The Chemnitz–Riesa railway is a two-track and electrified mainline railway in the
German 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 ...
, originally built and operated by the ''Chemnitz-Riesa Railway Company''. The line was opened between 1847 and 1852 and is one of the
oldest railways in Germany. The line runs from
Riesa
Riesa is a town in the district of Meißen in Saxony, Germany. It is located on the river Elbe, approximately northwest of Dresden.
History
The name ''Riesa'' is derived from Slavic ''Riezowe''. This name, romanised as "Rezoa", appears first i ...
via
Döbeln
Döbeln ( hsb, Doblin) is a town in Saxony, Germany, part of the Mittelsachsen district, on both banks of the river Freiberger Mulde.
History
* 981: First written mention of Döbeln (Margravate of Meissen).
* Around 1220: Döbeln is described ...
to
Chemnitz
Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt , ) is the third-largest city in the German state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden. It is the 28th largest city of Germany as well as the fourth largest city in the area of former East Germany a ...
and is part of the
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
–Chemnitz route.
History
![Döbeln Hbf 001](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/D%C3%B6beln_Hbf_001.jpg)
In 1837, plans were submitted for a rail link from Riesa, a major freight hub on 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 ...
river, to Chemnitz and on to
Zwickau
Zwickau (; is, with around 87,500 inhabitants (2020), the fourth-largest city of Saxony after Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz and it is the seat of the Zwickau District. The West Saxon city is situated in the valley of the Zwickau Mulde (German: ' ...
, which was significant as a coal-producing region. After the
Leipzig–Dresden railway
The Leipzig–Dresden line is a German railway line. It was built by the Leipzig–Dresden Railway Company between 1837 and 1839. It was the first long-distance railway and the List of the first German railways to 1870, first railway using only st ...
was opened, connecting the industrial city of Chemnitz to Leipzig and Dresden, even if it involved a detour via Riesa, was given the highest priority. On 9 May 1845 construction started and progressed rapidly on the northern section from Riesa to Döbeln. The line was officially opened on 29 August 1847 and on 22 September 1847 it was extended a short distance to
Limmritz. Döbeln initially only had a station in the northern district of Großbauchlitz. The current
Döbeln Hauptbahnhof
Döbeln Hauptbahnhof is the largest station in Döbeln in the German state of Saxony. Now an unstaffed halt, it was built as a Keilbahnhof ("wedge-shaped station"). The station is listed by the rail authorities with the abbreviation of DDE.
The ...
was only opened in its present position after the completion of the
Dresden–Döbeln–Leipzig line in 1868.
Construction of the section from Limmritz to
Waldheim presented major problems. Although work began in 1845, the cost of building viaducts, retaining walls and earthworks in the
Zschopau
Zschopau (), is a town in the Erzgebirgskreis district of Saxony, Germany.
Geography
The town is located on the northwestern slopes of the Ore Mountains, on both Bank (geography), banks of the Zschopau (river), Zschopau River, about south-east ...
valley quickly put the company into financial distress. Already in 1845 strikes began to occur due to the lack of payment of wages to workers; the
revolution of 1848
The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Europea ...
further complicated construction. As of the line could not be operated profitable without a continuous line to Chemnitz and a loan could not be raised, the ''Chemnitz-Riesa Railway Company'' (german: Chemnitz-Riesaer Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft) asked to be taken over by the state in 1848. This took place on 31 December 1850 and the company continued construction, so that finally, on 1 September 1852, the whole line could be opened. Even now, the Limmritz–Waldheim section is known as the ''Bankrottmeile'' ("bankruptcy mile"; note that the
northern German mile was 7532.5 metres long).
A
line from Chemnitz to Zwickau was opened as planned by the ''Erzgebirge Railway Company'' (''Erzgebirgischen Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft'') in 1858 (with
a branch extending from
Glauchau
Glauchau (; hsb, Hłuchow) is a town in the German federal state of Saxony, on the right bank of the Mulde, 7 miles north of Zwickau and 17 miles west of Chemnitz by rail ( its train station is on the Dresden–Werdau line). It is part of the ...
to
Gößnitz
Gößnitz () is a town in the Altenburger Land district, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated on the river Pleiße, 12 km south of Altenburg, and 20 km northwest of Zwickau
Zwickau (; is, with around 87,500 inhabitants (2020), th ...
); as a result the line became known as the ''Lower
Erzgebirge State Railway'' (''Niedererzgebirgischen Staatsbahn''). The line now connected not only to the
Saxon-Bavarian State Railway (''Sächsisch-Baiersche Eisenbahn-Compagnie''), but also to the
Upper Erzgebirge State Railway (''Obererzgebirgischen Staatsbahn'') between Zwickau and
Schwarzenberg, Saxony
Schwarzenberg is a town in the district of Erzgebirgskreis in Saxony’s Ore Mountains, near the German–Czech border. The town lies roughly 15 km southeast of Aue, and 35 km southwest of Chemnitz.
Founded in the 12th century to prot ...
, which also opened in 1858. On 1 January 1859 these lines were named the ''Western State Railways'' (''Westlichen Staatsbahn'').
In the
Austro-Prussian War
The Austro-Prussian War, also by many variant names such as Seven Weeks' War, German Civil War, Brothers War or Fraternal War, known in Germany as ("German War"), (; "German war of brothers") and by a variety of other names, was fought in 186 ...
of 1866, the
Ostrau viaduct was demolished by
Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...
n
pioneers. ''Großbauchlitz'' (''Döbeln Nord'' since 1932) station was connected in 1905 by a 1 km-long
trolleybus
A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or troll ...
-like system for freight from Günther's flour mill; it was replaced in 1914 by a siding. The biggest turning point in the line's history occurred after 1945.
Reparations
Reparation(s) may refer to:
Christianity
* Restitution (theology), the Christian doctrine calling for reparation
* Acts of reparation, prayers for repairing the damages of sin
History
*War reparations
**World War I reparations, made from G ...
to the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
led to the complete dismantling of the second track, which made operating during the next 45 years very difficult on this heavily trafficked mainline route. The second track was restored to operations only in 1990. Prior to the electrification of 1991, the roofs of two "artificial" tunnels (which were built in the early years of the line to avoid rock falls and snow drifts) were removed.
Route
In Riesa station the line branches off along with the branch line to
Nossen
Nossen ( hsb, Nosyn) is a town in the Meißen (district), district of Meissen, in Saxony, Germany. It is located 80 km southeast of Leipzig. The town is dominated by a large Renaissance castle. Nossen is best known for its proximity to a mot ...
from the
Leipzig–Dresden line. The
line to Nossen branches off the left and runs to the south, while the Chemnitz line runs to the south-west and passes over highway B 169. The northern section runs through relatively flat land until the Döbeln area; the only significant engineering works on this section is the 130 m-long viaduct near Ostrava and the 80 m-long bridge over the
Mulde
The Mulde () is a river in Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is a left tributary of the Elbe and is long.
The river is formed by the confluence, near Colditz, of the Zwickauer Mulde (running through Zwickau) and the Freiberger Mulde (with ...
outside Döbeln station. Near the Döbeln-Nord motorway junction, it crosses the
A 14, and after crossing the
Freiberger Mulde
The Freiberger Mulde ( cs, Freiberská Mulda, also called the ''Östliche Mulde'' or Eastern Mulde) is the right-hand, headstream of the river Mulde, whose catchment covers an area of in the Czech Republic and Germany in central Saxony. It has a ...
it runs to the now single-track and non-electrified
main line
Mainline, ''Main line'', or ''Main Line'' may refer to:
Transportation
Railway
* Main line (railway), the principal artery of a railway system
* Main line railway preservation, the practice of operating preserved trains on an operational railw ...
from
Coswig via
Borsdorf
Borsdorf is a municipality in the Leipzig district in Saxony, Germany.
Geography
Modern Borsdorf municipality consists of three historical villages: Borsdorf (originally the smallest among the three, serving as a toll station at the historical ma ...
to
Leipzig
Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...
. Döbeln Hauptbahnhof is built at the junction of two lines as a V-shaped station. The station building is located between the tracks from Riesa and
Meissen
Meissen (in German orthography: ''Meißen'', ) is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, the Albrecht ...
.
South of Döbeln Hauptbahnhof, the Borsdorf–Coswig line branches off to the west and the line then crosses highways B 169 and B 175. The line enters the valley of the Zschopau near Limmritz. The section from Limmritz to Waldheim has the greatest concentration of engineering works on the entire route. Since as a result of the construction of this section, the Chemnitz-Riesa railway company went bankrupt and had to be taken over by the state, it is commonly known even today as the "bankruptcy mile". The line crosses the 14 arches of the 270 m-long and 32-m high Limmritz viaduct over the Zschopau. Immediately afterwards it used to pass through the 128 m-long Saalbach tunnel, which had its roof removed in 1991 in preparations for the line's electrification. The line then follows a steep and rocky slope along the left bank of the river, which it crosses on the 49 m-high, 210 m-long Diedenmühle Bridge over Steinaer Bach (stream), which here flows in a deep valley to the Zschopau. In Waldheim station, the disused line from
Rochlitz
Rochlitz (; hsb, Rochlica) is a major district town (Große Kreisstadt) in the district of Mittelsachsen, in Saxony, Germany. Rochlitz is the head of the "municipal partnership Rochlitz" (Verwaltungsgemeinschaft Rochlitz) with its other members ...
branched off to the west until its closure in 1997.
South of Waldheim station the line used to run through the 170-metre-long Pfaffenberg tunnel, which was also had its roof removed prior to the electrification of the line. The line then crosses the Zschopau again on the 41 m-high and 211 m-long Heiligenborn viaduct. East of the viaduct is a 28 m-high and 165 m-long steel girder bridge of the abandoned freight railway to Kriebethal near
Kriebstein
Kriebstein is a municipality in the district of Mittelsachsen, in Saxony, 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, ...
. The Chemnitz line turns slightly toward the southwest, away from the Kriebstein line (which runs on a more southerly course) and the Zschopau to reach its westernmost point just before Eger. It then runs fairly directly to the south to
Mittweida
Mittweida () is a town in Saxony, Germany, in the Mittelsachsen district.
Geography
Mittweida is situated on the river Zschopau, 18 km north of Chemnitz, and 54 km west of Dresden. Embedded within the steep hills and valleys of the riv ...
,
Altmittweida
Altmittweida is a municipality in the district of Mittelsachsen, in Saxony, 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
Oberlichtenau
Oberlichtenau is a village and a former municipality in the district of Bautzen, in Saxony. Since 1 January 2009, it is part of the town Pulsnitz.
History
General history
The Population was 1425 by 2008 and 1588 by 2000, in accordance with en ...
, where it crosses the
A 4. This bridge was replaced completely as part of the upgrade of the A 4 at the end of the 1990s to six lanes. On its way to its southern end at
Chemnitz Hauptbahnhof
Chemnitz Hauptbahnhof is the main railway station in Chemnitz in Germany.
Station building
The station has a combination of terminating and through platforms. Platform tracks 5 to 9 terminate and tracks 1 to 4 and 10 to 14 continue to the wes ...
, the line is joined by the
Dresden–Werdau line from the east and the
line from Leipzig from the west.
Services
A
Regionalbahn service (RB 45) runs on the
Elsterwerda
Elsterwerda (; Lower Sorbian: ''Wikow'') is a town in the Elbe-Elster district, in southwestern Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated on the Black Elster river, 48 km northwest of Dresden, and 11 km southeast of Bad Liebenwerda.
Histo ...
–Riesa–Chemnitz hourly. It used to be operated by
DB Regio
DB Regio AG is a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn which operates regional and commuter train services in Germany. DB Regio AG, headquartered in Frankfurt am Main. It is a 100% subsidiary of the Deutsche Bahn Group and there part of the DB Regio bus ...
until mid-June 2016 mainly with
class 143 locomotives, hauling two double-deck carriages. Since 12 June 2016 those services are operated by
Mitteldeutsche Regiobahn
Transdev Germany is the largest private operator of passenger buses and trains in Germany. It is a subsidiary of Transdev.
History
In 1997, Aktiengesellschaft für Industrie und Verkehrswesen was purchased by a Veolia Transport, CGEA Group (60% ...
with
Alstom Coradia Continental
The Alstom Coradia is a family of diesel and electric multiple units for intercity and regional service manufactured by Alstom, with variants operating in Europe, North America, and Africa.
Design
The Coradia is a family of high-performance r ...
electric multiple units. Additional suburban services are run between Mittweida and Chemnitz by
City-Bahn Chemnitz
The City-Bahn Chemnitz is a railway company operating regional train services in Chemnitz area, Saxony, Germany. Most services run both on railway network around Chemnitz as well as on the urban tram network in Chemnitz. City-Bahn Chemnitz was ...
.
![MEG 804 in Döbeln 001](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/14/MEG_804_in_D%C3%B6beln_001.JPG)
There are also freight transport on the line, particularly coal trains to Chemnitz and ''Mitteldeutsche Eisenbahn'' tanker trains on the section between Riesa and Döbeln Hauptbahnhof.
Notes
References
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Riesa-Chemnitz railway
Railway lines in Saxony
Railway lines opened in 1852
1852 establishments in Germany
Transport in Chemnitz
Buildings and structures in Mittelsachsen
Buildings and structures in Meissen (district)