Bautzen – Bad Schandau railway line

Bautzen – Bad Schandau
Section of the route map of Saxony from 1902
Route number :	6216; sä. BS
Course book section (DB) :	248
Route length:	64.447 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Maximum slope :	20  ‰
Minimum radius :	200 m
Top speed:	120 km / h
Legend from Dresden-Neustadt and from Hoyerswerda -0.364 Bautzen 204 m to Görlitz 1,436 EÜ Bundesstrasse 96 (29 m) 4.680 Singwitz 239 m Anst MDW combine harvester works 5,959 Awanst explosives plant Gnaschwitz 6.214 Spreetal bridge (80 m) 8.140 Großpostwitz 244 m 8,961 Abzw Großpostwitz, Stw W 2 249 m to Löbau (Sachs) 9.970 Rodewitz 254 m 10.550 At the Rodewitz substation 12.107 Wilthen Viaduct (123 m) from Oberoderwitz 13.983 Wilthen ( Inselbahnhof ) 298 m 19,340 Neukirch (Lausitz) East 335 m 23,370 Neukirch (Lausitz) West 344 m to Bischofswerda 26,818 Awanst quarry Oberottendorf 27.700 Instead of Dr. Großer & Co. - Diabase factories 27.807 Awanst quarry Oberottendorf 27,960 Farm road (10 m) 29.108 Viaduct Oberottendorf (154 m) 30.050 Oberottendorf (formerly Bf) 371 m 30.010 33.277 Viaduct Berthelsdorf (80 m) 34.530 Instead of the roof tile factory 35.298 Langburkersdorf Viaduct (75 m) First case 35.890 Friedrich-Mildner-Str. (22 m) 36.222 Neustadt (Sachs) 340 m to Dürrröhrsdorf 36,540 Götzingerstr. (13 m) 42,334 Krumhermsdorf (formerly Bf) 413 m 46.640 Schandauer Strasse (13 m) from Rumburk (formerly BNB ) 48.656 Bahnhofstrasse (13 m) 48.760 Sebnitz (Sachs) 313 m 49.250 Sebnitz Viaduct (148 m) 49.696 Tunnel I (147 m) At the Sebnitz paper factory 50.506 Hainersdorf Viaduct (97 m) 52,420 Amtshainersdorf 255 m 52,609 Sebnitz (40 m) 52.709 Tunnel II (89 m) 53.014 Tunnel III (93 m) 53.108 Sebnitz (25 m) 53,309 Sebnitz (23 m) 53,521 Sebnitz (25 m) 53.614 Tunnel IV (109 m) 53.780 Sebnitz (28 m) 54.029 Sebnitz (26 m) 54.159 Ulbersdorf 224 m 54.415 Sebnitz (14 m) 54.712 Sebnitz (16 m) 54.746 Tunnel V (91 m) 54.870 Sebnitz (19 m) 55.080 Sebnitz (13 m) 55.222 Tunnel VI (77 m) 55.287 Sebnitz (15 m) 55.512 Sebnitz (14 m) 55.680 Sebnitz (14 m) 55.873 Sebnitz (12 m) 56.286 Sebnitz (13 m) At first Sputhmühle 56,485 Sebnitz (28 m) 56.625 Mittelndorf 175 m 57.438 Sebnitz (16 m) 57.788 Sebnitz (14 m) 58.328 Sebnitz (16 m) 58.727 Sebnitz (13 m) Narrow-gauge railway from Hohnstein 58.820 Goßdorf-Kohlmühle formerly Kohlmühle (formerly Bf) 146 m 59.220 Established Likolit linoleum plant 59.285 Sebnitz (11 m) 59.576 Sebnitz (12 m) 60,592 Sebnitz (18 m) 60.700 Instead of Adolf Hüttel 60.740 Sebnitz (14 m) 60.930 Porschdorf (Kr Pirna) 135 m 60.977 Sebnitz (19 m) 61.750 Tunnel VII (377 m) 62.040 Salmon stream (16 m) To the Bundeswehr and the grain industry 62.910 Rathmannsdorf (Kr Pirna) formerly Wendisch ferry 129 m 63,338 Elbe (Carolabrücke) (272 m) from Dresden-Neustadt 64.183 Bad Schandau 128 m to Děčín hl. n. formerly double-track line

The Bautzen – Bad Schandau railway is a railway connection in Saxony . It runs from Bautzen via Wilthen , Neukirch / Lausitz , Neustadt in Saxony and Sebnitz to Bad Schandau . The section from Bautzen to Neukirch (Lausitz) West is classified as a main line , the rest of the line as a branch line . Today only the Wilthen – Oberottendorf and Neustadt – Bad Schandau sections are in operation. Between Wilthen and Neukirch (Lausitz) West, the line is part of the main line between Liberec - Zittau - Dresden .

The steep and winding section between Neustadt and Bad Schandau is also known as the Sebnitz Valley Railway or the Saxon Semmering Railway .

history

Prehistory and construction

In the years before 1870, the first projects to build a railway line from Bautzen to the Saxon-Bohemian State Railway in the Elbe Valley were launched. In 1870, the Saxon state parliament granted permission to build. According to the original plan, the route from Bautzen through the Spree Valley should reach the Bohemian Schluckenau (today Šluknov) and then lead directly through the Sebnitz Valley to Schandau (Bad Schandau since 1920). On July 17, 1871, Austria had awarded the concession for the “ Rumburg – Schluckenau railway line, possibly with the continuation towards Bautzen ” to the Bohemian Northern Railway (BNB). However, the BNB showed no interest in a continuous connection from the Elbe Valley to Upper Lusatia , which would have been in direct competition with its own main route from Prague to Georgswalde / Ebersbach .

In view of this situation, the Saxon state government had it checked whether a route bypassing Austrian territory would be technically possible. Up until now, a route was not considered feasible due to the unfavorable topography between Neustadt and Sebnitz. Finally, a route was planned which, coming from Neustadt, crosses the ridge of the Unger near Krumhermsdorf and then leads in a steep gradient down the slope of the Ungerberg down to Sebnitz. From Wilthen to Neustadt, the new line should also use the planned route of the South Lusatian Railway .

Elbe bridge in Bad Schandau (1878)

Construction of the line began in July 1874. Seven tunnels with a total length of 983 meters, two large viaducts in Sebnitz and 28 smaller bridges had to be built on engineering structures. The Sebnitz city viaduct was the first viaduct in Germany to be built with a 250 meter radius and a slope of 20 per thousand. A total of 1,287,000 m³ of earth had to be moved when creating cuts in the terrain and filling the embankments. An average of 850 people were employed on the route, including many Italian experts who applied their experience from road and rail construction in the Alps and Apennines . Italian family names that exist today in this area date back to this time. The costs for the construction of the line amounted to 9,789,508  marks , of which 1,037,500 marks alone went to the Elbe bridge near Bad Schandau. The Neustadt– (Bad) Schandau section was opened on July 1, 1877, the Bautzen – Neustadt section on September 1 of the same year. The route between Wilthen and Neustadt had two tracks because of the high volume of traffic expected there.

Until World War II

In the first timetable - valid from September 1, 1877 - four continuous pairs of 1st to 4th class trains were listed. They needed about 2 hours and 40 minutes for the 65 kilometers long route. In Wilthen and Neustadt there were direct connections to the trains to and from Ebersbach and Dürrröhrsdorf. Overall, the traffic performance did not develop as expected. Only coal transport from Bohemia to Saxony gained a certain importance in freight transport. After just a few years of operation, the second track between Niederneukirch and Neustadt was removed again.

In 1905 the Bohemian Northern Railway opened the line (Schluckenau) –Nixdorf – Sebnitz . The line from Schluckenau to Bautzen was never built again - although it was agreed in an international contract.

After the First World War , the Royal Saxon State Railways merged with the Deutsche Reichsbahn, founded in 1920 . From then on, the line was administered by the Dresden Railway Directorate . In 1923 the Neukirch West – Bad Schandau section was downgraded to a branch line. At that time, the operational separation of the line into the Bautzen – Wilthen and Neukirch – Bad Schandau sections also fell. Only trains on the Reichenberg – Zittau – Dresden route ran between Wilthen and Neukirch West. Through travelers from Bautzen to Bad Schandau now had to change trains twice.

In the 1939 timetable, up to ten pairs of passenger trains ran between Bautzen and Wilthen. Eight more served the Bautzen – Großpostwitz – Obercunewalde (–Löbau) route. Up to seven continuous trains ran between Neukirch West and Bad Schandau. Other sections served. The travel time between Bautzen and Bad Schandau was around two to two and a half hours (with two changes in Wilthen and Neukirch West).

Shortly before the end of the Second World War - on May 8, 1945 - the viaducts in Oberottendorf, Berthelsdorf and Langburkersdorf as well as some smaller bridges were blown up by the German Wehrmacht . Courageous residents prevented the destruction of the viaduct in Heinersdorf. A train service was initially no longer possible. Cross-border traffic from Sebnitz to Rumburk was not resumed after the reestablishment of the Czechoslovak state on May 8, 1945.

After the Second World War

After the end of the war, the destroyed bridges were initially repaired with wooden structures. By 1954, the Neustadt company Domsch rebuilt the bridges. The second track between Wilthen and Neukirch West as well as various station sidings were dismantled in 1946 as a reparation payment for the Soviet Union .

After a reorganization of the Reichsbahndirektionsbezirke, the section from Bautzen up to rail kilometer 27.1 belonged to the Reichsbahndirektion Cottbus from 1955 .

Passenger train near Krumhermsdorf (1992)

On July 23, 1957, a flood interrupted the Elbe Valley Railway near Pirna. Until the damage there was repaired, all international passenger trains and import freight trains were diverted via Sebnitz, Neustadt and Dürrröhrsdorf. These included the D 54/55 “ Vindobona ” express multiple unit (Berlin – Prague – Vienna), which had to be transported with a pre-tensioning locomotive to Neustadt due to its weak engine power .

From the summer timetable in 1966, continuous passenger trains between Bautzen and Bad Schandau were reintroduced. Some of the trains were now even tied to and from Hoyerswerda . The Hoyerswerda depot used modern light railcars for these circuits, which, however, did not prove themselves due to their insufficient engine power. From 1974 onwards, all trains were hauled by a locomotive again.

After 1968, VEB Schachtbau Nordhausen carried out extensive repair work on the tunnels in the evening and night. Any joints and voids in the tunnel lining were pressed out with concrete. For some of the passenger trains, rail replacement services had to be set up in sections.

Between 1971 and 1976 all local freight traffic for Goßdorf-Kohlmühle and Rathmannsdorf was carried out from Pirna via Neustadt and Sebnitz. This was due to the reduced capacity of the Elbe Valley Railway during the electrification work there. On February 18, 1976, such a train suffered a railway accident due to a widening of the track. Several freight wagons derailed in front of Tunnel II and fell down an embankment. The route was closed for 24 hours for the rescue work.

A highlight in the history of the railway was the 100th anniversary celebration on July 1st, 1977. The central festival location was the Sebnitz train station , where a vehicle exhibition was presented. For the festival guests, numerous special trains ran with the traditional locomotives of the Deutsche Reichsbahn .

The newly built Elbe bridge in Bad Schandau (2007)

In the 1970s, both the two large bridges in Sebnitz and the Elbe bridge in Bad Schandau reached the limit of their service life. From May 30, 1976, a speed limit of 10 km / h applied to the Elbe Bridge. The permissible meter load there was now limited to 4.8 tons. During the repair of the two city viaducts, the National People's Army (NVA) built military pioneer bridges on scaffold pillars in 1983 and 1984 so that rail operations could continue unhindered. The situation in Bad Schandau was less favorable. The closure of the Elbe bridge on December 1, 1985 led to the line being interrupted. A replacement rail service was set up between Rathmannsdorf and Bad Schandau . There were also timetable adjustments on the further route. From then on, the trains from Bautzen ended in Sebnitz, where they had to change to a push-pull train commuting between Sebnitz and Rathmannsdorf . The bridges were almost completely rebuilt in the following years. The two Sebnitz city viaducts received new superstructures made of precast concrete instead of the ailing vaults made of quarry stone masonry. The pillars were stabilized and encased with concrete. The Elbe bridge received a new tied arch superstructure over the river opening. The approach bridges with the distinctive turrets were preserved for reasons of monument protection. The construction period was originally intended to be three years. In fact, the construction work lasted until 1991. On December 6, 1990, the line was reopened for continuous train traffic.

The decline after the political change in the GDR

The social upheaval in eastern Germany in 1989/90 was also associated with considerable changes for the Bautzen – Bad Schandau railway line. Most of the companies in the catchment area stopped their production within a very short period of time, which led to a significant slump in passenger and freight traffic. The remaining companies, such as the agricultural machinery company in Neustadt or the Likolit Linoleumwerke in Kohlmühle, increasingly shifted their transports to the road. In the 1990/91 winter timetable there were six continuous pairs of passenger trains between Bautzen and Bad Schandau, which took around two hours for the 64 kilometers. Other trains served sections of the route, for example between Bautzen and Wilthen and Neustadt and Bad Schandau. Some commuter trains also served the Bautzen – Wilthen – Neukirch West – Bischofswerda route on weekdays. On December 31, 1994, freight traffic in the Bautzen - Wilthen section was stopped. As early as 1992, a single pair of local goods trains between Bautzen, Großpostwitz and Obercunewalde was sufficient to operate the industrial connections there. The last freight train ran in Sebnitz on December 23, 1994 with a class V60 locomotive .

At Neustadt the route was interrupted for the construction of a bypass road (2007)

A freight train of the ITL railway company in the Awanst quarry Ottendorf (2007)

On April 20, 2004, the Upper Elbe (VVO) and Upper Lusatia-Lower Silesia (ZVON) transport associations decided to stop travel between Bautzen and Neustadt. This was justified on the one hand with the low number of travelers (less than 500 per day) and with the reduced federal allocations. In addition, a population loss of 20 percent by 2020 was forecast for the rail traffic area. On December 12, 2004, travel between Bautzen and Neustadt was discontinued in favor of a new direct bus connection. This meant that the Bautzen – Wilthen and Neukirch West – Neustadt sections were without regular traffic. In 2006, as a result of the construction of state road 156, the line was interrupted at route kilometer 33.4. The DRE has sued the Free State of Saxony for the construction of a bridge and won in the first and second instance; the proceedings are pending at the Federal Administrative Court in 2020.

On May 11, 2007, the closure of the Bautzen – Wilthen section was approved by the Federal Railway Authority . It was legally enforced on June 16, 2007. According to the ZVON, the last 320 passengers per day were counted on the route section.

The Neukirch (Lausitz) West - Neustadt (Sachs) section has been leased to Deutsche Regionaleisenbahn GmbH (DRE) since 2007 . In this section is the connecting line of the Oberottendorf quarry, which is still served by block trains from Neukirch (Lausitz) Ost if required . The DRE is also trying to take over the Bautzen – Wilthen section, as the neighboring communities and above all Wilthen's mayor Michael Herfort are campaigning for this section to be put back into operation. In 2008, an excursion train ran between Bautzen and Wilthen for the last time.

Since October 19, 2009 the Neustadt (Sachs) - Bad Schandau route has been operated in the technically supported train control operation (TUZ) to Ril 436. The train conductor is in Neustadt (Sachs). GSM-R is used for communication between the train conductor and the driver. The only operating points with switches are the Sebnitz train station (Saxony) and the alternative connection point Rathmannsdorf. A blue signal above the H panel indicates to the driver whether the PZB magnet is effective or not. This technical support is intended to help prevent incorrect journeys through emergency braking. The fallback switches are equipped with monitoring signals.

On August 7, 2010, a flood event occurred in eastern Saxony that also affected the Sebnitz Valley Railway between Sebnitz and Bad Schandau. Undermining on the railroad track occurred mainly between Ulbersdorf and Goßdorf-Kohlmühle, so that travel between Sebnitz and Bad Schandau had to be handled by replacement rail traffic. After the damage was repaired, train traffic resumed on November 13, 2010.

Since the timetable change on December 12, 2010, passenger trains on the Bad Schandau – Sebnitz – Neustadt – Pirna line have been operated by Städtebahn Sachsen GmbH as a result of a new tender for the transport services.

On September 8, 2010 the Verkehrsverbund Oberelbe (VVO) decided on an austerity package as a reaction to the planned cut in allocations from the Free State of Saxony. This included the cancellation of local rail passenger transport between Neustadt in Saxony and Bad Schandau from April 2011. On January 20, 2011, however, the VVO announced that these measures would be suspended for the time being. The reason for this are savings of five million euros, which will result from 2011 onwards due to reduced station fees.

On the section between Bautzen and Wilthen, in connection with the construction of the bridge over Zeppelinstrasse in Bautzen, the track to Wilthen was cut and the distant signal, repeater and entry signal from Wilthen were taken out of service. For almost a dozen years, these only displayed one signal aspect. At the beginning of February 2019, these three signals, as well as a level crossing monitoring signal between Bautzen and the level crossing near Boblitz, were removed.

New perspectives

Growing route near Rodewitz (2017)

After years of discussion, the VVO decided in July 2012 to finance the reconstruction of the cross-border line to Dolní Poustevna that branches off in Sebnitz . Since July 5, 2014, passenger trains on the U28 Děčín – Bad Schandau – Sebnitz – Šluknov – Rumburk line have been running every two hours. Since then, trains on the RB71 line of the Mitteldeutsche Regiobahn have only run between Pirna and Sebnitz. The only exception was a weekday morning train that continued to run to and from Bad Schandau.

An additional traffic volume of 700 passengers daily between Sebnitz and Bad Schandau was forecast. In Sebnitz there was initially only a good connection between the trains from Neustadt to Bad Schandau. In the opposite direction, the connection on the formerly continuous connection was missed by one minute. With the timetable change on December 14, 2014, through the establishment of stops on demand, the elimination of the stop in Mittelndorf and the optimization of the connection situation in Bad Schandau, the travel time on the Bad Schandau - Sebnitz section was reduced to such an extent that there was a transition of three between the two trains Minutes. There are also plans to further stabilize the timetable through infrastructure measures in order to be able to guarantee safe connections even in the event of a delay.

A report on the reactivation of the Wilthen – Bautzen section, which was commissioned by the Upper Lusatia-Lower Silesia Transport Association and presented at the end of 2013, put the cost of rehabilitation at 2.3 million euros. A relocation of the regional railways from Zittau to Dresden via Wilthen and Bautzen was examined as an operating concept. Due to the longer journey time and the abandonment of the Neukirch (Lausitz) West, Putzkau and Schmölln stops, a total loss of passengers is expected in this variant.

The Deutsche Regionalisenbahn plans to put the section between Oberottendorf and Neustadt (Sachs) back into operation. To do this, a missing bridge would have to be reinstalled.

Route description

course

Simplified elevation profile of the route

From Bautzen, the route first leads up through the wide basin of the Spree to Wilthen . There it joins the route coming from Zittau and continues to Neukirch / Lausitz West, then climbs up the slopes of the Valtenberg to cross the watershed to the Polenz valley . Slightly falling, the line reaches Neustadt in Saxony . Shortly before the city, the route has been interrupted since a piece of embankment was removed for the construction of the expressway. Then the line circles the city in a wide arc on the east side in order to reach the Neustadt train station. There the railway branches off in the direction of Pirna . From now on, the route climbs again on the slopes of the Ungermassiv , crosses the ridge at Krumhermsdorf and reaches the breaking point shortly before the Krumhermsdorf train station. The route now descends steeply to Sebnitz. After a right-hand bend directly at the Czech border, the Dolní Poustevna track leads to the line that will take you to the Sebnitz train station. After the Sebnitz train station, the route leads over two high viaducts and reaches the Sebnitz valley , which it follows to Bad Schandau. The journey now leads over 27 bridges and through seven tunnels with a total length of 983 m. After Rathmannsdorf , the route crosses the Elbe on the Carolabrücke , an arched bridge , and reaches Bad Schandau.

Operating points

Bautzen

Bautzen train station

→ Main article : Bautzen train station

The Bautzen – Bad Schandau line begins at Bautzen station. There used to be a connection here to the trains on the Dresden – Görlitz and Bautzen – Hoyerswerda routes .

Singwitz

The Singwitz halt was set up shortly after the line opened on October 15, 1877. The only building was a wooden service building that also housed a service room with ticket issuance. Singwitz once had a high volume of business and excursion traffic. In 1888, a total of 72,900 tickets were sold in Singwitz. After the establishment of a connecting line for the combine harvester plant built in 1959 , Singwitz received the status of a train station from June 1972. The connecting line of the combine harvester was operated for the last time in June 1999. Over 80,000 combine harvesters were shipped here between 1960 and 1990.

Awanst explosives plant Gnaschwitz

The 3.56-kilometer connecting line to the Gnaschwitz explosives plant was put into operation on March 29, 1916 during the First World War. It branched off at km 5.96 and led down into the Spreetal. Joint users were the United Bautzner paper mills and other smaller industrial companies. In November 1992 the connecting line was abandoned with the expansion of the final switch.

Großpostwitz

Großpostwitz station (2006)

→ Main article : Großpostwitz train station

Großpostwitz station was a branch station of the now closed branch line to Löbau. It has existed since the track opened.

Rodewitz

The Rodewitz stop was opened on October 15, 1878. From 1925, the connecting track of the Rodewitz substation existed at kilometer 10.92. It was closed in 1996 with the expansion of the connecting switch.

Wilthen

→ Main article : Wilthen train station

Wilthen station is the connecting station to the Oberoderwitz – Wilthen railway line . Freight traffic was provided by the ITL railway company for the Wilthen distillery until June 16, 2009 .

Neukirch (Lausitz) East

→ Main article : Neukirch (Lausitz) Ost stop

Neukirch (Lausitz) Ost station has existed since the line opened. Initially, the station was named Ober-Neukirch or Oberneukirch (Laus), before the station, which is now a stop, was named Neukirch (Lausitz) Ost in the 1930s.

Neukirch (Lausitz) West

→ Main article : Neukirch (Lausitz) West train station

Neukirch (Lausitz) West station has existed since the line opened. The branch to Bischofswerda was put into operation in 1879. Originally, the station was called Nieder-Neukirch or Niederneukirch (Laus) before it was named Neukirch (Lausitz) Ost in the 1930s. In the 1990s, the facilities were reduced to the main and passing track. Neukirch (Lausitz) West is remote-controlled via the Bischofswerda electronic signal box .

Awanst quarry Oberottendorf

Awanst quarry Oberottendorf; on the right the track towards Neustadt (2007)

Today's alternative connection point (Awanst) quarry in Oberottendorf has existed since 2003. The planum of the former second track was used for its construction. Today (2013) it is the only regular freight tariff point on the Bautzen – Bad Schandau route. Block trains with split for concrete and asphalt works as well as ballast for track construction projects are shipped . Around 2010, around 50% of the plant's production was removed by rail.

Instead of Dr. Großer & Co. - Diabase factories

The predecessor company of today's Steinbruch Oberottendorf GmbH, the company Dr. Großer & Co. Diabaswerke owned a short siding from around 1942, which was served as required. Unused from the 1970s, the track was dismantled around 1980.

Oberottendorf

The former Oberottendorf station has existed since the line opened. In addition to several crossroads, it originally had extensive facilities for freight traffic. Due to the lack of traffic, the number of facilities was reduced early on. As early as September 1, 1933, the station was therefore downgraded to a stop. Later, the operating point was only a stop, which was last served by passenger trains on December 12, 2004. The large reception building still bears witness to the former importance.

Awanst Lausitzer roof tile works

The connecting line of the VEB Lausitzer Dachziegelwerke Langburkersdorf was on the open stretch at km 34.530. The service was carried out by transfer trains from Neustadt (Sachs) train station, which, due to the limited track length, could subsequently contain a maximum of ten cars. The connection was last used around the year 2000.

Neustadt (Sachs)

Neustadt station (2013)

→ Main article : Neustadt (Sachs) train station

Neustadt (Sachs) station is the connecting station to the Neustadt – Dürrröhrsdorf railway line . Until recently, Neustadt (Sachs) was the most important freight tariff point on the entire route. In particular, VEB Progress Agricultural Machinery (most recently: Case Harvesting Systems) ensured a brisk freight volume there. In November 1990, block trains with agricultural machinery were still being dispatched for customers in the Soviet Union. The last goods customers in Neustadt were a fuel dealer and a scrap dealer, whose service was discontinued in 2002 as a result of the MORA C rationalization program .

Since a station renovation in September 2006 there are only two platform tracks and a few side tracks. Since then, the remaining points and signals have been operated exclusively via the interlocking on the west side, which has received new interlocking technology with hi-light signals .

Krumhermsdorf

Today's Krumhermsdorf stop is the highest operating point on the whole route. In 1967 the side tracks that were no longer needed were abandoned and the former station was downgraded to a stop.

Sebnitz (Sachs)

Sebnitz station (2007)

→ Main article : Sebnitz (Sachs) train station

Sebnitz station is the connecting station to the line to Rumburk in the Czech Republic. The station building from 1877 is now owned by the city of Sebnitz, which operates restaurants and a tourist information center in it. Instead of the freight facilities that have not been used since 1994, a public transport interface with intercity bus services was created in 2006 .

In September 2008, the track systems were rebuilt in preparation for train control operations and the station was equipped with fallback switches. With the integration of the route from Rumburk, the track systems were adapted accordingly by 2014 and the platform systems were renewed. Since then, the station has had three tracks, with trains from and to Neustadt entering and leaving on track 1, trains from Bad Schandau to Děčín on track 2 and trains from Děčín to Bad Schandau on track 5.

Since February 3, 2017, Sebnitz is officially the third national park station in Germany.

Amtshainersdorf

The Amtshainersdorf stop was opened on April 1, 1908. He is a need stop today .

Ulbersdorf

Ulbersdorf station was used as a crossing station until the end of the 1990s. When the line was renovated in 2002, the unused facilities at the station were not dismantled. On July 27, 2009, points 1 and 5 were removed. The train station is now just a stopping point.

Connection Sputhmühle

On the open stretch shortly before the Mittelndorf stop, the siding to the Sputhmühle , a wood pulp factory, branched off until 1937 . Robert Sputh , the inventor of the beer mat , had the first beer mats made there, which were then shipped worldwide.

Mittelndorf

The Mittelndorf stop was set up on January 15, 1904. Since it is on a slope, it was only served downhill in the first few years of operation.

Most recently, the stop was only important for hiking tourism in the scenic Sebnitztal . Trains only stopped there when needed. Due to the low demand in winter, the stop was only served in the summer half of the year in its final years of operation. In 2015 the operation of the breakpoint was discontinued. The Mittelndorf stop can only be reached via hiking trails and forest roads, the eponymous place Mittelndorf is about two kilometers away.

Goßdorf-Kohlmühle

Goßdorf-Kohlmühle stop (2010)

→ Main article : Goßdorf-Kohlmühle station

The narrow-gauge Schwarzbachbahn to Hohnstein began in the former Goßdorf-Kohlmühle station from 1897 to 1951 . The connection to the Likolit linoleum plant was located directly at the train station and was operated until 1992. The connecting switch was removed as part of the route renovation in November 2002. In 1965 Goßdorf-Kohlmühle was downgraded to a stop. Today Goßdorf-Kohlmühle is just a stopping point.

Porschdorf (Kr Pirna)

The Porschdorf stop has existed since June 1, 1888. In addition to its function as an access point for the eponymous place, it is also of touristic importance as a starting point for some hiking trails. The massive, representative reception building has been privately owned since the 1990s. From 1903 the siding of a wood processing company existed at the breakpoint. It was closed again in the 1930s.

Rathmannsdorf (Kr Pirna)

Rathmannsdorf stop (2010)

Rathmannsdorf station was opened in 1877 as the Wendisch ferry station. From 1938 it was first called Rathmannsdorf (Sächs Schweiz), then from 1939 Rathmannsdorf (Kr Pirna). Because of the overloading of the Bad Schandau station, all local freight traffic there was relocated to Rathmannsdorf in 1954. In 1985 Rathmannsdorf received a WSSB GS II Sp64 b track diagram interlocking that is no longer in operation today. The side and loading tracks were renewed in 2003.

Rathmannsdorf is now classified as a breakpoint with an alternative connection point (Awanst).

Bad Schandau ⊙

→ Main article : Bad Schandau train station

In Bad Schandau station there is a connection to the Dresden S-Bahn line S1 (Meißen-Triebischtal-Schöna) but also to long-distance traffic on the Berlin-Prague route.

Vehicle use

91 896 (formerly Prussian T 9.3) in the Railway Museum Chemnitz-Hilbersdorf (2009)

Siemens Desiro of the Saxony urban railway in Bad Schandau station (2014)

The Royal Saxon State Railways procured four class VII locomotives for the Bautzen – Schandau line , which Hartmann in Chemnitz delivered in 1869 with the serial numbers 379 to 382 . They were named WITTEKIND, FRIEDRICH DER WISE, CHURFÜRST MORITZ and AUGUST DER STRONG . Later operations were carried out with class IIIb locomotives with a tender.

From the 1920s onwards, most trains were transported with the rather poorly performing locomotives of the DR class 91.0-2 (Prussian T 9). It was not until 1956 that the more powerful locomotives of the DR class 86 designed for such areas of application were used.

From 1938 to 1968 some of the passenger trains were also driven with a VT 135 multiple unit.

From 1966 onwards, some passenger trains were driven with the then new light combustion railcars of the DR class VT 2.09 . However, the vehicles proved unsuitable on the long inclines. The engine systems overheated, especially in summer. From 1968 the diesel locomotives of the DR series V 100 (from 1971: 110) were formative for locomotive use. Only in exceptional cases were the trains also carried by the DR series V 180 (from 1971: 118) and later DR series 119 .

Since 2001, only low-floor railcars of the Siemens Desiro type (DB class 642) have been used.

Surname

In general, the lower section in the Sebnitz valley is known as the Sebnitztalbahn .

At the moment, the name Sächsische Semmeringbahn is mainly used for this railway line . However, this name is used for two railway lines in Saxony. Historically correct, as it was previously documented and supported by a saying by the Saxon king, the name Sächsische Semmeringbahn is for the Windbergbahn - a railway line south of Dresden - on which special traffic now only takes place in sections.

The fact that the Deutsche Bahn officially named its regional train line 66 that way contributed to the spread of the term Sächsische Semmeringbahn also for the Sebnitztalbahn . Another theory assumes that the transfer of the name from the Windbergbahn to the Sebnitztalbahn was deliberately organized in the 1950s by the State Security of the GDR because of the uranium transport on the Windbergbahn.

Ulbersdorf train station is located away from the town in the narrow Sebnitz valley

The following quote compares the route data of the "real" Semmering Railway with that of the Sebnitztal Railway :

“The Semmering Railway of the ÖBB rises from Gloggnitz to Semmering by 455 m over a length of 28.5 km and then falls by 215 m to Mürzzuschlag at 13.6 km. the route leads over 16 viaducts with lengths of 25 to 288 meters and through 17 tunnels and two galleries with a total length of 46.6 km.

The Sebnitztalbahn from Bad Schandau to Neustadt i.Sa. rises from Goßdorf-Kohlmühle to Krumhermsdorf over a length of 16.5 km by 267 m and then falls by 72 m to Neustadt at 6.1 km. If you neglect the Elbe bridge at Bad Schandau, as it is not typical of the mountains, the train passes through 7 tunnels with a total length of 983 m when entering the mountains at Rathmannsdorf, it rolls over 2 large viaducts at Sebnitz and over another 28 larger and 41 smaller bridges. "

The route through the Sebnitztal and further up to the slope of the Unger has an average inclination ratio of 1:61 or 1:84 on the part up to Neustadt.

On April 13, 2006, the Windbergbahn e. V. legally protect the term Sächsische Semmeringbahn at the patent and trademark office . This means that the term Sächsische Semmeringbahn can no longer be used officially for the Sebnitztalbahn after the end of the six-month objection period in October 2006. For the “Semmering mobil” image campaign launched shortly before, the responsible Upper Elbe transport association had to rethink at short notice. In future, the route should therefore be made known nationwide as the “Saxon-Bohemian National Park Railway”. According to the decision of the district of Saxon Switzerland, the name "Saxon-Bohemian Semmering Railway" has been communicated since 2007. The new multilingual information boards at the train stations between Sebnitz and Bad Schandau and the bilingual brochure with hiking tours along the route have been revised accordingly.

See also

• List of the cultural monuments of the Sebnitztalbahn
• South Lusatian Railway

literature

• anonymous: To the royal. Saxon Ministries of the Interior and Finance in Dresden concerning the establishment of a railway connection from Schandau via Sebnitz and Schluckenau to Bautzen . Teubner, Dresden 1868 ( digital copy of the SLUB Dresden ).
• Between Sebnitz, Hinterhermsdorf and the Zschirnsteinen (= values ​​of the German homeland . Volume 2). 1st edition. Akademie Verlag, Berlin 1959.
• Deutsche Reichsbahn operating and traffic service center Neustadt (ed.): 100 years of the railway Dürrröhrsdorf - Neustadt - Sebnitz - Bad Schandau and Bautzen / Sohland - Wilthen - Neukirch - Neustadt. Neustadt 1977
• Hans von Polenz: Railways in the Bautzener Land ; Ostsächsische Eisenbahnfreunde eV, Löbau 2006; ISBN 3-00-018243-8 .
• Erich Preuß , Reiner Preuß : Saxon State Railways. transpress Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Berlin 1991, ISBN 3-344-70700-0 .
• Johannes Raddatz: Railway in Saxon Switzerland, Volume 4 Verlag Bernd Neddermeyer, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-941712-20-1 .
• Günter Wessner: 101 years of the Bad Schandau - Sebnitz - Neustadt route. In: The model railroader . Issue 7, 1978, ISSN  0026-7422 , pp. 194-196.

Web links

Commons : Bautzen – Bad Schandau railway line  - album with images, videos and audio files

• Route and operating points on the OpenRailwayMap
• sachsenschiene.net
• Axel Förster's website with lots of technical details and pictures
• Website about the railway in Upper Lusatia with route description and photos
• Timetable 2018 (Rumburk–) Sebnitz – Bad Schandau (- Děčín)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Route data on www.sachsenschiene.de
2. ↑ DB Netz AG: Stredax ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) 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. , accessed August 20, 2013 
3. ↑ DB Netze - Infrastructure Register ( Memento from February 11, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
4. ↑ Reichsgesetzblatt for the kingdoms and states represented in the Reichsrathe from August 5, 1871
5. ^ Hans von Polenz: Railways in the Bautzener Land; Ostsächsische Eisenbahnfreunde eV, Löbau 2006; ISBN 3-00-018243-8 ; P. 31
6. ^ German course book summer 1939 German course book summer 1939 - course book route 132c
7. ^ German course book summer 1939 - course book route 135b
8. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Johannes Raddatz: Railway in Saxon Switzerland, Volume 4 Verlag Bernd Neddermeyer, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-941712-20-1 ; P. 43
9. ^ Johannes Raddatz: Railway in Saxon Switzerland, Volume 4 Verlag Bernd Neddermeyer, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-941712-20-1 ; P. 43f
10. ^ Johannes Raddatz: Railway in Saxon Switzerland, Volume 4 Verlag Bernd Neddermeyer, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-941712-20-1 ; P. 44
11. ^ Johannes Raddatz: Railway in Saxon Switzerland, Volume 4 Verlag Bernd Neddermeyer, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-941712-20-1 ; P. 44ff
12. ^ Course book of the Deutsche Reichsbahn - valid from September 30, 1990 to June 1, 1991
13. ^ Hans von Polenz: Railways in the Bautzener Land; Ostsächsische Eisenbahnfreunde eV, Löbau 2006; ISBN 3-00-018243-8 ; P. 17560f
14. ↑ Martin Krautwurst: The Saxon Switzerland Ring - Railway history in Saxon Switzerland; Film, ca.1996
15. ^ Johannes Raddatz: Railway in Saxon Switzerland . Volume 4, Verlag Bernd Neddermeyer, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-941712-20-1 , p. 21.
16. ↑ Reactivations planned in Eastern Saxony . In: railway magazine . No. 2 , 2020, ISSN  0342-1902 , p. 28 .
17. ↑ List of federally-owned lines in the state of Saxony that have been closed since 1994 ( Memento from January 28, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
18. ↑ ^{a b} Katja Schäfer: No train in sight . In: Saxon newspaper . November 16, 2013, ZDB -ID 2448502-0 , p. 7 ( online ).
19. ↑ Upper Lusatian municipalities want to revive the railway line. Passenger trains should run again between Bautzen and Wilthen. (No longer available online.) March 4, 2014, archived from the original on October 27, 2011 ; Retrieved June 26, 2014 . 
20. ↑ "Wilthen is fighting for the railway line to Bautzen" ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
21. ↑ Uwe Menschner: Railroad dying cannot be reversed . In: Lausitzer Rundschau , regional edition Hoyerswerda . December 4, 2013, p. 16 ( online ).
22. ↑ http://www.sebnitztalbahn.de/nachrichten.html
23. ↑ Verkehrsverbund Oberelbe adopts savings package. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on September 10, 2010 ; Retrieved on April 16, 2013 (mdr news item on the VVO savings package of September 8, 2010). 
24. ^ Sächsische Zeitung, Sebnitz edition of January 20, 2011
25. ↑ Timetable - valid from July 5, 2014
26. ↑ Green light for closing the gap between Sebnitz and Dolní Poustevna. (No longer available online.) Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk, February 14, 2011, archived from the original on October 21, 2013 ; Retrieved July 30, 2012 . 
27. ^ Deutsche Bahn, Verkehrsverbund Oberelbe (Ed.): Faster from Bad Schandau to Neustadt . Press release from November 12, 2014.
28. ↑ Is the railway celebrating resurrection? , Alles-Lausitz.de, Lokalnachrichten Verlagsgesellschaft mbH from January 31, 2020, accessed on April 8, 2020
29. ^ Hans von Polenz: Railways in the Bautzener Land; Ostsächsische Eisenbahnfreunde eV, Löbau 2006; ISBN 3-00-018243-8 ; P. 60f
30. ^ Hans von Polenz: Railways in the Bautzener Land; Ostsächsische Eisenbahnfreunde eV, Löbau 2006; ISBN 3-00-018243-8 ; P. 17560f
31. ^ Hans von Polenz: Railways in the Bautzener Land; Ostsächsische Eisenbahnfreunde eV, Löbau 2006; ISBN 3-00-018243-8 ; P. 62
32. ^ Johannes Raddatz: Railway in Saxon Switzerland, Volume 4 Verlag Bernd Neddermeyer, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-941712-20-1 ; P. 222
33. ^ Johannes Raddatz: Railway in Saxon Switzerland, Volume 4 Verlag Bernd Neddermeyer, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-941712-20-1 ; P. 221
34. ^ Johannes Raddatz: Railway in Saxon Switzerland, Volume 4 Verlag Bernd Neddermeyer, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-941712-20-1 ; P. 220
35. ^ Johannes Raddatz: Railway in Saxon Switzerland, Volume 4 Verlag Bernd Neddermeyer, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-941712-20-1 ; P. 42
36. ^ Johannes Raddatz: Railway in Saxon Switzerland, Volume 4 Verlag Bernd Neddermeyer, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-941712-20-1 ; P. 207
37. ^ Johannes Raddatz: Railway in Saxon Switzerland, Volume 4 Verlag Bernd Neddermeyer, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-941712-20-1 ; P. 135
38. ↑ Sebnitz opens third national park train station in Germany
39. ↑ ^{a b} see literature in the article Sputhmühle
40. ↑ Mittelndorf stop on sebnitztalbahn.de, accessed on April 21, 2019.
41. ^ Johannes Raddatz: Railway in Saxon Switzerland, Volume 4 Verlag Bernd Neddermeyer, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-941712-20-1 ; P. 38
42. ^ Johannes Raddatz: Railway in Saxon Switzerland, Volume 4 Verlag Bernd Neddermeyer, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-941712-20-1 ; P. 54
43. ^ Hans von Polenz: Railways in the Bautzener Land; Ostsächsische Eisenbahnfreunde eV, Löbau 2006; ISBN 3-00-018243-8 ; P. 32
44. ^ The model railroader, transpress Verlag, 1984
45. ^ Sächsische Zeitung, Dresden, November 9, 2006