The Leipzig–Eilenburg railway is a two-track, electrified mainline railway in the German state of

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

, originally built and operated by the Halle-Sorau-Guben Railway Company () as the Eilenburg Railway (''Eilenburger Eisenbahn''). It runs from

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

Eilenburg Eilenburg (; , ) is a town in Germany. It lies in the district of Nordsachsen in Saxony, approximately 20 km northeast of the city of Leipzig. Geography Eilenburg lies at the banks of the river Mulde at the southwestern edge of the D� ...

and is part of the long-distance connection from Leipzig to

Cottbus Cottbus () or (;) is a university city and the second-largest city in the German state of Brandenburg after the state capital, Potsdam. With around 100,000 inhabitants, Cottbus is the most populous city in Lusatia. Cottbus lies in the Sorbian ...

History

The line branches off in Eilenburg from the

Halle–Cottbus railway The Halle–Cottbus railway is a 176 km long double-track electrified main line in the German states of Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony and Brandenburg. It was opened in 1871 and 1872. It formed the central section of the network of the Halle-Sorau-Gu ...

, which was built in 1872. The line runs via Jesewitz and

Taucha Taucha () is a town in the district of Nordsachsen, in Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the river Parthe, 10 km northeast of Leipzig. Geography Taucha is part of the Leipzig Bay. The Parthe runs through the city, and its expansive flo ...

to Leipzig and is 23.6 km long. On 1 November 1874, the route was opened as a connection to the Leipzig–Dresden railway. In Leipzig, it terminated at the Eilenburger Bahnhof (Eilenburg station), which at that time was on the eastern outskirts of the city. In 1884, the line, along with rest of the Hall-Sorau-Guben Railway, was nationalised and became part of the

Prussian state railways The term Prussian state railways (German: ''Preußische Staatseisenbahnen'') encompasses those railway organisations that were owned or managed by the state of Prussia. The words "state railways" are not capitalized because Prussia did not have a ...

and on 1 April 1920 it was absorbed into

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 Weimar Republic, German national Rail transport, railway system created after th ...

. Beginning in 1942, passenger services to Eilenburger Bahnhof were completely abandoned. All trains now operated to Leipzig Hauptbahnhof. After the Second World War, the line's second track was dismantled. The second track has been restored on the line between Eilenburg and Jesewitz since 1977. The second track was restored between Heiterblick junction and Taucha (b Leipzig) a year later and the section between Taucha and Jesewitz was rebuilt with two tracks in 1980. Due to insufficient bridge clearances on the Leipzig Hbf–Heiterblick section, it is now operated as a single-track. The line was electrified in 1988.

Operations

Currently the line in served by

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 a top speed of and an average speed of about as it calls at fewer stations than ''R ...

service RE 10 between Leipzig and Cottbus and the S-Bahn line S4 service of the Mitteldeutschland S-Bahn on the Geithain–Borna–Leipzig–Eilenburg–Torgau–Hoyerswerda route. Between Leipzig Hbf and Leipzig-Thekla, the S4 services operate daily at 30-minute intervals. The RE 10 services, which run every 120 minutes together with the S-Bahn services provide services to Eilenburg at 30-minute intervals each day. The RE 10 services are operated as coupled sets consisting of a four-part and a two-part Bombardier Talent 2 electric railcar. The S4 services are operated with four and three-part Talent 2 sets, both coupled and as single sets. The S4 services replaced the RE 11 and the

Regionalbahn The ''Regionalbahn'' (; lit. Regional train; abbreviated ''RB'') is a train categories in Europe, type of Regional rail, local passenger train (stopping train) in Germany. It is similar to the Regionalzug (R) and Regio (Swiss railway train), R ...

RB 115 services.

References

External links

* Line route a
OpenRailwayMap
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leipzig-Eilenburg railway Railway lines in Saxony