Karlovy Vary – Johanngeorgenstadt railway line

Karlovy Vary dolní nádraží – Johanngeorgenstadt
Course book series (SŽDC) :	142
Route length:	46.811 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Route class :	Karlovy Vary – Nejdek: B2 Nejdek – state border: A1
Maximum slope :	30  ‰
Minimum radius :	180 m
Top speed:	60 km / h
Legend from Mariánské Lázně (formerly EB Marienbad – Karlsbad ) 0.000 Karlovy Vary dolní nádraží formerly Karlsbad unt Bf 376 m 0.385 vlečka Karlovarské minerálni vody Teplá Ohře Karlovarský tunel (81 m) Chomutov – Cheb von Chomutov (formerly BEB ) 3.060 Karlovy Vary formerly Carlsbad 412 m 5.200 odb. Sedlec to Cheb (formerly BEB ) 6.237 vlečka Porcelánka Viktoria 6.447 Stará Role formerly Alt-Rohlau 390 m Rolava 6,945 vlečka stararolský porcelán Moritz Zdekauer from Chodov (formerly the Chodau – Neudek local railway ) 12,061 Nová Role formerly Neu-Rohlau 440 m 12,135 vlečka Karlovarský porcelán 14.900 Nová Role zastávka formerly hammer houses 480 m 15.520 vlečka Bývalá brusírna na dřevo 16,545 vlečka Bývalý závod Vejprtských papíren 17.500 Nejdek-Suchá formerly Suchá / Gibacht-Thierbach 525 m 18,957 vlečka Vlnap as 19.460 Nejdek formerly Neudek 557 m 20,573 vlečka Metalis as Nejdecký tunel (230 m) 21.400 Nejdek zastávka 600 m Vysokokopecký tunel (68 m) 23.100 Vysoká Pec formerly blast furnace 640 m 23.375 Rolava 24.244 Rolava Novohamerský tunel (252 m) Rolava Weißbach Viaduct 26.202 Nové Hamry formerly Neuhammer (b Karlsbad) 713 m 28.500 Nejdek-Tisová formerly Tisová u Nejdku / Eibenberg 765 m 31.200 Nejdek-Sejfy formerly Nové Hamry zastávka / Sejfy / soap house 830 m 33.100 Nejdek-Oldřichov formerly Oldřichov u Nejdku / Tellerovy domy / Tellerhäuser 875 m Street II / 219 34.600 Vertex 915 m Viaduct Pernink (stone arch) 36.200 Pernink formerly Bärringen-Abertham 902 m 38.883 Horní Blatná formerly the mining town of Platten 870 m Street II / 221 43.400 Potůčky zastávka formerly Breitenbach Hp 760 m Černá (black water) 45.665 vlečka Škoda Plzeň, provoz Potůčky 45.828 Potůčky formerly Breitenbach 697 m 46.120 State border between the Czech Republic and Germany 46.811 Johanngeorgenstadt 676 m to Schwarzenberg (Erzgeb)

The Karlovy Vary – Johanngeorgenstadt railway is a regional railway connection in the Czech Republic that was originally built by the Karlsbad – Johanngeorgenstadt railway as a second-class main line . It begins in Karlovy Vary (Karlsbad) and runs in the Ore Mountains via Nová Role ( Neurohlau ), Nejdek ( Neudek ), Pernink ( Bärringen ) and Horní Blatná ( mountain town Platten ) to Johanngeorgenstadt . Because of its difficult route over the Ore Mountains ridge, the route in today's Czech Republic is known as Krušnohorský Semmering (Erzgebirge Semmering ).

history

Prehistory and construction

With the construction of the Zwickau – Schwarzenberg railway in the 1850s, the first projects to continue the line in the direction of Karlsbad were launched. But it was not until November 13, 1872, that the Austrian government granted the Pilsen – Priesen (–Komotau) (EPPK) railway the concession for a main line Pilsen - Karlsbad - Johanngeorgenstadt . The difficult topographical conditions would have required enormous financial resources for the construction of the railway, which were ultimately not available. On May 6, 1880, the license issued in 1872 expired due to non-fulfillment of the concession-related obligations .

Since the start of construction in Bohemia was not foreseeable, the connection to the Zwickau-Schwarzenberg Railway was finally established in Saxony as a regular-gauge secondary railway (cf. Schwarzenberg – Johanngeorgenstadt railway ). This line was opened in 1883. The facilities in Johanngeorgenstadt were planned as a border station from the start.

It was not until December 2, 1895 that a new route was licensed as a second-rate main line from Karlsbad via Neudek to Johanngeorgenstadt. The decisive factor for this new project was the existing Chodau – Neudek local railway operated by the Austrian Local Railway Company , which should also be used. After two years of construction, the line was opened with a ceremony on May 15, 1899. The project of the main railway line Pilsen – Karlsbad – Zwickau / Chemnitz was finally history.

business

The operation was initially carried out by the kk Austrian State Railways (kkStB) on behalf of the Karlsbad – Johanngeorgenstadt railway . After the First World War, the newly founded Czechoslovak State Railways ČSD took the place of the kkStB . On October 1, 1925, the Karlsbad – Johanngeorgenstadt railway was nationalized by law and the line was integrated into the ČSD network. At the beginning of the 1930s, the use of railcars on the route began, new additional stops were built, such as the Breitenbach-Dreckschänke stop on October 2, 1932. After the Sudetenland was annexed to Germany in autumn 1938, the route was listed in the timetables as the Schwarzenberg – Karlsbad route. For the first time, individual trains ran continuously between Schwarzenberg and Karlsbad. When the war began, the use of the railcars ended.

After 1945 the line returned to the ČSD. For the time being, the trains from Karlovy Vary continued to run to Johanngeorgenstadt, as the Breitenbach station (from 1948: Potůčky ) was unable to relocate the locomotives and take on new supplies. A little later, the necessary systems were retrofitted. From then on, all trains ended in Potůčky, and there was no longer any cross-border traffic. For strategic reasons, however, the cross-border track was retained. In January and February 1950, rail traffic had to be interrupted due to heavy snowfall. The same was necessary in January 1965, when rail traffic was idle for three weeks. The route was closed for three more days in 1986 due to snow drifts three meters high.

On April 17, 1992, a passenger train crossed the state border for the first time in decades, here in Johanngeorgenstadt.

On April 17, 1992, a passenger train passed the state border at Johanngeorgenstadt for the first time since 1945. In the same year, the scheduled cross-border travel and goods traffic was resumed. However, freight traffic was discontinued in 1999. From the year 2000 it was planned to integrate the route into the regular traffic of the EgroNet . For the first time, continuous regional express trains ran from Zwickau to Karlovy Vary that year . An expansion of the route that had already been planned was not carried out for the time being.

Passenger train with ČD class 814 ("Regionova") near Nové Hamry (2008)

In the 2008 annual timetable, a total of seven cross-border train pairs were planned for the weekends, two of which run continuously on the Zwickau – Karlovy Vary route. In 2008, the long-planned work to modernize the line with track renewals and the renovation of the Novohamerský tunel began .

In April 2015, the route operator SŽDC put the remaining work on the comprehensive modernization ("Revitalizace") of the route out to tender. The contract was awarded to a consortium consisting of the companies Chládek & Tintěra, based in Litoměřice and Colas Rail, based in Prague, which had submitted the cheapest offer with a volume of 470,975,251 crowns. In addition to the complete renewal of the tracks and safety systems, the construction of the platforms including the lighting was also planned. Y-sleepers with increased lateral displacement resistance were installed in the narrow track curves , as they were already used on the Rybník – Lipno nad Vltavou railway line in southern Bohemia . Construction work began in July 2017, and the project was due to be completed by July 2018. After the work was completed in summer 2018, the line speed between the Sedlec and Nejdek junction was increased to 65 km / h and between Nejdek and Potůčky to 60 km / h. The journey times from Karlovy Vary to Johanngeorgenstadt were reduced by eight minutes.

Train on the route to Karlovy vary shortly after Potůčky (July 2020)

Accident on July 7, 2020

On July 7, 2020, two passenger trains collided head-on at kilometer 35.6 near Pernink. Two people died and nine others were seriously injured. The trains were occupied by 33 passengers and should have crossed at Pernink station as planned. The train from Johanngeorgenstadt to Karlsbad did not wait for the crossing, however, and entered the section occupied by the opposite train. The resulting damage to the vehicles is estimated at around 20 million crowns. On the morning of the following day, the scene of the accident was cleared and train traffic was resumed.

Infrastructure

simplified elevation profile of the route

Train in the direction of Karlsbad in Pernink station

During the construction, the route was often compared to the famous Semmering Railway in the Eastern Alps. The highest point of the route at Pernink (915 m) is 20 meters above the summit of the Semmering Railway and the absolute difference in height (535 m) is significantly greater.

The Pernink station (formerly Bärringen-Abertham ), located near the Ore Mountains ridge, is the highest in the entire Ore Mountains. For a short time it was also considered the highest in the Kingdom of Bohemia, until it lost this status in July 1900 to the Kubova Huť (Kubohütten) station on the Strakonitz – Winterberg local railway in the Bohemian Forest .

The route has no technical security for train journeys . The regulation for the simplified service D3 applies here . The driver then receives the driving order by radio from a dispatcher . This also made the accident of July 7th, 2020 possible.

Vehicle use

ČD series 742 (Karlovy Vary dolní nádraží, 2008)

ČD series 844 (Pernink, 2015)

On account of the Karlsbad – Johanngeorgenstadt railway , the kkStB procured five of the tried and tested 97 series (ČSD 310.0). These rather inefficient, typical local railway locomotives were used on the line before passenger trains were introduced until the mid-1920s. Originally four locomotives of the more powerful 178 series (ČSD 422.0) were to be used in front of freight trains . However, there is no evidence that these locomotives were used before the First World War . The cars corresponded to the usual types of the kkStB.

In front of freight trains, ČSD later used the more powerful 99 series (ČSD 320.0), which were originally procured for the Marienbad – Karlsbad railway . The new ČSD class 423.0 locomotives replaced the old kkStB series in front of the trains to Johanngeorgenstadt from the 1920s. From the 1930s on, motorized railcars operated for the first time in times of low traffic. The use of the Tatra tower cars of the M 130.2 and M 120.4 series is documented . From 1955, newly delivered railcars of the ČSD series M 131.1 took over the entire tourist traffic, which was then replaced from the 1960s by the modern M 240.0 design .

After the M 240.0 was taken out of service in the 1990s, the proven two-axle railcars of the 810 series (ČSD M 152.0) were also used after Johanngeorgenstadt . Some of the trains were also hauled by a locomotive with the 714 or 742 series . Today, railcars of the ČD series 814 (“Regionova”) and the ČD series 844 (“RegioShark”) are in use.

The former cross-border trains Zwickau – Karlovy Vary of the Erzgebirgsbahn operated with railcars of the DB class 642 (Desiro).

literature

• Krušnohorský Semmering Karlovy Vary - Johanngeorgenstadt Erzgebirge Semmering. Club M 131.1, Sokolov 1999.

Web links

Commons : Karlovy Vary – Johanngeorgenstadt railway line  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Karlovy Vary dolní nádraží – Johanngeorgenstadt on www.zelpage.cz
• Historical railway pictures
• Krušnohorským Semmeringem do Saska. In: ceskatelevize.cz. Retrieved on May 23, 2019 (Czech, from around the 2nd minute report on the railway line (2nd film section)). 

Individual evidence

1. ^ Zdeněk Hudec et al: Atlas drah České republiky 2006–2007. 2nd Edition. Dopravní vydavatelství Malkus, Praha 2006, ISBN 80-87047-00-1 .
2. ↑ Prohlášení o dráze 2017 ( Memento of the original from August 24, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The 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. 
3. ^ Certificate of concession for the Locomotiv-Eisenbahn Pilsen-Klattau-Eisenstein and Mlatz-Johanngeorgenstadt
4. ^ Announcement by the Minister of Commerce of May 6, 1880
5. ↑ http://alex.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno-plus?aid=rgb&date=18960004&seite=00000013
6. ↑ "Půlmiliardová oprava Krušnohorské trati začína. Zdržel ji spor o trubku "on ekonomika.idnes.cz/
7. ↑ “Oprava železniční trati do hor přijde na 471 milionů korun” on idnes.cz
8. ↑ "Na Karlovarsku se srazily dva vlaky Českých drah, dva mrtví a 22 zraněných" on zdopravy.cz
9. ↑ "Vlak na Vary měl v Perninku podle inspekce čekat, coz se nestalo" on zdopravy.cz
10. ^ "Train accident: dead came from Saxony" on sächsische.de
11. ↑ sram / md: train collision in the Czech Ore Mountains . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International 8–9 / 2020, p. 416.