With the construction of the
großen Rheinstraße (Great Rhine Road), the current
federal highway 80, between
Cologne and Berlin in 1826 and the
Reichsstraße (National Road), the current
federal highway 247, from
Mühlhausen to
Duderstadt in 1834, Leinefelde began to develop into a road hub. With the construction of the
Halle–Nordhausen–Leinefelde–Eichenberg–Kassel/Göttingen railway in 1867, Leinefelde was also connected by rail. The
Nordhausen–
Eichenberg section of the line was officially opened on 9 July 1867. When a few years later the
Gotha–Leinefelde railway was opened, the station became a railway junction and it was redesignated as the
Zentralbahnhof des Eichsfeldes (Central station of
Eichsfeld). The
Kanonenbahn between
Berlin and
Metz, which runs through Leinefelde, was completed by the opening of the
rail connection from Leinefelde to Eschwege in 1880. From 1897, Leinefelde was also the starting point of the Leinefelde–Wulften railway, connecting Leinefelde via Breitenbach, Worbis and Wintzingerode and
Duderstadt with the
South Harz Railway (
Südharzstrecke). The line was interrupted between
Teistungen and Duderstadt from 1945 by the establishment of the
inner German border. Operations on the line were gradually reduced until traffic ended on the last part of the line in 2001 and it finally dismantled by 2005. The Kanonenbahn was also interrupted by the establishment of the inner German border between Schwebda (
Hesse) and
Geismar (Thuringia), which greatly reduced the importance of the Hessian section of the line. Passenger services were gradually reduced until they were discontinued in 1994 and a little later this part of the line was closed. A second track was added to the Halle–Hann. Münden railway and it was electrified up to 1994 as part of German Unity Transport Project No. 6 (
Verkehrsprojekt Deutsche Einheit Nr. 6). An
electronic interlocking was established in Leinefelde station as one of the first in Thuringia, controlling the
Heilbad Heiligenstadt–
Gernrode and Leinefelde–
Bad Langensalza sections. == Platforms==