Pirna–Coswig railway

Pirna–Coswig (b Dresden)
Overview
Locale	Saxony, Germany
Termini	Pirna Coswig
Line number	6239
Technical
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	15 kV/16.7 Hz AC overhead catenary
Operating speed	120 km/h (74.6 mph) (maximum)
Route number	241.1
Route map from Děčín hl. n. -0.350 Branch from Děčín–Dresden-Neustadt railway to Dresden-Neustadt 0.000 Pirna 2.436 Heidenau-Großsedlitz 4.265 Heidenau Süd from Altenberg 5.788 Heidenau 7.227 Dresden-Zschachwitz 8.773 Dresden-Niedersedlitz 10.738 Dresden-Dobritz 12.379 Dresden-Reick 14.612 Dresden-Strehlen 17.055 Dresden Hbf (connection to long-distance tracks) to Werdau wye 18.266 Dresden Freiberger Straße 19.262 Dresden Mitte Marien Bridge (430 m, over the Elbe) 20.891 Dresden-Neustadt (connection to long-distance tracks) to Görlitz 21.734 Dresden Bischofsplatz 23.622 Dresden-Pieschen 25.359 Dresden-Trachau A 4 27.268 Radebeul Ost 29.055 Radebeul-Weintraube 31.043 Radebeul-Kötzschenbroda Long-distance tracks from Dresden 31.847 Radebeul Nord junction 32.167 Radebeul-Zitzschewig Berlin–Dresden railway from Dresden-Neustadt and from Dresden-Friedrichstadt 35.074 Coswig (b Dresden) to Borsdorf (Sachs) to Leipzig Hbf Source: German railway atlas

The Pirna–Coswig railway is a two-track, electrified mainline railway in the German state of Saxony, predominantly served by the Dresden S-Bahn. It runs parallel to the pre-existing tracks of the Děčín–Dresden and Dresden–Leipzig railways. The section between Pirna and Dresden-Neustadt has been operated since 2004, afterwards the further sections from Dresden-Neustadt to Coswig have been upgraded. The Radebeul Ost–Coswig section was completed in 2013 and the section from Dresden-Neustadt to Radebeul Ost was completed in March 2016.

In 1895, the first plans were developed for a four-track upgrading of the Pirna–Dresden section of the line between Děčín (then part of Austria-Hungary and called Bodenbach in German) and Dresden in connection with the planned upgrade of railway infrastructure in Dresden. This project was realised between 1901 and 1934, having been interrupted by the First World War. After that the operation of long-distance and suburban traffic between Pirna and Dresden-Neustadt was separated. After the Second World War, three of the four tracks were dismantled for war reparations to the Soviet Union in 1946. Two-track operations were restored between Dresden and Pirna in 1950. All traffic now used the former suburban tracks.

With the creation of an S-Bahn network in Dresden from 1973, plans for the reconstruction of the long-distance tracks were intensified. The subgrade for the reconstruction of the third and fourth track was prepared between 1979 and 1982; this work also included the construction of numerous bridges. The project had to be postponed in the 1980s because of increasing damage to the Deutsche Reichsbahn network as a result of alkali-damaged sleepers and limited construction capacity.

After the political changes in East Germany, the project was soon revised. It now no longer involved a mere reconstruction of the missing track. It now provided for an operationally independent S-Bahn line, which would have connections in only a few places to the mainline tracks.

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Wikipedia