a dirt road runs under two lines. In front is the line that ran between 1867 and 1884 to
Friedland, behind is the line opened in 1872 to
Eichenberg Planning and opening Already during the planning of the
Thuringian Railway in 1838, a route via Nordhausen was discussed, but it was dropped in favour of the route via
Erfurt. Despite considerable pressure from the region, no progress was made until an agreement was reached in 1862 between the
Prussian government and the
Magdeburg-Leipzig Railway Company (
Magdeburg-Leipziger Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft), providing for the construction of a line from Halle to
Heiligenstadt. While Kassel was the goal, the continuation of the line remained controversial, especially the best route through the
Werra and
Fulda valleys running through the
Kingdom of Hanover. Prussia was interested in a direct connection to Kassel, which did not rely on the
Thuringian Railway Company. In January 1863, a concession was formally granted and shortly afterwards construction began. On 1 September 1865 the line was opened from Halle via
Eisleben to
Sangerhausen and it was extended to Nordhausen on 10 July 1866 and via
Leinefelde and Heiligenstadt to
Arenshausen on 9 July 1867. After the annexation of Hanover as a result of the
War of 1866, Prussia instructed the railway company to build a route via
Großalmerode,
Helsa and
Kaufungen through the
Kaufungen Forest to give access to its glass factories and mines. That would have required a costly and steep route. The railway company resisted and originally built only a connection via
Friedland to Göttingen (opened on 1 August 1867), connecting to the
Hanoverian Southern Railway, which provided a connection to Kassel, all other work was delayed. In 1869, the railway company opened a connection from Arenshausen via
Eichenberg,
Witzenhausen Nord (above the city and on the other side of the Werra) and
Hedemünden to
Hann. Münden. The Hanoverian Southern Railway was rebuilt from there to Kassel with two tracks. This work was completed on 13 March 1872.
Development up to 1945 Traffic grew rapidly. After a few years, several connecting lines were opened. In 1869, the
South Harz Railway opened between Nordhausen and
Northeim and the
Nordhausen-Erfurt Railway opened between Wolkramshausen and
Erfurt. In 1870, the
Gotha–Leinefelde railway opened. In 1876, the
Bebra–Göttingen line (later part of the
North–South railway) was completed from Friedland to Eschwege and
Bebra, crossing in Eichenberg. On 1 June 1876, the line was nationalised, as part of the line was included in the project to build a line from
Berlin to Metz, the
Cannons Railway (
Kanonenbahn). This
strategic railway used the Halle-Kassel line between
Blankenheim and
Leinefelde. On 15 April 1879, the
Berlin-Blankenheim railway was opened from
Berlin-Grunewald via Güsten (which was connected to
Magdeburg via the
Schönebeck–Güsten railway) to a junction east of the Blankenheim Tunnel. In 1879, this was supplemented by a
link from Sangerhausen and Erfurt. From Leinefelde the Cannons Railway used the line towards Gotha. The development of the Halle–Kassel line was motivated not only by militarily considerations but also as a means of putting pressure on the Thuringian Railway, leading to its nationalisation between 1882 and 1886. In 1884, the Arenshausen-Friedland link (which had been superseded by the Bebra–Göttingen line connection at Eichenberg) was abandoned. Together, the South Harz, the
Solling and the
Altenbeken–Kreiensen lines created a major east-west freight route between Nordhausen and Halle. As a result, a little less traffic ran from Magdeburg and Halle via Nordhausen and Kassel to
Frankfurt. Passenger services for example on the Leinefelde–Eichenberg section in the summer of 1939 consisted on weekdays of four pairs of express trains, five pairs of semi-fast (
Eilzug) trains and ten pairs of stopping trains. Near the southern
Harz, the
Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp was established to the northwest of Nordhausen in 1943; it was attached to vast underground weapons factories. To remove through traffic from this area, construction was begun on a connecting line from the South Harz line near
Osterhagen to the Halle–Kassel line between Nordhausen and Werther. The construction of this
Helme Valley Railway (
Helmetalbahn) cost the life of several hundred forced labourers. It was never completed and its route was disrupted in 1945 by the
inner German border. Remnants of its embankments and bridges are still visible today. In the last years of the war the line was overloaded with armaments and military traffic, but also with trains carrying prisoners. Maintenance was largely abandoned. In the air raid on Kassel on 22 October 1943, the
central station was destroyed.
Halle (Saale) Hauptbahnhof was severely damaged on 31 March 1945. German troops blew up the Fulda and Werra bridges in early April during their retreat. On 7 April, an ammunition train exploded in Sangerhausen station. Ten days later the entire area of the line was occupied by the Americans. Later in May, traffic resumed on sections of the line.
Separation 1945 With the division of Germany into occupation zones the railway was interrupted between Arenshausen and Eichenberg. The last train crossed the future border on 24 July 1945, when U.S. troops handed Thuringia over to the
Red Army. In subsequent years, released prisoners of war and "
displaced persons" took the train to Arenshausen, from where they had to walk to the local border transit camp at Friedland. By 1952 there were repeated efforts to reopen the line. Instead, the border became increasingly hard to cross. From 1952 Arenshausen station was in the "exclusion zone", trains ran through it, but it could only be used with special permission. The tracks between Arenshausen and Eichenberg had been dismantled.
Reconstruction and further development in the East Germany Until 1947, the second track was largely dismantled for
reparations to the
Soviet Union, but it was largely restored from Halle to Sangerhausen by 1954. In 1965, the line near Berga-Kelbra was relocated for the new
Kelbra Dam on the
Helme. Potash mining and the newly formed cement industry in Deuna led to the duplication of the line at Sollstedt in 1979. Freight transport grew more intense. In 1986, it was decided to electrify the line from Halle to Leinefelde. This began in January 1989 and was completed in 1993.
Reconstruction and further development in West Germany EMUs. The station was closed with the opening of the
high-speed line, but it was later reopened. The bridges over the Fulda near Ihringshausen and the Werra near
Hedemünden were destroyed, but a single track was already back in operation in August 1945; two tracks were restored in 1949. The line has been electrified since 25 September 1964. At the same time, Eichenberg station was rebuilt and the exit towards Halle was temporarily closed. Until the opening of the
Hanover–Würzburg high-speed railway, the western section of the Halle-Kassel line was served by shuttle trains running between Kassel and an interchange at
Göttingen station, while
intercity services trains took the direct route from
Bebra to Göttingen, bypassing Kassel. In connection with the building of high-speed line, there were plans for the Eichenberg–Kassel line to be reduced to a single track. During the construction of high-speed line, the Halle–Kassel railway was relocated in the Fuldatal-Ihringshausen and Vellmar area. The community of Fuldatal ultimately succeeded after years of litigation with
Deutsche Bundesbahn in having their station re-opened.
German Unity Transport Project In 1989, it was decided to reopen the Arenshausen–Eichenberg section. Construction began as soon as January 1990. This included the upgrading of both stations with platforms for long trains (476 m in Eichenberg). In the "other requirements" section of the Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan (
Bundesverkehrswegeplan), a connection would be provided from the line at Speel to
Espenau-Mönchehof on the
Kassel–Warburg line, connecting to the
Ruhr, in order to save freight trains a reversal in Kassel. There are regular requests for the reconstruction of Eichenberg station in the layout it had up to 1954. == Current operations ==