Hersbruck–Pommelsbrunn railway

Hersbruck–Pommelsbrunn
Overview
Line number	5926
Locale	Bavaria, Germany
Service
Route number	870
Technical
Line length	5.4 km
Track gauge	1435 mm
Operating speed	100 km/h max.
Route map from Nürnberg Hbf (Nuremberg–Cheb) 0.0 Hersbruck (rechts Pegnitz) 1.5 Hersbruck (rechts Pegnitz) Ost (since 1992) to Cheb (Nuremberg–Cheb) 4.1 Pegnitz (65 m) 4.6 B 14 (40 m) from Nürnberg Hbf (Nuremberg–Schwandorf) 5.4 Pommelsbrunn to Schwandorf (Nuremberg–Schwandorf) Source: German railway atlas

The Hersbruck–Pommelsbrunn railway is a 5.4 km long mainline railway in the German state of Bavaria, which connects the Nuremberg–Cheb and Nuremberg–Schwandorf lines to each other.

History

View from Hersbruck Ost to the east: the right track runs to Pommelsbrunn

View of the tracks from Hersbruck Ost

Iron ore was long mined in the Auerbach area. The Hersbruck–Pommelsbrunn link was built by the Bavarian State Railways for the carriage of this ore to the former Maxhütte steelworks in Sulzbach-Rosenberg and it was opened on 15 October 1877.

Route

The line begins at Hersbruck (rechts Pegnitz) station and runs in an easterly direction parallel with the two-track Nuremberg–Cheb line to a level crossing with the road connecting Hersbruck and Hohenstadt. It then climbs a ramp onto an embankment and turn at the beginning of the village of Hohenstadt to the southeast, first crossing the Pegnitz and then federal highway B14 and meets the Nuremberg–Schwandorf line at Pommelsbrunn depot, a former station, now without passenger facilities.

Operations

The connecting line is now used by Regional-Express services on the Nuremberg–Hersbruck (rechts Pegnitz)–Neukirchen (b. Sulzbach-Rosenberg)–Neustadt an der Waldnaab / Schwandorf routes. These run from Nuremberg to Hersbruck on the Right Pegnitz line with some trains to Bayreuth and Marktredwitz uncoupled in Hersbruck. Diesel multiple units of class 610 (Pendolino) and 612 (RegioSwinger tilting trains) are used on the line.