Węgliniec–Görlitz railway

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Węgliniec–Görlitz railway

The Węgliniec–Görlitz railway is a double‑track electric railway that connects Węgliniec in Poland with Görlitz in Germany, passing through Zgorzelec. On the Polish side it is PKP line 278 from Węgliniec to the border; the border bridge to Görlitz belongs to line 274. The timetable route is SRJP no. 260. The line is about 26.5 km long, uses standard gauge (1,435 mm), and trains can run up to 160 km/h.

History and development
- Construction started in 1845 and a single-track line opened in 1847, linking the Berlin–Wrocław railway with the Görlitz–Dresden railway.
- In the 1860s the line was converted to double‑track, and Węgliniec became a railway hub with new branches.
- The section between Zgorzelec and Görlitz was electrified in 1923.
- The electric lines were damaged in 1945 during the war.
- In 1948 a bypass was built to allow traffic between Węgliniec and Lubań without reversing at Zgorzelec; Zgorzelec Miasto station was created to serve trains on the bypass.
- Electrification of the whole Węgliniec–Zgorzelec line was completed in 2020. The project cost about 70 million PLN, with 85% funded by the EU.

Current services
- Since 2009 (with a brief break in 2015) three daily Regional-Express trains have run between Wrocław Główny and Dresden Hbf along this route.
- Koleje Dolnośląskie operates 11 weekday trains in each direction between Węgliniec and Zgorzelec, and two daily trains between Węgliniec and Lubań via Zgorzelec Miasto (bypassing Zgorzelec station).