The Leipzig–Hof railway is a two-track main line in the German states of Saxony, Thuringia and Bavaria, originally built and operated by the Saxon-Bavarian Railway Company. It runs from Leipzig through Altenburg, the Werdau wye junction, Reichenbach and Plauen to Hof. The Werdau–Hof section is part of the Saxon-Franconian trunk line (Sachsen-Franken-Magistrale), the line connecting Dresden and Nuremberg. Its first section opened in 1842 and it is one of the oldest railways in Germany. As a result of the division of Germany after the Second World War, the line lost considerable importance. Even after German reunification in 1989/90, the line has not been able to regain its former importance, especially as government policy gave preference to the extensive upgrade of the parallel Großheringen–Saalfeld railway. The remaining long-distance services ended In 2006. History After its founding in 1835, the Leipzig–Dresden Railway Company (Leipzig-Dresdner Eisenbahn-Compagnie, LDE) received a concession to build a railway on the Leipzig–Hof route, but the company waived its right due to the difficulties that were to be expected. Thereupon a railway committee formed in Leipzig, and other cities such as Plauen, Altenburg and Bamberg also expressed interest in a railway connection. However, the financing as well as the technical feasibility were not yet assured. Investors wanted to wait to see if the LDE and its Leipzig–Dresden railway would succeed and the Saxon state gave the project little support; only surveys of route for the line were carried out 1837. Railway construction was finally approved on 20 June 1840, but railway construction was to be undertaken by a private company with interest-free state loans. A treaty covering the route of the line and the Hof border station was signed between the three states of Saxony, Saxe-Altenburg and Bavaria on 14 January 1841. However, the final route also touched the territory of Reuss Elder Line and Reuss Junior Line. On 12 June 1841, the Sächsisch-Baierische Eisenbahn-Compagnie (Saxon-Bavarian Railway Company) was founded in Leipzig, which, according to the concession, had to finish one-third of the line within two years, and the rest within another four years. Railway construction began on 1 July 1841 under the leadership of Karl Theodor Kunz, and initially work was carried out on the easily built section of the line from Leipzig to Reichenbach. The Leipzig–Altenburg section was already completed in 1842. Test runs took place on the section on 6 September 1842 and it was opened