Cheb–Oberkotzau railway
| Cheb–Aš–Selb-Plößberg–Oberkotzau | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Route number: | 858 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Line number: | 5027 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Line length: | 54.8 km (34.1 mi) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Track gauge: | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Voltage: | Cheb–Františkovy Lázně: 25 kV, 50 Hz AC | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Cheb–Oberkotzau railway is a railway line in Bavaria, Germany, and the Czech Republic which was built as a main line. It begins in Cheb (German: Eger) and runs via Františkovy Lázně (Franzensbad), Aš (Asch) and Selb to Oberkotzau. The line was originally planned as a direct railway link between Eger and Hof; but the plan was changed so that the existing Ludwig South-North Railway between Oberkotzau and Hof was shared. The section Aš–Selb-Plößberg was closed during the Cold War, but rebuilt and reopened in 2015.
The city of Hof tried as early as 1845 to be linked to the newly emerging railway network. The priority was to create a direct link to the west Bohemian coal mines so that the local industry could be better supported and supplied.
Because the Kingdom of Bavaria did not at first want to build such a link itself, another solution was sought. The city of Hof took out a loan from the Royal Bank in Nuremberg of more than 10 million German gold marks and was granted the concession; it handed over the construction of the line to the factory owner Theodor von Cramer-Klett. Operation of the line was leased to Royal Bavarian State Railways after the line had been finished. Because more than half the railway ran through Bohemian territory, a state treaty between Bavaria and Austria was necessary.
Between Eger and Franzensbad the trackbed was shared with the Saxon line from Herlasgrün to Eger (Voigtländische Staatseisenbahn). Operationally both lines were independently classed as main lines along this section. From Franzensbad the line ran via Asch, Selb and Rehau to Oberkotzau, where it joined the Ludwig South-North Railway (Bamberg–Hof railway). For topographical reasons the line could not be routed directly to Hof.
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Wikipedia