Gotha – Leinefelde railway line
| Gotha-Leinefelde | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Route number : | 6296 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Course book section (DB) : | 604 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Route length: | 67.1 km | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gauge : | 1435 mm ( standard gauge ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top speed: | 160 km / h | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Gotha – Leinefelde railway line is a non-electrified railway line between Gotha and Leinefelde in Thuringia . It was opened in 1870 by the Thuringian Railway Company . The route length is about 67.1 kilometers. Regional express trains of the 612 series run between Göttingen and Glauchau (RE 1) every two hours . The regional trains of the RB 52 ( Erfurt Hbf –Leinefelde) and RB 53 (Gotha– Bad Langensalza ) and the RE 2 regional express (Erfurt Hbf– Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe ) also operate between this cycle . All lines have been operated by DB Regio since December 2013 , with the regional railways and the new RE 2 express line being served by class 641 and 642 railcars . The scheduled travel time is around forty minutes (regional express) and around an hour (regional trains with transfers).
It is part of the fastest connection currently available from Jena , Weimar and Erfurt to Hanover .
history
As early as the 1840s, thought was given to a railway from Hanover to Bavaria through Thuringia. When the construction of the Hanover Southern Railway Hanover – Göttingen (- Kassel , opened 1854) and the Eisenach – Lichtenfels railway line (opened 1859) became apparent, a connection of these lines via Mühlhausen was planned. From Göttingen to Leinefelde, the provisional west end of the Halle – Hann. Münden are also used ( Nordhausen –Leinefelde– Arenshausen - Friedland –Göttingen opened in 1867). However, the states involved ( Hanover , Prussia , Saxe-Weimar and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha ) could not agree on a route for a long time, in particular the southern terminus (Eisenach, Gotha or Erfurt) was controversial. In the end, an agreement was reached on Gotha, construction could begin in 1868, and traffic began in 1870. In order to connect to the Werra Railway , the line was introduced from the east into Gotha station, which had been in existence since 1847 ( Halle – Bebra line ). As a result, the trains in Gotha, which today mainly run to and from Erfurt, have to change direction.
However, it was not successful as a large north-south axis, u. a. because the connection to the Werra Railway was only possible via a detour. In 1876 the later north-south line of the Federal Railroad between Friedland and Bebra was opened, which is shorter and could be driven with higher loads (slopes 1:80 compared to 1:50 on the Werra Railway). As early as 1884 the railway line between Arenshausen and Friedland was abandoned, so that the direction of travel had to be changed or transferred from Gotha to Göttingen in Eichenberg .
The cannon railway, which was connected in 1880, also remained secondary; after all, the section Leinefelde - Silberhausen separation station was expanded to double tracks. According to the Versailles Treaty , the Kanonenbahn including the Leinefelde – Silberhausen Separation Station section became single-track again in 1919/20.
Until 1945, the Gotha – Leinefelde railway mainly served regional and long-distance transport from Erfurt to Hanover with individual express trains . During the GDR period , trains ran from Gotha either to Leinefelde or only to Mühlhausen and from Erfurt to Bad Langensalza or Mühlhausen.
Since the reunification and the reopening of the railway line between Arenshausen and Eichenberg in 1990, journeys between Erfurt and Kassel have been offered, and after the Eichenberger curve was completed, since 1998 also to Göttingen. Because of the increasingly poor track condition on the Kühnhausen – Bad Langensalza railway line and because of the new construction of the Gotha viaduct, the curve to bypass Gotha station was created by 1993 , but was only used until 1997 according to the schedule.
The Leinefelde – Gotha railway line was expanded by the State of Thuringia as "public transport model route No. 1" for tilting technology up to 160 km / h. After this model proved to be successful, the Neudietendorf – Ritschenhausen railway line and the Weimar – Gera railway line were also expanded in this way. The RE 1 regional express is served by the 612 series and reaches top speeds of up to 160 km / h: For example, the travel time on the nineteen-kilometer section between Bad Langensalza and Mühlhausen is nine minutes, which corresponds to an average travel speed of over 120 km / h. h corresponds to.
From May 2000 to December 2013 the RB 53 Gotha – Bad Langensalza was served by the Erfurter Bahn with Regio-Shuttle- multiple units. Then the line was taken over by DB Regio Südost . The line runs from Gotha every two hours via Ballstädt to Bad Langensalza and back again. A class 641 multiple unit ( Alstom Coradia A TER ) is used.
outlook
The Thuringian state government has registered the electrification of the railway line as a project proposal for the Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan 2030 . There it was recorded as a potential need .
literature
- Günter Fromm : From the history of the Langensalzaer Kleinbahn-AG 1913-1969, 2nd, extended edition 1999, Verlag Rockstuhl, ISBN 3-932554-54-X .
