Köthen–Aschersleben railway

Köthen–Aschersleben

Overview

Locale

Saxony-Anhalt

Line number

6420

Technical

Line length

43.7 km (27.2 mi)

Track gauge

1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in) standard gauge

Operating speed

100 km/h (62 mph) (maximum)

Route number

334

Route map

Operating points and lines

0.0

from Edderitz

7.5

Frenz

10.5

from Gerlebogk

10.7

Biendorf

13.3

from Könnern

13.4

Baalberge

17.6

Bernburg-Friedenshall

21.2

Bernburg

Saale

22.5

to Calbe (Saale) West

22.9

Bernburg-Waldau

28.2

31.9

34.8

35.9

39.7

43.7

The Köthen–Aschersleben railway is one of the oldest railway lines in Germany, with its eastern half opened in 1846. It forms an east-west link in the state of Saxony-Anhalt and connects several major towns.

The first serious plans for the construction of the line were developed by the Duchy of Anhalt in 1845. At the time, Köthen already had rail connections in three directions, with the Magdeburg-Leipzig line connecting to Magdeburg in the north and Halle in the south and the main line of the Berlin-Anhalt Railway Company (German: Berlin-Anhaltische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft ) connecting to Dessau and Berlin in the east. In 1845, the Anhalt-Köthen-Bernburg Railway Company (Anhalt-Köthen-Bernburger Eisenbahn) was founded and shortly thereafter got approval for the construction of the Köthen–Bernburg line.

The following year the line was opened, terminating at Köthen’s third station. Biendorf was the only station in between. In 1863, the Anhalt-Köthen-Bernburg Railway was taken by the Magdeburg-Halberstadt Railway Company (Magdeburg-Halberstädter Eisenbahngesellschaft, MHE). The line was extended in 1865 to Aschersleben and a new station was opened in Bernburg, replacing the station opened in 1846. In 1879 the Prussian government acquired the MHE. In the 1880s, Bernburg became an important industrial city. Sidings were opened to the Solvay Company’s factory and to a salt mine in southern Bernburg. At that time a roundhouse was opened in Bernburg.

In 1889, a branch line was opened to Könnern along with Baalberge station. In 1890, a branch was opened to Calbe. In 1898 and 1899, the line was duplicated. There were plans in 1908 for the electrification of the track. The first accumulator railcars were used on the line from 1908. The second track was removed after World War II between Köthen and Güsten to provide reparations to the Soviet Union. In the post-war period, many trains carrying spoil from open-cut lignite mines operated over the line. In 1952, a station was opened at Frenz between Köthen and Bernburg.

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Wikipedia