Gräfenberg Railway

The Gräfenberg Railway (German: Gräfenbergbahn) is the railway line from the Nuremberg Nordost station via Heroldsberg, Kalchreuth and Eschenau to Gräfenberg. It is a successful reference project for the revitalisation of railway lines threatened with closure.

Nuremberg Nordost – Gräfenberg
Gräfenberg Railway
Overview
Native name	Gräfenbergbahn
Line number	5920 (Germany)
Service
Route number	861 (Germany)
Technical
Line length	28.0 km (Line class: C2 (Nuremberg Nordost – Eschenau) B1 (Eschenau – Gräfenberg))
Track gauge	1,435 mm
Minimum radius	250
Operating speed	80 km/h max.
Maximum incline	20  %
Route map Ringbahn from Fürth (Bay) Hbf 0,0 Nuremberg Nordost (321 m) Ringbahn to Nuremberg Ost 1,3 Äußere Bayreuther Straße (B 2) 2,3 Nuremberg-Ziegelstein siding 2,9 Ziegelstein (to 1926) 4,3 Nuremberg-Buchenbühl (1926–1983) 4,8 A 3 5,6 Nuremberg Nordost Holzwerk siding Gründlach 9,2 Heroldsberg (353 m) 11,2 Heroldsberg Nord (since 2002) 13,6 Kalchreuth (station until 1984) (410 m) 16,4 Großgeschaidt (366 m) 18,3 Brander Hauptstraße (B 2) Sekundärbahn from Erlangen 18,7 Eschenau (Mittelfr) (340 m) 19,4 Miele factory siding 19,6 B 2 (since 2008) 21,0 B 2 21,4 Forth (station until 1984) (324 m) 21,7 B 2 23,6 Rüsselbach 24,9 Igensdorf (station until 1984) (335 m) 26,5 Weißenohe 28,0 Gräfenberg (former station) (388 m)

Services

Passenger services are operated by DB Regio. They are in integrated into the Nuremberg Regional Transport Association (Verkehrsverbund Großraum Nuremberg) and designated as line R 21.

Future

An electrification of this line has variously been debated as has been extending passenger service along the Nuremberg Ringbahn. There have also been calls for additional stops in the northern Nuremberg boroughs of Ziegelstein and Buchenbühl which had had stops in the past.

Gallery

• 
  Nürnberg Nordost station (2021)
• 
  Eschenau station (2001)
• 
  BR 290 at Nürnberg Nordost (1990)
• 
  Arch bridge in Heroldsberg, built 1908
• 
  Former locomotive shed in Eschenau

External links

• 1944 timetable
• Page on the Gräfenberg Railway (private)
• Route description at Nahverkehr Franken (private)