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

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

, 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), Pegnitz river, to Hersbruck and continuing via Neukirchen bei Sulzbach-Rosenberg and Amberg to Schwandorf station, Schwandorf in t ...

at Neukirchen bei Sulzbach-Rosenberg station and runs via

Vilseck Vilseck is a town and municipality () in the Oberpfalz region of northeastern Bavaria, Germany, situated on the river Vils, a tributary of the Naab river. , Vilseck's population was 6,768 citizens, who live within an area of consisting of Vi ...

Weiden in der Oberpfalz Weiden in der Oberpfalz (, ; official abbreviation: 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. Weiden is the second b ...

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 (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

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) (), also known as the U.S. Army Garrison Grafenwoehr (abbreviated USAG Grafenwoehr), is a United States Army military training base located near Grafenwöhr, eastern Bavaria, Germany. At , it is the largest train ...

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 Ba ...

. 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 dist ...

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 Regensbu ...

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 Germany, German state of Bavaria. Its jurisdiction covers the city and its surrounding area, responsible for the ...

(Nuremberg Region Transport Association) as

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 ...

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

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