Hanover–Minden railway

The Hanover–Minden railway is one of the most important railways in Lower Saxony and railway in Germany. It connects the capital of Lower Saxony, Hanover via Wunstorf, Stadthagen and Bückeburg with Minden, Osnabrück, Amsterdam and the Ruhr.

Hannover–Minden
Minden Station
Overview
Line number	1700
Locale	Lower Saxony, Germany
Service
Route number	370
Technical
Line length	64.4 km (40.0 mi)
Number of tracks	2
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	15 kV/16.7 Hz AC overhead catenary
Operating speed	200 km/h (124.3 mph) 70 (maximum)
Route map Legend Hanoverian Southern Railway, HSL from Kassel from Lehrte 0.0 Hannover Hbf Hannover-Nordstadt 3.2 Hannover Burg (station part) 3.8 Hannover-Hainholz to Hamburg (flying junction) 5.5 Hannover-Leinhausen 6.0 Hannover Kurve (junction) 6.1 Leine 6.2 to Seelze–Lehrte freight bypass 7.1 Letter (junction) freight bypass from Lehrte 7.9 Letter 9.1 Seelze Rbf (freight yard) 10.4 Seelze Rbf West 11.1 Seelze (end of the S-Bahn-line) 13.3 Mittelland canal 16.3 Dedensen-Gümmer A 2 Seelze Gümmerwald (junction) (flying junction) 21.4 Wunstorf (Keilbahnhof) to Bremen Düendorf (towards Minden until 1968) Mittelland canal 28.3 Haste (Han) 28.595 Waldstraße L449 Line to Weetzen 29.580 Zum Walde 29.877 Hauptstraße K50 31.2 Rehren 35.7 Lindhorst 36.1 Lindhorst (former station) 43.0 Stadthagen to Rinteln former line to Leese-Stolzenau former Stadthagen–Stolzenau railway 48.4 Kirchhorsten former Bad Eilsen Light Railway 55.2 Bückeburg Bad Eilsen Light Railway 58.9 Evesen Lower Saxony North Rhine-Westphalia state border from Nienburg Minden District Railway 63.0 Minden (Westf) freight yard 64.4 Minden (Westf) Pbf trunk line to Hamm Source: German railway atlas[1]

History

The line was opened on 15 October 1847 by the Royal Hanoverian State Railways. It opened up the Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe, including its capital city, Bückeburg and provided a continuous link between Hanover and the Rhineland. On 23 December 1847, a branch was opened from Wunstorf to Bremen, which has ever since formed one of the main railway of Germany because it connects Bremen with southern industries. More connections and access routes are (or were) provided by the Stadthagen–Stolzenau Railway, the Weser–Aller Railway to Rotenburg an der Wümme, the Cologne-Minden trunk line, which continues the line to the Rhineland, the Rinteln–Stadthagen Railway, the Minden District Railway and the Bad Eilsen Light Railway from Bückeburg to Bad Eilsen and briefly via Meissen to Minden.

Development of high-speed railway

The first Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan (1973) identified the Dortmund–Hannover–Brunswick line as one of eight railway development projects.^[2] In 1984, a 23.5 kilometre section between Bückeburg and Haste was cleared for scheduled speeds of 200 km/h. In 1985, a 13.0 kilometre stretch between Hanover and Wunstorf followed.^[3]

Rail services

The whole line is continuously electrified and served by Intercity-Express, InterCity, Regional-Express and S-Bahn services. In addition, there is heavy freight traffic. Between Minden and Hanover hourly RE trains run (Braunschweig to Bielefeld or Rheine) as doubledeck sets and S-Bahn line S1 (Haste–Hannover–Minden). On the Wunstorf–Hanover section, services are supplemented by line S2 (Haste–Hanover–Nienburg). This route is also served by RE trains on the Hanover–Bremen–Norddeich route.

The line has six tracks between Hannover-Nordstadt and Seelze, between Hannover Hbf and Hannover-Nordstadt there are separate S-Bahn-tracks and between Seelze and Wunstorf there are four tracks. However, there are only two tracks on the Wunstorf–Minden section. Therefore, freight traffic on this section needs to go into sidings from time to time to allow faster passenger trains to pass through.

The provision of four-tracks as already exists on the adjacent Hamm-Minden railway line to the west is planned. However, it is still being debated as whether the existing line will be rebuilt, or whether a new high-speed line will be built between Haste and Seelze, bypassing Wunstorf, with the line west of Haste being rebuilt on its existing route.

The construction of one or two S-Bahn tracks between Seelze and Wunstorf by the Hanover region is also under discussion.

References

1. Eisenbahnatlas Deutschland (German railway atlas). Schweers + Wall. 2009. pp. 31, 41–2, 122, 135. ISBN 978-3-89494-139-0.
2. Block, Rüdiger (1991). "Auf neuen Wegen. Die Neubaustrecken der Deutschen Bundesbahn (The new lines of the German Federal Railways)". Eisenbahn-Kurier (in German) (21): 30–35.
3. Block, Rüdiger (1991). "ICE-Rennbahn: Die Neubaustrecken (ICE Racetrack: The new lines)". Eisenbahn-Kurier (in German) (21): 36–45.