Saxon triangle
The term Saxon Triangle referred to the most important railway lines in the GDR in what is now the Free State of Saxony , which connected the four regional centers of Karl-Marx-Stadt , Dresden , Leipzig and Zwickau . The triangle was formed from the connections of the Leipzig – Dresden railway with the Dresden-Zwickau railway (part of the early Dresden – Werdau railway ) and the Leipzig – Zwickau railway, which partly followed the route of the original Saxon-Bavarian Railway Company (see Leipzig – Hof railway) and Dresden – Werdau railway line) .
The triangle was particularly important for freight traffic : south of Leipzig there was a large lignite mining area and the industrial area between Zwickau and Karl-Marx-Stadt was the most important in Saxony. That is why the planning for electrification started at an early stage in the GDR . As a result, Leipzig was first connected to the electrified railway network of the chemical triangle between Bitterfeld and Halle (Saale) in 1958 after a twelve-year interruption due to the war . Until 1963 , the section of Leipzig on was Werdau Zwickau and Reichenbach in Vogtland completed. The mountain route from Karl-Marx-Stadt to Dresden was given particular priority, as the uphill sections from Flöha to Oederan and from Tharandt to Klingenberg-Colmnitz were problematic. Because of these short mountain routes, the Deutsche Reichsbahn had to use sliding locomotives in steam operation in the GDR . That is why electrical operation was started here in 1964 and 1966. Finally, in 1970, with the electrification of the northern section from Dresden to Leipzig, the Saxon Triangle was closed.