a freight train loaded with Nebelwerfer mortar projectiles caught fire, as the wood wool that was used to complete the charge had ignited. To minimize the damage from an explosion, the affected wagon was detached and pushed out from the station to the west towards Wedelwitz. At about 13:00 clock, there was an explosion and the shock wave was felt throughout the while town. 40 people were killed when it detonated and the fire-fighting operation is said to have lasted until the following morning. Eilenburg station was in the territory of the Reichsbahndirektion (railway division) of Halle (Saale), which was dissolved in 1994. In the 1980s, the freight depot had reached its capacity. Approximately 1,000 cars were loaded each month and twice as many were unloaded. 30 freight trains daily were formed or broken up. In passenger services, express trains (Durchgangszug) running on the Kraków–Erfurt, Frankfurt (Oder)–Mönchengladbach and Cottbus–Eisenach routes and semi-fast trains on the Cottbus–Leipzig route stopped in Eilenburg. In 1995, an InterRegio service running from Lübeck via Schwerin, Magdeburg and Leipzig to Cottbus replaced the express trains. The long-distance service had been abandoned by 2000 and replaced by two Regional-Express services. Passenger services were abandoned from Eilenburg to Wurzen in 1978. 20 years later, the state of Saxony ended scheduled passenger traffic on the route to Wittenberg between Eilenburg station and Bad Düben. The external appearance of Eilenburg station was improved by the Zweckverband für den Nahverkehrsraum Leipzig (the Leipzig local transport authority) and DB Station&Service in 2010 in preparation for the 1050 anniversary of the town. Vandalism to the station building was removed and platform 1 was rebuilt at a cost of about €200,000. In the western area of the station, catenary, rail tracks and signals have been under reconstruction since June 2011; this will create better conditions for freight train formation and allow for a faster entrance into the station from Leipzig and Halle. The cost will be around €7 million. Description Passenger station The infrastructure of the passenger station includes the red brick entrance building, which has a tower on its west side. It was built in the 1870s and was extensively renovated in the 1990s. It is now heritage-listed. The Deutsche Bahn-owned restaurants closed a short time after the renovation. Two small retail spaces have also been untenanted recently. The remaining DB travel agency, which included a newsagency, was closed in late 2011. The