Werra Railway

For other railways in the Werra valley, see Werra Valley Railway.
Werra Railway
Overview
Native name Werrabahn
Locale Thuringia and Bavaria, Germany
Line number 6311
Technical
Line length 151 km (94 mi)
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Route number 575, 569, 820
Route map

 from Erfurt
 0.00 Eisenach
 to Bebra
 3.88 Höpfen Block
 6.19 Förtha Tunnel (549m)
 7.91 Förtha (to 1946: Epichnellen)
 to Gerstungen
 from Gerstungen
 13.12 Marksuhl
 17.03 Ettenhausen
 20.01 Oberrohn
 Werra bridge (66 m)
 to Vacha
 24.49 Leimbach-Kaiseroda level crossing post
 from Vacha
 from Güterzentrum Merkers
 26.74 Bad Salzungen
 31.29 Immelborn(wedge station)
 to Bad Liebenstein
 36.85 Breitungen (Werra)(to 2000 Bf)
 to Trusetal (narrow gauge)
 41.35 Wernshausen
 to Schmalkalden
 44.99 Schwallungen
 48.52 Wasungen block post
 Werra Bridge (80 m)
 54.94 Walldorf (Werra)
 56.5 Coal loading point (to 1991)
 60.59 Meiningen
 to Schweinfurt
 65.14 Untermaßfeld
 from Schweinfurt
 67.79 Grimmenthal
 to Erfurt
 Werra Valley viaduct (A 71)
 74.24 Vachdorf
 81.26 Themar
 to Schleusingen
 87.18 Reurieth
 Werra bridge
 93.28 Hildburghausen
 to Lindenau (narrow gauge)
 Werra bridge
 100.73 Veilsdorf
 104.53 Harras
 Werra valley viaduct (A 73)
 Werra bridge
 to Schönbrunn (narrow gauge)
 108.29 Eisfeld
 to Sonneberg)
 Thuringia/Bavaria (Inner German Border)
 114.68 Görsdorf
 119.64 Tiefenlauter
 125.14 Esbach
 from Sonneberg
 from Bad Rodach
 130.11 Coburg
 131.80 Coburg freight yard
 Itz bridge
 134.77 Creidlitz (since 1900)
 to Rossach
 135.4 Niederfüllbach(to 1900)
 135.6 Niederfüllbach link curve (u. c.)
 136.6 Füllbach Valley Viaduct(u. c.)
 138.07 Grub am Forst
 139.8 Füllbach valley viaduct (A 73)
 141.15 Ebersdorf
 to Weidhausen
 145.60 Seehof
 148.25 Schney
 Main bridge
 from Hof and from Saalfeld
 150.90 Lichtenfels
 to Bamberg

Source: German railway atlas[1]

The Werra Railway (German: Werrabahn) is a single-tracked main line with a standard gauge of 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) in Thuringia and Bavaria in southern and central Germany, that runs mostly along the river Werra. It runs from Eisenach via Meiningen to Eisfeld and, formerly, continued to Coburg and Lichtenfels. It was opened in 1858 and is one of the oldest railways in Germany. The railway company that built it, the Werra Eisenbahngesellschaft with its HQ in Meiningen was also often called by the Werrabahn. The company also ran several of the stub lines branching off the Werra Railway.

History

Meiningen station in 1859
Grimmenthal station, Go signal box
Lichtenfels station
Seat of the Werra Railway Company in Meiningen today

In 1841 the Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach and the duchies of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Saxe-Meiningen signed a treaty to establish a railway from Eisenach to Coburg. In 1845 an agreement was made with the Kingdom of Bavaria to connect the Werra Railway to the Ludwig South-North Railway in Lichtenfels and finally in 1855 the newly formed Werra Railway Company (Werra-Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft) received a concession to build and operate the line.

On 18 February 1856 a groundbreaking ceremony was celebrated in Grimmelshausen near Themar. On 1 November 1858 the whole line was formally opened between Eisenach and Coburg with a length of 130.1 km. There were 17 signal boxes, 10 roundhouses, a depot, 22 houses for railway officials, 128 gatekeepers’ houses, 179 crossings, 63 underpasses or overpasses, 31 bridges and a tunnel at Förtha. In June 1858, 8,470 workers were involved in the construction.

Regular services began on 2 November 1858 with 24 locomotives and 367 wagons. The remaining 30 km of the line to Lichtenfels was put into operation in January 1859. All construction works had been designed from the outset for two-track service. Several sections were duplicated by 1910: the line through the Thuringian Forest from Eisenach to Bad Salzungen (26.7 km), between Schwallungen and Wasungen (3.5 km), between Meiningen and Grimmenthal (7.1 km) and between Coburg and Creidlitz (4.6 km).

All assets of the Werra Railway Company were acquired by the Prussian state on 1 October 1895 for 25 million marks. The line was administered by the railway administration of the Deutsche Reichsbahn in Erfurt until 1945.

On 8 April 1945, bridges in Eisfeld were blown up, closing rail operations. The establishment of the border between occupation zones led to the closure of the line between Eisfeld and Görsdorf Station, which is in Bavaria. The line closed on 30 August 1949 due to a dilapidated subway on the section between Görsdorf and Tiefenlauter. Passenger traffic was maintained in Bavaria by a bus service up the Lauter valley to Rottenbach. Freight trains operated to Tiefenlauter until 1 July 1976 but on 6 April 1977 the line was closed and subsequently dismantled. By 1989 land had been sold and partly built on in Lautertal and Dörfles-Esbach, so restoration of the line is not possible.

Electric train services commenced on the Coburg–Lichtenfels section on 5 October 1950. It was one of the first electrification projects in Germany after the war. It was intended to strengthen the relationship between Coburg region and Bavaria, following Coburg's unification with Bavaria in 1920. Electrification was extended on the Coburg–Sonneberg line to Neustadt bei Coburg in1975 and to Sonneberg in 1991.

Three arches of the bridge over the Main at Schney were blown up on 10 April 1945. In October 1945, a temporary repair was made to the bridge, allowing operations at 20 km/h. At the beginning of 1969 this was replaced by a new bridge, 130 m long.

Operations

Füllbach Valley viaduct of the A73
Immelborn station

In 1858 passenger trains took about four hours to cover the 130 km between Eisenach and Coburg. In 1934, express trains from Eger via Bayreuth and Lichtenfels to Eisenach took two hours and ten minutes. In 1939, on weekdays an express train, two semi-fast (Eilzug) trains and five stopping trains operated daily on the line, each way.

In the years following the Second World War, there were no high-quality passenger trains on the Werra line, with a few exceptions, such as the Bad Liebenstein–Leipzig express train. In the last years of East Germany a daily fast train ran from Bad Salzungen via Eisenach to Zwickau. On another section of the line an express train for construction workers ran on Monday, generally shortly after midnight, from Bad Salzungen via Meiningen and Erfurt to Berlin. Only on the short section between Meiningen and Grimmenthal did fast trains run more often than daily to destinations including Berlin, Leipzig, Halle (Saale), Dresden, Görlitz and Stralsund, alternating between the Werra line via Eisenach and the direct line to Erfurt. Among them was the well-known Städteexpress ("city express"), Rennsteig, that first ran in 1976.

Today, the Sud-Thüringen-Bahn operates hourly diesel multiple units from Eisenach to Eisfeld, taking two hours. In 1990 this trip took two hours and 45 minutes, although in 1934 it took only one hour and 50 minutes for the 108 km route. Between Lichtenfels and Coburg, continuing to Sonnenberg, Deutsche Bahn operates services alternately every two-hours as Regionalbahn (Lichtenfels–Sonnenberg) and Regional-Express (Nuremberg–Sonnenberg) trains.

There has been pressure to reopen the 17 km long closed section between Eisfeld and Coburg in Upper Franconia, which would require some rerouting because of building on its route. An estimate in early 2009 was that this would cost to €103.4 million. The government of Bavaria regards this estimate as too low, mainly because it does not include electrification.

Notes

  1. ↑ Eisenbahnatlas Deutschland (German railway atlas). Schweers + Wall. 2009. ISBN 978-3-89494-139-0.

Sources

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