Biederitz–Dessau railway

Biederitz–Dessau
Route number:	254, 256
Line number:	6410 Biederitz–Trebnitz 6411 Trebnitz–Dessau
Line length:	53.3
Gauge:	1,435
Voltage:	15 kV 16.7 Hz AC
Legend from Magdeburg 0,0 Biederitz Keilbahnhof to Potsdam to Magdeburg-Buckau to Loburg 4,4 Königsborn 8,0 Wahlitz 13,2 Gommern to Loburg (Light railways in Jerichow district) to Pretzien (Gommern–Pretzien light railway) 19,8 Prödel 22,3 Lübs (b Magdeburg) 26,1 to Wiesenburg 26,9 Güterglück Cannons Railway 27,4 from Güsten 30,3 0,0 Trebnitz Strw 4,9 Zerbst 8,2 Jütrichau 13,5 Neeken 15,6 Rodleben 16,6 Rodleben Siding from Roßlau industrial port from and to Wittenberg 17,9 Roßlau (Elbe) Elbe bridge, Roßlau (Elbe) Flood bridge Flood bridge Mulde Flood bridge Fährsee Flood bridge 20,5 Dessau Wallwitzhafen Peisker from Wörlitz 22,0 Dessau Gbf Puschkinallee/Antoinettenstraße 23,0 Dessau Hauptbahnhof to Köthen to Bitterfeld

The Biederitz–Dessau railway is a double-tracked, standard gauge, electrified railway line in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt timetabled as (KBS) 254 and 256. The line begins in Biederitz near Magdeburg and runs via Güterglück and Zerbst to Dessau Hauptbahnhof in Dessau-Roßlau. Until 1871 the section from Zerbst to Roßlau was called the Anhalt Leopold Railway (German: Anhaltische Leopoldsbahn).

History

In order to link the town of Zerbst to the rapidly growing railway network, the parliament of the Duchy of Anhalt decided to build a 13 kilometre long railway from Roßlau an der Elbe to Zerbst. This was opened on 1 November 1863. The operator was the Berlin-Anhalt Railway Company who purchased the line on 1 October 1871 for a million marks and extended it on 1 July 1874 to Magdeburg. In 1882 the Prussian state railways took over the route.

The Biederitz–Dessau-Roßlau railway comprises the sections of Roßlau–Zerbst and Zerbst–Biederitz, opened eleven years later. Both sections are operated today as one route with timetable number  254.

Operation

In 2009 this line was worked by Regionalbahn and Regionalexpress passenger trains owned by DB Regio. The Regionalbahn trains ran every two hours from Magdeburg to Dessau. Regionalexpress trains also ran two-hourly between Magdeburg and Lutherstadt Wittenberg and between Magdeburg and Leipzig.

Source

• Peter Bley: 150 Jahre Berlin-Anhaltische Eisenbahn. alba, Düsseldorf 12 November 2011, ISBN 3-87094-340-8.