The Dessau–Köthen railway connects the cities of Dessau-Roßlau and Köthen in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt.

In 1870/71 the BAE and the Magdeburg-Halberstadt Railway Company (MHE) opened a new Köthen station in Georgstraße.

The route begins in Dessau Hauptbahnhof, which has Regionalbahn connections with Magdeburg, Wittenberg, Halle ( Saale) and Leipzig, as well as a Regional-Express service to Berlin.

Further on an industrial and commercial centre has been built on part of the former Junkers site, but without sidings.

After a few kilometres of running through open countryside, the line reaches Mosigkau station and shortly later crosses Erich-Weinert-Strasse.

Running partly on embankments, the line reaches Osternienburg station (closed in 2022 due to low patronage) in the locality of Sibbesdorf.

Shortly before Köthen, both tracks runs below Elsdorfer Weg, as well as, somewhat later, the Magdeburg–Halle (Saale) main line.

Trains on the line have been operated since 2004 by the Elbe-Saale-Bahn, a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn, since winning a tender to operate the Altmark-Börde-Anhalt network, with class 642 diesel multiple units (Siemens Desiro Classic) running as Regionalbahn services hourly.