The history of the railway between Görlitz and Dresden began with a state treaty between Prussia and Saxony on July 24, 1843 on a cross-border railway line and the intended connection to the Lower Silesian-Märkische railway line from Görlitz to Kohlfurt. The state treaty contained the condition that the line be completed within four years. The Saxon-Silesian Railway Company, which had investment capital of six million thalers, was founded for the construction of the line. The Saxon government took a third of the company and obliged the company to build a branch line from Löbau to Zittau. [4]
Timetable for the Dresden - Löbau section from December 17, 1846
Construction began on May 10, 1844 from Dresden. On November 17, 1845, the first section to Radeberg was opened to traffic. Thanks to the rapidly progressing work, Bischofswerda followed on December 21, 1845, Bautzen on June 23, 1846 and December 17, 1846 with two passenger trains and one mail train to Löbau a day. [5]
The inaugural train, which started in Bautzen on December 16, 1846, got stuck in a cut four kilometers behind Bautzen in heavy snow drifts near Rabitz. However, the brakeman who was sent to Bautzen first had to heat up a reserve locomotive, while the festival guests, who were stuck on the train, ran back to Bautzen. On the Prussian side, the earthworks at Reichenbach began in October 1845. Up to 800 men worked simultaneously on the breakthrough between Reichenbach and Gersdorf alone, but the snowy winter of 1846/1847 forced the work to stop. The test drive between Löbau and Reichenbach took place on April 29, 1847; the section was opened on July 1 of the same year.
On September 1, 1847, the opening ceremony of the 102.2 kilometer long route from Görlitz to Dresden and the route from Görlitz to Kohlfurt took place.
Source: Wikipedia