Ruhland station

Ruhland
Junction station
Main building and station forecourt
General information
Location	Am Bahnhof, Ruhland, Brandenburg Germany
Coordinates	51°27′11″N 13°51′58″E
Owned by	Deutsche Bahn
Operated by	DB Netz DB Station&Service
Line(s)	Großenhain–Cottbus Węgliniec–Roßlau BASF siding (formerly ZFE-Ruhland–Finsterwalde line)
Platforms	4
Other information
Station code	5422
DS100 code	BRU
IBNR	8010308
Category	5
Fare zone	: 7963
Website	www.bahnhof.de
History
Opened	20 April 1870
Services
Preceding station DB Regio Nordost Following station Lauchhammer towards Leipzig Hbf RE 11 Hosena towards Hoyerswerda RE 13 Ortrand towards Dresden Hbf RE 15 RE 18 Senftenberg towards Cottbus Hbf Lauchhammer towards Falkenberg (Elster) RB 49 Schwarzheide Ost towards Cottbus Hbf Preceding station S-Bahn Mitteldeutschland Following station Lauchhammer towards Hoyerswerda S 4 Hosena towards Markkleeberg-Gaschwitz
Location
Ruhland Location in Brandenburg Ruhland Location in Germany Ruhland Location in Europe

Ruhland station is located in the town of Ruhland in northwestern Upper Lusatia in the south of the German state of Brandenburg on the Großenhain–Cottbus railway and the Węgliniec–Roßlau railway. The station is a heritage-listed building.

History

Historical map of Ruhland node

Rear view of Ruhland station, remnants of the former station kitchen and sanitary facilities

The Cottbus-Großenhain Railway Company (Cottbus-Großenhainer Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft) was founded at the end of the 19th century by the railway financier Karl Eduard Zachariae von Lingenthal. Ruhland station began operations with the opening of the Großenhain–Cottbus railway on 20 April 1870. It became the administrative seat of the Upper Lusatian Railway Company (Oberlausitzer Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft), when it was established on 11 October 1871. The Upper Lusatian Railway opened the Kohlfurt (now Węgliniec)–Horka–Ruhland railway line on 1 June 1874. Ruhland became an important hub in the Prussian railway network. On 1 September 1883 the company and Ruhland station were taken over by the Prussian state. It operated direct trains to Magdeburg, Breslau (now Wrocław) in Lower Silesia, Dresden, Prague and Cottbus. Today, the station, which was once a hub of services between the Province of Lower Silesia, the Duchy of Anhalt and the Kingdom of Saxony, is only a stop for regional traffic.

Planned expansion and renovation

Ruhland town and regional businesses are promoting the development and renovation of the station. Discussions between Ruhland and Deutsche Bahn have been going on for more than ten years. The euphoria of reunification has long since turned into scepticism. Deutsche Bahn stated in July 2010 that the first work on the station would be carried out from 2015 to 2019. It was estimated that the work would cost €15,000.

Intermodal terminal

Electric locomotive of the Rail4Chem between Ruhland and BASF Schwarzheide
(in the background is the bridge of the B169)

Ruhland station has a significant role in handling traffic to and from the premises of BASF Schwarzheide GmbH, which is about three kilometres away in the neighbouring town of Schwarzheide. Currently about 60,000 freight movements are handled annually at the station.

Former branch lines

In 1875, the Upper Lusatian Railway Company opened a branch line from Ruhland to the Lauchhammer iron works that later connected to the Zschipkau-Finsterwalde Railway (Schipkau-Finsterwalder Eisenbahn, ZFE). Passenger services closed in 1962.

The section from Ruhland to Lauchhammer Ost still serves as an industrial siding, mainly for handling the traffic from BASF Schwarzheide to and from BASF’s factories in Ludwigshafen am Rhein.

Services

Rail services

Three Bombardier Talent 2 electric multiple units of DB Regio in July 2014; left is RE 18 to Dresden, middle RE 18 to Cottbus, right S4 to Geithain

The following services stop at Ruhland station (as of 13 December 2015):

Line	Route	Frequency (min)	Operator
RE 11	Hoyerswerda – Ruhland – Elsterwerda-Biehla – Falkenberg (Elster) – Torgau – Eilenburg – Leipzig	120	DB Regio Nordost
RE 13	Cottbus – Senftenberg – Ruhland – Elsterwerda-Biehla – Elsterwerda	120	DB Regio Nordost
RE 15	Hoyerswerda – Ruhland – Großenhain – Priestewitz – Dresden	120	DB Regio Nordost
RE 18	Cottbus – Senftenberg – Ruhland – Großenhain – Priestewitz – Dresden	120	DB Regio Nordost
RB 49	Cottbus – Senftenberg – Ruhland – Elsterwerda-Biehla – Falkenberg (Elster)	120	DB Regio Nordost
S 4	Hoyerswerda – Ruhland – Elsterwerda-Biehla – Falkenberg (Elster) – Eilenburg – Leipzig – Leipzig-Stötteritz – Wurzen	120	DB Regio Südost

A pair of Regionalbahn RB 49 services from Cottbus to Falkenberg (Elster) is extended daily to/from Stralsund via Berlin as Regional-Express RE 5.

Bus services

The station is also connected by several bus services: routes 601 (Senftenberg–Lauchammer), 610 (Ruhland–Großräschen), 611 (Schwarzheide–Ruhland–Guteborn–Hosena/Jannowitz) and 609 (Schwarzheide–Buckersdorf/Großmehlen/Ortrand).

External links

• Construction work information of Deutsche Bahn (in German)
• Media related to Ruhland station at Wikimedia Commons
• "Historic postcard of the Ruhland station, platform area". Retrieved 1 November 2014.
• "Historic postcard, 1908, former station building (now the administration building) and freight shed". Retrieved 1 November 2014.