Helmstedt – Holzminden railway line
The Helmstedt – Holzminden railway is a railway line between Helmstedt , Jerxheim , Börßum , Bad Gandersheim , Kreiensen and Holzminden on the northwestern edge of the Harz Mountains . In it, under the route number 1940, several main routes in the east and south of Lower Saxony are combined into one administrative unit, which are only connected to a limited extent in terms of traffic and history. It is only regularly operated west of Salzgitter-Bad.
This connection existed continuously from 1868 to 1976 (passenger traffic) or 1979 (freight traffic). From 1868 to 1945 the section from Jerxheim to Kreiensen was an important east-west freight connection.
Sections
The individual railways are described in their route articles.
Helmstedt-Jerxheim
This section, the Jerxheim – Helmstedt railway line , was given up in December 2007 to enable the mining of lignite. A section near Helmstedt is still used as a connecting railway.
Jerxheim – Börßum
The Jerxheim – Börßum railway was abandoned in 1976 for passenger traffic and in 1979 completely. Until the interruption of the Oschersleben – Jerxheim railway line to the east in 1945, it was an important freight line.
Börßum – Kreiensen (Braunschweigische Südbahn)
The Börßum – Kreiensen railway line only has two tracks between Neuekrug-Hahausen and Kreiensen.
The Börßum – Salzgitter-Bad section ( Warnetalbahn ) is now only used by museum trains. Scheduled passenger traffic also ended here in 1976.
In addition to the VPS ore railway, the Leiferde – Salzgitter-Bad railway also flows into Salzgitter-Bad ; it was built as a shortcut between Braunschweig and Salzgitter-Bad compared to the detour via Börßum. Most railcars run from Braunschweig via Salzgitter-Bad and Seesen to Herzberg (Harz) , but trains from Bad Harzburg and Goslar run from Neuekrug-Hahausen (just before Seesen) via the Braunschweigische Südbahn to the Leine . In Kreiensen there is a connection to the Hannöversche Südbahn , which is part of the north-south route, which is still important today, at least for goods traffic .
Kreiensen – Holzminden
The westernmost section merges into the Eggebahn in Holzminden to the Altenbeken railway junction . From there it goes on towards the Ruhr area. Until 2013, the trains from Goslar continued to the end of the route in Holzminden. Today the NordWestBahn , which until 2013 came from Paderborn in Holzminden, runs through to Kreiensen.