Heidebahn
The Heidebahn is a predominantly non-electrified and single-track railway line of regional importance. It connects Buchholz in the Nordheide with the Lower Saxony state capital Hanover . The north-south connection, together with the Uelzen – Langwedel railway line running east-west and the Hanover – Hamburg line running further east, is one of the three most important rail routes through the Lüneburg Heath .
history
Origin and construction
As early as the middle of the 19th century , Walsrode tried to get a connection to a railway line in view of the expanding powder factories in neighboring Bomlitz . When the considerations for the construction of the so-called American line Bremen - Uelzen - Berlin began in 1866 , the city of Walsrode unsuccessfully campaigned for a connection to this line. It was not until February 27, 1885 that a decision was made to build a Hanover – Walsrode– Visselhövede railway in Berlin . In 1890 this line was put into operation to Walsrode. On June 16 of that year, freight traffic was first opened at Walsrode station, and on August 25, 1890, the new Hanover – Visselhövede line was opened with great celebrations. The section from Walsrode to Visselhövede via Rotenburg (Wümme) , Zeven and Bremervörde was later extended to Bremerhaven . This section Bremervörde – Walsrode was intended as a long-distance connection and was largely straight-lined. However, it was never able to establish itself as a through route.
When construction began on the Hanover – Visselhövede line, Fallingbostel and Soltau also wanted to connect to this line. The Walsrode – Fallingbostel – Soltau branch was put into operation on October 1, 1896. On June 1, 1896 the first passenger train reached Fallingbostel. The construction of the Soltau– Buchholz section began in 1898. The routing was carried out using the machine shaft method , with workers filling lorries that were pulled by narrow-gauge steam locomotives. The most expensive structure on this section of the route was a viaduct over the Dumpetal, at 27,000 marks at the time - the opening trip took place on September 30, 1901.
These sections have a distinct branch line character.
development
Today's Heidebahn was finished, but eight branches were added afterwards.
- From 1903 to 1905 the state railway Celle - Schwarmstedt - Wahnebergen - Verden (Aller) was built. It was part of the so-called Allertalbahn .
- The Verden-Walsroder Railway followed in 1911.
- In Soltau , the later OHE routes to Celle (April 23, 1910), Lüneburg (June 13, 1913) and Neuenkirchen (January 1, 1917) were connected.
- In 1915 the electrified Wolff & Co. railway was connected to Bomlitz in Cordingen . At times, local public transport was also processed on it.
- The most important branch to this day only followed on May 15, 1938, when the so-called "Hasenbahn" from Langenhagen to Celle started operating. The resulting connection Hanover – Langenhagen – Celle is now part of the long-distance Hanover – Hamburg line .
- In Honerdingen , the Eibia works railway was connected in 1938 , until 1945 the most important freight connection of the Heidebahn in quantitative terms. It joined the Wolff & Co. railway to Bomlitz in Benefeld .
During the Second World War, the Heidebahn was an important transport route to serve prison camps, the Bergen military training area and the local armaments industry such as Eibia GmbH . The prisoner transports to Stalag XI B and Stalag XI D took place over the route. The prisoners were driven to the camps from Fallingbostel train station. A plaque commemorates these events at the Bad Fallingbostel train station .
The branch lines in the heather could not last forever. From 1961 to 1975 the OHE routes around Soltau were given up in passenger traffic, in 1964 the Verden – Walsroder railway . In 1980 the route to Visselhövede was shortened to factory and passenger traffic to Bomlitz, which was served until 1991. Passenger traffic on the Allertalbahn Verden – Schwarmstedt – Celle was discontinued in 1966, the line closed in 1995.
The closure of the Heidebahn was repeatedly discussed in the 1980s and early 1990s; the Buchholz – Soltau section was particularly at risk.
For Expo 2000 Hanover received an S-Bahn . The section of the Heidebahn to Bennemühlen was also integrated into this network. The number of stops has been increased from three to ten. The station in Bennemühlen was selected as the provisional end point, where until December 2012 it was mostly necessary to change trains to Soltau. Located on the border of the Hanover region , this station has only a small volume of traffic of its own. In the first few years of operation, the new S-Bahn line increased the number of passengers from 2,600 in 2000 to 7,200 in 2002.
There are still form signals between Buchholz and Soltau, the line is still equipped with mechanical signal boxes on this section. The Hodenhagen train station has been extensively rebuilt since October 2011 and is controlled remotely from Walsrode using ESTW technology. In 2016 electronic signal boxes were built in Dorfmark and Fallingbostel to replace the mechanical ones.
Expansion and modernization
The Heidebahn was expanded to a top speed of up to 120 km / h by 2016. The Heidebahn was expanded in three stages
- Expansion phase 1: Bennemühlen – Walsrode
- Expansion phase 2: Walsrode – Soltau
- Expansion phase 3: Soltau – Buchholz
The completion of the first construction phase between Bennemühlen and Walsrode was originally planned for 2007. It was not until December 2007 that the contracts required for the expansion were signed by the railway and the state of Lower Saxony (represented by the Lower Saxony regional transport company (LNVG)). In the course of the expansion, the Hademstorf and Eickeloh stops were shut down in the summer of 2010. For the 2011 winter schedule, the first regional trains ran at 120 km / h on the first construction phase (which shortens the travel time by ten minutes). This shortening will be achieved by closing and technical upgrading of level crossings and equipping them with a digital train radio link .
The third construction phase (Soltau – Buchholz) had to take place before the second construction phase (Walsrode – Soltau) in order to comply with the time restrictions for the use of EU funds. The draft planning for the third construction phase was completed in 2008 so that the expansion could begin at the end of 2009. By the end of 2011, the 46-kilometer section had been upgraded to increase the speed of the trains from 80 km / h to 120 km / h. The travel time was shortened by eleven minutes. After completion of all construction work (2017), the closure of the Wintermoor, Büsenbachtal and Suerhop stops should be examined. According to the number of passengers (as of 2009) of 150 (Suerhop), 90 (Büsenbachtal) and 80 (Wintermoor), the minimum number of 200 passengers per day was not reached. The Hemsen stop has not been served as part of the construction work since November 6, 2010. Due to the increasing number of passengers, the three stops were made barrier-free and extended in 2016 so that a triple LINT41 multiple unit can now also stop there. The remaining work lasted until 2017.
The second construction phase has been implemented since early summer 2015. All construction work should be completed by 2017. Due to the expansion of the missing section, which was largely completed when the timetable changed in December 2016, the 15-minute stops in Soltau are no longer necessary (2015: 24 minutes). In addition, the travel time between Hanover and Buchholz has also been reduced with a continuous hourly service. By relocating the train crossing from Dorfmark to Soltau, a clock node was created in Soltau for the trains on the Bremen – Uelzen route, which also cross there on the hour.
Travel time from Buchholz to Hanover:
- before the start of construction (summer timetable 2008) at least 2:24 hours
- after completion (annual timetable 2017) 1:50 h (according to the timetable typically 1:53 h or 1:55 h)
Total investment: over 100 million euros
Plans to expand the Heidebahn south of Walsrode as part of the Y-route into a high-speed route and a relief route for freight traffic to and from the North Sea ports in Hamburg and Bremerhaven are no longer current. In the Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan 2030 , an expansion of the route was not taken into account, as the decision was made in favor of the Alpha-E solution. This includes minor expansion measures on other existing routes in the area.
Today's service
The Heidebahn is important for commuter traffic to Hanover and Hamburg as well as for day tourism. The RB 38 runs every hour on the entire route between Hanover and Buchholz. Until the timetable change in 2016, however, there were only hourly service between Hanover and Soltau at the weekend.
The route is approved for a maximum speed of 120 km / h. The Heidebahn on the southern section Bennemühlen – Hannover is electrified and with the lines S 4 and S 5 (to the airport) it is part of the local S-Bahn . As far as Bissendorf , it has been expanded to two tracks. The northern end between Buchholz in der Nordheide and Soltau belongs to the Hamburg Transport Association (HVV).
Since the connections Hamburg – Uelzen – Hanover and Hamburg – Rotenburg – Verden – Hanover are significantly faster, the Heidebahn has no significant significance for through traffic; the journey Hamburg – Soltau – Hanover typically takes 2:32 hours (winter timetable 2016/2017). Since the 2018/19 timetable change, the RB 38 has also been running between Buchholz and Hamburg-Harburg on weekends.
There are only regular freight trains on the southern part of the route to Walsrode.
The Osthannoversche Railways AG (OHE) has won the tender for the Heidebahn and took over the timetable change in December 2011 for eight years running. For this purpose, she founded a new subsidiary on April 18, 2011, Heidekreuzbahn GmbH , which was renamed to erixx GmbH a little later .
Bennemühlen station
Walsrode railway station
Bad Fallingbostel train station
Dorfmark train station
Soltau station
Schneverdingen railway station
Wintermoor stop
Buchholz station
Handeloh train station
Büsenbachtal stop
Holm-Seppensen stop
Vehicle types
The route is operated by erixx GmbH with railcars of the type LINT 41, depending on the day and time of the week, in single, double or triple traction, with the section north of Soltau being served with a maximum of double traction. Type 424 and 425.2 S-Bahn railcars operate on the Hanover – Bennemühlen section .
Freight traffic is carried out by Deutsche Bahn with class 261 and 265 locomotives and by Havelländische Eisenbahn .
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DB Regio used class 628.4 railcars until December 10, 2011, and 5-car trains with class 218 and class 634 railcars were used until December 10, 2005 . The last rail bus of the 798 series ran in 1989.
literature
- Dierk Lawrenz, Lothar Eichmann: The Heidebahn - From Buchholz via Schneverdingen to Soltau. 85 years through the Lüneburg Heath . EK-Verlag, Freiburg 1986, ISBN 3-88255-209-3 [2nd, revised and newly illustrated edition, EK-Verlag, Freiburg 1997, ISBN 3-88255-419-3 ].
Web links
- erixx: The Heidesprinter on KD's railway pages
- The Heidekreuz portal over the Heidebahn and America Line
- Heidebahn: Schwarmstedt tariff with information on expanding the tariffs of the GVH and HVV transport associations
- Heidebahn in the Third Reich
- VCD concept for expansion as a freight route (PDF; 550 KiB)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Stadt, Land, Schiene - 16 examples of successful railways in local transport ( Memento from March 15, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Allianz pro Schiene, pp. 24–26
- ^ Deutsche Bahn: Upgrading the Heidebahn between Bennemühlen and Buchholz (Nordheide) ( Memento from December 20, 2016 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on December 15, 2016
- ↑ http://heidekreuz.de/index.php?article_id=43 , Walsroder Zeitung of July 22, 2009
- ↑ http://heidekreuz.de/index.php?article_id=405 , www.heidekreuz.de November 19, 2009
- ↑ http://www.abendblatt.de/region/stade/article1460511/Verliert-die-Heidebahn-bald-drei-Stationen.html , Hamburger Abendblatt from April 16, 2010
- ↑ Heidebahn line should be expanded at the beginning of 2017 . In: Kreiszeitung-wochenblatt.de . ( Kreiszeitung-wochenblatt.de [accessed on December 14, 2016]).
- ↑ http://heidekreuz.de/1218-0-15052013---Heidebahn-Ausbau-bis-2017.htm , Walsroder Zeitung from May 15, 2013
- ↑ Walsroder Zeitung: 33 minutes faster thanks to training - Walsroder Zeitung. In: wz-net.de. Walsroder Zeitung, accessed on December 14, 2016 .
- ↑ erixx - route network - current reports. In: erixx.de. erixx GmbH, accessed on December 14, 2016 .
- ↑ http://www.fahrgastbeirat.org/heidebahn-erixx.html , Buchholz Passenger Advisory Board
- ↑ Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan 2030. Accessed on October 24, 2019 .
- ↑ BMVI: Draft Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan 2030 In: www.bvwp-projekte.de. Retrieved on April 29, 2016 (Dossier overall project: 2-003-V03 (Optimized Alpha-E based on the proposal of the Dialog Forum Rail North with bottleneck removal): http://www.bvwp-projekte.de/schiene/2-003- V03 / 2-003-V03.html ).
- ↑ tariff expansion. Retrieved July 25, 2020 .
- ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from March 5, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , www.lnvg.niedersachsen.de from February 15, 2011
- ↑ LNVG orders 28 regional trains for Lower Saxony from Alstom, LNVG News from December 16, 2009
