Cheb–Oberkotzau railway

Cheb–Aš–Selb-Plößberg–Oberkotzau
Route number:858
Line number:5027
Line length:54.8 km (34.1 mi)
Track gauge:1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Voltage:Cheb–Františkovy Lázně: 25 kV, 50 Hz;
In Germany: 15 kV, 16⅔ Hz AC
Legend
 from Wiesau
from Plzeň
from Nuremberg
0,00 Chebformerly Eger
to Chomutov
Eger Viaduct (348 m)
link line from Tršnice
6,58 Františkovy Lázněformerly Franzensbad
11,42 to Plauen
15,7 Vojtanov obec
18,39 Hazlovformerly Haslau
27,52 Ašformerly Asch Staatsbahnhof
to Hranice v Čechách
29,59 Germany–Czech Republic state border
from Selb Stadt
35,1 Selb-Plößberg(former station)
Bundesautobahn 93
37,4 Schönwald( former station)
Bundesautobahn 93
Bundesautobahn 93
Perlenbach (70 m)
Bundesstraße 289
46,6 Rehau
50,1 Wurlitz
from Bamberg and from Regensburg
54,8 Oberkotzau(wedge station)
to Hof

The Cheb–Oberkotzau railway is a railway line in Bavaria, Germany, and the Czech Republic which was built as a main line. It begins in Cheb (German: Eger) and runs via Františkovy Lázně (Franzensbad), Aš (Asch) and Selb to Oberkotzau. The line was originally planned as a direct railway link between Eger and Hof; but the plan was changed so that the existing Ludwig South-North Railway between Oberkotzau and Hof was shared. Still in operation today are the sections from Cheb–Aš in the Czech Republic and Selb-Plößberg–Oberkotzau in Germany.

History

Early days

The city of Hof tried as early as 1845 to be linked to the newly emerging railway network. The priority was to create a direct link to the west Bohemian coal mines so that the local industry could be better supported and supplied.

Because the Kingdom of Bavaria did not at first want to build such a link itself, another solution was sought. The city of Hof took out a loan from the Royal Bank in Nuremberg of more than 10 million German gold marks and was granted the concession; it handed over the construction of the line to the factory owner Theodor von Cramer-Klett. Operation of the line was leased to Royal Bavarian State Railways after the line had been finished. Because more than half the railway ran through Bohemian territory, a state treaty between Bavaria and Austria was necessary.

Construction

Between Eger and Franzensbad the trackbed was shared with the Saxon line from Herlasgrün to Eger (Voigtländische Staatseisenbahn). Operationally both lines were independently classed as main lines along this section. From Franzensbad the line ran via Asch, Selb and Rehau to Oberkotzau, where it joined the Ludwig South-North Railway (Bamberg–Hof railway). For topographical reasons the line could not be routed directly to Hof.

The new line was opened on 1 November 1865. It was to have transferred after 57 years, in 1922, for nothing to the ownership of the Bavarian State after the bank loan had been paid off. The annual rent 279,000 Bavarian gulden. However the transfer of the concession was legally approved as early as 1919.

Operation

Aš station (2006)

Initially all traffic ran from Hof over the Hof–Eger line and on southwards to Regensburg and Munich. In 1877 when the Bavarian State Railway opened a direct line from Hof via Marktredwitz to Regensburg, the level of traffic fell. Nevertheless the line was exceptionally important in providing the industries around Hof with Bohemian coal.

After the Second World War the section of the railway on the territory of Czechoslovakia was transferred without compensation to the Czechoslovak State Railways (ČSD). Through passenger services from Hof to Eger were no longer operated. Passenger trains from the direction of Hof ran through to Selber Stadt station. From now on the ČSD ran its passenger trains from Asch (since 1945: Aš) through on the former Asch–Adorf Lokalbahn to Hranice v Čechách (Roßbach). The whole line remained open for goods traffic, because the porcelain industry in Bavaria was dependent on supplies of raw materials from Bohemia.

In the 1970s the German section of line from Selb via Plößberg to Oberkotzau was downgraded to a branch line. In the Czech Republic the track is still classified today as a main line (celostátní draha).

In the 1990s the Hof–Eger railway was cut on the Bavarian side by a ring road around the town of Selb and the section from Selb to Plößberg and the border was officially closed on 29 September 1996. As a result rail traffic from Hof via Aš to Cheb is no longer possible.

Prospects

For several years local politicians have continually demanded that the cross-border line be rebuilt, in order to reduce the heavy lorry traffic at border crossings. It is argued that it makes no sense that goods in the Czech Republic that are destined for Bavaria are transported by rail to Aš and then cross-loaded to lorries.

The remaining section of line in Germany is part of the Upper Franconian Diesel Network (Dieselnetz Oberfranken) tendered by the Bayerische Eisenbahngesellschaft on 8 February 2008 and which should offer improved services from 12 June 2011 with new vehicles.[1]

Sources

External links

References

  1. ↑ Bayerisches Staatsministerium für Wirtschaft, Verkehr and Technologie: Freistaat Bayern schreibt Diesel-Zugleistungen auf dem Schienennetz in Nordostbayern aus. Press release of 11 February 2008