Greiz station

Greiz
Through station
Station tracks (2012)
Location	Poststr. 12, Greiz, Thuringia Germany
Coordinates	50°39′09″N 12°11′38″E / 50.6525°N 12.1940°E / 50.6525; 12.1940Coordinates: 50°39′09″N 12°11′38″E / 50.6525°N 12.1940°E / 50.6525; 12.1940
Line(s)	Gera Süd–Weischlitz (km 30.67) Neumark–Greiz (km 13.83)
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	2254
DS100 code	UGR
IBNR	8010140
Category	6
Website	www.bahnhof.de
History
Opened	17 July 1875
Previous names	Greiz unt Bf

Greiz station is located in the town of Greiz in the German state of Thuringia. It is on the Gera Süd–Weischlitz railway, which is still in operation, and the Neumark–Greiz railway, which has been suspended since 1999, branches off there.

Although a route through the Elster valley was considered for the first time in the 1830s, Greiz only received a rail connection in 1865 with the opening of the Neumark–Greiz railway by the private Greiz-Brunn Railway Company (Greiz-Brunner Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft). This line, however, ended in the Elster valley and was located far from the town centre. Therefore, a direct railway connection was desired in the 1860s. The Saxon-Thuringian Railway Company (Sächsisch-Thüringische Eisenbahngesellschaft) therefore received a concession for the construction of the Wolfsgefärth–Weischlitz railway.

The Wolfsgefärth–Greiz section was opened on 17 July 1875 and the station (originally called Greiz unt Bf— Greiz lower station) was thus a terminus for about six weeks, before the second section of line to Plauen lower station was opened on 8 September 1875.

Greiz, which was the capital of the Principality of the Reuss Elder Line, was the second largest station on the railway line. Originally equipped with two platforms and five tracks, the station was rebuilt from 1878 onwards, since the Greiz-Brunn Railway Company, which was purchased by Saxony in 1876, was extended to Greiz unt Bf. A total of 29 sets of points and 5.6 km of track were added.

In the 1880s, further renovations and extensions were carried out, including a platform roof. After extensions carried out as late as the 1920s—for example an around 200 m-long new freight shed was built—the station remained largely unchanged until the 1990s.

Since the end of the Communist system in 1989/90 and the associated economic changes, the freight transport that had been important until 1990 has almost completely disappeared. The freight traffic to Neumark ended in 1995, passenger services still ran until 1997. In 1999, the Neumark–Greiz railway was closed and with the loss of its traffic, Greiz station lost further significance. The connections to nearly all freight tracks was cut during a renovation around 2000. In addition to three through tracks, there are now only two dead-end tracks in use.DB Regio, which operates passenger traffic on the Gera Süd–Greiz railway together with Vogtlandbahn, now operates on the dead-end tracks. The former station tracks were partly built over with the construction of federal highway 92. Since 2003, the new bus terminal has been located on the route of the Neumark railway line.