Braunschweig – Magdeburg railway line
| Braunschweig – Magdeburg | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Bundesbahn train between GDR border installations, April 1990
| |
| Route number : | 1900 Braunschweig – Helmstedt 6400 Helmstedt – Eilsleben 6110 Eilsleben – Magdeburg |
| Course book section (DB) : | 310 |
| Route length: | 83.0 km |
| Gauge : | 1435 mm ( standard gauge ) |
| Route class : | D4 |
| Power system : | 15 kV, 16.7 Hz ~ |
| Top speed: | Braunschweig – Helmstedt: 120 km / h. Helmstedt – Magdeburg: 160 km / h |
| Dual track : | continuous |
The Braunschweig – Magdeburg line is an 83-kilometer main line operated by DB Netz . Along with the Berlin-Lehrter Railway and the Hanover – Berlin high-speed line, it is one of the most important east-west routes between Hanover and Berlin . Important intermediate stations are Königslutter , Helmstedt and Eilsleben .
Today it is mainly used for east-west freight traffic, but is also used by intercity and regional trains.
history
prehistory
Braunschweig and Magdeburg were already connected by a railway line via Wolfenbüttel , Jerxheim and Oschersleben in 1843 . This route made a detour to the south, but led through technically simple terrain. In addition, the Braunschweig – Bad Harzburg railway line to Wolfenbüttel and the Magdeburg – Halberstadt railway line from Oschersleben could also be used. This connection belonged to the Duke Braunschweigische Staatseisenbahn and the Magdeburg-Halberstädter Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft .
The Hanover – Braunschweig railway followed in 1844 , and that from Magdeburg to Potsdam in 1846 . The old Braunschweig main station , which opened in 1845, was also built as a terminal station , like the previous building from 1838 .
After traffic continued to develop, the Magdeburg-Halberstädter Eisenbahn (MHE) wanted to build a direct connection between Berlin and Hanover from the early 1860s. This was initially rejected by the Hanover and Braunschweig governments. After the German-German War of 1866, the Kingdom of Hanover was annexed by Prussia. Braunschweig had little influence on its own, and the Prussian MHE set about building the Berlin-Lehrter railway via Stendal . Now, not only the cities of Magdeburg and Braunschweig, but also the Berlin-Potsdam-Magdeburger Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft (BPME) saw their importance threatened, especially since it was only connected to the network of its competitor MHE in the west.
Construction and opening
In 1868 the Prussian military administration provided the Berlin-Potsdam-Magdeburg Railway, the Magdeburg-Halberstädter Railway and the Magdeburg-Cöthen-Halle-Leipzig Railway with 28 hectares of building land for the construction of a new Magdeburg central station , today's Magdeburg Hauptbahnhof . At the same time, the BPME began the preparatory work for the routes from Magdeburg via Eilsleben to Helmstedt and Schöningen. The connection to the Braunschweigische Staatsbahn should take place at the western terminus. Since the route touched both Prussian and Brunswick territory, a state treaty between the two countries was necessary, which was ratified on May 27, 1868. On December 14, 1868, the Prussian side of the BPME issued the concession document for the construction, the analogous document from Braunschweig was issued on February 18, 1868. In the spring of 1869, construction work began on both routes. The company used mainly seasonal workers from the Prussian provinces of Brandenburg , Posen and West Prussia , as the local workers were needed in agriculture. At the end of July 1870, the BPME had to stop work temporarily because there was a labor shortage as a result of the Franco-German War . At the end of 1871, the construction of the line continued, with the company now also being able to fall back on French prisoners of war. On August 15, 1872, the first work train ran between Magdeburg, Eilsleben and Schöningen, a month later, on September 15, 1872, both connections were opened. The direct connection to the main route of the BPME followed on May 15, 1873 together with the opening of Magdeburg Central Station.
The Lappwald and the foothills of the Elm had to be crossed between Eilsleben and Braunschweig . The route is winding here and runs over dams and through cuts.
Development up to the division of Germany
The Lehrter Bahn, a year older, remained undisputed as a fast connection in passenger traffic between Hanover and Berlin, the connection via Helmstedt lived off the two large cities and the traffic from Hanover in the direction of Halle / Leipzig . In addition, heavy freight traffic established itself on both branches.
In 1937, five express trains per day and direction traveled via Helmstedt, including the D 31/32, the oldest German express train, which had been in use since 1892 .
Transit route
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Since the connection leads through relatively undemanding terrain and has no large engineering structures, it was only impassable for a few days during and after the Second World War . The Allies decided to use this connection exclusively for the military traffic of the Western powers in Berlin. This route has also been opened for civil transit traffic. The Lehrter Bahn also remained usable, but was less busy.
In 1960, today's Braunschweig main station was opened. Since then, there has been no need to change the direction of travel between Magdeburg and Hanover.
After the transport agreement of 1972, local transport between Helmstedt and Eilsleben was offered again. On September 26, 1976, the Braunschweig – Helmstedt section was electrified. In the 1980s, an expansion of the transit routes was negotiated between West and East. The GDR preferred the Lehrter Bahn here, also to keep transit traffic out of Potsdam and Magdeburg. In the west, on the other hand, there were discussions about connection options to Braunschweig.
On October 11, 1985, a passenger train and a diesel locomotive collided head-on between Wefensleben and Eilsleben because the section of the line could only be used on a single track due to construction work. The accident left 13 dead.
After the German reunification
In 1991 the first Intercity from Hanover via Braunschweig and Magdeburg to Berlin was still running on diesel .
As part of the “ German Unity Transport Projects ”, an upgrade of the Helmstedt - Magdeburg - Berlin route as VDE No. 5 was tackled immediately after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The aim was to create an efficient connection between the state capitals Magdeburg and Potsdam as well as the federal capital Berlin. In addition, the former cross-border section to Helmstedt should be modernized and, among other things, the electrification gap should be closed. A continuous expansion for a speed of 160 km / h including electrification was planned.
In 1993, the Helmstedt - Magdeburg section was expanded to 160 km / h and electrified, and in the same year Intercity Express traffic was started on this route to Berlin. To the east, the route was initially taken via the Biederitz – Trebnitz railway and the Kanonenbahn from Güterglück . It was not until 1995 that the direct connection via Brandenburg and Potsdam was available for electric trains.
A clear cut in long-distance traffic took place in 1998 when the high-speed line Hanover – Berlin went into operation. Since then, only the ICE Frankfurt – Berlin from Braunschweig to the junction of the Weddeler Loop has been running every hour on this line of the long-distance trains to Berlin . In addition, ICs run every hour and ICEs in peripheral locations from Hanover to Leipzig on this route. Currently, a pair of trains runs daily from Norddeich -Mole via Hanover , Braunschweig, Magdeburg, Brandenburg an der Havel, Potsdam, Berlin to Cottbus. In the event of disruptions on the high-speed route Hanover-Berlin, ICE trains will be rerouted via the Braunschweig-Magdeburg route with stops in Braunschweig, Magdeburg and Potsdam.
outlook
In January 2020, DB Netz AG applied for the intersections at the Schmiedekamps junction to be replaced with simple switches. The intersections have so far caused a speed drop from 120 to 70 km / h.
A third track is to be built between the Buchhorst and Weddel junctions in order to increase the line capacity. The measure was included in the urgent needs of the Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan for 2030 as part of the extension line Lehrte / Hameln - Braunschweig - Magdeburg - Roßlau .
business
In long-distance passenger transport, the route is served by the intercity lines IC 55 Dresden - Leipzig - Magdeburg - Hanover - Dortmund - Cologne and IC 56 Leipzig - Magdeburg - Hanover - Bremen - Oldenburg , which overlap every hour.
In addition, the RB 40 provides an hourly regional connection in local passenger transport (every two hours on weekends between Helmstedt and Magdeburg). Repeater trains run between Helmstedt and Braunschweig at rush hour.
Between December 2016 and December 2018 a train of the Westfalenbahn ran from Minden (morning) and Rheine (evening) via Hanover and Braunschweig to Helmstedt (RE 60) and then back to Bielefeld (RE 70) on weekdays in the morning and in the evening . Since the vehicles have since been required for the half-hourly service between Hanover and Braunschweig, the through-connections were discontinued and the amplifiers were operated by DB Regio . The morning connection from Helmstedt to Braunschweig has since started in Magdeburg and is operated by an RB-40 train from the Northeast division ( Elbe-Saale Railway ). The remaining amplifier trains, a total of four pairs of trains, have been integrated into the Lower Saxony East diesel network (DINSO) and are operated by the Northern Division . Class 628 trains were used for this until March 2019, and since then Alstom Coradia Lint 27 (class 640) diesel multiple units in double traction.
There is also heavy freight traffic. The route is, along with a few others, part of an electrified corridor from the Czech Republic and the industrial regions in Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt to the German and Dutch seaports on the North Sea.
literature
- Jürgen Hörstel: Hanover – Berlin. History and construction of a rapid transit system . transpress, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-613-71088-9 .
- Hans-Joachim Fricke, Hans-Joachim Ritzau: The inner-German border and rail traffic . 3. Edition. Zeit und Eisenbahn Verlag, Pürgen 1992, ISBN 3-921304-45-8 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ The railways from Magdeburg to Braunschweig and Halberstadt and from Braunschweig to Harzburg . In: Illustrirte Zeitung . No. 13 . J. J. Weber, Leipzig September 23, 1843, p. 196-197 ( Wikisource ).
- ↑ Dirk Endisch: The branch lines of the Magdeburg Börde . Verlag Dirk Endisch, Stendal 2012, ISBN 978-3-936893-35-9 , p. 169-171 .
- ↑ Chronicle - Many serious train accidents also in East Germany. In: Online edition of the Mitteldeutsche Zeitung. February 26, 2009, accessed October 3, 2016 .
- ^ Railway line No. 1900 Braunschweig-Helmstedt, railway km 5.484 to 5.900. (PDF) Project "Change of the Schmiedekamp branch track plan" in Braunschweig. Federal Railway Office, January 24, 2020, accessed on January 30, 2020 .
- ^ ABS Lehrte / Hameln - Braunschweig - Magdeburg - Falkenberg (Version 2). Retrieved May 28, 2020 .
- ↑ a b summer timetable 2018/2019 from Helmstedt. In: Departure & arrival plans for Germany for download. Deutsche Bahn, accessed on May 28, 2019 .
- ↑ Fact Sheet Improvements and new offers for the timetable change December 2018. Regional association for the greater Braunschweig area , accessed on July 7, 2020 .