Leipzig–Dresden railway

The line was built by the Leipzig-Dresden Railway Company (German: Leipzig-Dresdner Eisenbahn-Compagnie, LDE) established by twelve businessmen in 1835. The idea that a railway should connect Leipzig with Strehla (on the Elbe), was first suggested in 1830 by the Leipzig merchant Carl Gottlieb Tenner. After the economist Friedrich List (1789–1846) published plans in Leipzig in 1833 for a German railway system with Leipzig as a central node, Tenner's idea gained new force. In the same year, a railway committee was established and it addressed a petition requesting the building of a railway line from Leipzig to Dresden to the first Saxon parliament (Sächsischer Landtag) in Dresden on 20 November 1833. with departing steam engine, around 1837 After the railway had been approved by government decree on 6 May 1835, the Leipzig-Dresden Railway Company was founded by twelve citizens of Leipzig as a private corporation on 22 May. The shares of the company were fully subscribed at a price of 100 thalers within one and a half days, making capital of 1.5 million thalers available to the company. In October 1835, the English engineers Sir James Walker and Hawkshaw examined the proposed routes and stated their preference for a northern route via Strehla (estimated cost: 1,808,500 thalers) rather than a route via Meissen (1,956,000 thalers). Construction about 1840 On 16 November 1835, land acquisition began for the section between Leipzig and the bridge over the Mulde west of Wurzen. Ground was broken near Machern on 1 March 1836. The management of the construction for the whole project was in the hands of the Saxon Senior Waterways Construction Engineer (Oberwasserbaudirektor), Karl Theodor Kunz (1791–1863). But then the town of Strehla refused permission for the railway to be built through it. So the line was built seven kilometers to the south, crossing the Elbe in Riesa. The company's initial capital in 1837 was 4.5 million thalers, which was later increased to 6.5 million thalers. The first train crosses the Elbe bridge on 7 April 1839. The line was brought into operation in several stages: • 1837, 24 April: Leipzig–Althen (10.60 km) • 1837, 12 November: Althen–Borsdorf–Gerichshain (4.32 km) • 1838, 11 May: Gerichshain–Machern (2.93 km) • 1838, 19 July: Weintraube–Dresden (8.18 km) • 1838, 31 July: Machern–Wurzen (8.00 km) • 1838, 16 September: Wurzen–Dahlen (17.53 km) • 1838, 16 September: Oberau–Coswig–Weintraube (13.44 km) • 1838, 3 November: Dahlen–Oschatz (9.56 km) • 1838, 21 November: Oschatz–Riesa (13.07 km) • 1839, 7 April: Riesa–Oberau (28.45 km) On 7 April 1839, on the completion of the Elbe bridge at Riesa, the entire route from Leipzig to Dresden was finally opened. The travel time between Leipzig and Dresden was three hours and 40 minutes. It included the 513-metre-long Oberau Tunnel, the first standard gauge rail tunnel in continental Europe. The line was preceded only by the Prince William Railway, a narrow-gauge plateway opened in 1831 and the Bavarian Ludwig Railway opened in 1835, which was a short line and was initially operated largely by horse-drawn trains, partly because it was located a long way from coal fields and no railways existed to convey coal to Nuremberg. In contrast the Leipzig–Dresden Railway used only steam traction from its beginning. Work began immediately on building a second track. The whole line was open for two-track operations by 1 October 1840. This was made possible because the subgrade along with all engineering structures had been designed from the outset for two tracks. Trains—following English practice—ran on the left until 1884. Operations by the Royal Saxon State Railways On 29 March 1876, the general meeting of shareholders decided to sell the Leipzig–Dresden Railway to the Saxon government. Operations and management of the Leipzig-Dresden Railway were transferred to the Royal Saxon State Railways (Königlich Sächsische Staatseisenbahnen) on 1 July 1876. The development of the Leipzig–Dresden Railway from its beginnings as a private initiative of Leipzig citizens until its nationalisation in 1878 is reflected in Leipzig's railway heritage. The Saxon part of the new Leipzig Hauptbahnhof (main station), which became the terminus for trains from Dresden, was put into operation on 4 December 1915. After the First World War 1 April 1920, the Royal Saxon State Railways (recently renamed the Saxon State Railway) were absorbed into the newly established German National Railways (Deutsche Reichsbahn). The Leipzig-Dresden line came under the administration of the Dresden Reichsbahn Directorate. From 1 July 1933 to July 1934 the Oberau Tunnel was opened up and turned into a cutting, because the tunnel was not wide enough as the loading gauge had increased. As a result, the distance between the two tracks did not allow two trains to pass in the tunnel. The line in the communist era In 1946 one of the two tracks was removed to provide the route as reparations to the Soviet Union. Even the previously four-track section between and was reduced to only one track. This meant that the capacity of one of the most important main lines in Germany had been reduced to only a fraction of its former level. Temporarily trains ran one way from Leipzig and Dresden on the line, while trains running in the other direction ran via Meissen and Döbeln. This system of operations proved problematic, however, as the hilly route via Döbeln meant that additional locomotives were always needed for heavy trains. The second track had been rebuilt by 1967. The table below shows the dates of the completion of the electrification: Upgrade to a high-speed line After the German reunification in 1990, the line was one of the busiest railway in Germany and, like many other lines of Deutsche Reichsbahn, required urgent rehabilitation and modernisation. The project was approved as German Unity Transport Project No. 9 (VDE 9) by the Federal Cabinet on 9 April 1991. The scheduled journey time between Leipzig Hauptbahnhof and Dresden Hauptbahnhof has been reduced to 47 minutes in 2014. In 1990, the travel time between Leipzig and Dresden had been 90 minutes. Planning The Reichsbahn divisions of Dresden and Halle developed a feasibility study until 14 November 1991. Initially it was planned that the existing route would be supplemented by about 105 km of new line. With a top speed of 250 km/h, the travel time of ICE trains would have amounted to around 35 minutes. The completion was initially scheduled for 31 December 1998. With 74 km of upgraded line and 41 km of new construction, the line would be able to operate over its entire length at 200 km/h. An application for planning approval for the new section was prepared in 1993. A scheduled rebuilding of the line between Engelsdorf and Leipzig as a four-track electrified line was rejected by the Federal Ministry of Transport on 27 August 1993. The preparatory work for the construction of this section, which had started in May 1993, was abandoned. The Weißig–Böhla link to the Berlin–Dresden railway and the diversion of long-distance services to the Berlin–Dresden line between Böhla and Neucoswig represented the only remaining planned changes to the route of the line. To date (as of 2013), no completion date has been set for the entire project In addition, a 7 km-long 110 kV traction current cable between Lüptitz and Wurzen and the Wurzen substation was to be rebuilt • upgrade of the Leipzig–Riesa section for a top speed of 200 km/h. This stage was started in 1993 and completed in 2002. In 1996, the first electronic interlocking in Saxony was taken into operation in Oschatz. The line has been largely upgraded for speeds of 160 km/h in the city of Leipzig and for 200 km/h east of Leipzig-Paunsdorf. In the section between Leipzig and Wurzen the existing route has been largely preserved; deviations of the line were necessary in four places to permit speeds to be raised. The section of rebuilt line through Wurzen station (km 21.6 to 27.66) was upgraded for speeds of only 160 km/h. In the autumn of 1997, the Posthausen–Altenbach and Wurzen–Bornitz sections were upgraded for operations at 200 km/h, services commenced on the Borsdorf–Altenbach section at 160 km/h and on the Wurzen-Riesa section at 200 km/h in May 1998. The upgrade of the Altenbach–Wurzen section (km 21.64 to 25.23) started in the autumn of 1999, including a realignment around the Mulde, which was around 1,000 m long. The first stage of construction between Leipzig and Riesa went into operation in 2002. The section has since been largely (kilometres 5–23 and 29–51) operable at 200 km/h and equipped with the Linienzugbeeinflussung train protection system (kilometres 3.6–59.5). Between Borsdorf and Bornitz the sub-block mode was used for the first time for trains entering from on a track connecting from an old line. The section of line controlled by the electronic signalling centre at Wurzen now makes reversible operations possible continuously from Leipzig-Engelsdorf to Bornitz and Leipzig Hauptbahnhof to Oschatz. €530 million had been invested in the upgrading of 51 km of lines by the beginning of 2002. With more than 220 trains per day, the line was considered to be the most important railway line in Saxony. During the 2002 European floods, two bridges to the east of Riesa collapsed and an embankment was severely damaged. The section was completely closed from 16 August 2002. Regular operations were resumed with two single-track temporary bridges on 31 October 2002. The second track at Röderau was put back into operation at the end of August 2003 The total damage to the track to the end of 2002 was estimated at €60 million. The Riesa–Zeithain section, including the three-track Elbe crossing, and the new selection of line connecting to the Berlin–Dresden railway were completed as part of the third stage of construction. The 13 km long upgrade of the line between Dresden-Neustadt and Coswig began in the autumn of 2009 and is expected to be completed in 2016. As a result of the upgrade, two separate tracks will be established for both the long-distance traffic and the Dresden S-Bahn. The signalling and the S-Bahn stations along the line are being completely renewed and a new Dresden Bischofsplatz station is being built as part of this work. Once the work is completed, the speed limit on this section will increase for long-distance and regional traffic from 120 km/h to 160 km/h. Work has not begun on sections of this line at Riesa station and on the Röderau–Zeithain junction and Zeithain junction–Weißig sections. Between Weißig (km 77.9) and Coswig (km 101.3) the line was upgraded for the use of active tilting In July 2010, it was expected to be completed by the spring of 2016. Deutsche Bahn justified the delays compared to the original plan as being a result of the delays in the finalisation of the financing of all parts of the project until October 2009. The section between Dresden-Neustadt and Coswig is now expected (as of 2014) to be completed in 2016. The track has been equipped with ETCS Level 2. It is not known (as of summer 2015) when continuous operations at 200 km/h between Riesa and Coswig will be possible. Assuming sufficient federal funding, it was planned in mid-2008 that the line would be completed in 2014. Cost From 2008 The European Union is contributing €50 million from the European Regional Development Fund for the financing of construction phase 3. It is estimated that approximately €222 million will be spent on upgrading the Dresden-Neustadt–Coswig section, including almost €91 million for the upgrade of the S-Bahn. Economic benefits and traffic A cost-benefit analysis of the development project from April 2010 provided a cost-benefit ratio of 4.2. According to a statement of the Verkehrsverbund Oberelbe (Upper Elbe Transport Association) in April 2014, about 7,200 passengers were counted on weekdays between Dresden and Riesa or Großenhain and about 11,700 between Dresden and Radebeul. The volume of passengers increased by 6% between Dresden and Radebeul in 2011–2012. ==Route==

North of Leipzig Hauptbahnhof, the continuously double-track line turns east and runs through a densely populated area. The platforms of Leipzig-Volkmarsdorf station, which have been dismantled, lay just before the Hermann-Liebmann-Straße road bridge (km 1.9) and at the following Bennigsenstraße bridge there is a track connection from the regional depot to the old LDE locomotive depot on the line to Dresden on the other side of the Leipzig–Geithain railway. The line now continues slightly to the southeast, while the now dismantled link to the Leipzig–Hof railway, connecting to and (–), formerly ran straight ahead and then took a 90 degree turn to the south and crossed a bridge over the Leipzig–Dresden line. Immediately after the bridge of Torgauer Straße, a single-track connection ran from the line to Hof to meet the Leipzig-Dresden line near Leipzig-Sellerhausen station at Püchauerstraße junction. The line passes under the Leipzig freight ring that runs from to at km 3.9 and shortly afterwards it passes underneath the connecting curve between Leipzig-Schönefeld and Leipzig-Engelsdorf stations. After Leipzig-Paunsdorf the main line to Geithain branches off, which runs parallel with the Leipzig–Dresden line to this point, formerly as two tracks, but now as one track. The line continues past the Leipzig-Engelsdorf marshalling yard. In the station area, there are two connections to the Leipzig freight ring, one over the short connection at km 5.6 and the other at the eastern end of the yard at km 7.8. The line has three tracks between Leipzig-Engelsdorf and Borsdorf. On the approach to Borsdorf, at km 9.1, the line passes under Autobahn 14, which was completed in 1939. Just one kilometre after that is the point in Althen where trains from Leipzig terminated at the end of the first stage of the line's construction in 1837. A memorial stone was erected there in 1987. In Borsdorf station, the second Leipzig–Dresden line branches off via . In Machern there is a three-kilometer long and up to twelve metre deep cutting. It was one of the largest pieces of earthworks on the line. In Wurzen, the line which has run steadily to the northeast from Borsdorf reaches its most northerly point and crosses the Mulde. The Mulde bridge, the first German railway bridge, was built in 1837–38 by August Königsdorfer as a simple wooden structure that was 384 m long, surpassing the 19-span bridge over the Elbe at Riesa by 39 m. The Mulde Valley Railway began in Wurzen station and ran via Großbothen for Glauchau and its northern extension ran to Eilenburg, both classified as branch lines. The Mulde Valley Railway's connection to the waterglass factory in Dehnitz continues in use. At the next junction at Kornhain, the line to Eilenburg connected to the line from Dresden for a second time. The connecting curve, which was built mainly for military reasons, was occasionally used for diversions. At km 29.25, the line crosses federal highway 6 on the oldest still-used railway bridge in Germany, which was built in 1838. The line now runs to the southeast, passing north of the Collmberg, which rises to 312 metres above sea level, and runs through a curve to the left to Oschatz station, which is north of the town. The 750 mm gauge railway to Mügeln (part of the Mügeln railway network) still begins next to Oschatz station; formerly another 750 mm gauge line ran to Strehla. 500 metres past the station, the line ran until 1995 over a viaduct with three arches and then another bridge over the Döllnitz river. Both bridges were, until 1847, part of a viaduct that was 406 m long and consists of 25 arches. This was replaced by an embankment. During the upgrade of the line in 1995, the arch on the Döllnitz crossing was widened, while the rest of the Döllnitz viaduct is no longer used. A little further down the line, a standard gauge track was built in the 1980s, connecting at the Mannschatz crossing loop and running over an old narrow-gauge track bed to Strehla in order to create a bypass of the Riesa Elbe bridge as a preparation for war. The line runs eastward to Riesa, where the lines from Chemnitz and Nossen branch off. Beyond the station, it crosses the Elbe on a tied-arch bridge that was built from 1964 to 1966. In Röderau and Zeithain, there are two junctions to lines to Falkenberg (Elster) and to Elsterwerda. The line now turns to run southeast and crosses to Elbe-Elster barge canal in Glaubitz. After Weißig, the line to Böhla, which opened in 2010, carries the high-speed passenger services to the Berlin–Dresden railway to complete their approach to Dresden. The line crosses federal highway 101 in Priestewitz, where the Großenhain–Priestewitz railway branches off to connect with the Großenhain–Cottbus railway. From here the line runs to the south generally parallel with the Berlin-Dresden railway. It formerly passed through the famous 515 m long 9.6 m-wide Oberau Tunnel, which was built by 500 master miners from Freiberg and 2,000 assistants over 3 years to 1839. This was converted into a cutting in 1933. At the level of the former eastern portal of the tunnel above the cutting there is a monument to the tunnel in the form of one of the ornamental pillars of the tunnel entrance. Niederau station (km 95.7) has the second oldest railway station building in Germany, which was the oldest operating station building in Germany for a long time until its sale in the early 2000s. Shortly later the line reaches Weinböhla station, which was opened on 15 December 2002. At km 98.6 in Coswig, it is still possible to see the remains of the connecting curve to Neusörnewitz on the line to Döbeln, which was closed in 1993. After the crossing of the lines from Berlin and Leipzig, the Berlin–Dresden railway crosses the Elbe and runs on its south bank to Dresden-Friedrichstadt yard. The Leipzig–Dresden line continues on the north bank of the Elbe via Radebeul to , where just before the station it connects with the Dresden–Görlitz railway. The Leipzig–Dresden line continues through the inner city of Dresden and crosses the Elbe a second time over the Marien Bridge (Marienbrücke), to meet the line from Berlin and the Dresden–Werdau railway, which together fan out and turn towards Dresden Hauptbahnhof, where they end. The line continues as the Dresden–Děčín railway, also known as the Elbe Valley Railway. ==Notes==