Glauchau–Wurzen railway

Glauchau–Wurzen railway
Railway line in the Mulde valley beneath Göhren viaduct
Overview
Other name(s)	Muldentalbahn
Type	Branch line
Status	partly dismantled, no regular operation
Locale	Saxony
Termini	Glauchau Wurzen
Stations	25
Operation
Opened	1875/1877
Owner	Mittelsächsische Eisenbahninfrastrukturgesellschaft, Deutsche Bahn
Operator(s)	Deutsche Regionaleisenbahn GmbH, Deutscher Bahnkunden-Verband, Deutsche Bahn
Technical
Line length	82.5 km (51.3 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	none

The Glauchau–Wurzen railway is a secondary railway line in Saxony. It follows the valleys of Zwickauer Mulde and Mulde from Glauchau via Rochlitz and Grimma]] to Wurzen and is hence also known as Muldentalbahn (Mulde valley railway). Regular traffic on the line ended in the early 2000s. The section between Glauchau and Großbothen has been leased by Deutsche Regionaleisenbahn since 2005 and has been protected as a cultural monument since 2016, the remainder has been decommissioned.

Already in 1860, a committee formed in Penig with the aim of constructing a railway from Glauchau to Wurzen. In 1864 the Saxon parliament permitted the construction of a railway from Leipzig along the Mulde valley to Chemnitz. Since no private entrepreneur could be found for this project, permission was granted instead in 1868 for a railway from Glauchau via Wurzen to the border with Prussia. The private Muldenthal-Eisenbahngesellschaft was awarded the concession for the construction and operation of a railway between Glauchau and Wurzen on 29 April 1872. No concession was granted for the line to the border, because a continuation in Prussia could not be guaranteed.

While the right of way was intended for double-track operation which was taken into account in the construction of the Rochsburg tunnel and several bridges, due to the lack of a northern continuation the traffic never reached the levels that would have justified doubling of the line. Nevertheless the line was built to mainline standards. It was put into operation in several stages:

On 1 August 1878 the Muldenthal-Eisenbahngesellschaft was taken over by the Saxon state, the line and the rolling stock passed into the hands of the Royal Saxon State Railways. The separate station in Wurzen was closed, and the station of the Leipzig–Dresden railway became the terminus of the Muldentalbahn.

The Rabenstein bridge near Grimma was strengthened in 1931 which was possible without interrupting the traffic, because the line and the bridge had been prepared for double-tracked operation.