerwalde – Gera and Altenburg – Schmirchau routes. With the completion of a second passenger platform in Schmirchau in 1973, direct shift worker trains could also run to and from Gera, whereby these trains were run as a sandwich train with two locomotives due to the change of direction in Raitzhain .

The Raitzhain station was purely a depot of the Wismut-Werkbahn and was dismantled in the course of the liquidation of Wismut AG after 1990. On March 1, 2014, the railway operations of Wismut GmbH, which were to be discontinued at the end of 2014, including staff and vehicles, were sold to Starkenberger Baustoffwerke GmbH (SBW), which continues to operate the connecting railway. Starting from the sand mine in Kayna , sand trains are driven over the Abzw Raitzhain to Schmirchau and Seelingstädt and increasingly to other large construction sites in Germany.

Ronneburg (Thür) ⊙

Ronneburg (Thür) station after the reception building was torn down

The Ronneburg (Thür) station was opened on December 28, 1865 under the name Ronneburg on the Gößnitz – Gera railway line. From 1887 the station was also the end point of the railway line from Meuselwitz , which was closed for public rail traffic after 1972 and then served for a partial section until 1990 for the shift traffic of the Wismut factory railway in the Ronneburg uranium mining area. After 1990 this line was operated by Wismut GmbH and since 2014 by Starkenberger Baustoffwerke GmbH (SBW).

So far the station has had the following names:

• until 1914: Ronneburg
• until 1922: Ronneburg (S.-Altenbg.)
• since 1922: Ronneburg (Thür)

The station had u. a. via a station building, a locomotive shed and several goods sheds. The signal boxes were put into operation in 1887 and 1897. In 1895 the water station was torn down and in 1935 the locomotive station was closed. In 2007 the reception and farm buildings were demolished. The engine shed is still there. The station currently has three tracks.

Gera-Gessental ⊙

The history of the Gera-Gessental stop began on May 15, 1927 with the construction of the Kaimberg block station at kilometer 28.54 on the Gößnitz-Gera railway line. The Gessental halt at kilometer 29.114 was opened on December 16, 1934. Although it is closer to today's Gera district of Collis , it is located in Kaimberger local area. Therefore the station was called Gera-Kaimberg since 1954 . Until 1968, the Gößnitz – Gera railway ran through the Gessental between the stations of Ronneburg and Gera-Kaimberg . The route was then moved north and partially covered with overburden from the SDAG Wismut mining operations . In the run-up to the 2007 Federal Horticultural Show in Gera and Ronneburg, which also included the Gessental, the Gera-Kaimberg stop was named Gera-Gessental on December 10, 2006 . Since the timetable change on December 11, 2011, the stop, which was one kilometer north of Kaimberg, is no longer served. The station had a wooden waiting hall.

Abzw Gera-Debschwitz ⊙

The Gera-Debschwitz junction has existed since the Gera– Eichicht section of the Leipzig – Probstzella railway line opened in 1871. At the junction in today's Gera district of Debschwitz , the railway line opened in 1865 from and to Gößnitz separates from Gera Hauptbahnhof in the north East of the Leipzig – Probstzella railway line opened in 1871 (section south of Gera) towards the south. Between 1892 and 2016, behind the Gera-Debschwitz junction , the Gera Süd – Weischlitz line also branched off , which ran parallel to the Leipzig – Probstzella line in the Gera city area and now uses the line of the line to Probstzella as part of the line renovation as far as Wolfsgefärth .

Gera South ⊙

Gera Süd stop

The station Gera South was on 1 June 1886 as a freight station Gera-doors on the separation of railway routes Leipzig-Probstzella opened and Gößnitz-Gera. On December 1, 1892, the Royal Saxon State Railways opened their own route on the Gera Süd – Weischlitz line on the Gera Süd - Wünschendorf section .

The station in the Pforten district of Gera , which was dedicated to the train station in 1893, had the following names:

• until 1896: Gera – Pforten (the station name was transferred to the newly opened station on the narrow-gauge Gera-Pforten – Wuitz-Mumsdorf railway in 1901 )
• until 1911: Gera (Reuss) S. St. E.
• until 1920: Gera (Reuss) Sächs Stb
• until 1923: Gera (Reuss) South
• since 1923: Gera Süd

In 1922 the station changed from the Dresden Railway Directorate to the Erfurt Railway Directorate. From 2005 the signal boxes were gradually abandoned and demolished. Today the station only functions as a stopping point. Since 24 October 2016, the trains coming from Weischlitz from Wolfsgefärth on the Leipzig-Probstzella railway to Gera.

Today's train traffic

Regional express near Ronneburg

Today the route is used every two hours by the regional express 1 Göttingen - Erfurt - Weimar - Jena - Gera - Gößnitz - Glauchau . Until mid-2014, this train operated as a wing train , which was divided in Gößnitz. One part of the train drove via Werdau to Zwickau, the other to Glauchau. The latter continued to run to Chemnitz until December 2011. In addition, a regional express from Erfurt to Altenburg runs every two hours on the route. Regional rail traffic was discontinued when the timetable changed in December 2008. Since then, instead of the Gera-Altenburg regional train, the Erfurt-Gera-Altenburg regional express (previously only to Gera) has been running. At the same time, there was no stop in Großstöbnitz and, with a few exceptions, the stop in Gera-Gessental. Since the timetable change on December 11, 2011, the latter is no longer served.

Web links

Commons : Gößnitz – Gera railway line  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Hans-Jürgen Barteld: The Wismut Railway around Ronneburg (=  secondary railway documentation . Volume 41 ). 1st edition. Kenning, Nordhorn 1998, ISBN 3-927587-92-3 , p. 57 .
2. ↑ Requirements plan review of the Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan of November 11, 2010 ( Memento of July 16, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF file; 34.88 MB)
3. ^ Tino Zippel: Bahn wants to electrify the route between Weimar and Gößnitz. In: Thuringian General. July 6, 2012, accessed August 25, 2012 . 
4. ↑ Thuringia: Five rail projects registered for the 2015 Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan (eurailpress.de)
5. ↑ The Lehndorf – Abzw Saara railway line on www.sachsenschiene.net
6. ↑ The Abzw Saara on www.sachsenschiene.net
7. ↑ The Großstöbnitz stop on www.sachsenschiene.net
8. ^ The Schmölln (Thür) train station on www.sachsenschiene.net
9. ^ The Nöbdenitz train station on www.sachsenschiene.net
10. ↑ The Abzw Raitzhain on www.sachsenschiene.net
11. ↑ Hans-Jürgen Barteld: The bismuth railway around Ronneburg . Kenning, Nordhorn 1998, ISBN 3-927587-92-3 .
12. ↑ Wismut connection line taken over by Starkenberger Baustoffwerke GmbH (press release). Wismut GmbH, March 28, 2014, accessed on May 18, 2014 . 
13. ↑ The Gera-Gessental stop on www.sachsenschiene.net
14. ^ The Gera Süd train station on www.sachsenschiene.net