Railway line Vejprty – Annaberg-Buchholz und Bf

	von Chomutov (formerly BEB )
0.000	Vejprty formerly Weipert	713 m
0.478	Viaduct Pöhlbachtal (100 m)
	( Czech Republic / Germany border )
0.583	Infrastructure boundary SŽDC / DB RegioNetz
0.910	Bärenstein (Kr Annaberg) (formerly Bf)	707 m
1.485	EÜ Bahnhofstrasse (20 m)
1,850	Bärenstein tunnel (94 m)
2,550	Kühberg	705 m
5.510	Königswalde (Erzgeb) above Bf	702 m
	to Annaberg-Buchholz above Bf
-	Bundesstrasse 95
-	At the Cranzahl dam
9,930	EÜ farm road (10 m)
10,565	Cran number	654 m
	Narrow-gauge railway to Oberwiesenthal health resort
10,830	EÜ Karlsbader Strasse (12 m)
10.935	Cranzahl Viaduct (122 m)
13,896	Sehma (formerly Bf)	605 m
14.078	EÜ Schlettauer Strasse (11 m)
	from Schwarzenberg (Erzgeb)
16,350	Annaberg-Buchholz South	574 m
16,511	EÜ Talstraße (12 m)
16,543	Sehmabrücke (23 m)
17,535	Annaberg-Buchholz center	557 m
18,154	Sehma (12 m)
18.205	Buchholz Tunnel (29 m)
18,343	Sehmatal Bridge (40 m)
18.758	EÜ Bundesstrasse 101 (13 m)
19.016 0.000	It joins route 6644
(19,044)	Annaberg-Buchholz und Bf	537 m
	to Flöha

The Vejprty – Annaberg-Buchholz and Bf railway line is a branch line in the Czech Republic and Saxony . The line connects in Vejprty ( Weipert ) with the Chomutov – Vejprty railway line , crosses the Czech-German border and leads via Cranzahl to Annaberg-Buchholz . It has been part of the DB region network Erzgebirgsbahn since 2001 .

history

Prehistory and construction

With the commissioning of the Chemnitz-Annaberger Bahn, the “Annaberger Eisenbahncomitee” advocated a continuation across the Ore Mountains to Bohemia. At that time only the Aussig-Teplitz Railway existed on the south side of the Ore Mountains . On August 28, 1865, the Annaberg Committee finally obtained a concession from the Austrian government for a “Saxon-Bohemian connecting railway” to connect to the Buschtěhrad railway near Katschitz . However, the German War of 1866 prevented its realization, so the concession expired again.

On July 1, 1868, the Buschtěhrad Railway received a new concession for a route Komotau – Weipert, which was approved together with the line from Prague via Komotau to Eger. On September 29, 1869, Austria signed a state treaty with Saxony, the content of which was the realization of the " railway connections on the Bohemian-Saxon border near Weipert, Georgswalde and Warnsdorf ". Saxony now undertook to complete the line from Weipert to Annaberg by July 1, 1871. If no private investor could be found for the construction of the route, construction at state expense was planned.

The Annaberg Railway Committee founded the company of the Saxon-Bohemian Link Railway Annaberg – Weipert , which received the concession for the construction of the line from the border to Annaberg on April 19, 1870. The Franco-German War , but also the severe winter of 1870/1871, delayed the completion of the connection planned for 1871 several times.

The Buschtěhrad Railway finally opened the Komotau – Weipert line on August 1, 1872. Three days later - on August 3, 1872 - the Weipert – Annaberg line also went into operation for general traffic. The Royal Saxon State Railways took over the operation with their operating resources against 50 percent of the gross income. The Weipert – Land border section owned by the Buschtěhrad Railway was operated on a lease basis.

Operation until 1945

The workforce at the Weipert border station (around 1905)

Until the construction of the route via Reitzenhain , the route via Weipert was the only railway connection crossing the Ore Mountains. When this went into operation on August 23, 1875, the line via Weipert lost a considerable part of the through traffic. The now unprofitable connection was acquired by the Saxon state on August 12, 1878. The company of the Saxon-Bohemian connecting railway Annaberg – Weipert was dissolved.

Despite the continuation of the railway across the border, there was no continuous passenger train service between Chemnitz and Komotau until 1945. All trains from Chemnitz ended at the border station Weipert, where they had to switch to the Buschtěhrad Railway and later the ČSD . There were continuous trains in freight traffic, and locomotives were changed in Weipert.

After the Second World War

After the Second World War, cross-border train traffic came to a standstill. All trains from the direction of Flöha only ran to Bärenstein. The ČSD took over the former Saxon part of Vejprty station including the turntable. Since there was no turntable in the now turning station Bärenstein (Kr Annaberg) , the class 38.2-3 (Saxon XII H2) locomotives had to leave Bärenstein station in the direction of Chemnitz with the tender ahead and drive backwards to Annaberg-Buchholz Süd station. Only here did each train get a new locomotive turned towards Chemnitz. This resulted in considerable longer travel times and increased personnel costs.

The rail link across the state border remained open for strategic reasons. Except for a few business trips - e.g. for snow clearing operations on Czechoslovakian territory - there was no longer any train service.

From the 1970s, the Deutsche Reichsbahn planned to stop train traffic on the Bärenstein – Cranzahl section. The oil crisis of 1981 and the relocation of wagonload traffic from Jöhstadt to Bärenstein as a result of the closure of the narrow-gauge railway from Selva to Jöhstadt made this plan obsolete. In the 1980s, only four pairs of passenger trains ran between Bärenstein and Cranzahl on weekdays, and only two on Saturdays and Sundays. Between Cranzahl and Flöha, however, there were eight daily travel options, including an express train connection to and from Leipzig Hbf.

New perspectives

Vejprty station: The regional train locomotive from Chemnitz is just moving to the other end of the train, while the ČD railcar provides the connection to Chomutov. (1995)

A train of the Erzgebirgsbahn to Annaberg-Buchholz Süd leaves Annaberg-Buchholz untill station (2014)

The route received new perspectives with the political upheavals in the GDR and Czechoslovakia in 1989 and 1990. After decades of separation, both sides wanted to renew the old traditional transport links across the border. As early as the timetable change in June 1991, passenger trains were to run again on three cross-border routes between Saxony and Bohemia, including between Vejprty and Bärenstein. This appointment could not be kept. The biggest obstacle to scheduled traffic was the border bridge from the opening year, which was only approved for an axle mass of 15 tons and a meter load of 5.5 tons. In June 1992 the Saxon Ministry of Economics provided 250,000 DM to be able to carry out the most necessary repairs here.

On August 1, 1993, cross-border passenger traffic with four pairs of trains on the Chemnitz – Vejprty route was resumed. Because of the tonnage limit on the border bridge, freight traffic was initially not possible. The new bridge was finally built between April 14th and August 24th 1997 with funds from the EU funding program “ PHARE ”. Since then, the cross-border route has also been approved for freight traffic.

All passenger trains currently run with class 642 diesel multiple units . The line is tied through Annaberg-Buchholz and Flöha to Chemnitz , where there are further connections to the surrounding area. The trains run between Cranzahl and Chemnitz every two hours. At the weekend there is an excursion train on the Leipzig – Chemnitz – Vejprty – Chomutov route. The tariff of the Central Saxony transport association applies , and the general rail tariff for journeys beyond the network area. Since December 11, 2011, the section between Vejprty and Cranzahl has only been served by three pairs of trains on weekends. On weekdays, travel stops there.

With the timetable change on December 14, 2014, the scheduled travel between Vejprty and Cranzahl was completely discontinued, while the tourist-oriented train connections between Chemnitz and Chomutov were discontinued.

The route is still used as required for freight traffic. In April 2010, several block trains ran in the direction of Annaberg-Buchholz Süd and on to Schwarzenberg, which had been loaded with ballast for track construction sites at Vejprty station.

On May 1, 2016, cross-border travel between Vejprty and Cranzahl was resumed as a temporary tourist offer. Until September 25, 2016, two pairs of trains ran on weekends and on public holidays. Since the offer was well received according to the Erzgebirgsbahn, the trains also ran in the summer of 2017. Since 2018, the tourist train pairs on the T7 line from Chomutov to Cranzahl have been connected. From April 25, 2020, the railway company Länderbahn CZ , based in Ústí nad Labem , will take over . The Verkehrsverbund Mittelachsen will pay around 25,000 euros in 2020 to order the transport services between Vejprty and Cranzahl. On the routes in Ústecký kraj, Středočeský kraj and to Cranzahl, railcars of the type RegioSprinter of Die Länderbahn CZ operate .

Route description

course

simplified elevation profile of the route

The line leaves the border station Vejprty in a northerly direction, immediately afterwards the Pöhlbach and the state border are crossed on a viaduct . In Saxon territory, the route initially follows the former Annaberg raft ditch with almost no incline . At Königswalde ob Bf, the track overcomes the watershed to the Sehmatal in a deep incision , and then drops down on its flank southwards to Cranzahl. The Sehma is crossed on a viaduct. Then the route of the Sehma follows northwards to Annaberg-Buchholz.

Operating points

Vejprty ⊙50.500416 13.033954

Vejprty Railway Station (1993)

Viaduct over the border river Pöhlbach (Polava) between Vejprty and Bärenstein (2019)

Vejprty station (until 1945: Weipert ) is the border station between the Czech Republic and Germany. The once extensive facilities of the station have been in a progressive decline since the end of cross-border traffic after 1945. The large station building was largely demolished in spring 2012. Only the northern wing, formerly used by the Saxon officials, has survived. It was renovated in 2008. Vejprty is still a tariff point in freight transport in 2011.

Bärenstein (Kr Annaberg) ⊙50.508276 13.029741

Bärenstein stop (Kr Annaberg) (2016)

The Bärenstein stop was opened on August 3, 1872. The station was elevated to a station in 1905. It had the following names:

until 1890: Bärenstein
until 1910: Bärenstein near Weipert
until 1934: Bärenstein (Bez Chemnitz)
until 1951: Bärenstein (Bz Chemnitz)
since 1951: Bärenstein (Annaberg district)

The train station is located in the north of the village in the valley of the Pöhlbach , which forms the border with the Czech Republic . In 1997 the station was downgraded to a stop after the siding was dismantled.

Kühberg ⊙50.518576 13.036847

Location of the abandoned Kühberg stop (2017)

The Kühberg stop was opened on December 15, 1896. He was in the center of the settlement. Due to the low number of travelers, the stop was abandoned on September 27, 1998. As part of the renewal of the route in 2000, the platform that was still in place was completely removed.

Königswalde (Erzgeb) above Bf ⊙50.537001 13.034367

Königswalde (Erzgeb) ob Bf (2016)

The Königswalde stop was opened on August 3, 1872. Since 1906 the stop was a train station. It had the following names:

until 1922: Königswalde
until 1928: Königswalde (Erzgeb)
since 1928: Königswalde (Erzgeb) above Bf (after the opening of the Plattentalbahn with Königswalde (Erzgeb) below Bf)

From 1906 to 1996 the branch line branched off from the station to Annaberg-Buchholz ob Bf ; it was used almost exclusively for freight traffic. The station is located in the south-east of the village on the slope of the Pöhlbachtal and can be reached via Annaberger Straße and Bahnhofstraße. Due to the low number of passengers, the station was closed on September 27, 1998.

Cran number ⊙50.5112 12.9927

Cranzahl station (2010)

At the Cranzahl station, which opened in 1872, the narrow-gauge railway Cranzahl-Kurort Oberwiesenthal has branched off to Oberwiesenthal since 1897 .

Sehma ⊙50.53546 12.993808

Sehma stop (2016)

The Sehma stop was opened on May 1, 1881. Between 1905 and 1968 the stop was a train station. It is located in the center of the village and can be reached via Bahnhofstrasse.

Annaberg-Buchholz South ⊙50.555957 12.997399

Annaberg-Buchholz Süd station (2016)

The station of the then independent town of Buchholz was put into operation on August 3, 1872 with the opening of the Weipert-Annaberg railway in the south of the town. The station had the following names:

until 1902: Buchholz
until 1905: Buchholz train station
until 1911: Buchholz
until 1933: Buchholz (Sa)
until 1949: Buchholz (Sachs)
since 1949: Annaberg-Buchholz Süd (through the merger of Annaberg and Buchholz to Annaberg-Buchholz)

Since 1889, the Annaberg-Buchholz – Schwarzenberg railway line, built as a secondary line, has been branching off in Buchholz (today Annaberg-Buchholz Süd) as a connection to the Schwarzenberg – Zwickau railway line in the direction of Aue (Sachs) - Zwickau . In 1997 the scheduled train service on the line was discontinued. At Annaberg-Buchholz Süd station, Siemens and DB Netz have been testing a new Siemens interlocking architecture for electronic interlockings since 2014 , in which communication between the interlocking computer and signals takes place via an IP network and a standardized "SCI-LS" interface. This allows the use of an inexpensive network infrastructure, and standardized interfaces also enable the integration of LST components from different manufacturers.

Annaberg-Buchholz middle ⊙50.566934 12.998919

Annaberg-Buchholz Mitte stop (2016)

The Annaberg-Buchholz Mitte stop was opened on October 1, 1902 as a Buchholz stop in the Sehma valley. It was created following the demands of the Buchholz citizens for a stopping point closer to the city, as the Buchholz train station is located in the far south of the city. From 1905 to 1945 the operating site had a second track that was also used for train crossings. The stop, which was a train station between 1905 and 1922, had the following names:

until 1905: Buchholz breakpoint
until 1911: Buchholz Königstraße
until 1933: Buchholz (Sa) Königstraße
until 1945: Buchholz (Sachs) Königstraße
until 1949: Annaberg-Buchholz Hp
since 1949: Annaberg-Buchholz Mitte

Annaberg-Buchholz und Bf ⊙50.579385 12.998199

Annaberg-Buchholz station and train station

The station Annaberg-Buchholz unt Bf (until 1945: Annaberg (Erzgeb) ) was put into operation in 1866 as the terminus of the Chemnitz-Annaberger Bahn as Annaberg station . It had the following names:

until 1904: Annaberg
until 1911: Annaberg i Erzgeb
until 1922: Annaberg (Erzgeb)
until 1949: Annaberg (Erzgeb) unt Bf (through the appointment of Annaberg (Erzgeb) Ladest to Annaberg (Erzgeb) ob Bf)
since 1949: Annaberg-Buchholz unt Bf (through the merger of Annaberg and Buchholz to Annaberg-Buchholz)

The once extensive facilities of the station were dismantled in 2006 as part of the route renovation except for two main tracks. Today there is a supermarket on the site of the freight yard.

literature

Siegfried Bergelt: The Zschopautalbahn and its regular-gauge branch lines . 2nd revised edition. Bildverlag Böttger, Witzschdorf 2005. ISBN 3-9806606-9-9 .
Danilo Grund: The Bärenstein (Erzgeb) - Weipert rail border crossing ; in Preßkurier, January 2004 edition ( digitized version )
Erich Preuß , Reiner Preuß : Saxon State Railways. transpress Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Berlin 1991, ISBN 3-344-70700-0 .

Web links

Commons : Railway line Vejprty – Annaberg-Buchholz und Bf - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

BahnInfo.de visits the Cranzahl – Chomutov railway line

Individual evidence

↑ STREDA - total route directory of the DB AG; Status: February 1, 2003

^ Law of August 7, 1865

^ Reichsgesetzblatt for the Austrian Empire of October 17, 1868

↑ Reichsgesetzblatt for the kingdoms and states represented in the Reichsrathe of July 12, 1871

^ (Saxon-Bohemian connecting railway.) Das Vaterland, August 1, 1872 Digitized

↑ The Reichsbahnteil of the Weipert train station on www.weipert-erzgebirge.com

↑ Winter timetable 1980/81 of the Deutsche Reichsbahn, course book route 420

^ Annual timetable 1988/89 of the Deutsche Reichsbahn, course book route 420

↑ Annual timetable 2012 of the Erzgebirgsbahn - valid from December 11, 2011

↑ Erzgebirgsbahn.de: Annual timetable Chemnitz – Flöha – Zschopau – Annaberg-Buchholz – Cranzahl, valid from December 14, 2014 ( memento of the original from November 29, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The @1@ 2 archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed November 23, 2014

↑ http://erzgebirgsbahner.bplaced.net

↑ Information and timetable for seasonal traffic between Cranzahl and Vejprty ( Memento from May 10, 2016 in the Internet Archive )

↑ In 2017, too, we will cross the border by rail. In: Freiepresse.de. September 27, 2016. Retrieved October 19, 2016 .

^ DB Erzgebirgsbahn: Timetable 2017. (No longer available online.) In: www.erzgebirgsbahn.de. Archived from the original on March 1, 2017 ; Retrieved April 1, 2017 . 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.

↑ Information on the seasonal traffic Cranzahl - Vejprty - Chomutov. (PDF) (No longer available online.) In: erzgebirgsbahn.de. Erzgebirgsbahn, February 27, 2018, archived from the original on March 20, 2018 ; accessed on March 19, 2018 . 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.

↑ Press release of the Verkehrsverbund Mittelachsen on February 20, 2020

↑ Press release from Die Länderbahn

↑ The Kühberg stop on the Erzgebirgsbahner.bplaced.net website

↑ Future tinkering . In: DB World Region Southeast . April 2014, p. 17 .

^ Siegfried Bergelt: The Zschopautalbahn and its regular-gauge branch lines. 2nd Edition. Bildverlag Böttger, Witzschdorf 2005; P. 54

^ Siegfried Bergelt: The Zschopautalbahn and its regular-gauge branch lines. 2nd Edition. Bildverlag Böttger, Witzschdorf 2005; P. 53f

[1] STREDA - total route directory of the DB AG; Status: February 1, 2003

[2] Law of August 7, 1865

[3] Reichsgesetzblatt for the Austrian Empire of October 17, 1868

[4] Reichsgesetzblatt for the kingdoms and states represented in the Reichsrathe of July 12, 1871

[5] (Saxon-Bohemian connecting railway.) Das Vaterland, August 1, 1872 Digitized

[6] The Reichsbahnteil of the Weipert train station on www.weipert-erzgebirge.com

[7] Winter timetable 1980/81 of the Deutsche Reichsbahn, course book route 420

[8] Annual timetable 1988/89 of the Deutsche Reichsbahn, course book route 420

[9] Annual timetable 2012 of the Erzgebirgsbahn - valid from December 11, 2011