TRANSPORT ROUTES OF GDR SHIPMENTS TO THE EAST

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000700160340-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 8, 2011
• Sequence Number: 340
• Publication Date: March 2, 1954
• Content Type: REPORT

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/09/08 :CIA-RDP80-00809A000700160340-5
STAT
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/09/08 :CIA-RDP80-00809A000700160340-5
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/09/08: CIA-RDP80-00809A000700160340-5
STAT
TRANSPORT ROUTES OF GDR SRIPMINTS TO THE EAST
Berliner Morvennost~
Berlin, 23 Oct 1953
The main gateway of the GDR eastward to tine Soviet Union is at Frankfurt/
Oder. After World War II, this railroad ,Junction was turned, almost overnight,
into the most important export center of the GDR. Just recently, the Frankfurt
classification yard has been erpiinded to be the lnrgest yard i.n the GDR. It has
modern centralized traffic control towers and other extensive mech::nica7. fncill-
t7er,.
The second railway gate to the East is at Guben. 4lithin a short time, Cuben's
facilities will equal those of Fr.:rkfurt/Oiler. Within 2 years, the most modern
nilrnud shop of the GDR is to be built at Guben, with 120 locomotives bused there.
The sum of 20 million Deutsche marks (East) has bec:i provided for this project. At
present, the transit locomotives ~eir.~ to the Soviet Union via Guben are bused at
the Cottbus shoo. Cottbus has a clussificuticn yard with 33 tracts and a capacity
of 2,000 freight curs. It is about half the size of the Frankfurt~Oder ynrds, but
still large enough to dispatch up to ten freight trnins daily to the Soviet
Union.
Together with the Cottbus yard, the new Guben classification y::rd, :+hich, be-
cruse of its size, will not be Located :.t tt:e site of the railrck:d station, will
probably exceed tl:e capacity of Frankfurt/Oiler by a considerable mnr,^,in. The
Guben-Cottbus line so far is still single-tracked, but intensive work i; going on
to cc~nplete the second track. The double-track operatior. of the line is to start
before the end of this year. The second track .is being laid with rails supplied by
Czachoslovakia and Belgium.
The crossings of Horl:a, Goerlitz, i:nd Forst serve only for transports to Poland.
Kostrzyn and Szczecin are of secondary iml;ort::nce, di.snatching reparations shipments
about three times :: day.
The trains routed via Kostrzyn go to Torun and Olsztyn, with Korsze es their
destination. There the goods are taken over by the Russians, who then route them
to the northern part of the Soviet Union, with Leningrad ns the center. The Cottbus
brigades usually take the trains via Cuben, Krosno, itt=dom, and Lublin to Jagodzin,
where the Russians take over. They then transport tl:c German products via Kovel'
to the Ukraine. The heaviest trnfi'ice of trains to the Soviet Union is on the line
Frankfurt~Oder-Poznan-Wersaw-Terespol' to Brest-Litovsk. Tire lines from Frankfurt/
Oder to Terespol' and Czeremcha are double-tracked. F.rst of these points they nre
single-tracY.ed, but fitted for both the standard gauge and the Russian broad gauge.
Last your, the rrnnkfurt--Brest-Litovs): line and its continuation to the in-
terior of the Soviet Union curried 11,200 trains. In 1951, the nuriber of trains was
17,fS00; in 1950, 21,200; and in 1949, 1G,400. Ho?.~evar, 25 percent of these were
empty trains sent East for ore transports to Fuerstenberg and for other shipments
from the Soviet Union.
During the suncner of 1953, the total number of trains ?.;ith reparations ship-
ments sent via Poland to the Soviet Union on nil lines amounted to an average of 20
per day. The most easily distinguishable goods transported on open curs were cable
drums, rolling-mill products, small locomotives, autcmobiles, trucks, bridge parts,
cranes, castings, and large enameled containex?s. The boxcars are usually loaded
with sugar. During the sugar campaign (November 1952-February 1953), 3 sugar trans-
ports, each of 1,300 tons were dispatched as "barter shi.pments." In general, the
uranium-ore trains from Sachsen and Thueringen are also routed via Frankfurt~Oder.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/09/08: CIA-RDP80-00809A000700160340-5