Großenhain–Cottbus railway

The Großenhain–Cottbus railway is an electrified main railway in the German states of Saxony and Brandenburg. It is double track between Cottbus and Ruhland and elsewhere single-track. It runs from Großenhain via Ruhland and Senftenberg to Cottbus.

Großenhain–Cottbus
The line south of Senftenberg
Overview
LocaleSaxony and Brandenburg, Germany
Line number6253
Technical
Line length79.7 km (49.5 mi)
Number of tracks2 (Ruhland–Cottbus)
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification15 kV/16.7 Hz AC
Overhead catenary
Route number208
Route map
from Frankfurt (Oder)
from Forst
from Görlitz
79.7
 Cottbus
75 m
to Berlin and Halle (Saale)
76.9
 Cottbus Südwest
73.9
 Hänchen
A 15
71.4
 Leuthen (b Cottbus)
66.3
 Drebkau
90 m
59.3
 Neupetershain
to Welzow
55.0
 Bahnsdorf
54.7
 Sornoer Buden Nord junction
to Knappenrode
from Knappenrode
53.0
 Sornoer Buden West junction
to Lübbenau
from Lübbenau
49.9
 Sedlitz Ost
from Lübbenau (old route)
45.3
 Senftenberg
to Finsterwalde
to Kamenz (old route)
42.5
 Brieske
to Kamenz
36.3
 Victoria III mine
35.4
 Schwarzheide Ost
from Lauchhammer Ost
now BASF siding
Black Elster
from Węgliniec
32.9
 Ruhland
99 m
to Roßlau
21.2
 Ortrand
115 m
Saxony–Brandenburg border
A 13
11.5
 Lampertswalde
150 m
from Großenhain Berliner Bahnhof
0.0
 Großenhain Cottbuser Bahnhof
to Priestewitz
Source: German railway atlas[1]

History

The Großenhain–Cottbus line was built by the Cottbus-Großenhain Railway Company (German: Cottbus-Großenhainer Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft).

The Großenhain–Cottbus line was opened on 20 April 1870. With the subsequent opening of the Berlin–Dresden railway, Großenhain had two railway stations. The existing station on the line to Cottbus was renamed Großenhain Cottbuser Bahnhof and the new station was named Großenhain Berliner Bahnhof.

The end of the runway of the Großenhain military airfield used to be shortly east of Großenhain station towards Lampertswalde. Therefore, in the period between the electrification of the line in 1992 and the withdrawal of the Soviet/Russian armed forces in the autumn of 1993, a 660 metre long section was not electrified (route km 3.76 to 4.42). Electric locomotives coasted on this section of track with pantographs lowered. In addition, at the beginning of this section of the line from either direction progress was controlled from a signal, operated not by the railway dispatcher, but from the airfield. Thus, trains could be brought to a stop for the takeoff or landing of an aircraft without an earlier warning of a stop, leading to trains stopping in the catenary-free section and requiring them to be towed by a diesel locomotive based in the station.[2]

Today the line is the main line between Dresden and Cottbus. The line is served by Regional-Express services on the Dresden–Cottbus, Dresden–Hoyerswerda and Cottbus–Falkenberg/Elster routes.

Notes
  1. Eisenbahnatlas Deutschland (German railway atlas). Schweers + Wall. 2009. pp. 48–9, 59–60. ISBN 978-3-89494-139-0.
  2. Bernd Kuhlmann (1997). "Flugzeug kontra Zug? Über ein Kuriosum der Sicherungstechnik der Eisenbahn". Verkehrsgeschichtliche Blätter (in German) (1): 18.
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