The Bad Kleinen–Rostock railway is a double track electrified railway in the German state of

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; nds, Mäkelborg-Vörpommern), also known by its anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a state in the north-east of Germany. Of the country's sixteen states, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ranks 14th in po ...

. The

Ludwigslust Ludwigslust () is a central castle town of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, 40 km south of Schwerin. Since 2011 it has been part of the Ludwigslust-Parchim district. Ludwigslust is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region. The former royal r ...

–

Bad Kleinen Bad Kleinen (until 1915 Kleinen) is a municipality in the Nordwestmecklenburg district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is located on the north bank of the Schweriner See. Bad Kleinen is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region. Geography ...

section of the line is double track. The line was opened in 1850 by the

Mecklenburg Railway Company The Mecklenburg Railway Company (german: Mecklenburgische Eisenbahngesellschaft) was founded in 1845 to build a railway line from Hagenow to Rostock and to Güstrow, now in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. It was nationalised in 1873 and ...

(german: Mecklenburgische Eisenbahngesellschaft) and is one of the oldest railways in Germany and is part of the

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

–

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebur ...

–

Schwerin Schwerin (; Mecklenburgisch dialect, Mecklenburgian Low German: ''Swerin''; Latin: ''Suerina'', ''Suerinum'') is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Germany, second-largest city of the northeastern States of Germany, German ...

–

Rostock Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (german: link=no, Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state, c ...

main line.

Route

From Bad Kleinen station the line runs to the east, initially along the north bank of the

Schweriner See Lake SchwerinBlankenberg station the line crosses the Wismar–Karow line, which closed in 1998. The Wismar–Karow line station is located south of the main line. The line reaches the valley of

Warnow The Warnow () is a river in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in Germany. It flows into the Baltic Sea near the town of Rostock, in its borough Warnemünde. The source of the Warnow is in Grebbin, a small village north of Parchim, at the wes ...

river near

station (which is closed for passenger services). The route then turns to the northeast. On the northern outskirts of

Bützow Bützow is a town in the district of Rostock in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in north-eastern Germany, centered on Bützower See. History The town was first mentioned in 1171. From 1815 to 1918 Bützow was part of the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwe ...

the line to Güstrow branches off. Another line runs to

Güstrow Güstrow (; la, Gustrovium) is a town in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is capital of the Rostock district; Rostock itself is a district-free city and regiopolis. It has a population of 28,999 (2020) and is the seventh largest town in Me ...

from south of

Schwaan Schwaan is a municipality in the Rostock district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is also the seat of the Schwaan Township, serving another six municipalities. The town is famous for being a traditional art colony. Geography The area a ...

station. Beyond Schwaan the line crosses the Warnow again. Before Rostock the line branches off the old line to Friedrich-Franz station. The curve to

Rostock Hauptbahnhof Rostock Hauptbahnhof, also Rostock Central Station (from 1896 until the turn of the 20th century called ''Rostock Central-Bahnhof''), is the main railway station in the German city of Rostock. It is situated well to the south of the city centre, t ...

is the only single-track section of the line and runs parallel with the line from Neustrelitz and Tessin.

History

Planning and Construction

The Berlin–Hamburg line, opened in 1846, was the first railway passing through the

Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin The Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin was a territory in Northern Germany held by the House of Mecklenburg residing at Schwerin. It was a sovereign member state of the German Confederation and became a federated state of the North German Conf ...

. Immediately afterwards Mecklenburg-Schwerin began work on a link from

Hagenow Hagenow () is a German town in the southwest of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, in the district of Ludwigslust-Parchim, 30 kilometers south of Schwerin. Its population is approximately 11,300 inhabitants (2013). Hagenow is part of the Hamburg Met ...

, which was opened on 1 May 1847. On 12 July 1848, the line was extended to

Wismar Wismar (; Low German: ''Wismer''), officially the Hanseatic City of Wismar (''Hansestadt Wismar'') is, with around 43,000 inhabitants, the sixth-largest city of the northeastern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and the fourth-largest city ...

. It was decided that the route to Rostock and Güstrow would run via Kleinen (now

). This involved a deviation from a straight line, but avoided the cost of an expensive embankment over

Lake Schwerin Lake Schwerin thalers A thaler (; also taler, from german: Taler) is one of the large silver coins minted in the states and territories of the Holy Roman Empire and the Habsburg monarchy during the Early Modern period. A ''thaler'' size silver coin has a diameter of ...

to finance the railway. On 13 May 1850, a branch line was opened from Bützow to Güstrow. The station was built in the southeast of Rostock near the old Steintor gate and the Warnow river. The city decided to name it ''Friedrich Franz station'' after the ruling Grand Duke Friedrich Franz II. The station building was opened in 1853. Initially, two pairs of trains a day ran between Rostock and Hagenow, stopping in Schwaan, Bützow, Blankenberg, Kleinen and Schwerin. Three pairs of trains ran between Wismar and Kleinen and between Bützow and Güstrow as feeder services.

Development of the line up to 1945

In the following years the network was further expanded. Between 1863 and 1867 the line to Güstrow was extended to

Neubrandenburg Neubrandenburg (lit. ''New Brandenburg'', ) is a city in the southeast of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is located on the shore of a lake called Tollensesee and forms the urban centre of the Mecklenburg Lakeland. The city is famous for its ...

and Stettin (now

Szczecin Szczecin (, , german: Stettin ; sv, Stettin ; Latin: ''Sedinum'' or ''Stetinum'') is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a major s ...

). The construction of the Lübeck–Bad Kleinen line in 1870 established an east–west line from Hamburg to Stettin; it ran along the Bad Kleinen–Rostock line between Bad Kleinen and Bützow. In 1905 five pairs of passenger trains and one pair express trains (with an additional train in the summer months) ran on the line, mainly on the Hamburg to Stettin route. Through coaches were detached from these trains to run to Rostock and

Warnemünde (, literally ''Mouth of the Warnow'') is a seaside resort and a district of the city of Rostock in Mecklenburg, Germany. It is located on the Baltic Sea and, as the name implies, at the estuary of the river Warnow. is one of the world's busie ...

. In Rostock, the situation changed with the construction of the

Lloyd Railway Lloyd, Lloyd's, or Lloyds may refer to: People * Lloyd (name), a variation of the Welsh word ' or ', which means "grey" or "brown" ** List of people with given name Lloyd ** List of people with surname Lloyd * Lloyd (singer) (born 1986), America ...

between Neustrelitz and Warnemünde in 1886, which had its own railway station in Rostock. As having two different stations in the city was undesirable, it was decided that all passenger trains should use the Lloyd station, which was later called

. From 1896, the trains from Bützow ran to this station. After a connection was opened from the Stralsund line to the Hauptbahnhof in 1905, the old Friedrich Franz station became a freight yard only. Also significant for the line was the reconstruction of the Warnemünde station in 1903 and the establishment of a direct

train ferry A train ferry is a ship (ferry) designed to carry railway vehicles. Typically, one level of the ship is fitted with railway tracks, and the vessel has a door at the front and/or rear to give access to the wharves. In the United States, train f ...

service to

Gedser Gedser is a town at the southern tip of the Danish island of Falster in the Guldborgsund Municipality in Sjælland region. It is the southernmost town in Denmark, and also the southernmost point of Scandinavia and the Nordic countries. The town h ...

, Denmark. From then on direct

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

–Rostock–

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

trains operated, with sections continuing to

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

and

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

. In 1934 services consisted of two pairs of high-quality express trains (''D-Zug'')—with an additional service in the summer—between Hamburg and

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...

, a semi-fast train between Rostock and

Uelzen Uelzen (; officially the ''Hanseatic Town of Uelzen'', German: ''Hansestadt Uelzen'', , Low German ''Ülz’n'') is a town in northeast Lower Saxony, Germany, and capital of the county of Uelzen. It is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region, a ...

, an express train between Rostock and Lübeck and, in summer, an express train between Rostock and

. Between Bad Kleinen and Bützow there was one ''D-Zug'' and one ordinary express train (with through coaches to Rostock) on the Hamburg–Stettin route.

1945 to 1990

Bundesarchiv Bild 183-N0415-331, Bahnbau der Strecke Schwaan-Rostock

After 1945, the changed border significantly affected traffic flows on the line. East–west traffic on the link became negligible. The link between Rostock and the south was more important. The Rostock–Bützow section was dismantled for

reparations Reparation(s) may refer to: Christianity * Restitution (theology), the Christian doctrine calling for reparation * Acts of reparation, prayers for repairing the damages of sin History *War reparations **World War I reparations, made from G ...

in 1945, but it was quickly rebuilt. The reconstruction of the Rostock–Schwaan section was rebuilt in 1948 as one of the first youth projects (''Jugendobjekt'') of the

Free German Youth The Free German Youth (german: Freie Deutsche Jugend; FDJ) is a youth movement in Germany. Formerly, it was the official youth movement of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and the Socialist Unity Party of Germany. The organization was meant ...

and used for propaganda. The line became ever more important in the following decades, both for passenger and freight transport (especially to the port of Rostock). Between 1973 and 1975, the line was duplicated again. Summer services in the 1980s consisted of up to ten pairs of express trains between Rostock and Magdeburg and usually continuing to Leipzig or

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits i ...

. Added to this was an Interzonal train via Lubeck to Hamburg, a Rostock–Schwerin express train and some local passenger trains. As a result of the oil crisis in the 1970s, East German Railways electrified several lines in the early 1980s. Electrification of the Schwaan–Rostock section was extended to Güstrow in May 1985 and the rest of the line was electrified in 1986 and 1987. Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1987-1006-008, Eisenbahnunglück bei Schwaan

Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1987-1006-008, Eisenbahnunglück bei Schwaan

Since 1990

After

German reunification German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...

a number of additional trains were introduced to Hamburg. In the first half of the 1990s InterRegio services operated on the Stralsund–Rostock–Hamburg and Rostock–Leipzig routes every two hours. The connection to Leipzig was replaced in the mid-1990s by a connection in Bad Kleinen, except for a seasonal

Intercity InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to regional, local, or commuter trains) generally call at m ...

service. The line was modernised for maximum speeds of up to 160 km/h as part of ''German Unity Transport Project'' No. 1 and was originally planned to be completed by 2002. This upgrade, however, has not yet been completed. The Ventschow–Blankenberg and Warnow–Schwaan (to the station's southern exit) sections were first upgraded to 160 km/h. At the end of 2008 this was followed by the section between Blankenberg and Warnow (together with the bridge in Warnow). Now nearly 45 km of the 71 km line can be operated at 160 km/h.

Current operations

The whole line is operated by

Regional-Express In Germany, Luxembourg and Austria, the Regional-Express (RE, or in Austria: REX) is a type of regional train. It is similar to a semi-fast train, with average speed at about 70–90 km/h (top speed often 160 km/h) as it calls at f ...

trains on the Rostock–Hamburg route (''Hanseexpress'') every two hours. On the Bad Kleinen–Schwerin–Holthusen section, it is also served every the two hours by

(IC) trains on the (

Binz Binz is the largest seaside resort on the German island of Rügen. It is situated between the bay of Prorer Wiek and the ''Schmachter See'' (a lake) in the southeast of the island. To the north of Binz stretches the Schmale Heide (the "narrow hea ...

–)

Stralsund Stralsund (; Swedish: ''Strålsund''), officially the Hanseatic City of Stralsund (German: ''Hansestadt Stralsund''), is the fifth-largest city in the northeastern German federal state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania after Rostock, Schwerin, Neub ...

–Rostock–Schwerin–Hamburg route and continuing to western or south western Germany. Almost all IC trains on the line stop in Rostock and Bützow, while Regional-Express trains also stop in Schwaan, Blankenberg, Ventschow and Bad Kleinen. Between Bützow and Bad Kleinen Regional-Express services also operate, every two hours, on the Szczecin–Lubeck route, stopping in Blankenberg and Ventschow. The Rostock–Schwaan section is also used by

Rostock S-Bahn The Rostock S-Bahn (german: S-Bahn Rostock) is a S-Bahn (suburban railway) network in Rostock in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. It consists of three lines with a total length of about 90 km. Line S1 runs from Rostock Hauptbahnhof ...

trains (stopping at all stations) and Rostock–Berlin trains (not stopping at the minor stations on this line). With the timetable change in December 2008, the Bad Kleinen station was largely abandoned as an IC stop. Only one early morning IC train to Hamburg as well as an IC between Leipzig and Warnemünde still stop there.

References

Footnotes

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bad Kleinen-Rostock railway Railway lines in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Railway lines opened in 1850