Magdeburg-Wittenberge railway
The railway Magdeburg- Wittenberg is a two-track, electrified main line in Saxony- Anhalt. It was from 1846 to 1849 by the Magdeburg -Wittenberg ash Railway Company ( NWE ) built and then operated by. After the 1863 takeover of NWE by the Magdeburg- Halberstadt Railway Company in 1879, the MHE part of the Prussian state railways.
Course
The route begins at Magdeburg Central Station and from there to the north. The train case runs mostly between the Elbe and the federal highway 189 until Zielitz the track next regional trains also from Magdeburg S -Bahn is shared. Line center is Stendal. Here is an interchange to routes to Berlin, Hannover, Tangermünde and Salzwedel. Behind Stendal, the route turns northwards. Immediately before the end point Wittenberg crossing the railway the same. The same bridge Wittenberg is the longest railway bridge construction in the GDR. In Wittenberg station it finally flows into the main railway between Berlin and Hamburg. The station was originally designed as a wedge of both routes and train station was rebuilt with the expansion of the latter.
History
Background and construction
Started in 1838 in the Kingdom of Prussia with the Berlin- Potsdam Railway, the railway age. A continuation of the course westwards was already planned, but without precise routing. The city of Stendal, even without connection, wanted to continue the line of Potsdam Genthin, Stendal to Hamburg. From Genthin should also run a branch line to Magdeburg. The project was rejected in favor of a direct Berlin- Hamburg route. At the same time the plans for the continuation of the Berlin- Potsdamer Bahn, which should now continue to Magdeburg concretized.
Magdeburg subsequently became one of the first major railway junction and was in 1843 already has three routes of Leipzig ( Magdeburg- Leipzig Railway, MLE ), Berlin ( Berlin- Potsdam- Magdeburg Railway, BPME ) and Halberstadt ( Magdeburg- Halberstadt railway, MHE ) reached. An important especially for foreign trade route to Hamburg, however, did not exist. It was then developed on the initiative of the mayor of Magdeburg August Wilhelm Francke a specific routing. This guide has been viewed on September 29, 1843 by Cabinet Order as the shortest and highest commercially sensible line between Magdeburg and Wittenberg ( with connections to the train to Hamburg). The Magdeburg -Wittenberg Ash Railway Company as the designated operator konstitutierte in the following month. The construction of the track was mainly depends on how the work would have a negative impact on the dyke systems in the Altmark. So the company to obtain the concession was required to already have concrete plans for the same transition in Wittenberg and can carry out preparatory work on the dikes. Furthermore, it should get the web at completion after the other Magdeburg distances.
On July 6, 1845, the building was approved by the joint-stock company with a capital of 4,500,000 Reichstalern on adoption of the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm IV. The estimated construction costs amounted to a total of 4.483 million dollars, which were
The 1846 recorded construction proved to be relatively easy. The pipeline route was chosen so that the maximum slope at a ratio of 1:210 and the smallest radius at 300 rods (equivalent to about 1130 meters) is located. About 55 ½ percent of the course was flat.
Only at the two end points of the track construction proved to be problematic. While in Wittenberg by the construction of the bridge over the Elbe, the opening of the global route had to be postponed, there was the problem of the integration of one of the other routes in Magdeburg. As a prerequisite, a connection to the west and south, so on MHE and MLE was given. To achieve this, there were two options: The first was to bypass the fortifications of the city on the glacis and open into the station the Halberstadt route. It was shown here, however, the significant problem that ridges occur along the fortress ring. A bypass did not seem sensible, a breakthrough of the ridge was denied by the military authorities. The alternative provided for a similar route as in the Leipzig route that led her path through the fortifications round the Elbe River and built their station within the city.
The route from the north to the Elbe and breaks along this the fortress building. Since the space was not sufficient in another orientation along the river, the area east of it contained was to be filled up to make way for the railway facilities. There, the terminus was also built with the associated facilities. The track led further and eventually led to the facilities the Leipzig train.
Private and provincial railroad period
The line was opened in the three phases. It began on 7 July 1849, 99 km long section from Magdeburg to Seehausen. On August 5, 1849 was followed by the eight miles to the Elbe dike. Since the same bridge was still under construction, the passengers had initially translate a ferry to the other side to Wittenberg. It was only on 25 October 1851, the traffic could be performed over a wooden, first single-track bridge. In order to pass the sailboats, despite the small height of the structure, a portion of the bridge has been provided with a bogie. The final station had already been prepared for the construction of the Berlin- Hamburg Railway for the integration of the route; the reception building was located between two routes unite behind only.
In addition to the initially pursued idea of a direct rail route from Magdeburg to Hamburg the route should be on top of that function as a highway between the coast and central to southern Germany. However, the hope of the operator is not fulfilled, so that the operation did not pay in proportion as it is presented to shareholders. In addition, in 1855 a large part of the route already had to be reorganized because it had come in the Altmark to frequent flooding. In 1863 the company was finally bought by the Magdeburg- Halberstadt Railway Company. A direct connection did not exist between the two routes; the trains had shared use a short piece of Leipzig route.
1867 got the MHE the contract for the Berlin- Lehrter railway. Although a direct path was then already over Magdeburg, but the new route via Stendal was thus to drive in their overall course straight and in less time. To ensure passenger- friendly change to Stendal, however, the local railway facilities had to be rebuilt. The Lehrter railway runs south of the old city from east to west, the old route of the railway, however, led Wittenberg on the eastern edge of the city along. The new route saw a threading of the Wittenberg line in the Lehrter westward. There then arose the shared new station Stendal. Then the Wittenberg track branches off to the north, circling the city in along the northwest border and then runs back to their old line. Besides Lehrterstraße train that held in Stendal since 1871, a year the so-called " American Line " about Uelzen was previously added to Bremen. Your name stems from the fact that, especially emigrants trains ran to the North Sea ports on the line.
The situation in Magdeburg was unsatisfactory in the following years rapidly. Firstly, the transfer of the trains on the railway Leipzig was a nuisance, for others let the existing facilities on the River Elbe and no extension to. Therefore, the old idea of a common route along the ring fort was taken up again. Since the growth of the city brought the settlement area to outside the plant, it was increasingly viewed as a disruptive factor. It still had protracted negotiations with the Prussian military be performed until this ready made a corresponding terrain along the northern and western moat. The track was built jointly by the Halberstadt, the Berlin and Leipzig train. The new Magdeburg central station was because the three routes were still working separately created as an island station, the eastern passage tracks from Leipzig, the Western were built and operated by the Berlin and Halberstadt railway. The first train could depart for the castle already on 15 May 1873, however, the whole works continued until 1893 to go. During this period, 1876, the MLE went on in the MHE. This was then nationalized three years later.
State Railway time
After the takeover by the Prussian state railways, other companies have been bought. Under this large unified leadership, the formation of railway directorates was necessary. The Magdeburg -Wittenberg Ash railway was here assigned to the new Royal Railway Directorate ( KED ) Magdeburg. North of the Stendal average distance through the territory of the present KED Hanover.
1883-1884 was the construction of the Wittenberg same bridge. The old wooden structure was in disrepair and was replaced by a wrought iron truss structure. The swing bridge still keeping. It was replaced by a steel structure only at the second reconstruction from 1905 to 1910. Here, a second bridge section was built on the north side to accommodate the second track. The southern track was surfaced with a material and from private co-used as a road bridge was missing.
After the founding of the Deutsche Reichsbahn in 1920 the directorates were reorganized. The segment are assigned two directorates. From Magdeburg Stendal to the track now belonged to the newly formed Reichsbahndirektion ( Rbd ) Hannover, from Stendal to Wittenberg to Rbd Hamburg. In addition to the local trains of the Prussian province of Saxony, the route was also used by the mainline connection # 40 of Dresden Leipzig, Magdeburg, Wittenberg to Hamburg.
Towards the end of the Second World War it came to blowing up the Wittenberg same bridge. In the autumn of Soviet pioneers were able to restore the southern bridge section temporarily, through which the most necessary traffic is routed. As the bridge is also the single track route. The second track was dismantled as reparations to the Soviet occupation zone to the Soviet Union. The northern bridge section was temporarily restored in 1947, due to the missing track track but only the road was passed over the bridge. In 1950, the second track was put back into operation and returned to the road to the old south bridge.
The course was developed in the coming years the most important north-south connection of the GDR, which dealt Berlin. The second main track was therefore restored quickly. Since the bridge, despite the two tracks, because of the 30 km / h was a bottleneck that was 1957, a new construction of the superstructure with the inclusion of the old pillars.
In 1969 took place in Magdeburg area, the construction of the S -Bahn network. This required the entire plant from Zielitz, which was selected as the northern end point, be rebuilt to allow for mixed operation of S-Bahn, regional, long-distance and freight traffic. Also had to be mounted for operation overhead lines because the operation should be carried out electrically. North of the village core Zielitz a four-track station Zielitz was built to near a potash plant, which enabled both the sweep of the S -Bahn trains as well as driving through the freight trains. Continue in the direction of Magdeburg was built from the threading of the route from Oebisfelde own pair of tracks for the train to get around the yard Magdeburg- Rothensee. From Magdeburg -Neustadt S-Bahn back then uses the route together with the other train categories. The company was incorporated on 29 September 1974.
Further electrification took place in the 1980s. First, in 1982 the electrical equipment to Stendal and from 1987 to Wittenberg. While the operation was converted, built the German Reichsbahn a new Elbe bridge. The new bridge is the longest railway bridge, which was built in the GDR history.
Current situation
Today the route in the transport of the Regional Express line RE 7 and the regional rail line RB 30 from Magdeburg to Wittenberg as well as long-distance transport in the summer from the intercity train pair Warnow is used 2238/2239 of Leipzig Magdeburg, Wittenberg, Schwerin and Rostock to Warnemunde. Between Zielitz and Magdeburg Hauptbahnhof also reach the line S1 of the Magdeburg S-Bahn.
From the beginning of 2011 the traffic was restricted on the track, on the one hand the underpass was rebuilt on the Mittelland Canal, on the other hand led a signal box fire in Wolmirstedt to further shortages. 2012 went into Wolmirstedt a new electronic interlocking in operation, this is linked to the sub-center Biederitz. The new rail tunnel under the Mittelland Canal was completed in late 2013.