Berlin-Blankenheim railway

The Berlin-Blankenheim railway or Wetzlarer Bahn ("Wetzlar Railway") is a railway line in the German states of Berlin, Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt. It is a section of the Kanonenbahn (Cannons Railway) between Berlin and Metz, built between 1877 and 1882. Wetzlar used to be an important rail junction on the Kanonenbahn. The Berlin-Blankenheim line originally ran from Berlin, via Bad Belzig, Güsten, Sandersleben to Blankenheim, where a remnant of it still joins the Halle–Kassel line. The Wiesenburg–Güsten section has carried no traffic since 2004 and is now closed. Only the Berlin–Wiesenburg section is electrified. The Sandersleben–Blankenheim section has only a single track, while the remainder of the still-operating parts of the line is duplicated.

Berlin–Blankenheim or Wetzlar Railway
Overview
Native name	Wetzlarer Bahn
Line number	6118 6024 (S-Bahn)
Locale	Berlin, Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt, Germany
Service
Route number	200.7, 207, ex258, 335
Technical
Line length	188.1 km (116.9 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	Berlin S-Bahn: 750 V third rail Berlin–Wiesenburg: 15 kV/16.7 Hz AC overhead catenary
Route map Legend from Zoologischer Garten 11.2 00.0 Berlin-Charlottenburg to Westend (to 1944), to Halensee 12.6 00.0 Berlin Westkreuz Ringbahn Ringbahn freight tracks A 100 to Spandau 14.6 00.0 Berlin-Grunewald 4.0 Berlin-Grunewald Gds junction 22.5 00.0 Nikolassee from Zehlendorf Wannseebahn freight tracks A 115 24.1 12.7 Berlin-Wannsee B 1 to Stahnsdorf (until 1961) Berlin-Kohlhasenbrück (1945 only) Teltow Canal Berlin-Kohlhasenbrück (1945 only) Berlin–Brandenburg state border 16.5 Griebnitzsee Ost to Potsdam Berlin-Potsdam-Magdeburg railway crosses border twice 18.7 Potsdam Medienstadt Babelsberg Nuthe 21.7 Rehbrücke 24.3 Bergholz (until 1998) outer ring 25.1 Wilhelmshorst junction from Potsdam 25.5 Wilhelmshorst B 2 from Saarmund 28.5 Michendorf A 10 to Jüterbog and Seddin freight yard 32.6 Seddin from Seddin freight yard 34.7 to Potsdam freight bypass (until 1998) from Potsdam 37.9 Beelitz-Heilstätten A 9 43.9 Borkheide 52.1 Brück B 246 57.9 Baitz B 102 from Brandenburg from Treuenbrietzen 65.2 Bad Belzig (Belzig until 2011) 72.7 Borne (Mark) (until 1991) 77.8 Wiesenburg to Roßlau Reetz (Bk) Brandenburg–Saxony-Anhalt state border\ B 246 92.9 Nedlitz (until 2003) 97.6 Deetz (until 2003) 102.0 Lindau (Anhalt) (until 2003) B 184 110.2 to Biederitz 111.5 Güterglück (until 2003) Biederitz–Dessau 112.6 from Dessau Elbe Animal feed plant siding 120.2 Barby (passenger trains until 2004) 124.4 Werkleitz junction to Magdeburg Magdeburg–Halle 126.8 Tornitz junction from Calbe Ost Calbe (Saale) Stadt (since 2014) 130.7 Calbe West to Bernburg A 14 B 71 Bode 137.6 Neugattersleben (until 1994) 143.9 Rathmannsdorf (until 1998) B 185 from Magdeburg and Bernburg 147.3 Güsten Wipper 150.6 Giersleben junction to Aschersleben B 6 from Aschersleben 163.4 Sandersleben (Keilbahnhof) to Halle 169.8 Hettstedt Hettstedt copper and brass works to Gerbstedt (HHE) Mansfeld Mining Railway 173.2 Siersleben (until 1993) B 180, B 242 Klostermansfeld substation siding from Wippra Mansfeld Mining Railway 179.0 Klostermansfeld (formerly Mansfeld) Mansfeld Electric Light Railway 181.3 Helbra 184.8 Hergisdorf from Halle 188.1 Blankenheim junction station to Sangerhausen Source: German railway atlas[1]

The track was built at the instigation of the Prussian government between 1877 and 1882 as a direct militarily strategic railway, bypassing urban areas, connecting to Alsace-Lorraine, which had been acquired from France as a result of the War of 1870-71. The Berlin–Blankenheim section was the longest section of the Kanonenbahn that did not use existing lines. The building of the line away from urban areas was a disadvantage from the outset as there was little regular traffic on the line, except on a few of its sections. For long-distance traffic between Berlin and western and south-western Germany, other routes via Magdeburg, and Halle or Leipzig were more important.

In 1923, a connection was opened from Wiesenburg to Roßlau near Dessau. The section from Berlin to Wiesenburg was upgraded, but the Wiesenburg-Güsten section lost importance, since in addition to routes via Magdeburg, routes via Dessau were now available.

In 1961, the section from Drewitz (now Potsdam Medienstadt Babelsberg) to Berlin–Wannsee was closed to passenger traffic, as a result of the building of the Berlin Wall. Interzonal trains between Berlin and West Germany were rerouted via Potsdam. For freight transport this section was of great importance especially due to the Seddin freight depot.

In the 1980s it was planned to upgrade the line as an alternative to the congested Bitterfeld–Naumburg line for freight. Catenary stanchions for electrification were established in the Güterglück and Blankenheim areas, but no further work was carried out. Instead, the Güterglück–Berlin section was duplicated and electrified up to 1993. It was used by Intercity-Express and Intercity trains during construction work on the Berlin-Potsdam-Magdeburg line completed on 14 December 1995. For this purpose, some sections had been upgraded for a top speed of 160 km/h.

The Wiesenburg–Güsten section then experienced a gradual decline. In 1998, Regionalbahn trains stopped running between Barby and Güsten and instead ran between Güsten and Magdeburg. There still remained an InterRegio train from Berlin via Wernigerode to Aachen and a Berlin–Wernigerode weekend escape train. In 1999, these trains were canceled or diverted, leaving the Barby–Güsten section without traffic. The diversion of regional trains to Magdeburg was not successful and by 2002 only two pairs of trains on weekends were still operating; on 13 December 2003 all services were discontinued. At the same time was freight operations between Wiesenburg and Güterglück were moved to the Brandenburg–Magdeburg line. On 11 December 2004, the line was closed.

The Berlin–Bad Belzig–Wiesenburg section has been served for several years by Regional-Express services (currently line RE 7) running hourly to Dessau via Bad Belzig (only every two hours from Bad Belzig to Dessau at weekends, however). Long-distance trains were gradually reduced. With the opening of the line under the Berlin Tiergarten and the commencement of Intercity trains via Wittenberg, the last two inter-city trains via Dessau were terminated in December 2007. Since then only a few night trains run via Dessau. In contrast, traffic is dense in the Berlin area. Regional services RB 22 and MR 33 (operated by Märkische Regiobahn) run between Wannsee and Michendorf or Michendorf and Seddin. In the Berlin suburbs, all S-Bahn, regional and mainline services to Potsdam run on the Berlin-Blankenheim line.

The section from Wiesenburg to Güsten is now closed. Only two short sections at Barby and Calbe are still served by regional or freight traffic. Güsten station and its former depot has been scaled back considerably. Between Güsten and Sangerhausen Regional–Express services run every two hours on the Magdeburg–Erfurt route.

• Klee, Wolfgang (1998). Die Kanonenbahn Berlin–Metz (in German). Stuttgart. ISBN 3-613-71082-X.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Krebs, Jürgen (2004). Kanonenbahn Berlin–Sangerhausen. Zwischen Fläming und Mansfelder Land (in German). Gernrode: Herdam Fotoverlag. ISBN 3-933178-09-6.

• "Kanonenbahn" (in German). Kanonenbahn.de.
• "Wetzlarer Bahn" (in German). beefland.