The Hagen–Hamm railway is a continuous two-track, electrified main line 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 ...

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

, connecting

Hagen Hagen () is a city in the States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany, on the southeastern edge of the Ruhr area, 15 km south of Dortmund, where the rivers Lenne and Volme meet the Ruhr (river), Ruhr. In 2023, the ...

via

Schwerte Schwerte (; Westphalian: ''Schweierte'') is a town in the district of Unna, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Schwerte is situated in the Ruhr valley, at the south-east border of the Ruhr Area. South of Schwerte begins the mountain ...

Holzwickede Holzwickede () is a municipality in the district of Unna (district), Unna in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is twinned with Weymouth, England, Weymouth, Louviers and Colditz. Mayors *1969–1975: Josef Wortmann *1975–1989: Heinrich Sch� ...

and

Unna Unna () is a city of around 59,000 people in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the seat of the Unna (district), Unna district. The newly refurbished Unna station has trains to all major cities in North Rhine Westphalia including Dortmund, Köln H ...

to Hamm.

History

The railway line from Hagen to Hamm was built by the

Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company The Bergisch-Markisch Railway Company (, BME), also referred to as the Berg-Mark Railway Company or, more rarely, as the Bergisch-Markische Railway Company, was a German railway company that together with the Cologne-Minden Railway (''Cöln-Min ...

(German: ''Bergisch-Märkische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft'', BME) to link its existing Elberfeld–Dortmund and Dortmund–Soest lines as well as

Hamm station Hamm (Westfalen) Hauptbahnhof (often abbreviated Hamm (Westf) Hbf, Hamm (Westf) or simply Hamm (W)) is a railway station situated in the city of Hamm in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is notable for its station building inspired ...

. The section between Holzwickede and Unna was opened by the BME on 9 July 1855 as part of its Dortmund–Soest line. Ten years later, on 18 January 1866, the section from Unna to Hamm was made available for passenger traffic, while the section from Hagen to Holzwickede opened a year later on 1 April 1867.

Current situation

The whole length of the line is served hourly 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 ...

services on lines RE 7, the '' Rhein-Münsterland-Express'' (

Rheine Rheine () is a city in the district of Steinfurt (district), Steinfurt in Westphalia, Germany. It is the largest city in the district and the location of Rheine Air Base. Geography Rheine is on the river Ems (river), Ems, about north of Münster ...

–

Krefeld Krefeld ( , ; ), also spelled Crefeld until 1925 (though the spelling was still being used in British papers throughout the Second World War), is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany. It is located northwest of Düsseldorf, its c ...

), and RE 13, the ''

Maas-Wupper-Express The Maas-Wupper-Express (RE 13) is a Regional-Express service in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), running from the Netherlands, Dutch border town of Venlo railway station, Venlo to Hamm (Westfalen) station, Hamm in Westphalia. Rou ...

'' (Hamm–

Venlo Venlo () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in southeastern Netherlands, close to the border with Germany. It is situated in the province of Limburg (Netherlands), ...

). The section between Hagen and Schwerte is also served by RE 17, the '' Sauerland-Express'' (Hagen–

Warburg Warburg (; Westphalian: ''Warberich'' or ''Warborg'') is a town in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, central Germany on the river Diemel near the three-state point shared by Hessen, Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia. It is in Höxter distr ...

), every hour. The section between Holzwickede and Unna is also served by

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 ...

service RB 59, ''Hellweg-Bahn''. Long distance

Intercity-Express Intercity Express (commonly known as ICE () and running under this Train categories in Europe, category) is a high-speed rail in Germany, high-speed rail system in Germany. It also serves destinations in Austria, France, Belgium, Switzerland an ...

and

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 operate on the line between

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

and Hamm (continuing to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

) stopping only at Hagen and Hamm.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hagen-Hamm Railway Railway lines in North Rhine-Westphalia Railway lines opened in 1855 1855 establishments in Prussia 1855 establishments in the German Confederation Buildings and structures in Hagen Buildings and structures in Hamm Buildings and structures in Unna (district)