The Nordhausen-Erfurt Railway Company ("Nordhausen-Erfurter-Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft") opened the Nordhausen–Erfurt railway on 17 August 1869. The Erfurt terminus was originally at the "Nordhäuser Bahnhof" (Nordhausen station) on the Schmidtstedter field; there existed from the outset a transfer railway to the station of the Thuringian Railway Company and from 1872 passenger trains continued through to its station. The "Nordhäuser Bahnhof" served freight traffic from then on and its entrance building is now used as a residential house. The Sangerhausen–Erfurt railway also originally ended at its own station, the "Sangerhäuser Bahnhof", after the opening of the section to Erfurt on 24 October 1881. It was not far from the "Nordhäuser Bahnhof" and was integrated into the Thuringian station a few years later via the branch line of the Thuringian Railway to the Royal Salt Mine at Ilversgehofen. After that the "Sangerhäuser Bahnhof" was also exclusively used for freight transport.