Abandoned Urban Railway
This abandoned urban railway was constructed by a large German electronics company in the mid-1920s. There has been no traffic on the three miles of tracks since a big strike in 1980. It is unclear what the future has in store for the old railway line.
As early as 1905, the electronics company had built a railway station for its employees to come to work more quickly. But the station's location was still not optimal. Additionally, the center of production was moved in the mid-1920s, the management looked for other options. In 1925, the company and the German Railway reached an agreement to build a new railway line. The company was to supply the building ground and the construction, while the German Railway only had to ensure the operation.
Construction began in 1927 and was finished two years after that. In December of 1929, the first trains started operation. Since the electrification of the city's railway systems was fully underway, the new railway was alos electrified. The number off passengers rose quickly. Of the 90.000 eployees of the factory, about 17.000 were using the train that ran in 5-minute intervals to get to work or to get home after work.
In World War II, the railway line was heavily damaged. One of the bridges had been demolished by an explosion, and the second track had to be delivered to the Soviet Union as reparations. A provisional link of the remaining track to the line was made to be able to use the railway line again because the company was repairing cars for the German Railway.
The operation on two tracks was taken up again in 1956, after the destroyed bridge had been rebuilt, but since the company had moved its main facilities to the South of Germany, the passenger numbers were dwindling.
After a big railway strike in 1980, the line was finally closed down.
