The Bautzen–Bad Schandau railway is a 64-kilometre long

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

line in the state of

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, which connects

Bautzen Bautzen () or Budyšin () is a hill-top town in eastern Saxony, Germany, and the administrative centre of the district of Bautzen. It is located on the Spree river. In 2018 the town's population was 39,087. Until 1868, its German name was ''Budis ...

Bad Schandau Bad Schandau (; hsb, Žandow) is a spa town in Germany, in the Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge district of Saxony. It is situated on the right bank of the Elbe, at the mouth of the valley of the Kirnitzsch and in the area often described as S ...

via

Neukirch/Lausitz Neukirch/Lausitz (German) or Wjazońca (Upper Sorbian) is a municipality in Upper Lusatia in the district of Bautzen, in the state of Saxony in eastern Germany. It belongs to the district of Bautzen and is situated in several valleys of the mount ...

Neustadt in Sachsen Neustadt in Sachsen is a town in the Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge district, in Saxony, Germany. It is situated near the border with the Czech Republic, 35 km east of Dresden (centre), and 23 km southwest of Bautzen. At Neustadt, th ...

and

Sebnitz Sebnitz (; hsb, Zebnica) is a town in the Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge district, in Saxony, Germany. Geography The town of Sebnitz lies in the valley of the river Sebnitz and its side valleys between 251 and 460 m above sea level betwee ...

. The railway was opened fully in 1898. The part between Neustadt in Sachsen and Bad Schandau is also known as ''Sebnitztalbahn'' (

valley railway). Today only the sections of Wilthen–Oberottendorf and Neustadt–Bad Schandau are still in operation.

History

Construction of the line began in 1874 and by the inauguration in 1877 had cost 9.8 million Reichsmark, 1 million of which going to the construction of the bridge over the

Elbe The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Repu ...

at Bad Schandau. The Neustadt-Bad Schandau section opened on 1 July 1877 and the Bautzen-Neustadt section opened on 1 September 1877. Trains travelling on the 65 km long railway needed approximately 2 hours and 40 minutes. In Wilthen und Neustadt at the time, direct connections existed to the trains from and to Ebersbach and Dürrröhrsdorf. The railway celebrated its centenary on 1 July 1977. The central point was

Sebnitz railway station Sebnitz (german: Bahnhof Sebnitz) is a railway station in the town of Sebnitz, Saxony, Germany. The station lies on the Bautzen–Bad Schandau railway and the Rumburk–Sebnitz railway. The station is served by DB Regio Südost. The line into ...

, where an exhibition of trains was presented. Special trips were run on the

heritage train Conservation and restoration of rail vehicles aims to preserve historic rail vehicles. Trains It may concern trains that have been removed from service and later restored to their past condition, or have never been removed from service, like UP ...

s of the

Deutsche Reichsbahn The ''Deutsche Reichsbahn'', also known as the German National Railway, the German State Railway, German Reich Railway, and the German Imperial Railway, was the German national railway system created after the end of World War I from the regiona ...

.Johannes Raddatz: ''Eisenbahn in der Sächsischen Schweiz, Band 4'' Verlag Bernd Neddermeyer, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-941712-20-1; S. 44 The freight section between Bautzen and Wilthen closed on 31 December 1994. Since 12 December 2004, the non-stop passenger trains between Bautzen and Neustadt have also stopped. The section Neukirch-Wilthen is still used by local trains connecting Dresden and Zittau.

Services

The Bautzen–Bad Schandau railway is used by the following passenger services: * RE 2 Dresden Hbf - Bischofswerda − Ebersbach (Sachs) − Zittau (between Neukirch West and Wilthen) * RB 61 Dresden Hbf − Bischofswerda − Ebersbach (Sachs) − Zittau (between Neukirch West and Wilthen) * RB 71 Pirna - Neustadt - Bad Schandau (between Neustadt and Bad Schandau).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bautzen-Bad Schandau railway Railway lines in Saxony Standard gauge railways in Germany Railway lines opened in 1877 1877 establishments in Germany