Bremen State Railways

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The Bremer Staatsbahn was a railway company owned by the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen . The railway lines supported by it were not an independent network. Apart from short freight routes, train traffic was carried out by other companies. It was the carrier of four railway lines. In 1883, the Bremen State Railways and the Bremen parts of the former Hanoverian railway network became the property of the Prussian State Railways for a one-off payment of 36 million marks .

Weserbahn

The first railway line built and operated by the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen was the Weserbahn, which opened in 1860. This freight line, which is only 400 meters long, led from the state train station of the Royal Hanoverian State Railways , which opened in 1848 and which was located on the site of today's Bremen central station , to the Weserbahnhof at Stephanitorsbollwerk downstream from the old town, a pioneering transshipment facility between rail and ship traffic.

Bremerhaven freight railway

Almost simultaneously with the opening of the Geestebahn of the Kingdom of Hanover, which ran from Bremen to Geestemünde , Bremen started operating on the subsequent freight railway from Geestemünde station to the Bremerhaven ports. This connecting route was not approved for passenger traffic.

Bremen railway bridge

The second line connected to the Weserbahn and led over the railway bridge built for it to the Bremen-Neustadt station . It was built on the basis of the contract with the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg of March 8, 1864 and put into operation on July 14, 1867 together with the Oldenburg route between Bremen-Neustadt and the city of Oldenburg. The train operation from the Oldenburg area to the (Hanoverian) state railway station was the responsibility of the Grand Ducal Oldenburg State Railways , which paid the Bremen State Railways a usage fee.

Langwedel-Uelzen

The third and longest stretch was entirely on Prussian territory. Structurally, it was the 97 km long Uelzen – Langwedel railway line , the western section of the so-called American line . Although it is called the state railway and owned by the state of Bremen, it was run as a private railway under Prussian law.

After the annexation of the Kingdom of Hanover by Prussia and the establishment of the North German Confederation , Bremen was very interested in a shorter rail connection to Berlin in order to improve the competitive situation of its ports. After Prussia refused to participate in the construction costs, Bremen decided to have the railway built at its own expense. The necessary state treaty with Prussia was signed on July 17, 1870. Since the funds in the Bremen state budget were not available so quickly because of the Weser correction that had just been carried out , the Union Bank in Berlin was called in, which had the railway line built at a fixed price of two million thalers . The Magdeburg-Halberstädter Eisenbahngesellschaft was commissioned with the operation of the railway (contract already on May 20, 1870, i.e. before the State Treaty), which had also taken over the construction of the Stendal – Salzwedel – Uelzen line.

Construction could only begin after the Franco-German War . The line was opened for freight traffic on April 15, 1873 and a month later for passenger traffic. The freight rates for transports between Berlin and Bremen over this route were the same as for the Berlin – Hamburg route. However, travelers mostly had to change trains in Stendal. Up until the end of the Second World War , there were - a few - express trains on the Berlin – Bremen– Wilhelmshaven route on this route, as well as a pair of express trains between Norddeich and Berlin. Travel connections between Bremen and Berlin via Hamburg or Hanover were generally faster. The route was nicknamed the American line because of the connections to emigrant ships from Bremerhaven to America .

Railway connection Bremen – Altmark (–Berlin) 1880.
Colored marking of railway lines (post-processing): yellow = facilities of the Bremen State Railway, light blue = facilities of the Magdeburg-Halberstädter Railway Company

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Change of ownership

In 1883, the Langwedel – Uelzen line and parts of the former Hanoverian railway network in Bremen were owned by the Royal Prussian State Railways for a one-off payment of 36 million marks .

The port railways and the Bremen Weser crossing remained in Bremen's possession. In 1929 the port railways in Bremen and Bremerhaven were taken over by the Bremer Lagerhaus-Gesellschaft , which is still responsible for the track systems today. However, the transport services were taken over in 1930 by the Deutsche Reichsbahn (DRG) .

Since 1945

Due to the division of Germany, the railway connection Bremen – Uelzen – Stendal was interrupted from the end of the Second World War to 1999 between Bergen an der Dumme and Salzwedel . The Bremen – Langwedel – Uelzen route is now mainly served by regional trains that commute between Bremen and Uelzen. More modern bus shelters and station signs have been installed at some train stations since around 2005. Overall, however, the route is waiting for extensive modernization.

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