Merseburg–Halle-Nietleben railway

Merseburg–Halle-Nietleben railway
Freight train at Elisabethhöhe station
Overview
Locale	Saxony-Anhalt, Germany
Line number	6356 (Merseburg–H.-Nietleben) 6357 (Merseburg–M.-Elisabethhöhe) 6389 (Bad Lauchstädt–Angersdorf)
Technical
Line length	19.2 km (11.9 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	15 kV/16.7 Hz AC catenary
Operating speed	100 km/h (62.1 mph) (maximum)
Maximum incline	2.0%
Route number	588
Route map from Erfurt and Eisenach from Leipzig-Leutzsch from Querfurt Merseburg 0.019 from Halle (Saale) 3.452 Merseburg-Elisabethhöhe 3.853 (formerly Merseburg-Friedenshöhe) Knapendorf Laucha Buna Werke station platform 5.640 Buna Werke Milzau 8.0 Erfurt–Leipzig/Halle HSL Bad Lauchstädt (former Bf) to Schafstädt Delitz am Berge Benkendorf Holleben-Beuchlitz 13.100 Holleben to Sangerhausen Angersdorf 15.0 from Halle Hbf S-Bahn from Halle Hbf Bundesstraße 80 16.893 Halle Zscherbener Straße 17.620 Halle-Neustadt S-Bahn tunnel south portal 17.972 Halle-Neustadt 18.070 Halle-Neustadt S-Bahn tunnel north portal from Halle Klaustor 19.212 Halle-Nietleben Halle Heidebahnhof Halle-Dölau to Hettstedt Source: German railway atlas

The Merseburg–Halle-Nietleben railway is an about 19 kilometre-long electrified branch line in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. A second track exists between Merseburg and Merseburg-Elisabethhöhe and between Halle-Zscherbener Straße and Halle-Nietleben. Part of the current route was built in 1967 with a significant realignment of the Zwiebelbahn on the (Merseburg–) Bad Lauchstädt–Angersdorf route.

The Bad Lauchstädt–Benkendorf–Angersdorf line, which branched from the Merseburg–Schafstädt railway and was opened in 1896, was mostly used for local freight transport. In 1944/45, it was used as a diversion route when railways and bridges over the Saale in the Merseburg area were damaged in the war, but it subsequently lost its already limited passenger traffic.

During the implementation of the 1958 chemical program of the GDR, on the one hand chemical sites at the Buna Works and Leuna Works were massively expanded and, on the other hand, the planned dormitory suburb of Chemiearbeiterstadt Halle-West (later Halle-Neustadt) was completely redeveloped from 1964. Construction of a new rail link between the new residential and workplaces began on 2 January 1966. The continuous Bad Lauchstädt–Angersdorf railway was replaced by the new link, which was opened on 24 April 1967. The new Buna-Werke station had already been served two days earlier by some trains on the Merseburg–Schafstädt railway.

Passenger services ran on the new line from Weißenfels via Großkorbetha, Leuna-Werke, Merseburg, Buna-Werke and Halle-Neustadt to Halle-Nietleben. Commuter trains for chemical workers (known as Pelzerzügen, literally "fur worker trains") were operated each day in the 1980s to carry about 9,600 workers between Halle-Neustadt and the Buna works. Each train carried up to 1,200 passengers. The trains were each made up of three articulated sets of four double-deck carriages. The length of the platforms was adapted to the length of the train.

Similar trains were also operated on the Halle–Merseburg–Leuna-Werke–Weißenfels route on the Thuringian Railway. The two services were both listed in table 601 of the timetable until 1992.