Central Germany connection

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The Central-Germany-Connection is a railway connection between Thuringia and Saxony . The core of this connection leads from Chemnitz or Glauchau in the east via Gera and Jena to Weimar in the west. Here are Dresden-Werdau railway (via Chemnitz-Glauchau), the railway Glauchau-Gößnitz , the railway Gößnitz-Gera and Weimar-Gera railway traveled. It is part of a possible direct train connection from the Ruhr area or Frankfurt am Main via Eisenach , Erfurt , Weimar, Jena West, Jena-Göschwitz, Gera, Gößnitz , Werdau , Zwickau , Chemnitz to Dresden and thus provides an alternative route to the one currently used for the Long-distance traffic used the route from Erfurt via Leipzig (instead of further south via Chemnitz) to Dresden.

Central-Germany connection near Ronneburg (2007 still single-track)

history

Before the division of Germany, the Central-Germany connection represented an important connection between the Saxon industrial areas and western Germany . It was also important for the connection of Bohemia to western Germany via the Elstertal Railway .

In the GDR , the connection was important to relieve the lines leading through Halle and Leipzig . Immediately after German reunification , euphoric plans were made to upgrade this line, as it was now classified as an important link between West Saxony ( Chemnitz ) and West Germany. The connection was not included in the law for the German unity transport projects, but it was classified as an "urgent need" in the Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan of 1993. In the following years priority was given to the line via Leipzig. Nevertheless, a modern long-distance connection quickly established itself with the interregional line 41. A connection between Chemnitz and Aachen without changing trains was offered every four hours . Because of the lack of electrification between Gößnitz and Weimar, changing locomotives in Weimar has been mandatory since 1995. Until May 1995 the diesel locomotives drove through Erfurt to Bebra , as the electrification of the Neudietendorf –Bebra line had not yet been completed. The series 219 and 232 took over diesel operation .

The initial euphoria after the fall of the Wall quickly gave way to disillusionment; the financial means for an expansion were not available. For Gera, the second largest city in Thuringia at the time, the expansion was a matter of prestige, as it was the largest German city without a double-track rail connection. Political disputes followed, with the cost-benefit ratio of the new Ebensfeld – Erfurt line being questioned.

Despite an agreement between Deutsche Bahn AG and the Free State of Thuringia dated May 15, 1997, which provided for the expansion of the line to be partly double-tracked and with tilting technology, the decision was made to discontinue long-distance traffic that year. The reason was a plan by Deutsche Bahn AG to give up interregional traffic nationwide. As early as 1999, two years before long-distance traffic was discontinued in 2001, scheduled freight traffic between Gera and Weimar was discontinued on the Central-Germany connection .

Expansion 2002–2016

New tracks near Großschwabhausen

The first construction stage envisaged the expansion to 140 km / h (with tilting technology) and electronic interlocking technology . The work was completed step by step: 2002 Weimar – Jena – Göschwitz, 2006/07 Göschwitz – Gera – Ronneburg, 2007/08 Ronneburg – Glauchau. According to the federal government, the completion of the first construction phase was planned for 2012 (as of November 2008).

The second construction stage includes the double-track expansion to 160 km / h (with tilting technology) and electrification. Classified as “further needs”, it was not included in the five-year plan (2006 to 2010). The single-track sections between Weimar and Großschwabhausen and between Neue Schenke and Stadtroda were expanded to double-track by the beginning of 2016. In January 2013, the federal government and the railways signed the associated financing agreement. In addition to the further double-track line expansion to 17 kilometers, an increase in speed to 160 km / h was planned. The Oberweimar train station received a second platform, the platforms in the Jena West and Jena-Göschwitz stations were renewed and made barrier-free by means of elevators . Construction work began in February 2014 and was completed in autumn 2016.

Further expansion

The electrification of the railway line is also planned. However, the funding for this has not yet been secured, funding from the European Union is sought. The expansion plans and further perspectives are repeatedly and vigorously discussed politically.

In the course of the vote in the Federal Council on the car toll in Germany , Thuringia received an urgent pledge for electrification from the Federal Ministry of Transport in return for its abstention. On the morning of the vote in the Federal Council, on March 31, 2017, prior to the vote, Thuringia's Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow promised Federal Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt approval on the condition that the Central-Germany connection between Weimar and Gößnitz would be expanded more quickly. Thuringia then abstained from voting on sending the law to the mediation committee.

In June 2017, the Federal Ministry of Transport gave its approval for the electrification of the route, which has now been classified as an urgent need. The concrete planning for electrification can now begin.

Train operation

RE Göttingen – Zwickau in the Gößnitz train station

Regional traffic

The 612 series has been used as a regional express every two hours on the former long-distance route since 2000 . All trains that travel the entire route run as triple units from Göttingen via Gotha (change of direction), Erfurt and Gera to Glauchau. Before the 2011/12 timetable change, the trains continued to Chemnitz and since then only to Glauchau . The third railcar will be on and off in Gera Hbf and partly also in Gotha. Since the beginning of the 2013 annual timetable, some of the trains have been running from and to Greiz. The trains between Glauchau and Weimar take a scheduled journey time of around two hours.

In the regional train service, the multiple units of the Erfurt Railway are used. In addition, regional trains are used between Erfurt, Weimar, Jena and Gera, so that there is a 30- to 40-minute cycle to Gera.

Long-distance transport

In long-distance traffic, the Central-Germany connection also means the connection from Cologne / Düsseldorf via Dortmund , Kassel , Erfurt and Weimar to Leipzig / Dresden . This is in 2018 from the IC line 50 operated: The pairs of trains IC 1952 / 1959 , IC 2152 / 2155 and IC 2156 / 2157 run from Cologne / Dusseldorf to Leipzig or vice versa. In addition, Berlin with the IC 1950 and Leipzig with the IC 1956 / 1957 on the mid-Germany connection to Frankfurt (Main) ( IC 1956 from Leipzig until after Karlsruhe connected).

Since December 2018, the pairs of trains run IC 2156 / 2157 and IC 2152 / 2155 from Cologne / Dusseldorf to Gera and back. For this purpose, electric locomotives are switched to diesel locomotives in Gotha and vice versa. The train pair IC 1952 / 1959 runs on Fridays and Sundays between Cologne / Dortmund and Leipzig. In addition, IC 2150 runs daily except Saturdays from Gera to Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe. East of Erfurt these trains are tariff local transport. Therefore, they can also be used with the free ride .

Use of the Intercity 2

From 2016, three pairs of trains were to run daily with double-decker Intercity trains from Gera via Kassel to Cologne and Düsseldorf. The state of Thuringia wanted to contribute around 1.75 million euros to the costs in order to enable the use of local transport tickets between Erfurt and Gera. The start of operations was delayed due to delays in approval and the procurement of suitable diesel locomotives that are to pull the Intercity from Erfurt to Gera. A test drive to Gera took place in November 2017. The start of operations was postponed to the timetable change in December 2018. Initially, however, mainly "modernized intercity cars" are used. An IC train pair already runs as a double-deck IC train between Cologne and Leipzig on Fridays .

From December 2032 at the latest, there should be direct IC connections Düsseldorf – Paderborn – Gera – Chemnitz, subject to the electrification of the Weimar – Gera – Gößnitz line.

literature

  • Thomas Frister: Goodbye "Central Germany Connection". The decline of a transport policy project . In: Railway courier . No. 343 / Volume 35/2001. EK-Verlag, pp. 36-39, ISSN  0170-5288 .
  • Werner Drescher: The Weimar-Geraer Bahn. From the private railway to part of the Central Germany connection (= EK series Regional Transport History, Volume 34). EK-Verlag, Freiburg 2001, ISBN 3-88255-451-7 , 144 pp.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Answer of the Federal Government to the minor question from MPs Jan Mücke, Horst Friedrich (Bayreuth), Patrick Döring, other MPs and the FDP parliamentary group: "Development of East and Central German Railways". (PDF; 139 kB) In: Printed matter 16/10763 of the German Bundestag. Retrieved October 12, 2012 .
  2. ↑ Weimar - Gera. (No longer available online.) In: BauInfoPortal der Deutsche Bahn. Archived from the original on January 1, 2016 ; accessed on January 4, 2015 .
  3. ↑ The rail connection from Weimar to Stadtroda will be double-tracked. Thuringian General, July 5, 2012
  4. ↑ Around 70 million euros for the expansion of the Central-Germany connection between Weimar and Gera. (No longer available online.) Deutsche Bahn AG, January 8, 2013, archived from the original on January 17, 2013 ; Retrieved January 11, 2013 .
  5. ↑ Starting shot for the start of the construction work to increase the efficiency between Weimar and Gera: start of construction on the Central-Germany connection. (No longer available online.) Deutsche Bahn AG, February 6, 2014, archived from the original on March 1, 2014 ; accessed on February 21, 2014 .
  6. ^ Bahn wants to electrify the route between Weimar and Gößnitz. Thuringian General, July 6, 2012
  7. ↑ Electrification of the Middle-Germany-Rail comes thanks to Thuringian toll abstention Ostthüringer Zeitung, April 1, 2017.
  8. ↑ Sven Böll, Horand Knaup, Wolf Wiedmann-Schmidt: Left number . In: Der Spiegel . No. 15 , 2017, p. 34 f . ( online ).
  9. ↑ Central-Germany connection is electrified . ( Memento from June 4, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk , June 3, 2017; accessed on June 13, 2017.
  10. ↑ Ralf Julke: Saxony's savagery has consequences: Thuringian state government protests against the cutting of the rail link. (No longer available online.) In: Leipziger Interneteitung. March 17, 2011, archived from the original on March 20, 2011 ; Retrieved January 3, 2012 .
  11. ↑ https://www.oepnv-info.de/freifahrt/uebersichten/freiggenze-fernverkehrzuege-mit-dem-schwerbehindertenausweis/intercity-zuege-auf-der-strecke-erfurt-gera
  12. ^ Tino Zippel: No ICE planned for Saalfeld . In: Ostthüringer Zeitung . August 28, 2013, p. 1 (similar version online ).
  13. ↑ Tino Zippel: Much should get better: This is how the Intercity should come to East Thuringia . In: Ostthüringer Zeitung . November 30, 2017 (similar version online ).
  14. ↑ No double-decker Intercity to Gera . In: OTZ . ( otz.de [accessed on September 8, 2018]).
  15. ↑ More rail for metropolises and regions - the largest customer offensive in the history of DB long-distance transport . ( Memento from April 4, 2015 in the Internet Archive )