The Neukirchen–Weiden railway is a 51-kilometre-long main line in

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

, Germany. It branches off the

Nuremberg–Schwandorf railway The Nuremberg–Schwandorf railway is a 93.7 km long railway from Nuremberg, running along the Pegnitz river, to Hersbruck and continuing via Neukirchen bei Sulzbach-Rosenberg and Amberg to Schwandorf in the German state of Bavaria. It runs ...

Neukirchen bei Sulzbach-Rosenberg Neukirchen bei Sulzbach-Rosenberg is a municipality in the district of Amberg-Sulzbach in Bavaria in Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous countr ...

station and runs via

Vilseck Vilseck is a town in the Oberpfalz region of northeastern Bavaria, Germany, situated on the river Vils, a tributary of the Naab river. The town is geographically separate from a nearby large American military base known as the ''Rose Barracks ...

Weiden in der Oberpfalz Weiden in der Oberpfalz (official name: Weiden i.d.OPf.; Northern Bavarian: ''Weidn in da Owapfalz'') is a district-free city in Bavaria, Germany. It is located east of Nuremberg and west of the Czech border. A branch of the German Army is locat ...

History

The impetus for the construction of the line was a memorandum of 20 July 1869 from the Nuremberg Railway Committee to the

Bavarian Eastern Railway Company The Royal Bavarian Eastern Railway Company (''Königlich privilegirte Actiengesellschaft der bayerischen Ostbahnen'') or Bavarian Ostbahn was founded in 1856. Within just two decades it built an extensive railway network in the eastern Bavarian prov ...

(''Bayerischen Ostbahnen''). It argued that this route would be the shortest and most economical connection between

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

and Weiden and that the line would also be important for freight traffic to and from Bohemia and central Germany. Construction began in December 1873 after the route planning was completed in August 1872. The rails were supplied by ''Hammerwerk Hellziechen''. The line was officially opened on 15 October 1875. In 1973, the line, which had been built to branch line standards, was upgraded with extensive work to main line standards.

Route description

The line branches off the Nuremberg–Schwandorf line after Neukirchen station and runs east to the intersection with the B 85 and then turns to the north, running through several curves. After the village of Schönlind, the line crosses the Vils and runs parallel with it to

. After Vilseck station, the line turns east in front of the deserted village of Langenbruck and runs past the southern edge of the

Grafenwoehr Training Area Grafenwoehr Training Area (GTA) is a United States Army training base located near Grafenwöhr, Bavaria, Germany. At 232 km2, it is the largest US training facility in Europe. The base is operated by 7th Army Joint Multinational Training Comm ...

through the Etzenricht forest to

Weiherhammer Weiherhammer is a municipality in the district of Neustadt an der Waldnaab in Bavaria, Germany. History Weiherhammer, originally Beckendorf, belonged to the Wittelsbach duchy Neuburg-Sulzbach. Since 1777 it was the a part of the Bavaria Bav ...

. After Weiherhammer, the line crosses the

Haidenaab The Haidenaab is the right and western headstream of the River Naab in the Upper Palatinate in the south German state of Bavaria. At its confluence with the Waldnaab near Luhe-Wildenau, the Naab is formed. Course The river rises in the distri ...

and runs next to it to

Etzenricht Etzenricht is a municipality in the Upper Palatinate, ca. southeast of Weiden in the district of Neustadt an der Waldnaab in Bavaria in Germany. Etzenricht has 1,532 inhabitants (Dec. 2020) and various small industries. East of Etzenricht towar ...

. The line then turns to the left, connects with the

Regensburg–Weiden railway The Regensburg–Weiden railway is a two-track main line railway in Bavaria, Germany. It connects the Upper Palatinate district capital of Regensburg via Schwandorf with Weiden in der Oberpfalz. Route description The line begins at Regensbur ...

at Ullersricht and runs with it to Weiden station.

Line standards

The entire length of the line is single-track, equipped for tilting technology and not electrified. The maximum line speed is 140 km/h. In February 2017, the line class on a section between Großalbershof and Vilseck was reduced from D4 to A and the speed limit reduced to 110 km/h.

Transport association

The Neukirchen–Thansüß section is integrated into the

Verkehrsverbund Großraum Nürnberg The (VGN; Transport Association Region Nuremberg) is the transit authority of the city of Nuremberg, the second largest city of the German state of Bavaria. Its jurisdiction covers the city and its surrounding area, responsible for the Nurember ...

(Nuremberg Region Transport Association) as Regionalbahn service ''R41''.

Trains

The

Regional-Express In Germany, Luxembourg and Austria, the Regional-Express (RE, or in Austria: REX) is a type of regional train. It is similar to a semi-fast train, with average speed at about 70–90 km/h (top speed often 160 km/h) as it calls at f ...

service on the Nuremberg–Neukirchen–Weiden–Neustadt (Waldnaab)/Schwandorf(–Regensburg) route are operated by class 612 (''Regioswinger'') diesel railcars. These trains are coupled/split in Neukirchen (b. Sulzbach-Rosenberg) station.

References

Footnotes

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Neukirchen-Weiden railway Railway lines in Bavaria Railway lines opened in 1872 1872 establishments in Bavaria Buildings and structures in Upper Palatinate Neustadt an der Waldnaab (district) Amberg-Sulzbach