|}
The Dessau–Leipzig railway is a double track electrified main line in the German states of Saxony-Anhalt

Saxony-Anhalt

Saxony-Anhalt is a landlocked state of Germany. Its capital is Magdeburg and it is surrounded by the German states of Lower Saxony, Brandenburg, Saxony, and Thuringia.Saxony-Anhalt covers an area of...

 and Saxony

Saxony

The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....

 built and originally operated by the Berlin-Anhalt Railway Company. The section from Bitterfeld

Bitterfeld

Bitterfeld is a town in the district Anhalt-Bitterfeld, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 July 2007 it has been part of the town Bitterfeld-Wolfen. It is situated approx. 25 km south of Dessau, and 30 km northeast of Halle...

 to Leipzig

Leipzig

Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...

 is part of Line 1

Berlin–Palermo railway axis

The Berlin-Palermo railway axis is Line 1 of the Trans-European Transport Networks ,which involves the creation of a 2,200 km-long high-speed rail line between Berlin and Palermo.-Germany:...

 of Trans-European Transport Networks

Trans-European Transport Networks

The Trans-European Transport Networks are a planned set of road, rail, air and water transport networks designed to serve the entire continent of Europe. The TEN-T networks are part of a wider system of Trans-European Networks , including a telecommunications network and a proposed energy network...

 (TEN-T).

Planning and Construction

The Berlin-Anhalt Railway Company was for more than four decades in the 19th century one of the major railway companies in Germany. It built during this period a network of major rail links between Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

 and the northern part of the Kingdom of Saxony

Kingdom of Saxony

The Kingdom of Saxony , lasting between 1806 and 1918, was an independent member of a number of historical confederacies in Napoleonic through post-Napoleonic Germany. From 1871 it was part of the German Empire. It became a Free state in the era of Weimar Republic in 1918 after the end of World War...

 and the Prussia

Prussia

Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...

n Province of Saxony

Province of Saxony

The Province of Saxony was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and later the Free State of Prussia from 1816 until 1945. Its capital was Magdeburg.-History:The province was created in 1816 out of the following territories:...

 and the Duchy of Anhalt

Anhalt

Anhalt was a sovereign county in Germany, located between the Harz Mountains and the river Elbe in Middle Germany. It now forms part of the state of Saxony-Anhalt.- Dukes of Anhalt :...

, including the Anhalt trunk line

Anhalt Railway

The Anhalt railway , most commonly referred to as the Berlin-Halle railway , is a twin-track, electrified main line found in the German city-state of Berlin, and the states of Brandenburg and Sachsen-Anhalt...

. Its trunk line ran from Berlin via Wittenberg

Wittenberg

Wittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is a city in Germany in the Bundesland Saxony-Anhalt, on the river Elbe. It has a population of about 50,000....

 and Dessau

Dessau

Dessau is a town in Germany on the junction of the rivers Mulde and Elbe, in the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt. Since 1 July 2007, it is part of the merged town Dessau-Roßlau. Population of Dessau proper: 77,973 .-Geography:...

 to Köthen, where it connected with the Magdeburg-Leipzig line to Halle

Halle, Saxony-Anhalt

Halle is the largest city in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is also called Halle an der Saale in order to distinguish it from the town of Halle in North Rhine-Westphalia...

 and Leipzig. In order to shorten the route to Halle and Leipzig, the company built direct lines from Dessau via Bitterfeld to Leipzig and Halle in the late 1850s. The section from Dessau to Bitterfeld was opened on 17 August 1857. On 1 February 1859 this was followed by the opening of the sections from Bitterfeld to both Halle and Leipzig. On 3 August 1859, a shorter line was opened between Berlin to Leipzig on a direct route between Wittenberg and Bitterfeld.

Part of the Bitterfeld-Dessau section was electrified experimentally in 1911 and on 5 June 1914 the Bitterfeld-Leipzig section was electrified. This was switched off on 1 August 1914, following the oubreak of World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. In 1922 electrification was restored. In March 1946 electrification was discontinued as the equipment had been demanded by the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 as reparations

War reparations

War reparations are payments intended to cover damage or injury during a war. Generally, the term war reparations refers to money or goods changing hands, rather than such property transfers as the annexation of land.- History :...

 for World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. On 9 July 1958 electrification was again restored on the line.

After 1990

With German reunification

German reunification

German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...

 the line became less important. The Städteexpress (city express) trains that had run under the Coummunist regime were discontinued on 31 May 1991 and replaced by Intercity

Inter-city rail

Inter-city rail services are express passenger train services that cover longer distances than commuter or regional trains.There is no precise definition of inter-city rail. Its meaning may vary from country to country...

 and InterRegio

InterRegio

The InterRegio is a train service seen in some European countries. Mostly they are trains that run "from region to region", as best described by Swiss Federal Railways.-Switzerland:...

 services.

In 1991, upgrading of the line from Berlin to Halle and Leipzig commenced as part of the German Unity Transport Projects—rail project 8.3. In the mid-1990s, the upgrade was sufficiently advanced for speeds on a section of it to be raised to a maximum of 160 km/h. For the raising of speeds to 200 km/h, further work was required, in particular the elimination of many level crossings. Completion of this work, in 1999, at a cost of 3.5 billion Deutsche Marks cut travel time between Halle/Leipzig and Berlin to under an hour. Various improvements had been made to the line, including the eliminating of all crossings and the modernisation of all stations. A radio-based train protection system was installed. A timetable change in May 2006 raised speeds largely to 200 km/h on the upgraded section of the line between Bitterfeld and Leipzig.