Ilz Valley railway

Passau–Freyung branch line
Overview
Line number	5840
Technical
Line length	49.5 km (30.8 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Minimum radius	180 m
Operating speed	max. 50 km/h
Maximum incline	2.5%
Route number	12888 (ex 877)
Route map from Wels 0,0 Passau Hbf 295 m above NN to Mühldorf 2,2 Passau-Auerbach to Regensburg Hbf Danube bridge at Kachlet(240 m) 3,8 Stelzlhof 7,9 ZF Patriching siding 8,0 Tiefenbach Tunnel(46 m) 9,2 Tiefenbach 15,5 Fischhaus 17,0 Ilz bridge(70 m) 20,3 Kalteneck 333 m above NN to Deggendorf Fürsteneck Tunnel 1(130 m) Fürsteneck Tunnel 2(94 m) 24,5 Fürsteneck 28,0 Neuhausmühle Osterbach bridge(70 m) 30,6 Röhrnbach 516 m above NN 38,0 Waldkirchen 511 m above NN to Haidmühle 44,0 Karlsbach 49,5 Freyung 635 m above NN

The Passau–Freyung railway, also known as the Ilz Valley Railway or Ilztalbahn, is a branch line in Bavaria, Germany. It runs from Passau to the town of Freyung in the Bavarian Forest. At Kalteneck it forms a junction with the branch line to Eging-Deggendorf. At Waldkirchen the Waldkirchen–Haidmühle line branches off towards the Czech border, where since 1945 there has been a junction with the Czech railway network.

The Ilztalbahn begins at platform 1a, the so-called Waidlergleis, in Passau Hauptbahnhof. From there it runs to the west over the present-day timetable route (Kursbuchstrecke or KBS) 880, branches off about 2 kilometres to the north and crosses the river Danube on the Kachlet bridge not far from Kachlet power station. Thereafter it climbs into the Bavarian Forest and reaches the valley of the river Ilz behind Tiefenbach. It then follows the Ilz northwards. In the two Fürsteneck Tunnels the line leaves the Ilz valley and heads east into the Osterbach valley as far as Waldkirchen. From here it turns north again towards Freyung. In Waldkirchen the 26.9 km long route to Haidmühle via Jandelsbrunn branches off.

Fischhaus

Kalteneck, old station

Fürsteneck, old station

The construction on the Ilztalbahn to Freyung began in 1887, following the granting of the licence on 13 January 1886 and was taken into service on 15 October 1892. The section to Röhrnbach was opened earlier, on 6 December 1890. Construction costs were almost 6 million marks. In addition to passenger services the route was mainly intended for the transportation of granite and logs. As a result, in the early years to about 1906, passenger trains were often classed as mixed trains, the so-called "goods trains with passenger services" (Güterzüge mit Personenbeförderung) or GmP, which resulted in journey times of up to 3 hours due to shunting movements at the stations en route.

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Wikipedia