Großenhain–Cottbus railway

Großenhain–Cottbus
The line south of Senftenberg
Overview
Line number	6253
Locale	Saxony and Brandenburg, Germany
Service
Route number	208
Technical
Line length	79.7 km (49.5 mi)
Number of tracks	2 (Ruhland–Cottbus)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	15 kV/16.7 Hz AC Overhead catenary
Route map Legend from Frankfurt (Oder) from Forst from Görlitz 79.7 Cottbus 75 m to Berlin and Halle (Saale) 76.9 Cottbus Südwest 73.9 Hänchen A 15 71.4 Leuthen (b Cottbus) 66.3 Drebkau 90 m 59.3 Neupetershain to Welzow 55.0 Bahnsdorf 54.7 Sornoer Buden Nord junction to Knappenrode from Knappenrode 53.0 Sornoer Buden West junction to Lübbenau from Lübbenau 49.9 Sedlitz Ost from Lübbenau (old route) 45.3 Senftenberg to Finsterwalde to Kamenz (old route) 42.5 Brieske to Kamenz 36.3 Victoria III mine 35.4 Schwarzheide Ost from Lauchhammer Ost now BASF siding Black Elster from Węgliniec 32.9 Ruhland 99 m to Roßlau 21.2 Ortrand 115 m Saxony–Brandenburg border A 13 11.5 Lampertswalde 150 m from Großenhain Berliner Bahnhof 0.0 Großenhain Cottbuser Bahnhof to Priestewitz Source: German railway atlas[1]

The Großenhain–Cottbus railway is an electrified main railway in the German states of Saxony and Brandenburg. It is double track between Cottbus and Ruhland and elsewhere single-track. It runs from Großenhain via Ruhland and Senftenberg to Cottbus.

The Großenhain–Cottbus line was built by the Cottbus-Großenhain Railway Company (German: Cottbus-Großenhainer Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft).

The Großenhain–Cottbus line was opened on 20 April 1870. With the subsequent opening of the Berlin–Dresden railway, Großenhain had two railway stations. The existing station on the line to Cottbus was renamed Großenhain Cottbuser Bahnhof and the new station was named Großenhain Berliner Bahnhof.

The end of the runway of the Großenhain military airfield used to be shortly east of Großenhain station towards Lampertswalde. Therefore, in the period between the electrification of the line in 1992 and the withdrawal of the Soviet/Russian armed forces in the autumn of 1993, a 660 metre long section was not electrified (route km 3.76 to 4.42). Electric locomotives coasted on this section of track with pantographs lowered. In addition, at the beginning of this section of the line from either direction progress was controlled from a signal, operated not by the railway dispatcher, but from the airfield. Thus, trains could be brought to a stop for the takeoff or landing of an aircraft without an earlier warning of a stop, leading to trains stopping in the catenary-free section and requiring them to be towed by a diesel locomotive based in the station.^[2]

Today the line is the main line between Dresden and Cottbus. The line is served by Regional-Express services on the Dresden–Cottbus, Dresden–Hoyerswerda and Cottbus–Falkenberg/Elster routes.

• Media related to Großenhain–Cottbus railway at Wikimedia Commons
• Axel Mauruszat. "Cottbus-Großenhainer Eisenbahn" (in German). Retrieved 26 February 2012.