Hanover–Altenbeken Railway
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The Hanover–Altenbeken railway is a two-track electrified main line in the German states of
Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...
and
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 ...
. It is now a part of the
Hanover S-Bahn The Hanover S-Bahn (in German: ''S-Bahn Hannover'') is an S-Bahn network operated by Transdev Hannover in the area of Hanover in the German state capital of Lower Saxony. It went operational shortly before Expo 2000 and is focused on the Hanover ...
network.


History

The railway line was built by the Hanover-Altenbeken Railway Company (, HAE). The first section opened to
Hamelin Hameln ( ; ) is a town on the river Weser in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Hameln-Pyrmont and has a population of roughly 57,000. Hamelin is best known for the tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. History Hameln ...
on 13 April 1872 and the whole Hanover–Altenbeken line was completed on 19 December 1872. After the financial decline of the HAE, it was nationalised in 1880 and operated as part of 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 ...
. The originally single-track line was duplicated between
Hamelin Hameln ( ; ) is a town on the river Weser in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Hameln-Pyrmont and has a population of roughly 57,000. Hamelin is best known for the tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. History Hameln ...
and Altenbeken in 1908 and between Hannover and Hamelin in 1913. As a result of the
division of Germany Division may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting of 10,000 to ...
after 1945 it lost freight traffic, which had been important for decades, because traffic shifted to the north-south direction. Electrical operations commenced on the line in the summer of 1971. The original starting point was ''Hannover Localbahnhof'' (local station), later called ''Südbahnhof'' (south station), north of Bismarckstraße that had a connection to the railway yards at Pferdeturm, now used for sidings, which gave a further connection to the line to Lehrte and Brunswick. From 1880 trains operated from the newly built
Hannover Hauptbahnhof Hannover Hauptbahnhof () is the main railway station for the city of Hanover in Lower Saxony, Germany. The railway junction is one of the 21 stations listed as a railway Category 1 station by DB Station&Service. It is also the most important pub ...
. In southern Hanover the line ran along the street today called Altenbekener Damm to Linden/Fischerhof station. The current route, which continues further south, was opened on 26 June 1909 as part of the Hanover freight train bypass. The former railway bridges over the
Leine The Leine (; Old Saxon ''Lagina'') is a river in Thuringia and Lower Saxony, Germany. It is a left tributary of the Aller and the Weser and is long. The river's source is located close to the town of Leinefelde in Thuringia. About downriver ...
and the Ihme are still preserved as pedestrian bridges. The branch line was opened in 1873 from Linden to Linden-Küchengarten, which was used mainly for coal from the
Deister The Deister () is a chain of hills in the Germany, German state of Lower Saxony, about 15 mi (25 km) southwest of the city of Hanover. It runs in a north-westerly direction from Springe in the south to Rodenberg in the north. The next i ...
. The line was closed in 1930. The original Holtensen b. Weetzen station was renamed at the beginning of the 21st century as Holtensen/ Linderte. It was originally proposed that the line between
Springe Springe () is a town in the Hanover (district), district of Hanover, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated near the Deister hills, southwest of Hanover. Town structure * Springe (core settlement, seat of the mayor), population 13,184 * Ben ...
and Bennigsen would run further south to directly serve Eldagsen, which was larger at that time than Springe. Since this route was not selected, Eldagsen station was built just outside Völksen, largely financed by Eldagsen. The station and Eldagsen were connected by buses, initially horse-hauled. In 1935 the station was renamed ''Eldagsen-Völksen''. In about 2000, the station was renamed as ''Völksen-Eldagsen''. ''Kaiserrampe'' (Emperor platform) station was opened between Völksen/Eldagsen and Springe (west of the present bridge over the B 217) in 1887. From there, the
Emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...
rode over the 2.5 km long and chestnut-lined ''Kaiserallee'' (Emperor's Alley) to a hunting lodge in Saupark Springe, a game reserve. The station was last used by the German Emperor in 1912. The Kaiserallee and the old station buildings still exist today. It is planned to build stations in Hanover on the line at Waldhausen and Braunschweiger Platz to improve interchange with the
Hanover Stadtbahn Hanover Stadtbahn is a light urban rail transport (Stadtbahn, ) system in the city of Hanover, the capital of Lower Saxony, Germany. It opened on 29 September 1975, gradually replacing the city's tramway () network over the course of the subsequ ...
, but no definite dates have been set.


Operations

Since 2000 the line has been part of the
Hanover S-Bahn The Hanover S-Bahn (in German: ''S-Bahn Hannover'') is an S-Bahn network operated by Transdev Hannover in the area of Hanover in the German state capital of Lower Saxony. It went operational shortly before Expo 2000 and is focused on the Hanover ...
and since December 2004 it has been served by S-Bahn line S 5 on the
Hanover Airport Hannover Airport is the international airport of Hanover, capital of the Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. The List of airports in Germany, ninth largest airport in Germany, it is situated on in Langenhagen, north of the centre of Han ...
Hannover Hbf Hannover Hauptbahnhof () is the main railway station for the city of Hanover in Lower Saxony, Germany. The railway junction is one of the 21 stations listed as a railway Category 1 station by DB Station&Service. It is also the most important pub ...
Hamelin Hameln ( ; ) is a town on the river Weser in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Hameln-Pyrmont and has a population of roughly 57,000. Hamelin is best known for the tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. History Hameln ...
Altenbeken
Paderborn Paderborn (; Westphalian language, Westphalian: ''Patterbuorn'', also ''Paterboärn'') is a city in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn (district), Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pade ...
route. The trains run every hour, but on Sundays only every two hours between
Bad Pyrmont Bad Pyrmont (, also: ; West Low German: ) is a town in the district of Hamelin-Pyrmont, in Lower Saxony, Germany, with a population close to 19,000. It is located on the river Emmer (Weser), Emmer, about west of the Weser. Bad Pyrmont is a popul ...
and Paderborn. The frequency of services is improved by additional services at the Hanover end of the line: S 1 and S 2 operate on the line to Weetzen and additional S5 services operate between Hanover and Hamelin. They are operated by
DB Regio DB Regio AG () is a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn which operates regional and commuter train services in Germany. It is a 100% subsidiary of the Deutsche Bahn Group and therefore part of the DB Regio business segment, which also includes DB Regionn ...
Niedersachsen, using electric multiple units of DB classes 424 and 425 at speeds of up to 140 km/h. The average speed is 69 km/h.


References


Footnotes


Sources

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hanover-Altenbeken railway Railway lines in North Rhine-Westphalia Railway lines in Lower Saxony Railway lines opened in 1872 1872 establishments in Germany Hanover S-Bahn Buildings and structures in Lippe Buildings and structures in Paderborn (district) Buildings and structures in Höxter (district) Buildings and structures in Hanover Region Buildings and structures in Hameln-Pyrmont