Schönebeck–Güsten railway

Schönebeck (Elbe)–Güsten railway
Overview
Locale	Saxony-Anhalt, Germany
Line number	6423
Technical
Line length	28.5 km (17.7 mi)
Number of tracks	2: Schönebeck–Schönebeck-Salzelmen
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	Schönebeck–Schönebeck-Salzelmen: 15 kV/16.7 Hz AC overhead catenary
Operating speed	120 km/h (74.6 mph) (max)
Route number	335
Route map from Magdeburg from Blumenberg 0.0 Schönebeck (Elbe) to Leipzig 1.6 Schönebeck Süd 3.0 Schönebeck-Salzelmen 6.2 Eggersdorf (former station) Bundesautobahn 14 9.7 Eickendorf to Etgersleben 15.3 Förderstedt loading road of the Staßfurt field railway Staßfurt soda works field railway from Löderburg/soda works Bode 22.0 Staßfurt to Blumenberg 25.0 Neundorf (Anhalt) from Bernburg from Berlin 28.5 Güsten to Sandersleben to Aschersleben Source: German railway atlas

The Schönebeck–Güsten railway is a railway in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. The line is, with the exception of the Schönebeck (Elbe)–Schönebeck-Salzelmen section, single track and not electrified.

The line was opened in two sections. The Schönebeck–Staßfurt section was opened on 12 May 1857. The line was operated by the Magdeburg-Leipzig Railway Company (Magdeburg-Leipziger Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft). Together with the main line, branches were built to the salt pans in Schönebeck and Staßfurt and a freight line was built from Staßfurt to Löderburg. A lignite mine was also opened near the line in Eggersdorf in the same year. The main purpose of the line was to promote the development of mines in order to increase freight traffic. Stations were built on the line in Eggersdorf, Eickendorf and Förderstedt. On 12 April 1866, the Magdeburg–Halberstadt Railway Company (Magdeburg-Halberstädter Eisenbahngesellschaft) opened a line from Bernburg via Güsten to Aschersleben with a branch from Güsten to Staßfurt. This created a continuous route from Magdeburg via Staßfurt to Aschersleben. The Magdeburg-Halberstadt Railway took over the Magdeburg-Leipzig Railway in 1876. It, in turn, was taken over by the state of Prussia in 1879. Also in the 1870s, the Berlin–Blankenheim railway was built as part of the Kanonenbahn ("cannons railway") project, which connected Güsten on the one hand directly to Berlin, and, on the other hand, to Thuringia and Hesse. Güsten became a large railway junction.