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The Löbau–Zittau railway is a line in the German state of Saxony

Saxony

The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....

, originally built and operated by the Löbau-Zittau Railway Company. The line opened in 1848 and it was one of the oldest lines in Germany. Only part of the line is still in service. It starts at Löbau

Lobau

The Lobau is a Vienna floodplain on the northern side of the Danube and partly in Großenzersdorf, Lower Austria. It has been part of the Danube-Auen National Park since 1996 and has been a protected area since 1978. It is used as a recreational area and is known as a site of nudism. There is...

 and originally ran via Herrnhut

Herrnhut

Herrnhut is a municipality in the district of Görlitz, in the Free State of Saxony, Germany.It has access to Bundesstraße 178 between Löbau and Zittau...

 and Oderwitz

Oderwitz

Oderwitz is a Saxon municipality in the district Görlitz in Upper Lusatia, Germany. It is located in the southeast of the Free State of Saxony near the border with the Czech Republic...

 to Zittau

Zittau

Zittau is a city in the south east of the Free State of Saxony, Germany, close to the border tripoint of Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic. , there are 28,638 people in the city. It is part of the Görlitz district....

.

History

The Löbau-Zittau Railway Company received a concession on 25 June 1845 to build a line from Löbau to Zittau. The line was opened on 10 June 1848. The line was also operated by the Löbau-Zittau Railway.

On 1 January 1871 the line was acquired by the Royal Saxon State Railways

Royal Saxon State Railways

The Royal Saxon State Railways were the state-owned railways operating in the Kingdom of Saxony from 1869 to 1918...

At the end of May 1998, passenger services were abandoned between Löbau and Zittau via Herrnhut. As a result the Herrnhut–Oberoderwitz section lost virtually all of its traffic because local freight traffic ran only from Löbau to Herrnhut. Then, on 31 May 1999, the Herrnhut–Oberoderwitz section closed. Until the end of 2001, freight trains still served Obercunnersdorf

Obercunnersdorf

Obercunnersdorf is a municipality in the district Görlitz, in Saxony, Germany....

 (scrap trade) and Herrnhut (coal and timber). Afterwards only Niedercunnersdorf

Niedercunnersdorf

Niedercunnersdorf is a municipality in the district Görlitz, in Saxony, Germany....

 (gas, agricultural traffic) was served. At the end of February 2002, an application was made to close the Niedercunnersdorf–Herrnhut section, but final closure only occurred on 28 February 2003. At the December 2002 timetable change, passenger services between Ebersbach and Löbau were finally abandoned. Thus there are no any regular passenger services on the northern section of the Löbau-Zittau line. The remaining section from Oberoderwitz to Zittau connects with the Oberoderwitz–Wilthen line and is served by passenger services to Dresden

Dresden

Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....

.

Since 2007 the Löbau–Oberoderwitz section has been leased to Deutsche Regionaleisenbahn (DRE).

Route

The line leaves Löbau station through a cutting to the south. Beyond Großschweidnitz

Großschweidnitz

Großschweidnitz is a municipality in the district Görlitz, in Saxony, Germany.- References :...

 station is the first deep cutting on the line, which then crosses the valley of the Großschweidnitzer Wasser on a seven span viaduct. Immediately after the viaduct, the line to Ebersbach turns off to the south, while the Löbau–Zittau line turns to the southeast towards Herrnhut and Zittau. After Niedercunnersdorf station the line runs parallel with Niedercunnersdorf village. Just before Obercunnersdorf station the line crosses Obercunnersdorf viaduct. After Herrnhut station the line turns south again and runs over a viaduct over the Petersbach. The next viaduct follows in the village of Ruppersdorf, just before the station. Further on, within sight of Kottmar

Kottmar

Kottmar is a mountain of Saxony, southeastern Germany....

 mountain, the line reaches the Landwasser valley and the town of Oderwitz. First another viaduct is crossed before the line reaches Oberoderwitz station. The route now follows the Landwasser valley to the southeast. In Mittelherwigsdorf it crosses the Mandau

Mandau

The 40.9 km long Mandau is a river in Bohemia and Saxony .It originates from multiple springs north of the 580.6m wulfs mountain in the Šluknov Hook which join in Panský at 1690 feet above sea level...

and then reaches the village’s station. The line then follows that Mandau valley to Zittau.