Berlin–Hamburg Railway
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The Berlin–Hamburg Railway (german: Berlin-Hamburger Bahn) is a roughly long
railway line Rail terminology is a form of technical terminology. The difference between the American term ''railroad'' and the international term ''railway'' (used by the International Union of Railways and English-speaking countries outside the United Sta ...
for passenger, long-distance and goods trains. It was the first high-speed line upgraded in Germany to be capable of handling train speeds of over (up to 230 km/h). The line was built by the ''Berlin-Hamburg Railway Company'', work starting on 6 May 1844, and was taken into service on 15 December 1846. It was then the longest trunk route in the German states, and ran from Berlin's Hamburg station (from October 1884 from
Lehrte station Lehrte (german: Bahnhof Lehrte) is a railway station located in Lehrte, Germany. The station opened on 15 August 1843 and is located on the Berlin-Lehrte Railway and Hanover–Brunswick railway. The train services are operated by Deutsche Bahn, W ...
), via
Spandau Spandau () is the westernmost of the 12 boroughs () of Berlin, situated at the confluence of the Havel and Spree rivers and extending along the western bank of the Havel. It is the smallest borough by population, but the fourth largest by land ...
,
Neustadt (Dosse) Neustadt (Dosse) is a town in the district of Ostprignitz-Ruppin, Brandenburg, Germany with a population of 3,575 (as of 2010). It has a total area of 75.43 km², and lies close to the river Dosse. History Neustadt was founded in 1407 by ...
,
Wittenberge Wittenberge () is a town of eighteen thousand people on the middle Elbe in the district of Prignitz, Brandenburg, Germany. Geography Wittenberge is situated at the right (north-eastern) bank of the middle Elbe at its confluence with the Stepe ...
,
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 re ...
,
Büchen Büchen (, ) is a municipality in the district of Lauenburg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is seat of the ''Amt'' ("collective municipality") Büchen. Büchen is situated on the Elbe-Lübeck Canal, approx. 13 km northeast of Lauenburg ...
and along the already existing route of the Hamburg-Bergedorf Railway to the Berlin station in
Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...
.


History

The line ran through the territories of five then independent countries within the
German Confederation The German Confederation (german: Deutscher Bund, ) was an association of 39 predominantly German-speaking sovereign states in Central Europe. It was created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 as a replacement of the former Holy Roman Empire, w ...
: the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, two duchies ruled over by the
King of Denmark The monarchy of Denmark is a constitutional political system, institution and a historic office of the Kingdom of Denmark. The Kingdom includes Denmark proper and the autonomous administrative division, autonomous territories of the Faroe ...
(
Holstein Holstein (; nds, label=Northern Low Saxon, Holsteen; da, Holsten; Latin and historical en, Holsatia, italic=yes) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of German ...
and
Lauenburg Lauenburg (), or Lauenburg an der Elbe ( en, Lauenberg on the Elbe), is a town in the state of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated on the northern bank of the river Elbe, east of Hamburg. It is the southernmost town of Schleswig-Holstein ...
), 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 ...
and the
Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Re ...
. Since
Bergedorf Bergedorf () is the largest of the seven boroughs of Hamburg, Germany, named after Bergedorf quarter within this borough. In 2020 the population of the borough was 130,994. History The city of Bergedorf received town privileges in 1275, then ...
was a condominium, jointly owned by the Free Hanseatic City of
Lübeck Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the stat ...
and Hamburg, Lübeck was also affected by its construction. On 8 November 1841, these countries jointly signed a treaty that specified the route and transit tariffs. A company was established, which obtained the rights to construct and operate the railway in these countries in 1845. The willingness of Hamburg and Mecklenburg to subscribe part of the share capital was a prerequisite for the establishment of the Berlin–Hamburg Railway Company (german: Berlin-Hamburger Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft) and the construction of the line. The first ten percent of the share capital, amounting to a total of eight million
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 ...
, was subscribed in 1844, so that construction could start near
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 re ...
immediately. Up to 10,000 people were employed on the construction at its peak. The first section to be opened was the route from Berlin to
Boizenburg Boizenburg () is a municipality in the Ludwigslust-Parchim district in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Elbe, 53 km west of Ludwigslust, 25 km northeast of Lüneburg and 50 km east of ...
, which was put into operation on 15 October 1846. The completion of the remaining section to Bergedorf, on 15 December 1846, completed the line’s construction. Together with the Hamburg–Bergedorf railway, which had opened for passenger on 16 May 1842 and for freight on 28 December 1842, the total Berlin–Hamburg line was put into operation on 15 December 1846. The
Hamburg-Bergedorf Railway Company The Hamburg-Bergedorf railway opened in 1842 is one of the oldest lines in Germany and was the first railway line in Northern Germany. The 16.5 km long line was extended to Berlin in 1846. It linked Bergedorf Station (German: ''Bergedorfer ...
merged with the Berlin–Hamburg Railway Company. In Hamburg, the Berlin station (''Berliner Bahnhof'') was opened on the site of the present
Deichtorhallen The Deichtorhallen in Hamburg, Germany, is one of Europe's largest art centers for contemporary art and photography. The two historical buildings dating from 1911 to 1913 are iconic in style, with their open steel-and-glass structures. Their archi ...
. It consisted of a reception building and an open timber hall with four tracks. The first managing director from 1850 was Ernst Georg Friedrich Neuhaus, who filled this office with great dedication until his death on 4 December 1876.


Opening

The first trip from Berlin to Hamburg took over nine hours. The locomotives Hansa, Concordia, Vorwärts, Germania and Amazone hauled carriages and freight wagons, including a total of 33 combined first- and second-class carriages and 43 third-class carriages, as well as a carriage for the "highest people". In the first year, about half a million people used the new line. The shorter sections were most frequented—for example, between Berlin
Spandau Spandau () is the westernmost of the 12 boroughs () of Berlin, situated at the confluence of the Havel and Spree rivers and extending along the western bank of the Havel. It is the smallest borough by population, but the fourth largest by land ...
and
Nauen Nauen is a small town in the Havelland district, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is chiefly known for Nauen Transmitter Station, the world's oldest preserved radio transmitting installation. Geography Nauen is situated within the Havelland Luch glac ...
, between
Wittenberge Wittenberge () is a town of eighteen thousand people on the middle Elbe in the district of Prignitz, Brandenburg, Germany. Geography Wittenberge is situated at the right (north-eastern) bank of the middle Elbe at its confluence with the Stepe ...
and
Büchen Büchen (, ) is a municipality in the district of Lauenburg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is seat of the ''Amt'' ("collective municipality") Büchen. Büchen is situated on the Elbe-Lübeck Canal, approx. 13 km northeast of Lauenburg ...
and between Hamburg and Bergedorf. Within 20 years, annual revenue had doubled to 890,000 thalers. Freight revenue rose even faster over the years, due to increasing industrialisation and the growing population of Berlin and Hamburg.


Integration with other rail lines and nationalisation

In Hamburg the ''Lübeck station'' of the Lübeck–Hamburg line was opened in 1865, east of the Berliner station. In 1866 the
Hamburg-Altona link line The Hamburg-Altona link line (german: Hamburg-Altonaer Verbindungsbahn) is a railway line in Hamburg, Germany. It now connects the lines from the north and west of Hamburg and Altona station with Hamburg Hauptbahnhof and the lines to the south ...
was opened to Klosterthor station, about north of the Berliner station. A line was later built from the link line to connect with the line to Berlin at the approach to the Berliner Bahnhof. The Berlin–Hamburg Railway Company obtained a concession to build a branch line from Büchen to
Lauenburg Lauenburg (), or Lauenburg an der Elbe ( en, Lauenberg on the Elbe), is a town in the state of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated on the northern bank of the river Elbe, east of Hamburg. It is the southernmost town of Schleswig-Holstein ...
on the
Elbe The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Repu ...
. This branch line was opened on 15 October 1851. It was extended to
Lüneburg Lüneburg (officially the ''Hanseatic City of Lüneburg'', German: ''Hansestadt Lüneburg'', , Low German ''Lümborg'', Latin ''Luneburgum'' or ''Lunaburgum'', Old High German ''Luneburc'', Old Saxon ''Hliuni'', Polabian ''Glain''), also calle ...
by the Royal Hanoverian State Railways in 1863 and 1864, which used the Lauenburg–Hohnstorf train ferry to cross the Elbe for 14 years from 15 March 1864. The very profitable line was acquired by the
Prussian State Railways The term Prussian state railways (German: ''Preußische Staatseisenbahnen'') encompasses those railway organisations that were owned or managed by the State of Prussia. The words "state railways" are not capitalized because Prussia did not have a ...
on 1 January 1884. This allowed the tracks and railway facilities between Spandau and the
Hamburger Bahnhof Hamburger Bahnhof is the former terminus of the Berlin–Hamburg Railway in Berlin, Germany, on Invalidenstrasse in the Moabit district opposite the Charité hospital. Today it serves as a contemporary art museum, the , part of the Berlin Nati ...
in Berlin to be merged bit by bit with the Berlin–Lehrte railway to the
Lehrter Bahnhof Berlin Hauptbahnhof () (English: Berlin Central Station) is the main railway station in Berlin, Germany. It came into full operation two days after a ceremonial opening on 26 May 2006. It is located on the site of the historic Lehrter Bahnhof, ...
. A connection from the Hamburg line at Spandau to the
Berlin Stadtbahn The Berlin Stadtbahn ("city railway") is a major railway thoroughfare in the German capital Berlin, which runs through Berlin from east to west. It connects the eastern district of Friedrichshain with Charlottenburg in the west via 11 interme ...
had already opened in 1882.


High-speed operations and records

On 21 June 1931, the
Schienenzeppelin The () or rail zeppelin was an experimental railcar which resembled a Zeppelin airship in appearance. It was designed and developed by the German aircraft engineer Franz Kruckenberg in 1929. Propulsion was by means of a pusher propeller locate ...
(''Rail Zeppelin'') experimental rail car ran over the route between Hamburg-Bergedorf and Lehrter Bahnhof in Berlin in 98 minutes. Between Karstädt and Wittenberge the train reached a top speed of , which was a world record for rail vehicles that was not broken until 1955. In July 1934, the ''Schienenzeppelin'' ran for the last time on the line. It had more speed than was required at the time and its propeller propulsion created operational problems. On 11 May 1936, high-speed steam locomotive 05 002, hauling three express carriages and a test van, reached 200.4 km/h at the 52 km mark between Vietznitz and
Paulinenaue Paulinenaue is a municipality in the Havelland district, in Brandenburg, 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, an ...
, a world record for steam locomotives. On 15 May 1933, Germany’s first high-speed diesel train, DRG 877 ''Fliegender Hamburger'' ("Flying Hamburger"), was introduced on the line. With a travel time of two hours and 18 minutes the ''Fliegender Hamburger'' had an average speed of for the , between Hamburg Hauptbahnhof and Berlin Lehrter station. The ''Fliegender Hamburger'' was the world's fastest scheduled rail service. The majority of travellers still travelled in ordinary steam-hauled express trains with a travel time of three and a half to four hours. With the outbreak of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, military priorities meant that high-speed projects were abandoned. The speed of the ''Fliegender Hamburger'' was not achieved again until 1997. In the summer timetable 2001, the normal journey time of trains was two hours and eight minutes, with some
Intercity Express The Intercity Express (commonly known as ICE ()) is a system of high-speed trains predominantly running in Germany. It also serves some destinations in Austria, Denmark (ceased in 2017 but planned to resume in 2022), France, Belgium, Switzerla ...
trains running faster. Since the completion of the upgrade of the line on 12 December 2004, the travel time has been reduced to about one and a half hours.


Post-war development

After the war the Berlin–Hamburg line was affected like many lines in by the division of Germany. A border was established between Büchen and Schwanheide, separating
West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
and
East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
, as well as between Albrechtshof and Spandau West separating
West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...
and
East Berlin East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as ...
. In East Germany the second track 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 ...
to the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
. Despite this, the line continued to an important route for internal East German trains between Berlin,
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 ...
and
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 ...
and interzone trains (sealed trains that ran non-stop between West Germany and West Berlin), in both cases for passenger and freight trains. In the
Deutsche Bundesbahn The Deutsche Bundesbahn or DB (German Federal Railway) was formed as the state railway of the newly established Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) on 7 September 1949 as a successor of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft (DRG). The DB remained ...
(German Federal Railways, DB) network in West Germany the line between Büchen and Schwarzenbek the second track was also dismantled.
Deutsche Reichsbahn The ''Deutsche Reichsbahn'', also known as the German National Railway, the German State Railway, German Reich Railway, and the German Imperial Railway, was the German national railway system created after the end of World War I from the regiona ...
(East German railways, DR) Class 03 steam locomotives hauled interzone services to
Hamburg-Altona Altona (), also called Hamburg-Altona, is the westernmost Boroughs and quarters of Hamburg#Boroughs, urban borough (''Bezirk'') of the Germany, German States of Germany, city state of Hamburg, on the right bank of the Elbe river. From 1640 to ...
in the 1950s and 1960s. From the summer timetable of 1973, DB and DR locomotive were exchanged in Büchen. DR operated diesel locomotives of class V 180, later 118 and 132, while DB operated Class 218 locomotives. On the evening of 5 December 1961, a train driver Harry Deterling ran at full speed through barriers erected in
Staaken Staaken () is a locality at the western rim of Berlin within the borough of Spandau. Geography Staaken borders on the localities of Spandau proper, Falkenhagener Feld and Wilhelmstadt. In the west it shares border with the Brandenburg municipalit ...
on 13 August 1961 as part of the
Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the government ...
to escape from East Germany. The same night the rails were disconnected there by border guards. As a result, transit trains between Berlin and Hamburg were rerouted via the
Berlin outer ring The Berlin outer ring (german: Berliner Außenring, BAR) is a long double track electrified railway, originally built by the German Democratic Republic to bypass West Berlin in preparation for the building of the Berlin Wall during the division o ...
and entered and exited West Berlin at
Griebnitzsee Griebnitzsee (, from the Slavic ''Grib'', ''Mushroom'') is a lake at the south-western outskirts of Berlin, the capital city of Germany. At an elevation of 29.4 m, its surface area is ca. 0.592 km². The lake forms the border between the Germ ...
. The border crossing at Albrechtshof was permanently closed. In the 1960s the journey time between the two cities had increased to more than six hours because of increased border controls, detours and single-track operations. An agreement between DB and DR limited the number of freight trains at the
Inner German border The inner German border (german: Innerdeutsche Grenze or ; initially also ) was the border between the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) and the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG, West Germany) from 1949 to 1990. Not including the ...
at Büchen: 24 freight and five passenger trains running to the east at and 17 freight and five passenger trains running to the west. The spare capacity of the line in the Hamburg area was used for the Hamburg S-Bahn. Before the division of Germany, there were five main rail axes running to Hamburg from all directions (from Berlin,
Flensburg Flensburg (; Danish, Low Saxon: ''Flensborg''; North Frisian: ''Flansborj''; South Jutlandic: ''Flensborre'') is an independent town (''kreisfreie Stadt'') in the north of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Flensburg is the centre of the ...
,
Lübeck Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the stat ...
/
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 ...
/
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 ...
/
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 ...
/
Sassnitz Sassnitz (, before 1993 in german: Saßnitz) is a town on the Jasmund peninsula, Rügen Island, in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. The population as of 2012 was 9,498. Sassnitz is a well-known seaside resort and port town, a ...
,
Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...
and
Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...
). With the division, the Berlin–Hamburg line lost its importance, and the traffic to and from Hamburg was now concentrated mainly in the north-south direction. While the Hamburg–Hanover line was electrified in 1965 and the Hamburg–Bremen line was electrified in 1968 and both lines were later upgraded for speeds up to 200 km/h, there were no similar projects on the Berlin–Hamburg line. In 1976 the line was re-opened from Nauen to the newly re-established border crossing at Staaken, providing a more direct line to Hamburg. In the 1970s the line between Nauen and Ludwigslust (and continuing to
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 ...
on the Ludwigslust–Wismar line) was rebuilt as two tracks.


Suburban traffic


Berlin

The suburban line of the Berlin-Hamburg railway, serving
Nauen Nauen is a small town in the Havelland district, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is chiefly known for Nauen Transmitter Station, the world's oldest preserved radio transmitting installation. Geography Nauen is situated within the Havelland Luch glac ...
, had been part of the Berlin suburban network, called the ''Berliner Stadt-, Ring und Vorortbahnen'' (Berlin City-, Circular and Suburban lines, renamed to
S-Bahn The S-Bahn is the name of hybrid urban- suburban rail systems serving a metropolitan region in German-speaking countries. Some of the larger S-Bahn systems provide service similar to rapid transit systems, while smaller ones often resemble co ...
in December 1930), since the original establishment of a special suburban tariff in 1891. The
Nauen Nauen is a small town in the Havelland district, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is chiefly known for Nauen Transmitter Station, the world's oldest preserved radio transmitting installation. Geography Nauen is situated within the Havelland Luch glac ...
suburban line, together with the
Wustermark Wustermark is a municipality of the Havelland district, in Brandenburg, Germany. History It was established in 2002 through a merger of the five villages ''Buchow-Karpzow'', ''Elstal'', ''Hoppenrade'', ''Priort'' and ''Wustermark''.Hauptsatzung de ...
suburban line, terminated at the
Berlin Lehrter Bahnhof Berlin Hauptbahnhof () (English: Berlin Central Station) is the main railway station in Berlin, Germany. It came into full operation two days after a ceremonial opening on 26 May 2006. It is located on the site of the historic Lehrter Bahnhof, ...
, just like the long distance trains of the same lines. The Nauen and Wustermark lines were the only suburban lines of the Berlin S-Bahn which had not been electrified before the 2nd World War. The part from
Falkensee Falkensee is a town in the Havelland district, Brandenburg, Germany. It is the most populated municipality of its district and it is situated at the western border of Berlin. History The commune Falkensee was formed in 1923 by the merger of Falk ...
to the Northern Ring line was electrified with
Third Rail A third rail, also known as a live rail, electric rail or conductor rail, is a method of providing electric power to a railway locomotive or train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a railway t ...
in 1951, being operational from August 14, 1951 to the end of the 1950s, thus enabling direct S-Bahn trains from East Berlin to the places being located in the GDR west of Spandau. After the construction of Berlin Wall on 13 August 1961, this link was also severed. Falkensee and the Havelland (Berlin’s northwestern outskirts) were only connected to East Berlin by a long detour of West Berlin around the
Berlin outer ring The Berlin outer ring (german: Berliner Außenring, BAR) is a long double track electrified railway, originally built by the German Democratic Republic to bypass West Berlin in preparation for the building of the Berlin Wall during the division o ...
, the so-called ''Sputnik'' trains. Today (2014), there are two local trains from Nauen via Spandau to Berlin, the ''RB 10'' on the original course of the Nauen suburban trains, i.e. via Berlin Jungfernheide station to the current
Berlin Hauptbahnhof Berlin Hauptbahnhof () (English: Berlin Central Station) is the main railway station in Berlin, Germany. It came into full operation two days after a ceremonial opening on 26 May 2006. It is located on the site of the historic Lehrter Bahnhof, ...
, and the ''RB 14'' crossing Berlin West to East via the
Berlin Stadtbahn The Berlin Stadtbahn ("city railway") is a major railway thoroughfare in the German capital Berlin, which runs through Berlin from east to west. It connects the eastern district of Friedrichshain with Charlottenburg in the west via 11 interme ...
cross-city railway, and terminating at the
Berlin Schönefeld Airport Berlin Schönefeld Airport () (formerly ) was the secondary international airport of Berlin, the capital of Germany. It was located southeast of Berlin near the town of Schönefeld in the state of Brandenburg and bordered Berlin's southern bou ...
.


Hamburg

On the Hamburg end, an
S-Bahn The S-Bahn is the name of hybrid urban- suburban rail systems serving a metropolitan region in German-speaking countries. Some of the larger S-Bahn systems provide service similar to rapid transit systems, while smaller ones often resemble co ...
service was established alongside the Berlin–Hamburg line, since long distance traffic was now insignificant. The
third rail A third rail, also known as a live rail, electric rail or conductor rail, is a method of providing electric power to a railway locomotive or train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a railway t ...
supplying DC power was extended first to
Bergedorf Bergedorf () is the largest of the seven boroughs of Hamburg, Germany, named after Bergedorf quarter within this borough. In 2020 the population of the borough was 130,994. History The city of Bergedorf received town privileges in 1275, then ...
in 1959 and then to
Aumühle Aumühle () is a municipality in Schleswig-Holstein in northern Germany, about 21 km (14 mi) east of Hamburg. Its Friedrichsruh district is home to the family estate and mausoleum of Otto von Bismarck. Geography Aumühle lies on the ...
in 1969. With the establishment of
Hamburger Verkehrsverbund The Hamburger Verkehrsverbund (HVV) ( en, "Hamburg Transport Association") is a transport association coordinating public transport in and around Hamburg, Germany. Its main objectives are to provide a unified fare system, requiring only a single ...
in 1967 this route was branded as line S2 (now S21; S2 runs between Altona and Bergedorf).


After the fall of the Wall

After the fall of the Wall on 1 August 1990 an
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 was established on the Berlin–Hamburg line under the name of
Max Liebermann Max Liebermann (20 July 1847 – 8 February 1935) was a German painter and printmaker, and one of the leading proponents of Impressionism in Germany and continental Europe. In addition to his activity as an artist, he also assembled an important ...
, initially with former
TEE A tee is a stand used in sport to support and elevate a stationary ball prior to striking with a foot, club or bat. Tees are used extensively in golf, tee-ball, baseball, American football, and rugby. Etymology The word tee is derived from the ...
carriages hauled by DB Class 601 locomotives that were hired by DR from Italy. These operated, however, only up to 28 September. Afterwards this service was operated with DR class 132 locomotives and DB TEE/IC carriages. In 1991, four pairs of trains operated daily. From 1992, trains operated every two hours. The travel time between Berlin and Hamburg was about four hours. The first suburban trains from Nauen to Berlin originally terminated in
Charlottenburg Charlottenburg () is a Boroughs and localities of Berlin, locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a German town law, town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Kingdom ...
, then in
Jungfernheide Jungfernheide () is an area of forest and heathland located in Berlin in the present-day district of Charlottenburg-Nord, a locality of the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Formerly a large forested area, it was progressively reduced in s ...
and later
Westkreuz Berlin Westkreuz (literally "Berlin West Cross") is a station in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin. It is served by the S-Bahn lines S3, S41, S42, S46, S5, S7 and S9 and so represents a major interchange point on the Berlin S-Bahn net ...
.


Renovation and upgrade for 160 km/h

In the early 1990s the German government was considering constructing a
maglev Maglev (derived from '' magnetic levitation''), is a system of train transportation that uses two sets of electromagnets: one set to repel and push the train up off the track, and another set to move the elevated train ahead, taking advantage ...
(magnetic levitation) line between Berlin and Hamburg. During the development of Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan of 1992, two options were considered for upgrading the Berlin–Hamburg line were also considered: *A new line between Bergedorf and Spandau, costing approximately
Deutsche Mark The Deutsche Mark (; English: ''German mark''), abbreviated "DM" or "D-Mark" (), was the official currency of West Germany from 1948 until 1990 and later the unified Germany from 1990 until the adoption of the euro in 2002. In English, it was ...
(DM) 6 billion, with a travel of 67 minutes (with a 300 km/h speed limit), or 61 minutes (350 km/h). This option was quickly rejected on economic grounds. *For an investment of about DM 2.4 billion, an upgrade of the existing Hamburg–Berlin line (allowing operations at up to 220 km/h) was considered in conjunction with an 83 km-long new line (300 km/h) between Boizenburg (near Büchen) and Kuhblank (near Wittenberge). This would avoid slow sections through Hagenow Land, Ludwigslust and Wittenberge and shorten the length by 16 km. Travel time between Hamburg and Berlin would thus fall to 82 minutes. Instead the German Government decided on 2 March 1994 to build a maglev line. The line was included as part of the German Unity Transport Projects (''Verkehrsprojekte Deutsche Einheit'') as VDE Rail No. 2 in the Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan of 1992. It was planned to remodel the line with continuous double track, electrification and the installation of modern
automatic train protection Automatic train protection (ATP) is a type of train protection system which continually checks that the speed of a train is compatible with the permitted speed allowed by signalling, including automatic stop at certain signal aspects. If it is ...
to allow continuous operation at 160 km/h. The upgrade started in 1991 and was planned to be completed by 1997. On 14 July 1992 the first pile was driven for the electrification of the section of line between Ludwigslust and Büchen. The route between Falkensee and Albrechtshof was closed in 1993 to allow the complete renovation between Falkensee and Spandau. The old, ground-level Albrechtshof station was demolished and rebuilt about 80 metres away on an embankment. On 28 May 1995, the line was restored to operation. A new pair of tracks was built south of the old single-track line between Falkensee and Nauen. The tracks have been removed from the old northern route and its path has been preserved for the construction of a Berlin–Falkensee–Nauen S-Bahn line. In May 1995, the section between Falkensee and Spandau West was reopened as a single-track line with diesel operation. The Berlin–Hamburg line was restored to almost continuous two-track operation in 1995. At the height of the construction work travel times were extended by 40 minutes to three hours and 40 minutes for the whole route. In the autumn of 1996, electric train operations started between Hamburg and Nauen, reducing travel time between Berlin and Hamburg to about 160 minutes. The whole line was operated by electric trains from 22 May 1997. At the Hamburg end a pair of parallel tracks were laid to separate long-distance and S-Bahn traffic, although east of Berliner Tor station for 2.4 km (from the 282.2 to 284.6 km marks) the second long-distance line was omitted. In order to allow traffic to and from Berlin to use platform tracks 11-14 of Hamburg Hauptbahnhof, an additional single-track line was built from Tiefstack junction via Hamburg-Rothenburgsort station over a new Upper Harbour bridge to Ericus junction (originally built for the former Hamburg freight station). From 29 May 1997 the Fliegender Hamburger
Intercity Express The Intercity Express (commonly known as ICE ()) is a system of high-speed trains predominantly running in Germany. It also serves some destinations in Austria, Denmark (ceased in 2017 but planned to resume in 2022), France, Belgium, Switzerla ...
(ICE) train took two hours and 15 minutes between Hamburg and Berlin. Up until 1998, DM 4.5 billion (approximately €2.3 billion) had been invested in the upgrade of the line. The upgrade was initially designed only to raise the maximum speed to 160 km/h, with an option for a further upgrade to 200 km/h. Considerations for the further upgrade was shelved in favour of the planned
Transrapid Transrapid is a German-developed high-speed monorail train using magnetic levitation. Planning for the Transrapid system started in 1969 with a test facility for the system in Emsland, Germany completed in 1987. In 1991, technical readi ...
magnetic levitation project. During the planning carried out between 1996 and 2000, it was envisaged that a line could be built with an investment of from 3.9 to 4.5 billion euros that would allow a journey time of less than 60 minutes (non-stop) at a maximum speed of 400 km/h. The opening would take place from 2006. This project was cancelled by
Hartmut Mehdorn Hartmut Mehdorn (born 31 July 1942 in Warsaw) is a German manager and mechanical engineer. Until May 2009 he served as CEO of Deutsche Bahn AG, Germany's biggest railway company. He served as CEO of Germany's second largest airline Air Berlin unt ...
shortly after he took office as CEO of Deutsche Bahn in 2000. Already before the end of 1999 Deutsche Bahn had internally prepared an alternative scenario in case in the failure of the Transrapid project. With a top speed of 200 km/h, a travel time of less than two hours would be possible, with an increase to 230 km/h, 90 minutes would be possible. This would require the elimination of nearly 70
level crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, Trail, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an Overpass#Railway, overpass ...
s at an estimated cost of 700 million DM (about €350 million). In May 2000 the upgrade of the line to allow 230 km/h operations for a travel time of 90 minutes was announced. At the end of 2000, the ICE service on the line was increased to three pairs of trains per day. The upgrade of the existing line to a high-speed railway was not without controversy. A report of 1992 proposed the development of the route via
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 ...
( Hanover–Hamburg line) and
Stendal The Hanseatic City of Stendal () is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is the capital of the Stendal District and the unofficial capital of the Altmark region. Geography Situated west of the Elbe valley, the Stendal town centre is located s ...
( Hanover–Berlin high-speed line) available for ICE trains running between Berlin and Hamburg, while freight traffic would remain on the Berlin–Hamburg line. A 1994 report on this option put its cost at less than DM one billion (about € half a billion).


Upgrade for 230 km/h

In 2000 the shortest travel time between Hamburg and Berlin was two hours and eight minutes. After the cancelling of the Transrapid project in February 2000, the federal government made a grant of DM one billion (about €511 million) for a second stage of the upgrade that would raise speeds on 263 km of the existing line from 160 to up to 230 km/h. The additional 30 km/h in comparison to the normal limit on upgraded conventional lines was necessary in order to achieve a total journey time of 90 minutes. The line became the first existing railway line in Germany to be operated at more than 200 km/h. Platform barriers were used for the first time in Germany. Large-scale construction began in 2002. Thus a large number of level crossings were eliminated and replaced by 56
grade separated In civil engineering (more specifically highway engineering), grade separation is a method of aligning a junction of two or more surface transport axes at different heights (grades) so that they will not disrupt the traffic flow on other tra ...
crossings. A new overhead line was also installed as well as the German
Linienzugbeeinflussung Linienzugbeeinflussung (or LZB) is a cab signalling and train protection system used on selected German and Austrian railway lines as well as on the AVE and some commuter rail lines in Spain. The system was mandatory where trains were allowed ...
train protection system and 162 sets of points were converted or replaced. This work was carried out largely during an eleven-week closure of the line in the late summer of 2003. Even
Wittenberge station Wittenberge station is the railway station for the Brandenburg town of Wittenberge in Germany. About 5,000 passengers use the station daily and it is served by around 100 trains per day. Infrastructure The station is located about 1.3 kilometre ...
was extensively rebuilt to allow trains to pass through it at 160 km/h. The upgrade of the line was completed for the December 2004 timetable change. The federal government ultimately invested around €650 million in this second stage.


Development of the timetable and service pattern after 2004

From 1 March 2005 an additional late evening service ran from Berlin to Hamburg. The ICE train left Berlin Zoo station at 11:00 PM and reached Hamburg at 00:32 AM. This additional train was promised by Hartmut Mehdorn, the First Mayor of Hamburg,
Ole von Beust Ole von Beust (born 13 April 1955) is a former German politician who was First Mayor of Hamburg from 31 October 2001 to 25 August 2010, serving as President of the Bundesrat from 1 November 2007 on for one year. He was succeeded as mayor by C ...
, on the inaugural run, to enable citizens of Hamburg to attend an evening theatre performance in Berlin and return to Hamburg before the S-Bahn closed. The 2007 timetable includes hourly services with ICE (mostly
ICE T DBAG Class 411 and Class 415 are German tilting electric multiple-unit high-speed trains in service with DB Fernverkehr, commonly known as ICE T. Development Following the successful inauguration of the Intercity-Express system in 199 ...
) trains on the line.
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 ...
and
EuroCity EuroCity, abbreviated as EC, is a cross-border train category within the European inter-city rail network. In contrast to trains allocated to the lower-level "IC" (InterCity) category, EC trains are international services that meet 20 criteri ...
services have also been increased. There are also
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 ...
services on the Berlin–Wittenberge–
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 ...
and
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 ...
–Schwerin–Büchen–Hamburg routes. In the vicinity of Berlin and Hamburg there are additional Regionalbahn services. Freight trains also run on the line. With the timetable change in December 2006, the hourly Hamburg–Berlin ICE service was extended to the south (
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 ...
,
Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
and
Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
). Since December 2007, every two hours an ICE 1, instead of an ICE T, runs between Berlin and Hamburg.


Increase of passengers

At the beginning of ICE operations in 1997 daily traffic was about 6,000 passengers. According to the DB in May 2007, about 10,000 travelers a day moved between the two cities. This is an increase of 47 percent, according to DB. In the late 1990s, material defects were discovered in a number of concrete sleepers on the line. Certain elements in the sleepers decomposed faster than planned, leading to the replacement of 260,000 damaged sleepers, forcing the closure on the line between 1 March and 13 June 2009. Long-distance trains were diverted via Stendal and Uelzen and regional services were largely replaced by buses.


Prospects

It is currently planned for S-Bahn services to be extended from Berlin-Spandau at least as far as Falkensee, including the restoration of S-Bahn services to Albrechtshof; Regionalbahn services would be closed.


Technical equipment and special features


Train protection

The section of the line from the 16.5 to 271.0 km marks is equipped with the
Linienzugbeeinflussung Linienzugbeeinflussung (or LZB) is a cab signalling and train protection system used on selected German and Austrian railway lines as well as on the AVE and some commuter rail lines in Spain. The system was mandatory where trains were allowed ...
(LZB) train protection system. Drivers receive "electronic vision" of the line up to 10,000 metres ahead.


Track

In 1993, a test section of
slab track A ballastless track or slab track is a type of railway track infrastructure in which the traditional elastic combination of ties/sleepers and ballast is replaced by a rigid construction of concrete or asphalt. Characteristics In ballastless ...
of the Züblin type was installed Between Wittenberg and Dergenthin (129.3 to 135.4 km). In 1994, a modified Rheda type slab track was installed. Also in the section between Breddin and Glöwen (93 to about 101 km) slab track was established. Along the route 13 hot wheel and hot box detectors were also installed.


Platform security

Since trains can pass station platforms at speeds of more than 200 km/h, for the first time in Germany passenger safety fences were installed along 33 platform edges at 21 stations. Each is a long and high barrier with a 1.2 metre wide gate that opens to give access to the platform. Bilingual (German and English) signs tell passengers to leave the platform edge. On the opposite side of the fence passengers are warned not to enter the platform before a train has passed by or comes to a halt.


Sources


Notes


References

* * * * *


External links

*
Information about the Berlin-Hamburg Railway


{{DEFAULTSORT:Berlin-Hamburg Railway Defunct railway companies of Germany Hamburg line Railway lines in Brandenburg Railway lines in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Railway lines in Schleswig-Holstein Berlin line High-speed railway lines in Germany Hamburg S-Bahn Railway lines opened in 1846 1846 establishments in Germany