Berlin – Blankenheim railway line
The Berlin – Blankenheim railway line (also: Berlin-Blankenheim Railway or Wetzlar Railway ) is a main line in Berlin , Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt , which was originally built as part of the so-called cannon railway between Berlin and Metz . It leads from Berlin-Charlottenburg via Bad Belzig , Güsten , Sandersleben (Anh) to Blankenheim , where it joins the Halle – Hann Münden railway .
The section from Berlin-Charlottenburg to shortly before Potsdam also took over all long-distance and regional traffic from Berlin to Potsdam and Magdeburg after 1945 . The section Wiesenburg -Güsten with the exception of a short section at Barby shut down since 2004 without trains and now.
history
General
Until 1945
The line was built between 1877 and 1882 (for more details on the building history, see the article Kanonenbahn ). The aim was to establish a direct and militarily usable connection to the French border bypassing the metropolitan areas. The Berlin – Blankenheim section was the longest new section of the Kanonenbahn that did not use existing lines. The route was chosen so that larger cities were bypassed.
On April 15, 1879, the line from today's Berlin-Grunewald train station to Blankenheim went into operation initially for freight traffic, and on May 15 of the same year for passenger traffic. In the first years of operation, the trains were directed to the Berlin Ringbahn , the passenger trains began and ended in Berlin, initially until 1882 in the Dresden station . The goods traffic was partly led to the north station on Bernauer Strasse, partly also to the Lower Silesian-Märkischer station .
In 1882, the Charlottenburg station went into operation, the trains were now routed via this to the Berlin light rail . Between today's Berlin-Wannsee train station and the junction with the Berlin-Magdeburg railway near Kohlhasenbrück , the line ran parallel to the Wannsee Railway, which opened in 1874, on its own tracks. The section from Charlottenburg to there offered an additional connection from the Stadtbahn to the Berlin-Potsdam-Magdeburg Railway .
The location away from the metropolitan areas proved to be a disadvantage for the Kanonenbahn from the start, which was only able to achieve its intended importance in a few sections. The connections via Magdeburg or Halle / Leipzig always played a greater role for long-distance traffic from Berlin to West and Southwest Germany.
It was not until 1920 that the first branch of the railway went into operation with the Klostermansfeld – Wippra line. In 1923 the connection from Wiesenburg to Roßlau was opened, where connection to existing lines via Dessau to the south was established. This upgraded the Berlin – Wiesenburg section; Wiesenburg – Güsten lost its importance, however, because in addition to the route via Magdeburg, the connection via Dessau was now also available. Although the Berlin – Blankenheim line was viewed internally as a uniform line and is still today, continuous passenger traffic has been the exception there, especially since 1923.
In 1924 the large marshalling yard in Seddin went into operation. The project had been started before the First World War. Connecting curves from Seddin to the bypass line from Jüterbog to Nauen and a new route from Michendorf to Großbeeren on the Anhalter Bahn were created primarily for freight traffic .
In 1928 the suburban and long-distance tracks were separated between Nikolassee and Wannsee, and in 1937 between Grunewald and Nikolassee. The suburban tracks in the area of the exhibition station (today Westkreuz station ) were given a route that was clearly distant from the long-distance tracks.
Between 1945 and 1990
After the end of the Second World War, the second track was dismantled as a reparation payment to the Soviet Union. In the following years the consequences of the division of Germany made themselves felt. However, through traffic to West Berlin initially remained on the route.
At the end of the 1950s, the last section of the Berlin outer ring between Potsdam and Saarmund was built, which crossed the cannon railway between Rehbrücke and Wilhelmshorst. The Bergholz stop was created as a transfer point for passenger traffic, which was opened on August 18, 1958. A connecting curve to the western outer ring was built for freight traffic. The Kanonenbahn was gradually expanded to double-track again between Berlin and Wiesenburg, and in 1951 the section between Belzig and Wiesenburg was given the second track again.
In 1961 the section Drewitz (now Potsdam Medienstadt Babelsberg) - Berlin-Wannsee was closed to passenger traffic as a result of the construction of the wall . The transit trains from Berlin to the Federal Republic continued via Potsdam city. This section remained in operation for freight traffic.
In the 1980s, an expansion of the connection was planned as an alternative to the congested route via Bitterfeld and Naumburg, at least for freight traffic. The section between Wiesenburg and Nedlitz had already been expanded to double tracks in 1979/80. Electrification was planned, catenary masts were installed in the Güterglück and Blankenheim separation station area, but this was not continued. In Güsten, in connection with the planned electrification of the line from Dessau to Aschersleben, a traction power plant and a converter plant were to be built. Only the marshalling yard in Seddin was connected to the electrical network in 1982 from the Berlin outer ring via Michendorf.
Since 1990
It was not until the early 1990s that the Seddin – Wiesenburg section was electrified. In preparation for the ICE traffic to Berlin, the Berlin Zoologischer Garten – Wannsee – Seddin section was electrified and the Wiesenburg – Güterglück section was restored and electrified, so that the Güterglück – Berlin section was expanded to two tracks from July 3, 1993. During construction work on the Berlin – Magdeburg railway line until December 14, 1995, it was used for ICE and intercity traffic. For this purpose, some sections have been upgraded for a top speed of 160 km / h.
The Wiesenburg – Güsten section then experienced a rapid decline. In 1998 the regional trains between Barby and Güsten were discontinued and instead led to Magdeburg. The class 628 was used as a replacement for the sets of 204 and one car. There was still an Interregio from Berlin via Wernigerode to Aachen and a weekend excursion train from Berlin to Wernigerode. In 1999 these trains were canceled or diverted and there was no traffic on the Barby – Güsten section. The management of the regional railways to Magdeburg did not result in the desired success. In 2002 they were completely discontinued except for two pairs of trains on weekends and on December 13, 2003. At the same time, freight traffic between Wiesenburg and Güterglück was relocated to the Brandenburg – Magdeburg route. The excursion train to Wernigerode, made up of 628s and, in the meantime, 624s , ran on this route for one year before the end was finally sealed on December 11, 2004.
In April 2004, DB Netz applied for the permanent cessation of operations on the Calbe (Saale) West – Güsten and Wiesenburg (Mark) –Güterglück – Barby sections, including the connecting curve to the Güterglück freight station. In the same year, the Federal Railway Authority approved these applications. In October 2012, DB Netz finally applied for the track system to be dismantled in the Calbe (Saale) West – Güsten section.
As a result, almost the entire route from Wiesenburg to Güsten is now closed . Only two short sections at Barby and Calbe still serve local freight traffic or a regional train line. On August 29, 2012, the Barby – Tornitz branch, which was still used for freight traffic, was put out to tender for cost reasons to be taken over by other railway infrastructure companies or to be closed. In the vicinity of Güsten the route had to give way to a bypass road. The Güsten station with its former depot has been significantly reduced.
Between December 2011 and December 2012, the long-distance railway tracks between Berlin-Grunewald and Berlin-Wannsee were completely closed in order to renew these and eight railway overpasses. The costs for this amounted to 23 million euros. In the following year, the overpasses of the parallel S-Bahn in this section were renewed, for which a further 13 million euros were estimated. With the approval of the renewed S-Bahn bridge over the Spanische Allee on August 4, 2014, the work of the project “Complete renovation of S7 West” came to an end.
The new Calbe (Saale) Stadt stop went into operation on December 22, 2014. It was built to increase demand on the route. The costs for this were 160,000 euros.
On the southern part of the route, DB Netz plans to bundle the control in the ESTW Sandersleben. Only the Klostermansfeld and Helbra train stations are affected for the time being.
With federal and state funds, a modernization including barrier-free expansion of the Wilhelmshorst station is planned over the next few years .
In order to create a direct connection between Bernburg and Magdeburg without worrying about it in Calbe (Saale) Ost, the construction of the connecting curve Calbe to the Magdeburg – Halle railway line is planned in the long term. However, this was postponed for cost reasons.
The state of Saxony-Anhalt is also considering reactivating the Barby – Güterglück section to relieve the Magdeburg node. At the request of the state, the section of the route was included in the draft of the service concept for Germany-Takt in order to relieve the Elbe crossings in Magdeburg and to create redundancy against the background of the Elbe flood disasters. There are also plans to run the RE 13 regional express line no longer via Gommern, but via Schönebeck, Barby and Güterglück. The poor public transport development of the entire Barby area would improve significantly.
passenger traffic
Until the Wiesenburg – Roßlau connection was completed, there was a small amount of long-distance traffic over the route. In 1914, for example, a continuous pair of express trains ran between Berlin and Frankfurt (Main) on the route; the route between Güsten and Blankenheim was used by other trains from Magdeburg.
In 1934 three long-distance train pairs ran in sections on the route, two express trains Berlin - Nordhausen - Kassel - Wiesbaden (one via Magdeburg - Güsten, one via Dessau - Güsten) and one express train Berlin - Frankfurt (Main) via Dessau - Güsten.
In the 1980s, the section to Wiesenburg (and on towards Dessau) was used by an express train Rostock - Potsdam - Karl-Marx-Stadt (Chemnitz), three express trains Berlin-Schöneweide - Dessau - Güsten - Aschersleben and one express train Brandenburg - Drive on Potsdam - Leipzig and the respective counter trains. In addition, there were occasional seasonal trains to the Baltic Sea as well as the transit trains that were closed to inland traffic and used the route between Beelitzer Kreuz and Wiesenburg. The passenger trains started and ended in Drewitz and in Bergholz had a connection to the Sputnik trains to Berlin via the Berlin outer ring . The dense suburban traffic ended in Beelitz Heilstätten; beyond that, the offer to Belzig and on via Wiesenburg to Dessau was comparatively dense.
Between Güsten and Wiesenburg (mostly on to Belzig), four to five passenger trains commuted a day, plus some amplifiers from Güsten to Güterglück or Nedlitz. Long-distance traffic ran only briefly and without traffic on individual sections of this route, around 1979 a D-Zug Leipzig - Cologne over the southern connection curve Güterglück and Barby to Magdeburg or in 1988/89 a train Magdeburg - Berlin over the northern curve in Güterglück and Wiesenburg.
The Güsten – Blankenheim – Sangerhausen section was used by three pairs of express trains from Magdeburg to Erfurt, plus a few passenger trains. In particular on the southern section behind Klostermansfeld the offer was very low.
Long-distance trains have been gradually reduced since 2006. Since the opening of the Tiergarten tunnel in Berlin, long-distance trains have been running via Lutherstadt Wittenberg; the last two intercity trains via Dessau were discontinued in December 2007. Since then, only a few night trains have run via Dessau.
In the 2019 timetable year, the Berlin – Bad Belzig – Wiesenburg section will be served by Regional Express trains on the RE 7 line to Dessau every hour, using Talent 2 vehicles . Traffic is denser in the Berlin area. Between Michendorf and Seddin or between Wannsee and Michendorf the lines RB 23 and RB 33 and in Berlin area also the entire S-Bahn, regional and long-distance traffic to Potsdam on this route.
Regional Express trains on the Magdeburg – Erfurt line run between Güsten and Sangerhausen every two hours.
Accidents
On February 7, 1918, the coupling between two cars in a military train between Sandersleben and Güsten broke . The rear part of the train rolled downhill and collided in front of the Sandersleben station with a freight train that was traveling from Halle to Aschersleben . 18 people died, 35 were also injured.
On April 9, 1993, the most serious railway accident in Berlin's post-war history occurred on the line. During a phase of construction work, an intercity and express train collided head - on at Berlin-Wannsee station due to an error by the dispatcher there . Three people died.
Others
The route between Barby and Güterglück was closed in 1993/94 due to construction work. There was replacement rail traffic. However, since there is no road bridge over the Elbe in this area , the Barby ferry was used.
In the 2003/04 timetable, the Berlin - Wernigerode excursion train, which ran twice a week (Saturday and Sunday), was the only train on the Wiesenburg – Güsten route. On the double-track section to Güterglück, both tracks were used on the outward and return journey. For these trains around eight signal boxes and barrier posts had to be staffed.
In the meantime, this section has been closed, one of the few cases of the closure of a double-track electrified main line , which was also only prepared for ICE traffic in the early 1990s due to the expansion of the connection via Magdeburg.
literature
- Peter Bley: 100 years of the Wetzlar Railway . In: Berliner Verkehrsblätter, Volume 26, No. 3–4 (March / April 1979), pp. 51–108.
- Wolfgang Klee: The cannon train Berlin – Metz. Stuttgart 1998. ISBN 3-613-71082-X
- Jürgen Krebs: Kanonenbahn Berlin – Sangerhausen. Between Fläming and Mansfelder Land. Herdam Fotoverlag, Gernrode 2004. ISBN 3-933178-09-6
Web links
- Detailed website on this section of the Kanonenbahn by Jürgen Krebs
- Wetzlarer Bahn on bahnstrecken.de
- Wetzlarer Bahn on berliner-bahnen.de
- Files and plans in the holdings of the Reichsbahndirektion Halle in the State Archives Saxony-Anhalt, Dessau department
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Surrender of railway infrastructure. Route: Barby (including) –Abzw Tornitz (exclusively), announcement from August 29, 2012 to November 29, 2012. (PDF) (No longer available online.) DB Netze, August 29, 2012, formerly in the original ; Retrieved August 29, 2012 . ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )
- ↑ Jürgen Krebs, Kanonenbahn Berlin – Sangerhausen. Between Fläming and Mansfelder Land , Herdam Fotoverlag, Gernrode 2004, ISBN 3-93317-809-6 , p. 18.
- ↑ Jürgen Krebs, Kanonenbahn Berlin – Sangerhausen. Between Fläming and Mansfelder Land , Herdam Fotoverlag, Gernrode 2004, ISBN 3-93317-809-6 , p. 108.
- ↑ Jürgen Krebs, Kanonenbahn Berlin – Sangerhausen. Between Fläming and Mansfelder Land , Herdam Fotoverlag, Gernrode 2004, ISBN 3-93317-809-6 , p. 51.
- ↑ Jürgen Krebs, Kanonenbahn Berlin – Sangerhausen. Between Fläming and Mansfelder Land , Herdam Fotoverlag, Gernrode 2004, ISBN 3-93317-809-6 , p. 47.
- ↑ Jürgen Krebs, Kanonenbahn Berlin – Sangerhausen. Between Fläming and Mansfelder Land , Herdam Fotoverlag, Gernrode 2004, ISBN 3-93317-809-6 , p. 87.
- ↑ a b c printed matter 16/7206. (PDF; 102 KiB) German Bundestag, November 15, 2007, accessed on October 30, 2012 .
- ^ Railway line (6118) Berlin-Charlottenburg - Blankenheim, section Calbe / S. West - Güsten, railway km 131.800 to railway km 146.800: "Replacement without replacement of various railway facilities". (PDF; 28 KiB) (No longer available online.) Federal Railway Office , June 13, 2013, formerly in the original ; Retrieved July 28, 2013 . ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )
- ^ Heinrich G. Behrend: The most prominent route closure . In: Berliner Verkehrsblätter . No. 3 , 2012, p. 46 f .
- ↑ News in brief - S-Bahn . In: Berliner Verkehrsblätter . September 2014, p. 178 .
- ↑ Calbe (Saale) city. In: Saxony-Anhalt station program. Retrieved April 16, 2016 .
- ↑ Andreas Pinkert: Bahn creates another Christmas present. In: Volksstimme . December 23, 2014, accessed April 16, 2016 .
- ↑ Inclusion of the Klostermansfeld and Helbra train stations in ESTW Sandersleben. (No longer available online.) Federal Railway Office , formerly in the original ; accessed on June 7, 2017 . ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )
- ↑ Modernization push for small train stations (including list of measures). Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure , June 17, 2016, accessed on June 17, 2016 .
- ↑ NASA GmbH: "Saxony-Anhalt invests in the expansion of the Bernburg - Magdeburg railway line" ( Memento from March 18, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), July 6, 2010. Accessed on March 18, 2014
- ↑ The train stop at the city center is urgently required. In: Volksstimme. November 26, 2013, accessed April 16, 2015 .
- ↑ Soon again directly from Merseburg to Leipzig? In: Mitteldeutsche Zeitung. February 18, 2019, accessed March 8, 2019 .
- ^ Line Barby - Güterglück (- Schönebeck) . In: Bahn-Report . No. 3 , 2020, p. 40 .
- ^ Deutsche Reichsbahn, Kursbuch 1988/89
- ^ Hans Joachim Ritzau: Railway disasters in Germany. Splinters of German history . Vol. 1: Landsberg-Pürgen 1979, p. 107.