Cottbus–Frankfurt (Oder) railway

The Cottbus–Frankfurt (Oder) railway is a single-track main line in the German state of Brandenburg, which was originally built and operated by the Cottbus-Großenhain Railway Company (German: Cottbus-Großenhainer Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft, CGE) and directly connects the two cities to each other. It runs from Cottbus via Peitz to Frankfurt (Oder). Only the section between Grunow and Frankfurt and a short section near Cottbus are still in operation. Trains running over the line now use the line to Guben and continue on the line of the former Lower Silesian-Mark Railway (Niederschlesisch-Märkische Eisenbahn).

Cottbus–Frankfurt (Oder) railway
Overview
Line number6253 (Germany)
LocaleBrandenburg, Germany
Service
Route number
  • 209.36 (Frankfurt–Grunow)
  • 211 (Willmersdorf–Cottbus)
Technical
Line length73.2 km (45.5 mi)
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in) standard gauge
Electrification15 kV/16.7 Hz AC Overhead catenary
Route map

79.730
Cottbus Hauptbahnhof
to Żary and to Görlitz
Cottbus-Sandow
to Guben (until 2002)
Cottbus-Merzdorf
to Peitz Ost (since 2002)
88.300
Willmersdorf (Kr Cottbus)
94.400
Peitz
97.400
Preilack junction
102.600
Tauer
109.800
Jamlitz
(previously Lieberose)
narrow gauge railway to Byhlen
114.800
Ullersdorf (Schwansee)
120.900
Weichensdorf
123.900
Groß Briesen
connecting curve to Schneeberg
from Königs Wusterhausen
129.318
Grunow (Niederlausitz)
133.110
Mixdorf
138.964
Müllrose
144.216
Helenesee
144.500
Markendorf siding
148.484
Fauler See
151.025
Frankfurt (Oder)-Neuberesinchen
151.163
Frankfurt (Oder) Afs junction
from Eisenhüttenstadt and from Poznań
152.167
Frankfurt (Oder) Pbf
to Eberswalde and Küstrin-Kietz
Source: German railway atlas[1]

History

Regio-Shuttle of the ODEG near the entrance to Mixdorf station
Level crossing of the road to Großer Müllroser See

Planning for a rail connection from the area around the town of Müllrose had started by 1840. In 1843, August Leopold Crelle presented a design for a railway from Berlin to Breslau (now Wrocław) that would run near Briesen.[2] This connection—the Lower Silesian-Mark Railway—was, however, built via Frankfurt (Oder). Subsequently plans were studied for a line between Frankfurt and Leipzig. The Cottbus-Großenhain Railway Company opened a line between Großenhain and Cottbus in 1870 and planned an extension to Frankfurt. The original plans envisaged a course via Friedland and Beeskow,[2] but it was eventually decided to take a route further east.

The line was opened to traffic on 31 December 1876. Stations were built in between in Peitz, Jamlitz (first called Lieberose after a nearby town), Weichensdorf, Grunow and Müllrose. The railway served at first as a long-distance connection between Dresden, Cottbus and Frankfurt (Oder) and with other towns located to the east of the Oder.

In 1871 and 1872 the Halle-Sorau-Guben Railway Company built lines from Leipzig and Halle to Cottbus with connections to Guben and to Sorau (now Żary). This also connected with the line from Berlin to Wroclaw and Frankfurt (Oder). Semi-fast and express trains ran between Cottbus and Frankfurt on this line until 1945, but they were then diverted on the slightly longer and better maintained route through Guben and Eisenhüttenstadt in order to serve these two important towns. Some passenger services remained on the line via Grunow.

The line remained single-track and non-electrified. Due to the lack of traffic on the line, Deutsche Bahn closed passenger services between Grunow and Peitz on 1 June 1996. For some years railcars still ran hourly between Cottbus and Peitz until this traffic was abandoned on 30 May 2000. Freight traffic ended between Grunow and Jamlitz on 1 July 1996 and between Peitz and Jamlitz on 5 November 2000. In August 2002, the section between Cottbus and Willmersdorf was reactivated since in this area the Cottbus–Guben railway had to be moved for the expansion of the Cottbus-Nord open cast mine. The line was relaid next to the old line towards Peitz as far as Willmersdorf. This also included the construction of several stations.

Rail services

Services are operated by Niederbarnimer Eisenbahn GmbH (NEB) on the Königs Wusterhausen–Beeskow-Frankfurt (Oder) route as the RB 36 Regionalbahn service. These services run hourly on weekdays and every two hours on the weekend.

References

  1. Eisenbahnatlas Deutschland [German railway atlas]. Schweers + Wall. 2009. pp. 37, 48–49. ISBN 978-3-89494-139-0.
  2. Matthias Müller. "Chronik der Eisenbahnstrecke Frankfurt (Oder) – Müllrose – Grunow – Cottbus, Vorgeschichte" (in German). Eisenbahnfreunde. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
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