Reitzenhain – Flöha railway line

Reitzenhain – Flöha
Section of the route map of Saxony from 1902
Route number :	6619; sä. RF
Course book section (DB) :	519
Route length:	57.92 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Maximum slope :	20  ‰
Minimum radius :	224 m
Top speed:	80 km / h
Legend from Chomutov 0.000 Schwarze Pockau ( Czech Republic-Germany border) 1,392 Reitzenhain 776 m 9.900 Marienberg - Promised Land 715 m 14.820 Marienberg Mountains 655 m Bundesstrasse 174 17.970 Reitzenhainer Str. (13.9 m) 18,650 End of the route 18,877 Marienberg (Sachs) 587 m Hüttengrund Valley Bridge ( Bundesstrasse 174 ) 21,134 Schlettenbach (16.2 m) 22.400 Bundesstrasse 171 (53 m) 22.673 Rote Pockau (40 m) 23,370 Kniebreche stone arch bridge (63.4 m) 23.757 Black Pockau (39 m) 23,954 Zöblitz - Pobershau (formerly Bf) 495 m 26.280 Black Pockau (37.5 m) 26.540 Strobelmühle 26.680 Black Pockau (40.5 m) 26,994 Black Pockau (30 m) 29.376 Black Pockau (39 m) 30.545 Black Pockau (37.5 m) from Neuhausen (Erzgeb) 31,236 Pockau-Lengefeld ( Inselbahnhof ) 400 m 32.673 Rote Pockau (40 m) 32.818 Flöha (44.5 m) 35.858 Lengefeld - Rauenstein 375 m 37.220 Reifland - Wünschendorf (former station) 365 m 22.673 Werkgraben (10 m) 39.477 Flöha (70 m) 39.713 Flöha (59.1 m) 39.762 Mühlgraben (14.56 m) 39.887 Raft mill 355 m 40.699 Flöha (54 m) 42,472 Grünhainichen - Borstendorf 337 m 43,902 Flöha (50 m) 46.290 Leubsdorf (Sachs) (formerly Bf) 320 m 47,072 Flöha (63 m) 49.160 Hohenfichte (formerly Bf) 304 m Narrow-gauge railway from Großwaltersdorf Hetzdorf Viaduct (Dresden – Werdau until 1992) 52.250 Hetzdorf (Flöhatal) 291 m Dresden – Werdau arch triangle (since 1992) 54.430 Falkenau (Sachs) Hp 288 m 57.185 Infrastructure border DB RegioNetz / DB Netz from Dresden Hbf and from Annaberg-Buchholz unt Bf 57.920 Flea 277 m to Werdau arc triangle

The Reitzenhain – Flöha railway is a branch line in Saxony , which was originally built and operated by the Chemnitz-Komotau Railway Company as part of a supra-regional connection between Prague and Chemnitz . The line, which is only partially in operation today, connects to the former Chomutov – Reitzenhain line at the state border in Reitzenhain and leads through the valleys from Schwarzer Pockau and Flöha to Flöha . The Marienberg –Flöha section that is still in operation has been part of the DB RegioNetz Erzgebirgsbahn since 2001 .

history

prehistory

Considerations and plans for the construction of a railway into the upper Flöhatal and to Marienberg existed as early as 1863, when the construction of the railway line from Chemnitz to Freiberg was debated. So a more southerly line than the current one was planned to connect the places in the Ore Mountains. When these plans were abandoned, it was necessary to advertise a railway through the Flöhatal via Olbernhau to Komotau . At the same time, a committee in Marienberg also made strong efforts to build a railway via Marienberg and Reitzenhain to Komotau. In 1867 two projects competed for the concession to build a railway in the Flöhatal. After the Buschtěhrad Railway and the city of Komotau decided in favor of the route via Marienberg, this route was given preference. In 1868, the Saxon state parliament approved the granting of the concession and stipulated that the line should be built with private capital. In 1869 the state treaty with Austria-Hungary on the border crossing was concluded.

On August 15, 1871, the Chemnitz-Komotau Railway Company was founded to build and operate the line. The railway construction company Pleßner & Co. from Berlin was commissioned with the construction .

Construction and opening

The groundbreaking ceremony took place on February 22, 1872. In order to make rapid progress with construction, 5 construction phases were started at the same time.

Because of the difficult terrain in the narrow valleys of the Black and Red Pockau , the line was mainly laid on bridges and railway embankments, whereby all bridges and viaducts were prepared for a double-track expansion, but the mountain cuttings were only blasted for one track.

A total of around 1.6 million m³ of earth had to be moved. Italian workers were also used in the construction because they had a lot of experience with stone structures. Due to the economic crisis of 1873, the construction company got into economic difficulties, so that the railway company was forced to take over the construction itself. The railway construction was completed in early 1875.

On February 3, 1875, the first locomotive arrived in Marienberg at around 1 p.m., but could not drive to Reitzenhain as planned due to the amount of snow that was hindering it. On May 24, 1875 the line from Flöha to Marienberg went into operation, the section to Reitzenhain followed on July 12, 1875. With the completion of the line from Krima-Neudorf to Reitzenhain by the Buschtěhrad Railway, the line to Komotau was completed.

After the first year of operation, the Chemnitz-Komotau railway company had to sell its route due to financial losses. On December 4, 1876, the line passed to the Saxon state, the owner and operator were now the Royal Saxon State Railways .

After the Second World War

Hetzdorf station (1978)

After the end of the Second World War , the cross-border rail traffic to Komotau (from 1945: Chomutov) was stopped, so that Reitzenhain station lost its importance. After a road bridge was built in the 1970s instead of the railway bridge over the Grenzbach, a resumption of cross-border traffic was not to be expected.

On October 1, 1978 passenger traffic and on January 8, 1994 freight traffic between Marienberg and Reitzenhain ceased, this section was closed on December 15, 1998.

Rehabilitation and reconstruction after flood events

View from today's end of the line in Marienberg to the station area. - In the picture on the left the loading ramp for Bundeswehr vehicles

Loading of military equipment (2013)

The German Bahn AG began in the mid-1990s to renew the route as part of the regionalization program. For this reason, rail traffic between Pockau-Lengefeld and Marienberg was stopped on July 23, 1998. The work with a total investment of almost 24 million marks was largely over when a flood caused severe damage to this route in July 1999. It was only in spring 2002 that it was decided to rebuild the line. Because of the destruction of the section from Pockau-Lengefeld to Flöha by the August floods in 2002 , construction work was delayed. On January 29, 2005, the continuous train service between Chemnitz Hbf and Olbernhau was resumed. Since December 10, 2006, a standard hourly service has been offered on weekdays between Chemnitz and Olbernhau, which has only been maintained during rush hour since December 2011 at the latest.

On the section between Marienberg and Pockau-Lengefeld, scheduled train operations were resumed on September 4, 2006 with four pairs of trains from Monday to Friday. This was initially ordered by the former Middle Ore Mountains District, due to the unfavorable timetable of the Chemnitz – Olbernhau trains and the times that were optimized for school traffic, the connections to the trains in Pockau-Lengefeld were very poor. From December 10, 2006, a timetable with better connections in Pockau-Lengefeld came into force. In September 2007, the timetable on the branch was changed again: Monday to Friday, only one pair of trains ran in the mornings for school traffic, whereas on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays there were now four pairs of trains per day.

Freight trains for the Bundeswehr have been running to Marienberg again since 2007 . These run roughly every three months and come back around three weeks after departure. The trains are hauled by Soviet class 232 and 233 diesel locomotives.

Since December 11, 2011, the section between Marienberg and Pockau-Lengefeld has only been served by a single pair of trains on weekdays. The canceled train pairs on the weekend have since been replaced by rail replacement services with on- call buses .

With the timetable change on December 15, 2013, travel between Marienberg and Pockau – Lengefeld was completely suspended. From February 6 to May 6, 2014, DB RegioNetz Infrastruktur GmbH ran the tender for the purpose of taking over and continuing to operate the Marienberg – Pockau-Lengefeld section for "interested parties who, as a railway infrastructure company, take over the section as it is, without interruption and for the public Want to continue to operate traffic on their own responsibility. ”Ultimately, the Marienberg – Pockau-Lengefeld section was not handed over to third parties; this section will also continue to be operated by DB RegioNetz Infrastruktur GmbH (Erzgebirgsbahn).

In the spring of 2019, the Saxon Ministry of the Interior commissioned the company VCI from Dresden with a feasibility study on the possible resumption of scheduled passenger traffic to Marienberg. The study was completed in December 2019. As a result, it proposes to resume local rail passenger transport between Pockau-Lengefeld and Marienberg. In addition to the necessary adaptation of safety technology, VCI considers the establishment of four new stops to be sensible, if two previous stops are closed. The two cities of Marienberg and Pockau-Lengefeld welcomed this vote, and both mayors have been campaigning for a re-order of traffic and the upgrading of the railway line.

At the association meeting on June 26, 2020, the Verkehrsverbund Mittelachsen decided to support the "reactivation" and to order transport services.

Dismantling of the Reitzenhain – Marienberg section

Dismantling of the tracks in the area of ​​Gelobtland station (August 2013)

The city of Marienberg decided in 2012 to buy the disused route section. After dismantling the tracks and all railway systems, an upgrade to a cycle and hiking path is planned, which will connect Marienberg and the districts of Gebirge, Gelobtland and Reitzenhain and will connect the international ridge path Erzgebirge – Vogtland to Marienberg. The "Eisenbahn-Handelsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG" from Leipzig was commissioned with the dismantling. On May 2, 2013, work began in Reitzenhain. The track dismantling was completed at the end of the third quarter of 2013.

Route description

course

Simplified elevation profile of the route

The railway line has its original zero kilometer on the Czech-German state border on the Erzgebirge ridge. From there, the track initially leads north over the Erzgebirge plateau. The route changes from the catchment area of the Schwarzen Pockau to that of the Preßnitz and back, while in front of the Gelobtland station it runs almost on the watershed between the two rivers. In addition, federal highway 174 will be crossed twice at the same level. From Gelobtland the route descends with a steeper gradient and two hairpin bends to Marienberg into the valley of the Schlettenbach . This is then accompanied in a steady gradient through the deeply cut hut floor . Due to the cramped terrain, today's federal highway 171 is crossed at the same level five times , and in addition to two striking rock cuttings, three bridges with larger spans were required. In the "Kniebreche" near Rittersberg , the valley of the Schwarzen Pockau is reached again. The route now accompanies the river alternately to the Pockau-Lengefeld station. The route continues with a significantly lower gradient, again changing the valley side several times, the Flöha in a northerly direction. The line joins the Dresden – Werdau main line at Flöha station .

Operating points

Reitzenhain ⊙

View of part of the disused track system and the former station building in Reitzenhain (2013)

→ Main article : Reitzenhain train station

Reitzenhain station (in the ČSD timetable documents : Reitzenhain ČSD ) was a border station for alternating traffic between Saxony and Bohemia. In addition to passport and customs control, the locomotives were changed in cross-border traffic. The BEB and later the ČSD had usage rights on a lease basis for the track systems and the reception building. On the "Bohemian side" of the station area, there was also a separate residential building for the officials and a separate locomotive deployment point. After 1945, the Deutsche Reichsbahn continued to operate Reitzenhain station until 1994. Since then, the facilities have only been partially demolished.

Marienberg Promised Land ⊙

Reception building of the former Gelobtland train station (2013)

On July 12, 1875, the Gelobtland stop was opened about 1.5 kilometers southwest of the settlement of the same name . At that time it had a reception and farm building, free access and a loading ramp. On May 1, 1905, it was upgraded to the station and from October 6, 1941, it was called Marienberg-Gelobtland . On August 21, 1969, the station was downgraded to a stopping point and at the same time the service in freight traffic was discontinued.

Marienberg Mountains ⊙

former stop at Marienberg Mountains (2016)

The stop was opened on July 1, 1927 as a mountain stop and was used exclusively for passenger traffic. Since October 6, 1941, it was called the Marienberg Mountains . It was not until 1954 that a massive reception building was erected to replace the two passenger car bodies previously used as service and waiting rooms. After the cessation of passenger traffic in 1978, the following year, after only 25 years, the station building was demolished. Only the station clock has been preserved and is today emblazoned on the facade of the " Auhagen GmbH " in the Marienberg district of Hüttengrund. Today only the edge of the platform that has been preserved reminds of the former stop.

Marienberg (Sachs) ⊙

Marienberg station (2013)

Marienberg (Sachs) train station was opened on May 24, 1875. It had the following names:

• until 1908: Marienberg
• until 1911: Marienberg i Saxony
• until 1933: Marienberg (Sa)
• since 1933: Marienberg (Sachs)

In 1997 ticket issuance in the train station was stopped. After the passenger traffic to the station was temporarily suspended since 1998 and then resumed, passenger traffic has been completely suspended since December 15, 2013. The Bundeswehr used the station for freight trains that delivered goods for the local barracks. The water station was demolished in 2002, followed by the reception building and goods shed in 2006. Since then there has only been a modern waiting hall on the site of the station.

Zöblitz-Pobershau ⊙

Zöblitz-Pobershau stop (2011)

The Zöblitz-Pobershau station was opened on May 24, 1875 as the Zöblitz station. In 1914 the name was changed to Zöblitz-Pobershau and in 1993 it was downgraded to the halt. The breakpoint is remote from the eponymous places Pobershau and Zöblitz in the Pockau valley near Rittersberg . It can be reached via federal highway 171 .

After the passenger traffic to the station was temporarily suspended since 1998 and then resumed, passenger traffic has been completely suspended since December 15, 2013.

Strobelmühle ⊙

Strobelmühle stop, view towards Flöha (2013)

The Strobelmühle stop serves in particular as access for the Strobelmühle leisure center . It was re-established in 2006, but has not been used since December 15, 2013, when passenger traffic to Marienberg was temporarily suspended.

Pockau-Lengefeld ⊙

Pockau-Lengefeld station, tracks in the direction of Olbernhau (2016)

→ Main article : Pockau-Lengefeld train station

The Pockau-Lengefeld station, which opened on February 15, 1875, is a branch station on the Pockau-Lengefeld-Neuhausen railway line . It is located in the corridor of the village of Pockau , the name suffix " Lengefeld " was only given because of the risk of confusion with the station of the municipality of Bockau, which is also located in the Ore Mountains . The formerly extensive facilities of the station were dismantled around 2005 with the exception of some absolutely essential tracks.

Lengefeld-Rauenstein ⊙

Lengefeld-Rauenstein stop (2016)

The Lengefeld-Rauenstein stop was opened on May 24, 1875 as the Rauenstein stop . It had the following names:

• until 1909: Rauenstein
• until 1911: Rauenstein i Saxony
• until 1939: Rauenstein-Lengefeld
• since 1939: Lengefeld-Rauenstein

The Lengefeld-Rauenstein stop is next to the Pockau-Lengefeld train station in Pockau, the second stop in the city of Lengefeld on the Reitzenhain – Flöha railway line. It is located on the opposite bank of the Flöha, seen from Lengefeld and its district Rauenstein. The Saidenbach Dam and Rauenstein Castle are located near the stop .

Reifland wish village ⊙

Reifland-Wünschendorf stop (2016)

Today's Reifland-Wünschendorf stop was opened on February 15, 1875 as a loading point and on May 24, 1875 as the Reifland stop . In 1905 it was upgraded to a station. Since 1939 it has been called Reifland-Wünschendorf . In 2004 it was downgraded to the breakpoint. The breakpoint is located between the eponymous places Reifland and Wünschendorf in the valley of the Flöha on the Reifland side.

Raft mill ⊙

Floßmühle stop (2016)

The Floßmühle stop was opened on October 1, 1899. It is located in the Floßmühle settlement belonging to Borstendorf. A few kilometers after the stop, the railway line changes from the right to the left bank of the Flöha. The wooden waiting hall was demolished in 2003/06. Today the station has a modern bus shelter.

Grünhainichen-Borstendorf ⊙

Grünhainichen-Borstendorf station (2016)

Grünhainichen station was opened on February 15, 1875. In 1908 the name was changed to Grünhainichen-Borstendorf . The train station is located between the eponymous places Grünhainichen and Borstendorf in the Flöha valley on the Grünhainichen side. Reception and farm buildings have been preserved at the site.

Leubsdorf (Sachs) ⊙

Leubsdorf (Sachs) stop , 2016

The Leubsdorf stop was opened on February 15, 1875 and upgraded to the station in 1905. The station had the following names:

• until 1927: Leubsdorf
• until 1933: Leubsdorf (Sa)
• since 1933: Leubsdorf (Sachs)

1996 was downgraded to the breakpoint. The station is located in the west of the municipality of Leubsdorf on the right bank of the Flöha.

Hohenfichte ⊙

Hohenfichte stop (2016)

The Hohenfichte station was opened on February 15, 1875 as a loading point and on May 24, 1875 as the Hohenfichte stop . In 1905 it was upgraded to a station. After the incorporation of Metzdorf to Hohenfichte in 1922, the place had another stop at the stop Metzdorf on the narrow-gauge railway Hetzdorf-Eppendorf-Großwaltersdorf , which was renamed Hohenfichte Hp in 1925 and went out of service with the closure of the narrow-gauge railway in 1967.

The Hohenfichte station was downgraded to a stop in 1990. It is located in the north of the village on the left bank of the Flöha.

Hetzdorf (Flöhatal) ⊙

Train crossing in Hetzdorf (2008)

→ Main article : Hetzdorf train station (Flöhatal)

During its operating time, the station had four different names, in detail these were:

• Until April 30, 1905: Hetzdorf near Oederan
• From May 1, 1905: Hetzdorf near Öderan
• From July 1, 1911: Hetzdorf b Öderan
• From October 1, 1912: Hetzdorf (Flöhatal)

From the Hetzdorf station, which opened in 1893, the narrow-gauge railway to Eppendorf has been running since 1893 , and in 1916 it was extended to Großwaltersdorf . The line was closed in 1967.

Falkenau (Sachs) Hp ⊙

Falkenau (Sachs) stop (2016)

The Falkenau (Sachs) Hp stop was opened on April 16, 1928, making it the younger of the two Falkenau stations . It had the following names:

• until 1933: Falkenau (Sa) Hp
• since 1933: Falkenau (Sachs) Hp

The former station building is privately owned.

In addition to the stop in the north-east of Falkenau, the Falkenau (Sachs) Süd stop on the Dresden – Werdau railway line is located in the south of the district that is now part of Flöha .

Flöha ⊙

Reception building of the Flöha train station (2008)

→ Main article : Flöha train station

Initially, the Flöha station was just a through station on the Chemnitz – Annaberg railway line, which opened in 1866 . During the construction of the Freiberg – Flöha section, a new section of the station was built northeast of the existing station; the station building has been in a wedge position since then . With the construction of the Reitzenhain – Flöha railway line, the station of the Chemnitz-Komotau Railway Company was built further northeast of it. This also built a boiler house . Together with the boiler house of the state railroad, a locomotive operation center developed later, which was even an independent railway depot for a short time from 1946 to 1950 .

In the 1930s, during a major renovation of the station, today's representative reception building was also built on a side.

Although the station facilities have since been severely dismantled, there are still six platform tracks. From and to Pockau-Lengefeld (formerly further to and from Reitzenhain), only platform tracks 1 and 2 can be served.

Vehicle use

The Chemnitz-Komotau Railway handled the operation in particular with locomotives with tenders, as they were also procured by the State Railways as Class IIIb and Class VII .

Under the direction of the Erzgebirgsbahn, only railcars of the DB class 642 "Desiro" are used in local transport today .

Soviet diesel locomotives of the 232 and 233 series are used in military traffic.

Incidents

→ Main article : Railway accident in Hüttengrund

literature

• Günter Baldauf: The Flöhatalbahn . Altis-Verlag, Friedrichsthal 2001, ISBN 3-910195-30-X .
• Reiner Bretfeld: 100 years of the Flöhatalbahn . DMV AG 3/42, Marienberg 1975.
• Dittrich Marz: 130 years of the Flöhatalbahn , Lengefelder Nachrichten 2005–2006, a series of 12 parts
• Stephan Häupel: The railway in the Flöhatal and its regular- gauge branch lines . 1st edition. Bildverlag Böttger, Witzschdorf 2008, ISBN 978-3-937496-08-5 .

Web links

Commons : Reitzenhain – Flöha railway line  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Erzgebirgsbahn
• Route information on sachsenschiene.net
• Detailed photo series of the disused section Reitzenhain – Marienberg (photos from 2006) (Czech)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Reiner Bretfeld: 100 years of the Flöhatal Railway . DMV AG 3/42, Marienberg 1975, p. 11-12 .
2. ↑ Annual timetable 2012 of the Erzgebirgsbahn - valid from December 11, 2011
3. ↑ Timetable for the RVE bus line 491 - valid from December 11, 2011
4. ↑ Freie Presse Online : timetable change for the railway: Marienberg rolls onto the siding , accessed on December 15, 2013
5. ^ DB Netz AG - Transfer of Railway Infrastructure, Section 6619 Marienberg - Pockau-Lengefeld ( Memento of March 28, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on March 29, 2014
6. ↑ Freie Presse Online: Bahn wants to sell unprofitable routes , accessed on March 29, 2014
7. ↑ That costs Marienberg's return to the rail network | Free press - Marienberg. Retrieved April 4, 2020 . 
8. ↑ "Saxony: PRO BAHN welcomes the decision of principle of the central Saxony transport association to reactivate" in bahnreport.de
9. ↑ Marienberger Wochenblatt - Official Gazette of the large district town of Marienberg, Volume 22, 18/2012, p. 4 ( Memento from January 17, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 5.7 MB), accessed on February 1, 2013.
10. ↑ Freie Presse, Marienberg local edition of November 26, 2012: Railway line free for hikers and cyclists in future
11. ↑ Freie Presse Online : Bagger clears old railway line between Marienberg and Reitzenhain for cyclists and hikers - dismantling work on the 14 kilometer long track section , accessed on May 15, 2013.
12. ↑ Minutes of the 12th meeting of the association assembly of the Chemnitz Region Planning Association on November 12, 2013 - public meeting, p. 30 ( Memento of March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on January 16, 2014.
13. ↑ Site plan of Reitzenhain train station; circa 1930s
14. ↑ Information on the Marienberg-Gelobtland stop at www.sachsenschiene.de, accessed on June 1, 2015
15. ↑ Information on the Marienberg Mountains stop at www.sachsenschiene.de, accessed on June 1, 2015
16. ^ Olaf Wirth: Erzgebirge railway stations in the past and present . 1st edition. Altis-Verlag GmbH, Friedrichsthal 2012, ISBN 978-3-910195-65-3 , p. 40-42 .
17. ^ The Marienberg (Sachs) train station in earlier times on www.sachsenschiene.net
18. ^ Auction - station building sold for 3500 euros. In: Free Press. September 24, 2018, accessed November 13, 2018 . 
19. ↑ ^{a b} Kurt Kaiß, Matthias Hengst: Chemnitz railway node - rail network of an industrial region , p. 104.
20. ↑ Kurt Kaiß, Matthias Hengst: Railway node Chemnitz - rail network of an industrial region , p. 117
21. ^ Egon Kretzschmar: Die Bahnbetriebswerke in Chemnitz / Karl-Marx-Stadt , Bildverlag Thomas Böttger, Witzschdorf 2003, ISBN 3-9808250-8-6 , p. 47 ff.

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