Weimar – Gera railway line

map

Weimar – Gera main station
Route near Neulobeda , view of the Saale valley bridge
Route number (DB) :	6307
Course book section (DB) :	565
Route length:	67.968 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Route class :	D4
Top speed:	160 km / h
Dual track :	Weimar – paper mill Hermsdorf-Klosterlausnitz – Üst Töppeln
Legend by Bebra from Kranichfeld 0.000 Weimar to Halle (Saale) Hbf Viaduct over the Ilm 4.113 Oberweimar 7,598 Mellingen (Thür) 14.320 Großschwabhausen 18.100 Bk Schlettwein 22,588 Jena West Saalbahn of large herring 27,498 Jena-Göschwitz formerly Göschwitz (Saale) to Saalfeld Saale bridge Jena-Lobeda (121 m) 30.960 New tavern 37.240 Stadtroda 42.917 Paper mill (b Stadtroda) Zeitzbach 48.356 Hermsdorf-Klosterlausnitz 51.000 Oberndorf block 55.640 Power village 61.147 Pottery Erlbach 62.000 Do pottery 64.300 Gera- Thieschitz White magpie from Leipzig-Leutzsch 66.200 Gera- Tinz 67.968 Gera Hbf according to Probstzella

The Weimar – Gera (also Holzlandbahn ) line is a partially double-track main line in Thuringia that was originally built and operated by the Weimar-Gera Railway Company . It runs in eastern Thuringia from Weimar via Jena , Stadtroda and Hermsdorf to Gera . The route is part of the so-called Central Germany connection from the Ruhr area to West Saxony.

history

The first considerations for a rail connection between Weimar and Gera were made in the 1800s, at that time as part of a line from Leipzig to Kassel. Serious plans were only made in the 1850s when a connection to the Leipzig – Hof railway line was to be created. In 1855 in particular, railway committees were founded in numerous cities in the area, which campaigned for a route through their city. There were proposals for a connection to Eisenberg, Pößneck and Gößnitz. Since the Thuringian Railway Company opened its Weißenfels – Zeitz – Gera line in 1859, the numerous line projects were initially not pursued any further, as the area now already had a rail connection. In the middle of the 1860s, the next projects were planned, a connection to Gößnitz was no longer included, this route was rejected as not lucrative enough. Again, no permit was obtained, instead the Gera – Eichicht connection was built, which opened up the more industrialized region around Neustadt an der Orla . A connection between Weimar and Gera was no longer consistently rejected. The preparatory work for the Weimar – Gera line began in 1870, and the affected states Reuss younger line , Saxony-Altenburg and Saxony-Weimar-Eisenach had meanwhile been able to agree on the financing. Sachsen-Meiningen , which also took part in the construction project with a length of a few hundred meters on its national territory, was represented by Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach.

Seal of the Weimar-Gera Railway Company

The preliminary work began in the summer of 1872, but the actual construction work did not begin until 1873, as numerous details had not yet been approved. Operations on the line began on July 29, 1876.

On October 1, 1895, the Weimar-Geraer Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft became part of the Prussian State Railways .

Entrance building of the Jena-Göschwitz train station in 2010

Development of the two-pronged approach

Before the Second World War , the line was double-tracked as an important east-west connection. The second track was dismantled as part of the reparations to the Soviet Union and later rebuilt in parts. Up to the time of German reunification , only the sections Jena West – Neue Schenke, Stadtroda – Papiermühle and Kraftsdorf – Töppeln (together around 22 km of the route) were expanded to double-track as meeting sections. With the advent of regular traffic in the 1990s, more opportunities to meet without time-consuming intersection stops were sought. At the end of the 1990s, the Großschwabhausen – Jena West and Hermsdorf-Klosterlausnitz – Kraftsdorf sections were expanded to two tracks, and Weimar – Großschwabhausen and Neue Schenke – Stadtroda followed in 2015/16. As a result, the route from Weimar to Papiermühle is now double-tracked for around 43 km, and between Weimar and Jena, regular traffic every 15 or 20 minutes would be possible without any problems. There are still single-track sections between Papiermühle and Hermsdorf-Klosterlausnitz (approx. 6 km) and between Töppeln and Gera (approx. 5 km).

Development of speeds

On the Deutsche Reichsbahn , the line was driven at a maximum of 100 km / h, in many sections also at lower speeds. In the 1990s, the first installation for tilting technology vehicles was carried out, which could reach 140–160 km / h in sections, but the speed for conventional trains remained at a maximum of 100 km / h. When the timetable changed in December 2016, the permissible speeds, both conventional and with tilting technology, were increased, thus reducing travel time by a few minutes.

Further construction and renovation measures

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 completion was scheduled for December 2016. In addition, bridges and the signaling and safety technology were replaced during the shutdown.

Future electrification

Railway bridge over the White Elster in Gera (2017)

The Thuringian state government and the neighboring cities are striving to electrify the railway line, but so far there have been no reliable plans. Funding from the European Union would be possible for the financing. For the Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan 2030 , the state has registered the double-track expansion and electrification of the entire route from Weimar to Gera. The European Union is increasingly promoting metropolitan regions more than individual cities. In September 2017, the Federal Minister of Transport received a written promise that the electrification project from Weimar via Gera to Gößnitz would be upgraded to an urgent need. The electrification is now being planned. Completion should not take place before 2028.

Current traffic significance

The railway line is of considerable importance in passenger traffic within the Thuringian chain of cities and connects the East Thuringian regional centers of Gera, Jena and the Holzland region to the long-distance transport hub Erfurt. The importance of this can be seen in the correspondingly dense supply of trains and, in the Weimar to Jena section, also away from the traffic peaks, some of the trains are well-filled. The lack of electrification ensures that only diesel railcars can be used. Deutsche Bahn uses class 612 diesel multiple units for this .

Freight traffic hardly takes place today.

course

Route at Göschwitz station (2017)

The line begins at Weimar train station in the north of the city, which it leaves to the east. It branches off the Halle – Bebra railway line to the south via a level-free extension and leads in an arc to the south-east, initially crossing the Ilm valley with a large viaduct and then on the eastern slope of the Ilm valley to Mellingen . Then it leads through the Lehnstedter Grund to Großschwabhausen , where the route reaches its apex at about 325 meters on the Ilm-Saale-Platte . From Großschwabhausen it leads through the Schwabhäuser Grund and the Jenaer Mühltal down to Jena, where it leads on the western slope of the Saale valley past the center to the Jena West train station . To the south it crosses the Saalbahn , which it meets in the Jena-Göschwitz station , albeit in a separate section of the station.

Behind Göschwitz the railway line crosses the Saale and leads through the Roda valley to Stadtroda and then through the Zeitzgrund to Hermsdorf im Holzland. To the east of Hermsdorf, the route runs in the Erlbach Valley via Kraftsdorf and Töppeln to Gera, where it ends at the former Prussian train station, today's main train station .

Transport offer

line	course	Tact
IC 51	( Cologne  -) Düsseldorf  - Düsseldorf Airport  - Duisburg  - Essen  - Bochum  - Dortmund  - Hamm  - Paderborn  - Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe  - Eisenach  - Gotha  - Erfurt  - Weimar  - Jena  - Gera	Three pairs of trains; replaces the RE3 between Erfurt and Gera and can therefore be used with all tickets valid in the VMT and within the scope of free travel (see also: List of IC lines )
RE 1	Göttingen - Leinefelde - Gotha - Erfurt - Weimar - Jena - Gera - Gößnitz - Glauchau	Every two hours alternating with RE3
RE 3	Erfurt - Weimar - Jena - Gera - Altenburg / Greiz	Every two hours, alternating with RE1 in rush hour traffic, additional trains Erfurt - Weimar - Jena-Göschwitz
EB 21	Erfurt - Weimar - Jena - Göschwitz - Gera	Every two hours between Erfurt and Gera Mon-Fri hourly between Weimar and Jena-Göschwitz, during rush hour to Gera

Transfer relationships

Connection to long-distance traffic

• Individual IC trains between Leipzig and Rhine / Ruhr or Rhine / Main stop in Weimar .
• In Jena-Göschwitz there is a connection to the IC line 61 (Karlsruhe – Leipzig), which runs here once a day .
• From the Jena Paradies stop , which is not far from the Jena West train station , a train runs once a day from / to Altona via Berlin .

Connection to local transport on other routes

• In Weimar there is a transition to the RE trains Erfurt – Halle, the RB trains to Eisenach and Leipzig as well as to Bad Berka and Kranichfeld .
• The RE Halle – Göschwitz, RE Saalfeld - Jena Saalbahnhof , RE Leipzig – Nuremberg and the RB lines Halle – Jena – Saalfeld and Jena – Pößneck stop every two hours at Jena-Göschwitz station .
• The Gera main station is a transfer hub in regional traffic, it can be changed hourly between different RB and RE trains in the direction of Leipzig, Altenburg , Gößnitz , Greiz - Plauen , Hof and Saalfeld (Saale).

literature

• Werner Drescher: The Weimar-Geraer Bahn - From the private railway to part of the Central-Germany connection . EK-Verlag, Freiburg / Brsg. 2001. ISBN 3-88255-451-7
• Günter Fromm : Railways in Thuringia - data and facts . Publishing house Rockstuhl, Bad Langensalza. ISBN 3-929000-24-5
• Günter Fromm: Thuringian Railway Encyclopedia 1846–1992 - The Royal Railway Directorate and the Reich Railway Directorate Erfurt 1882–1992 & Railways in Thuringia, data and facts 1846–1992 . Publishing house Rockstuhl, Bad Langensalza. ISBN 3-929000-33-4

Web links

Commons : Weimar – Gera railway line  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Werner Drescher: The Weimar-Geraer Bahn - From the private railway to part of the Central-Germany connection , p. 6 f.
2. ↑ Werner Drescher: The Weimar-Geraer Bahn - From the private railway to part of the Central-Germany connection , p. 8 ff.
3. ↑ Werner Drescher: The Weimar-Geraer Bahn - From the private railway to part of the Central-Germany connection , p. 10 f.
4. ↑ ^{a b} From the history of the Weimar - Gera railway line and the Hermsdorf-Klosterlausnitz station. www.hermsdorf-regional.de , accessed on September 17, 2012
5. ↑ Construction project Weimar - Gera | BauInfoPortal of Deutsche Bahn. (No longer available online.) Deutsche Bahn AG, archived from the original on January 1, 2016 ; accessed on January 2, 2016 . 
6. ↑ Leaflet construction section Weimar - Jena-Göschwitz. (No longer available online.) DB ProjektBau GmbH, March 20, 2015, archived from the original on January 1, 2016 ; accessed on January 2, 2016 . 
7. ↑ Weimar – Göschwitz two-pronged again . In: railway magazine . No. 11 , 2016, ISSN  0342-1902 , p. 29 .
8. ^ Bahn wants to electrify the route between Weimar and Gößnitz. Thuringian General, July 6, 2012
9. ^ Thuringia: Five railway projects registered for the 2015 Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan. In: eurailpress.de. DVV Media Group, March 28, 2013, accessed on November 15, 2018 . 
10. ↑ # ZukunftThüringen - also by rail ( Memento from September 18, 2017 in the Internet Archive )
11. ↑ Marian Riedel: Electrification of the Central-Germany connection is coming - not before 2028. MDR Thuringia, May 7, 2018, accessed on November 15, 2018 . 
12. ↑ https://www.oepnv-info.de/freifahrt/uebersichten/freiggenze-fernverkehrzuege-mit-dem-schwerbehindertenausweis/intercity-zuege-auf-der-strecke-erfurt-gera