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The Weißenfels–Zeitz railway is a single-track main line railway in the south of the German state 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...

. It runs from Weißenfels

Weißenfels

Weißenfels is the largest town of the Burgenlandkreis district, in southern Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the river Saale, approximately south of Halle.-History:...

 via Teuchern

Teuchern

Teuchern is a town in the Burgenlandkreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated approx. 10 km southeast of Weißenfels....

 to Zeitz

Zeitz

Zeitz is a town in the Burgenlandkreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the river Weiße Elster, in the middle of the triangle of the federal states Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia and Saxony.-History:...

. It is one of the main lines of the networks of Burgenlandbahn, a subsidiary of DB Regio

DB Regio

DB Regio AG is a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn which operates short and medium distance passenger train services in Germany, and operates light and heavy rail infrastructure in the United Kingdom.-Germany:...

.

History

The Weißenfels–Zeitz line was opened in 1859 between Weißenfels, Zeitz and Gera

Gera

Gera, the third-largest city in the German state of Thuringia , lies in east Thuringia on the river Weiße Elster, approximately 60 kilometres to the south of the city of Leipzig and 80 kilometres to the east of Erfurt...

. Today, it connects the Eisenach

Eisenach station

Eisenach Station is the main station of the city of Eisenach in the German state of Thuringia. It is a transportation hub, located on the Thuringian Railway Halle–Bebra and at the Werra Railway .Eisenach station is classified by Deutsche Bahn as a category 3 station.-Facilities :Facilities...

–Erfurt–Naumburg

Naumburg

Naumburg is a town in Germany, on the Saale River. It is in the district Burgenlandkreis in the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt. It is approximately southwest of Leipzig, south-southwest of Halle, and north-northeast of Jena....

–Halle mainline railway (Thuringian Railway) and the Leipzig–Probstzella line with each other. In its early days the line was used mainly to transport manufactured goods from Zeitz to Halle and Erfurt.

During the existence of East Germany (1949–1990), the line was used to transport sugar beet

Sugar beet

Sugar beet, a cultivated plant of Beta vulgaris, is a plant whose tuber contains a high concentration of sucrose. It is grown commercially for sugar production. Sugar beets and other B...

 from the Thuringian Basin

Thuringian Basin

The Thuringian Basin is a depression in the central and northwest part of Thuringia in Germany which is crossed by several rivers, the longest of which is the Unstrut. It stretches about from north to south and around from east to west...

, cement from Karsdorf

Karsdorf

Karsdorf is a municipality in the Burgenlandkreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany....

 and coal from the region around Profen

Elsteraue

Elsteraue is a municipality in the Burgenlandkreis district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated near the river Weiße Elster, approx. 30 km southwest of Leipzig....

. The line was also used as a diversion route for the Thuringian Railway. So in the 1980s numerous international freight and express passenger trains ran between Weißenfels and Teuchern while the Thuringian Railway was being upgraded between Naumburg and Weissenfels.

Route

West of Weißenfels station the line branches off the main Thuringian Railway running towards Naumburg and both lines cross the Saale

Saale

The Saale, also known as the Saxon Saale and Thuringian Saale , is a river in Germany and a left-bank tributary of the Elbe. It is not to be confused with the smaller Franconian Saale, a right-bank tributary of the Main, or the Saale in Lower Saxony, a tributary of the Leine.-Course:The Saale...

 on separate but parallel bridges. The line runs west to the Weißenfels district of Beuditz and then makes a full arc (with a diameter of about 1,000 metres) to the south and east. The route turns south, passes Langendorf

Langendorf, Saxony-Anhalt

Langendorf is a village and a former municipality in the Burgenlandkreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2010, it is part of the town Weißenfels....

 and reaches Prittitz

Prittitz

Prittitz is a village and a former municipality in the district Burgenlandkreis, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2011, it is part of the town Teuchern....

 station in northern Prittitz. From there the line runs southeast, passing under the A 9 highway and reaches Teuchern, where the Naumburg–Teuchern line joins from the south-west. Between Teuchern and Deuben

Deuben

Deuben is a village and a former municipality in the district Burgenlandkreis, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2011, it is part of the town Teuchern....

 the line used to connect with the now partly disused Großkorbetha–Pörsten–Hohenmölsen–Deuben line. In Deuben the line connects with lines serving the lignite

Lignite

Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, or Rosebud coal by Northern Pacific Railroad,is a soft brown fuel with characteristics that put it somewhere between coal and peat...

 industry (including a briquette factory and a power plant) of the Mitteldeutsche Braunkohlengesellschaft ("Central German Brown Coal Company"). Then the line runs around the historic Louise mine at Theissen

Theissen

Theissen is a surname, and may refer to many people.* Gerd Theissen , theologian* Joel Theissen , Australian footballer* Mario Theissen , motorsport director* Paul Theissen , drummer-See also:...

. The nearby level crossing of state road 191 often produced traffic jams in the 1990s. The line curves to the right and joins the double-track Leipzig–Gera line, which runs south and through the valley of the Weisse Elster. Near Zeitz station the line crosses the access line to Zeitz-Aylsdorf marshalling yard, where the Altenburg–Meuselwitz–Zeitz line starts.