The Almelo–Salzbergen railway is an important

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

54 kilometre long

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

line, that connects

Almelo Almelo () is a municipality and a city in the eastern Netherlands. The main population centres in the town are Aadorp, Almelo, Mariaparochie, and Bornerbroek. Almelo has about 72,000 inhabitants in the middle of the rolling countryside of Twente, ...

with

Salzbergen Salzbergen is a municipality in the Emsland district, Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the river Ems, approx. 25 km south of Lingen, and 10 km northwest of Rheine. It has the oldest oil refinery in the world, opened in 1860. ...

, offering a rail link between the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

History

The railway was opened by the Spoorweg-Maatschappij Almelo-Salzbergen (''English: Almelo-Salzbergen railway company'') on 18 October 1865, after construction had started in 1862. In Salzbergen the line connected with the

Emsland Railway The Emsland line (German: is a railway from Rheine via Salzbergen, Lingen, Meppen, Lathen, Papenburg and Leer to Emden, continuing to Norden and Norddeich-Mole in East Frisia in the German state of Lower Saxony. The line is named after the Ems r ...

, which had opened in 1855. The Dutch section of the line (Almelo–Oldenzaal) was electrified in 1951 and the remainder of the line was electrified in 1976. From 2006 to 2009 the line through Almelo was the subject of a major project called Almelo Verdiept (''Almelo Lowered''), which moved the railway line through the centre of Almelo into a lowered trench, with sections of tunnels.

Route

The railway connects Almelo in a south easterly direction with Hengelo. Before Hengelo station the line from

Zutphen railway station Zutphen is a railway station located in Zutphen, Netherlands. The station was opened on 2 February 1865, rebuilt after the Second World War and is located on the Arnhem–Leeuwarden railway, Zutphen–Glanerbeek railway, Amsterdam–Zutphen railway ...

merges into the route. After the station the line to

Enschede railway station Enschede is the main railway station in Enschede, Netherlands. The station opened on 1 July 1866 and is on the Zutphen–Glanerbeek railway. Between the late 1970s and 2001, the passenger service to Germany stopped. The connection to Münster wa ...

branches out in a south easterly direction. From Hengelo the line heads north east towards the former border station of Oldenzaal and heads east across the border to Bad Bentheim. Here the electric current changes, which often results in a change from a Dutch to a German locomotive. At Bad Bentheim the private freight railway to

Nordhorn Nordhorn (Northern Low Saxon: ''Nothoorn'' (or ''Notthoarn'', ''Netthoarn'' and ''Noordhoorn'')) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the district seat of Grafschaft Bentheim in Lower Saxony's southwesternmost corner near the border with the ...

and

Coevorden Coevorden (; nds-nl, Koevern) is a city and municipality in the province of Drenthe, Netherlands. During the 1998 municipal reorganisation in the province, Coevorden merged with Dalen, Sleen, Oosterhesselen and Zweeloo, retaining its name. In Augu ...

branches out, heading north. The line continues through the countryside, until the line merges with the

from

Emden Emden () is an independent city and seaport in Lower Saxony in the northwest of Germany, on the river Ems. It is the main city of the region of East Frisia and, in 2011, had a total population of 51,528. History The exact founding date of E ...

before finishing at Salzbergen.

Train services

The Almelo–Salzbergen railway is used by the following passenger services: * International services across the whole line (Amsterdam Centraal–Berlin) * Intercity services between Almelo and Hengelo (Schiphol/The Hague/Rotterdam–Enschede) * Stoptrein services between Almelo and Hengelo (Apeldoorn/Zwolle–Enschede) and Hengelo–Bad Bentheim (Zutphen–Oldenzaal, Hengelo–Bad Bentheim) *

Eurobahn Eurobahn is a railway operator in Germany, established in 1998. It operates regional train services in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with cross-border services including Lower Saxony and the Netherlands. Initially a joint venture between K ...

services between Hengelo and Salzbergen (Hengelo–Bad Bentheim–Osnabrück–Bielefeld)

Train types

A wide variety of trains can be found regularly on the Almelo–Salzbergen railway: *

NS Class 1700 The Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS) Class 1700 is a class of electric locomotives built by Alstom in 1990-1994. Description The Class 1700 locomotives were built by Alstom in 1990-1994. 81 of these locomotives, numbered 1701-1781, were built. Th ...

on the Schiphol–Berlin service between Almelo and Bad Bentheim *

DB Class 101 The DB Class 101 is a class of three-phase electric locomotives built by Adtranz and operated by DB Fernverkehr in Germany. 145 locomotives were built between 1996 and 1999 to replace the 30-year-old and aging DB Class 103, Class 103 as the fla ...

DB Class 120 The DB Baureihe 120 is a class of electric locomotives operated by DB Fernverkehr in Germany. From 5 July 2020, almost all locomotives (except for one from the 120.2 subseries) have been withdrawn. Background and design The locomotives' prototyp ...

on the Schiphol–Berlin service between Bad Bentheim and Berlin * NS Koploper on the Schiphol/The Hague/Rotterdam–Enschede service between Almelo and Hengelo * NS Sprinter on the Apeldoorn–Enschede service between Almelo and Hengelo * NS Buffel on the Zwolle–Enschede service between Almelo and Hengelo * Syntus Buffel on the Hengelo–Bad Bentheim service between Hengelo and Bad Bentheim * Syntus Lint41 on the Zutphen–Oldenzaal service between Hengelo and Oldenzaal * Stadler Flirt on the Hengelo–Bielefeld service between Bad Bentheim and Salzbergen There are also large number of freight trains operating along the line.

Gallery

File:Almelo stationsgebouw.jpg, Almelo railway station File:Almelo verdiept.JPG, An International train passing the Almelo Verdiept project File:Station Borne.jpg, Borne railway station File:Station Hengelo.jpg, Hengelo railway station File:Zakspoor Hengelo.JPG, Hengelo railway station File:Bahnhof Bad Bentheim.jpg, Bad Bentheim railway station File:Museumslok Salzbergen BR 43.JPG, The steam train at Salzbergen

External links

Photo: Westfalenbahn, ET011

Photo: DB 110 468, Salzbergen

Photo: DBS 152 099 + DBS 139 132 + Autotrein
{{DEFAULTSORT:Almelo-Salzbergen railway Railway lines in the Netherlands Railway lines in Lower Saxony International railway lines Railway lines opened in 1865 1865 establishments in Europe