Berlin–Görlitz railway

Berlin–Görlitz railway
Overview
Locale Berlin, Brandenburg and Saxony, Germany
Line number 6142
Technical
Line length 207.9 km (129.2 mi)
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Electrification

Operating speed 160 km/h (99.4 mph) (maximum)
Route number
  • 202 Berlin–Cottbus
  • 220 Cottbus–Görlitz
Route map
Legend
0.0 Görlitzer Bahnhofuntil 1952
2.7 Universal Exposition of Berlin (1896) siding)
from Neukölln/Treptow West freight yard
Ringbahn
from Ostkreuz
3.5 Plänterwaldsince 1956
from Neukölln
5.2 Baumschulenwegsince 1890
6.1 Kanneto 1887
7.1 Berlin-Schöneweide
to Spindlersfeld
8.4 Betriebsbahnhof Schöneweidesince 1945
10.3 Berlin-Adlershof
to Flughafen Schönefeld and Eichgestell (outer ring)
Grünau Cross (outer ring)
S-Bahn to Flughafen Schönefeld
13.7 Berlin-Grünau, terminus of
15.7 to BBI Airport, northern connecting curve
17.2 from BBI Airport, southern connecting curve
Berlin–Brandenburg state border
18.8 Eichwalde-Schmöckwitzto 1898
19.0 Eichwaldesince 1898
21.6 Zeuthensince 1897, terminus of
21.8 Hankels Ablageuntil 1897
25.1 Wildausince 1900
from Beeskow
 27.2 Königs Wusterhausen,terminus of
to Mittenwalde
 31.2 Zeesen
 33.8 Bestensee
 43.8 Groß Köris
 50.4 Halbe
 54.7 Oderin
 59.7 Brand (Niederlausitz)
 65.6 Schönwalde (Spreew)
 70.0 Lubolz
 74.6 Lübben (Spreew)
 Lower Lusatian Railway to Falkenberg (Elster)
 80.6 Ragowto 1994
 85.6 Lübbenau (Spreew)
 to Kamenz
 92.8 Raddusch
 97.5 Vetschau
 98.6 Kraftwerk Vetschauto 1993
 105.0 KunersdorfPapitz until 2003
 109.6 Kolkwitz
 from Halle (Saale)
 from Priestewitz
 114.7 Cottbus
 to Frankfurt (Oder)
 to Guben
 to Forst
 119.9 Kiekebusch (bei Cottbus)
 124.6 Neuhausen (bei Cottbus)
 128.4 Bagenz
 138.42 Spremberg 125 m
 143.53 Graustein 133 m
 Brandenburg–Saxony state border
 to Knappenrode
 145.37 Graustein Ost junction
 148.89 Schleife 128 m
 from Forst (Lausitz)
 157.14 Weißwasser (Oberlausitz) 145 m
 to Bad Muskau
 165.7 Weißkeißel
 173.05 Rietschen(former station) 145 m
 179.45 Hähnichen 153 m
 184.22 Uhsmannsdorf(former station) 162 m
 to Horka freight yard
 187.04 Horka(Węgliniec–Roßlau) 164 m
 from Niesky
 192.24 Kodersdorf(former station) 182 m
 198.47 Charlottenhof (Oberlausitz) 210 m
 Weißenberg/OL. (former Görlitz District Railway)
 Görlitz freight transfer yard
 to Görlitz West (former Görlitz District Railway)
 from Dresden
 207.92 Görlitz 222 m
 to Wrocław and Jelenia Góra
 to Zittau

Source: German railway atlas[1]

The Berlin–Görlitz railway is a main line railway in the German states of Berlin, Brandenburg and Saxony, which was originally built and operated by the Berlin-Görlitz Railway Company (German: Berlin-Görlitzer Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft). The line runs through Lusatia from Berlin via Cottbus to Görlitz. It is one of the oldest lines in Germany, opened in 1866 and 1867.

It was nationalised in 1882 and became part of Prussian state railways. In 1920, it became part of German national railways along with the rest of the Prussian state railways.

Route

Kunersdorf station
Luebbenau station)

The line runs from Berlin via Königs Wusterhausen, Lübben, Cottbus, Spremberg, Weißwasser and Horka to Görlitz. The route originally began in Berlin from Görlitz station, a terminal station that was demolished in 1962. Today, the line starts at the Berlin Stadtbahn and the Ringbahn and passes through the southeastern landscapes of the Spreewald and Lower Lusatia to the railway junction of Görlitz.

History

The line was built by the "railway king" Bethel Henry Strousberg as general contractor and opened in 1866 and 1867 for passenger and freight transport. In 1882 it was nationalised by Prussia and became part of the Prussian state railways.[2] On 7 August 1905 there an error by a dispatcher, leading to two trains crashing head-on between Spremberg and Schleife causing the death of 19 people and seriously injuring 40 others.[3]

By 1900 additional tracks were laid in Berlin between the Stadtbahn and Ringbahn and Grünau to cope with heavy suburban traffic. In 1929 these lines were electrified with side-contact third rail and later became part of the Berlin S-Bahn network. In 1951, the S-Bahn tracks were extended to the Königs Wusterhausen. In 1952 Görlitz station in Berlin was closed for passenger traffic, although freight traffic continued to operate there until 1986. In 1988 the mainline tracks from Berlin Grünau Cross to Lübbenau were electrified with overhead catenary on the 15 kV 16.7 AC system and in 1989 the catenary was extended to Cottbus.[2]

Current operations

Today, the line is used mainly for passenger transport; the only trains currently operating on the Goerlitz line between Berlin Plänterwald and Berlin-Schöneweide are S-Bahn trains. On the Schöneweide–Königs Wusterhausen section, there are parallel services of the S-Bahn and Ostdeutsche Eisenbahn GmbH line OE36 (Berlin–Schöneweide–Beeskow–Frankfurt (Oder)). At Grünau Cross DB Regio services join the line: lines RE2 (Rathenow–Berlin–Cottbus) and RB14 (Nauen–Berlin–Senftenberg). Ostdeutsche Eisenbahn operates services on the Cottbus–Görlitz section as line OE65 (Cottbus–Zittau). Also running on the line are a daily pair of Intercity trains between Norddeich Mole and Cottbus and a EuroCity pair of trains between Hamburg, Cottbus and Kraków.

From Berlin-Schöneweide to Lübbenau the line is double track and this section and its extension to Cottbus is electrified. The continuation of the line is the Neisse Valley Railway towards Zittau. Until 1945 the line continued to Seidenberg (now Zawidów), which was on the border with Austria-Hungary until 1918.

Berlin

Görlitz station in 1928

In the city of Berlin the Görlitz railway is mostly still in operation. Only the short section between the Berlin Ring line and the former Görlitz station has been abandoned. The route is served by both mainline and regional trains as well as the Berlin S-Bahn.

Regional trains currently start at Schöneweide station as the connection to the Stadtbahn at Ostkreuz is closed for renovation. Long-distance trains to the new central station run on the Outer ring in southeast Berlin from Grünau Cross (Grünauer Kreuz) to the Silesian Railway and the Stadtbahn. Although the Görlitz railway has its own suburban tracks, this never led to the old Görlitz station, but from its construction connected to the Ring line and the Stadtbahn, as it still does. In addition a connecting line runs from Baumschulenweg to the southern part of the Ring line on the Treptow Park also connected to the Südring via Köllnische Heide. Both suburban lines were converted to electric operation in 1929 and became part of the S-Bahn on its foundation shortly later.

In February 2010, the electrified double track eastern connection to the new Berlin-Brandenburg International Airport (BBI) was officially approved. This will connect with the Görlitz railway with a northern and southern curve between Grünau and Eichwalde.

Notes

  1. ↑ Eisenbahnatlas Deutschland (German railway atlas). Schweers + Wall. 2009. ISBN 978-3-89494-139-0.
  2. 1 2 "Berlin-Görlitzer Eisenbahn" (in German). goerlitzer-bahn.de. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
  3. ↑ Ritzau, Hans-Joachim; Hörstel, Jürgen; Wolski, Thomas (1997). Schatten der Eisenbahngeschichte (Shadow on railway history) (in German). p. 117. ISBN 3-921304-36-9.

References

Weblinks

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