The first station in Reichenbach was built in 1845. The former station building is situated on a disused railway line about 300 metres to the west of the current station. The current station was built in about 1848 when the Saxon-Bavarian Railway Company extended its line from Leipzig, which had previously terminated in Reichenbach, to Plauen and Hof, following the completion of the Göltzsch Viaduct and the Elster Viaduct. Originally the current Reichenbach station was identical with the "Upper station" in Plauen, which was destroyed in the Second World War and then rebuilt to a different plan. Both stations were “island stations”, with the main station building built between the tracks, with three tracks on each side of the island. The island platforms were accessed by subways from the main building, along with tracks 3 and 4. A third pedestrian underpass linked the street of Am Bahnhof and Fedor-Flinzer-Straße, running under railway tracks 1-3 to the large waiting hall in the main station building. For vehicles and pedestrians from the city centre there was a large tunnel carrying Bahnhofstraße to Bahnhofsvorplatz, which was between the tracks.
Branch lines
In 1895, a secondary line was opened from Reichenbach to Göltzsch Viaduct and a connecting line was opened to Lengenfeld in 1905. This line started at an additional platform at Reichenbach station, located at the end of platform track 4. The new line had two other stations in Reichenbach: Oberreichenbach —later Reichenbach Ost —and Reichenbach Unterer Bahnhof, which connected with passenger services on the narrow gauge Rollbock Railway to Upper Heindorf from 1902 to 1957. At the same time as the lower station was opened, the name of the main Reichenbach station was changed to Reichenbach Oberer Bahnhof.
Demolition and reconstruction (since 1963)
Since the closure in 1957 of the branch lines starting in Reichenbach, the upper station has been the only station left in Reichenbach for passenger traffic, but it has not been renamed. With the end of branch lines, track 7 was demolished, leaving only the original six tracks. From 1963 to 2001 the station hardly changed. In 2001, the station was completely rebuilt. First a new island platform was built in the same style as the original platforms next to platform 6. The existing underpass to platform 5/6 was extended to the new platform. The platforms of tracks 4 to 6 were completely renovated and provided with new information displays, seating and lifts. In addition, two new sidings and bypass for freight traffic were built. Then tracks 1 and 2 and the associated underpasses and pedestrian and road tunnels were demolished. On the cleared space a link was built in 2006 between Fedor-Flinzer Straße and Bahnhofstraße, including a roundabout and the station forecourt was provided with parking and redesigned taxi stands. A new bus station was built next to the station. The remaining platform tracks were renumbered 1 to 5.
