Neukieritzsch–Chemnitz railway

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Neukieritzsch–Chemnitz Hbf
Route number:527, 525
Line number:6385
Line length:61.32
Track gauge:1435
Voltage:Neukieritzsch–Geithain:
15 kV 16.7 Hz AC
Maximum incline: 1.0  %
Minimum radius:300
Maximum speed:160
Legend
 From Leipzig Bayer Bf
From Pegau
0.33 Neukieritzsch 144 m
 To Hof
2.6 Flut bridge (80 m)
3.37 Pleiße bridge (16 m)
3.54 Lobstädt 139 m
 6.44 Deutzener Straße (16 m)
6.87 B 93 (16 m)
7.12 Borna (Leipzig) 150 m
 9.74 Petergrube(since 1950) 152 m
 10.48 Wyhratal Viaduct (198 m)
12.32 Neukirchen-Wyhra 168 m
 To Großbothen
15.06 Frohburg 179 m
 To Kohren-Sahlis
19.26 Frauendorf (Sachs) 205 m
 21.03 Niedergräfenhain Viaduct (222 m)
23.50 Geithain Viaduct (130 m)
From Leipzig
25.11 Geithain 238 m
 From Rochlitz (Sachs)
31.18 Narsdorf 269 m
 To Penig and To Altenburg
46.52 Göhren Viaduct (412 m)
39.85 Cossen 254 m
 41.55 Industrial road (11 m)
45.78 Mohsdorfer Straße (11 m)
46.52 Burgstädt Viaduct (427 m)
46.98 Burgstädt 317 m
 From Limbach (Sachs)
51.58 Wittgensdorf upper station 350 m
 51.91 Obere Hauptstraße (13 m)
53.50 Industrial road (11 m)
54.33 Wittgensdorf Mitte 330 m
 55.70 Bahrebachtal Viaduct (235 m)
(A 4)
56.93 Bornaer Straße
57.11 Chemnitz-Borna 310 m
 Chemnitz–Obergrüna line
From Obergrüna line
From Wechselburg
58.55 Küchwald 301 m
 58.65 Bridge (14 m)
To Chemnitz-Hilbersdorf marshalling yard
59.17 Schönherrstraße
59.65 Chemnitztal viaduct (366 m)
61.32 From Riesa
From Dresden
61.80 Chemnitz 302 m
 To Werdau arc triangle junction

The Neukieritzsch–Chemnitz railway is a line in the German state of Saxony. It branches in Neukieritzsch from the Leipzig–Hof railway and runs via Borna and Geithain to Chemnitz. It is part of a long-distance connection between Leipzig and Chemnitz. The route is electrified between Neukieritzsch and Geithain.

History

As early as 1860 a railway committee had been established to promote a direct link between Leipzig and Chemnitz. Initial plans called for an alignment from Kieritzsch (now Neukieritzsch) on the Saxon-Bavarian Railway (German: Sächsisch-Bayerischen Eisenbahn) to Mittweida on the Riesa–Chemnitz line. Above all, the city of Borna vehemently demanded a rail connection. As these plans were rejected by the Saxon government, the town of Borna proposed the construction of the Kieritzsch–Borna route at its own expense in 1864. This was authorised, although the management of operations was reserved for the state. In October 1865, construction began and was completed on 14 January 1867, having been delayed by the War of 1866.

Bahrebachmühlen Viaduct over the A 4
Göhren Viaduct over the Zwickauer Mulde

The Saxon government favoured further construction towards Chemnitz to be carried out with private finance, but there was no candidate who was willing to provide the necessary funds for the expensive construction of the proposed line. Ultimately, the Saxon parliament decided to build the line at the expense of the state. There was still a long controversy surrounding the planned route. For a long time the favourite was a direct connection from Leipzig to Geithain. Ultimately, it was decided for reasons of cost to take the route from Borna via Geithain and Burgstädt to Chemnitz. Branch lines would also be built to Limbach, Penig and Rochlitz.

In the spring of 1869, work began on the track. The creation of several large viaducts was necessary in Göhren, Burgstädt and Chemnitz. On 8 April 1872, operations started on the new line. It was opened together with the branch lines to Limbach, Penig and Rochlitz. The Kieritzsch–Borna city railway passed into state ownership on 1 October 1870, so that there was now a continuous state railway between Leipzig and Chemnitz.

Operations

In 1945, the second track was completely dismantled for war reparations to the Soviet Union, but the sections between Neukieritzsch and Borna and between Wittgensdorf and Chemnitz-Küchwald were later rebuilt. On 15 January 1962, Deutsche Reichsbahn inaugurated electric traction between Neukieritzsch and Borna.

With the renovation and upgrading of the Chemnitz–Leipzig line (including the Leipzig–Geithain line via Bad Lausick) the second track was re-established between Geithain and Narsdorf on 11 December 2005. Services at Cossen station were abandoned at the same time.

The section from Geithain to Borna was electrified in the summer of 2010, and is now served by local services from Leipzig to Geithain via Borna as line MRB 2/70. With the opening at of the City-Tunnel in Leipzig, which will be served only by electric services, it will be included as line S4 of the Central Germany S-Bahn network (S-Bahn Mitteldeutschland) at the end of 2013.

Public transport services on the Neukieritzsch–Chemnitz line are now managed by the Zweckverband für den Nahverkehrsraum Leipzig (Joint Association for Regional Transport of Leipzig) and the Verkehrsverbund Mittelsachsen (Transport Association of Central Saxony). Regional-Express service RE 6 (Chemnitz-Leipzig-Express) is an hourly, fast service between Leipzig and Chemnitz. The RE 6 trains use tilting technology and now need only 26 minutes between Chemnitz and Geithain, compared with 39 minutes in 2005.

The following table shows the services using the Neukieritzsch–Chemnitz route, in whole or in part (summer 2011 timetable):

Line Route Frequency (min) Remarks
RE 6 Leipzig–Bad Lausick–Chemnitz 60 "CLEX" - Chemnitz-Leipzig-Express
RE 28 Leipzig–Chemnitz–Cranzahl - Excursion train; a train pair on Sat, Sun
MRB 2/70 Leipzig–Borna–Geithain 60 Mitteldeutsche Regiobahn
CB Burgstädt–Chemnitz 60 City-Bahn Chemnitz

Notes

    References

    • Erich Preuß, Rainer Preuß (1991). Sächsische Staatseisenbahnen (in German). Berlin: transpress Verlagsgesellschaft mbH. ISBN 3-344-70700-0. 
    • Steffen Kluttig (2006). Schienenverbindungen zwischen Chemnitz und Leipzig (in German). Witzschdorf: Bildverlag Böttger GbR. ISBN 3-937496-17-3. 
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