Unterelbehe Railway Company

The Unterelbesche Eisenbahngesellschaft opened the standard gauge railway line from Harburg (today: Hamburg-Harburg) via Buxtehude to the district capital Stade on April 1, 1881 in the then Prussian province of Hanover .

history

The Unterelbesche Railway Company was founded in Brussels in 1879 with the help of the “Société Belge de chemins de fer”. Instead of the Cuxhavener Eisenbahn-Dampfschiff- und Hafenbau-Actiengesellschaft, which had run into financial difficulties, it was to continue the construction of the railway to Cuxhaven.

On November 1, 1881, the second - 62 km - section to Cuxhaven , which at that time belonged to the Hanseatic City of Hamburg, was completed. The total route was 104 km long. In addition, from September 2, 1882, there was a more than one kilometer long port railway for public transport, which was built at the expense of the Hamburg state, but operated by the Unterelbe railway company.

When the Prussian state acquired the Unterelbe Railway with effect from April 1, 1890, it also took over the management of the port railway. From 1885 the railway company also had the concession for steamboat lines from Cuxhaven to Helgoland and Norderney .

Today's meaning

The originally single-track line is now mostly double-tracked and electrified to Stade; it bears the route number 1720. The article Niederelbebahn contains more information on its current significance .

literature

• Hans-Otto Schlichtmann: The Lower Elbe Railway Harburg-Stade-Cuxhaven. Published by the Kreissparkasse Stade, Stade 2007.