Voigtland State Railway

The line began from the junction station of Herlasgrün on the Saxon-Bavarian Railway and ran via Falkenstein, Oelsnitz and Bad Elster to Cheb (then a mainly German speaking city called Eger in the Kingdom of Bohemia, which formed part of the Austrian Empire).

During the construction of the Saxon-Bavarian Railway, a route running further south in Vogtland through Lengenfeld and Auerbach was discussed.

Major problems were experienced on the route through the Bohemian area, where the communities of Fleißen and Wildstein opposed the construction of the line.

The necessary land was so overpriced that the route eventually chosen ran south of the Kapellenberg (mountain) returning to Saxony for a while.

For the construction and operation of the section of the railway located in the territory of the Austrian Empire between Voithersreuth (Vojtanov) and Eger and financed by the Royal Saxon Government, a treaty was signed between Austria and Saxony in Vienna on 30 November 1864 (which was ratified four weeks later), providing for a connecting with the Bohemian railway network.

The Plauen city council on several occasions made petitions to the Saxon government for the construction of this line.