The Lehrte–Celle railway is a main line in the east of

Hanover Region Hanover Region () is a districts of Germany, district in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of Heidekreis, Celle (district), Celle, Gifhorn (district), Gifhorn, Peine (district), Peine, Hildeshe ...

in Germany. It links the railway hub of

Lehrte Lehrte () is a town in the district of Hanover, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 17 km east of Hanover. In the 19th century Lehrte was the most important railway junction in the former Kingdom of Hanover. As of the 2 ...

with the town of

Celle Celle () is a town and capital of the district of Celle (district), Celle in Lower Saxony, in north-central Germany. The town is situated on the banks of the river Aller (Germany), Aller, a tributary of the Weser, and has a population of about ...

, where it connects to the present-day

Hanover–Hamburg railway The Hanover–Hamburg railway is one of the most important railway lines in Lower Saxony and Germany. It links the Lower Saxon state capital of Hanover with Hamburg, running through Celle, Uelzen and Lüneburg. History The main section of th ...

. Until the opening of the "Hare Railway" (''Hasenbahn'') from Langenhagen to Celle on 15 May 1938 and its upgrade to double tracks in 1964 and electrification in 1965 it was itself part of this long-distance route. Today it serves the north-south goods trains and is also used by the S 6 and S 7 trains 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 ...

from Hanover to Celle. The line was planned as the northern branch of the so-called "Kreuzbahn" of the Royal Hanoverian State Railways together with the Hanover–Brunswick and Lehrte–Hildesheim railways and opened on 15 October 1845. On 1 May 1847 it was extended to (then Hanoverian) Harburg. The approach to Lehrte station from the west made it necessary for all trains from Hanover to Celle to reverse in Lehrte. With the construction of the Hanover freight bypass line a direct link to the

Hanover–Brunswick railway The Hanover–Brunswick Railway is a Rail transport in Germany, German main line railway in Lower Saxony and is one of List of the first German railways to 1870, the oldest lines in Germany, opened in 1843 and 1844. It was the first railway line ...

was made and it was opened on 1 May 1906. This enabled the passenger station at Lehrte to be bypassed. On 6 April 1965 the line was electrified. For the

the platforms on this line were raised to a height of 76 cm and modernised in early 2000. Stellwerk Lehrte

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lehrte-Celle railway Railway lines in Lower Saxony Buildings and structures in Hanover Region Celle Railway lines opened in 1845 Hanover S-Bahn Buildings and structures in Celle (district)