Hagenow Land–Schwerin Railway
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The Hagenow–Schwerin railway is a double track electrified mainline railway in the
German state The Federal Republic of Germany is a federation and consists of sixteen partly sovereign ''states''. Of the sixteen states, thirteen are so-called area-states ('Flächenländer'); in these, below the level of the state government, there is a ...
of
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; ), also known by its Anglicisation, anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a Federated state, state in the north-east of Germany. Of the country's States of Germany, sixteen states, Mecklenburg-Vorpom ...
. It is the second oldest railway in Mecklenburg after the Berlin-Hamburg railway and one of the oldest railways in Germany, opened in 1847 by the Mecklenburg Railway Company ().


Route

The line runs in an almost straight line from Hagenow Land station (east of the town of
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 ...
) northeast through wooded areas to
Schwerin Schwerin (; Mecklenburgisch-Vorpommersch dialect, Mecklenburgisch-Vorpommersch Low German: ''Swerin''; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Zwierzyn''; Latin: ''Suerina'', ''Suerinum'') is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Germ ...
. From Holthusen, where the line from Ludwigslust joins, it runs almost due north towards Schwerin. Before Schwerin-Görries the line from Parchim connects. The railway crosses Schwerin in a cutting.


History

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 C ...
. Immediately afterwards Mecklenburg-Schwerin began work on a link from Hagenow to Schwerin, which was opened on 1 May 1847. In the following years the line was extended to
Wismar Wismar (; ), officially the Hanseatic City of Wismar () is, with around 43,000 inhabitants, the sixth-largest city of the northeastern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and the fourth-largest city of Mecklenburg after Rostock, Schwerin and ...
,
Rostock Rostock (; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Roztoc''), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (), is the largest city in the German States of Germany, state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the sta ...
and
Güstrow Güstrow (; ) is a town in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in north-eastern Germany. It is capital of the Rostock (district), Rostock district; Rostock itself is a district-free city and regiopolis. It has a population of 28,999 (2020) and is the sevent ...
. Initially, two pairs of trains a day ran between Rostock and Hagenow with connections to services to Wismar and Güstrow. The construction of additional railway lines decreased the importance of this route. The Lübeck–Bad Kleinen line, which opened in 1870, diverted traffic to Hamburg via
Lübeck Lübeck (; or ; Latin: ), officially the Hanseatic League, Hanseatic City of Lübeck (), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 220,000 inhabitants, it is the second-largest city on the German Baltic Sea, Baltic coast and the second-larg ...
. The opening of the Ludwiglust–Holthusen line in 1888, diverted traffic towards Berlin and
Magdeburg Magdeburg (; ) is the Capital city, capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is on the Elbe river. Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archbishopric of Mag ...
from the section of line south of Holthusen and it was subsequently mainly used for local traffic. For example, in 1905 there were five pairs of passenger train between Hagenow Land station and Schwerin and six in 1934, some continiong to Wismar. In the 1980s there were four pairs of trains, which continued to the border station of Schwanheide. Added to this was a pair of express trains and one interzonal train (travelling between
East East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that ea ...
and
West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...
) between Berlin and Hamburg. In 1996, the line was duplicated and electrified as a German Unity Transport Project and upgraded to allow a top speed of 160 km/h. The 18 km section from Hagenow Land to Holthusen was doubled and electrified. Holthusen station was rebuilt so that trains from Hagenow Land towards Schwerin could run at 160 km/h and from Ludwigslust at 130 km/h. The platforms at Schwerin Hauptbahnhof were extended and equipped with an electronic interlocking, from which the section from Hagenow Land to Bad Kleinen is controlled. (brochure) The upgraded section went into operation in 1996. As a result, the travel time from Rostock via Hagenow to Hamburg is now shorter than that via Lübeck.


Current operations

The line is served 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 a top speed of and an average speed of about as it calls at fewer stations than ''R ...
trains on the Rostock–Hamburg route (branded as ''Hanse-Express'') every two hours with some extra services in the peak. It is also served every the two hours by
InterCity InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the train categories in Europe, classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to InterRegio, regional train, r ...
trains on the (
Binz Binz is the largest seaside resort city 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 "na ...
–)
Stralsund Stralsund (; Swedish language, Swedish: ''Strålsund''), officially the Hanseatic League, Hanseatic City of Stralsund (German language, German: ''Hansestadt Stralsund''), is the fifth-largest city in the northeastern German federal state of Mecklen ...
–Rostock–Schwerin–Hamburg route and continuing to western or south western Germany.
Regionalbahn The ''Regionalbahn'' (; lit. Regional train; abbreviated ''RB'') is a train categories in Europe, type of Regional rail, local passenger train (stopping train) in Germany. It is similar to the Regionalzug (R) and Regio (Swiss railway train), R ...
trains used to run between Schwerin and Hagenow Land station, connecting to Hagenow Stadt, but were canceled at the timetable change in December 2012 by the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern as part of major austerity measures. Since then, the Kirch Jesar and Zachun have been served only irregularly by extra peak hour services on the RE 1 line.


References


Footnotes


Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hagenow Land-Schwerin Railway Railway lines in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Buildings and structures in Ludwigslust-Parchim Railway lines opened in 1847 1847 establishments in the German Confederation