Brunswick Southern Railway
Encyclopedia
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony is a German state situated in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the sixteen states of Germany...
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The Brunswick Southern Railway was built by the Duchy of Brunswick State Railway as a link from its Brunswick–Bad Harzburg railway to the Hanoverian Southern Railway. It ran through the northwestern Harz Foreland from Börßum
Börßum
Börßum is a municipality in the district of Wolfenbüttel, in Lower Saxony, Germany.-Geography:Börßum lies only a few kilometers north of the Harz Mountains, north of Schladen, on the east bank of the Oker, 11 km south of Wolfenbüttel. It is not far southeast of the Oderwald....
via Salzgitter
Salzgitter
Salzgitter is an independent city in southeast Lower Saxony, Germany, located between Hildesheim and Braunschweig. Together with Wolfsburg and Braunschweig, Salzgitter is one of the seven Oberzentren of Lower Saxony...
, Ringelheim and Seesen
Seesen
Seesen is a town and municipality in the district of Goslar, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the northwestern edge of the Harz mountain range, approx...
to Kreiensen
Kreiensen
Kreiensen is a municipality in the district of Northeim, in Lower Saxony, Germany.-Geography:Kreiensen is situated on the river Leine, approx. 20 km north of Northeim, and 35 km south of Hildesheim....
. It opened on 5 August 1856 and was one of the oldest railways in Germany.
In 1956 a shorter link to Brunswick was built in the shape of the Brunswick–Salzgitter Bad railway and with this line was connected through to the Brunswick–Kreiensen railway.
Traffic
Today it mainly serves regional trains and, after that, a few goods trains. In the 2009 timetable it will be worked hourly by Regionalbahn trains from Brunswick via Seeseon to Herzberg am HarzHerzberg am Harz
Herzberg am Harz is a town in the Osterode district of Lower Saxony, Germany.- History :Herzberg castle was first mentioned in 1154. The town was part of the state of Brunswick-Grubenhagen, and the castle was for some time used as a residence by the dukes...
, and every two hours by the Regionalbahn from Bad Harzburg
Bad Harzburg
Bad Harzburg is a town in central Germany, in the Goslar district of Lower Saxony. It lies on the northern edge of the Harz mountains and is a recognised saltwater spa and climatic health resort.- Location :...
via Seesen to Kreiensen (with extra services at peak times). Normally Lint
Alstom LHB Coradia LINT
The Alstom Coradia LINT is a diesel single-unit or two-unit articulated passenger railcar manufactured by Alstom. The acronym LINT is short for the German "Leichter Innovativer Nahverkehrstriebwagen"...
multiples (DB Class 648) are used that are stabled by Alstom
Alstom
Alstom is a large multinational conglomerate which holds interests in the power generation and transport markets. According to the company website, in the years 2010-2011 Alstom had annual sales of over €20.9 billion, and employed more than 85,000 people in 70 countries. Alstom's headquarters are...
at Salzgitter. From a fares perspective, the line from Brunswick to Seesen forms part of the Brunswick Region Fare Zone and, from Seesen to Kreiensen, the Lower Saxony Transport Network.
History
The Brunswick
Duchy of Brunswick
Brunswick was a historical state in Germany. Originally the territory of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel in the Holy Roman Empire, it was established as an independent duchy by the Congress of Vienna in 1815...
–Hanover
Kingdom of Hanover
The Kingdom of Hanover was established in October 1814 by the Congress of Vienna, with the restoration of George III to his Hanoverian territories after the Napoleonic era. It succeeded the former Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg , and joined with 38 other sovereign states in the German...
Treaty of 1837 that regulated the construction of the Brunswick–Bad Harzburg railway had already established a basic agreement allowing both countries to work together towards a southern link. Only 15 years later a further treaty was contracted. This allowed Brunswick to build a line from Brunswick to the Hanoverian Southern Railway at Kreiensen. This in turn allowed Hanover to build a railway line from Börßum
Börßum
Börßum is a municipality in the district of Wolfenbüttel, in Lower Saxony, Germany.-Geography:Börßum lies only a few kilometers north of the Harz Mountains, north of Schladen, on the east bank of the Oker, 11 km south of Wolfenbüttel. It is not far southeast of the Oderwald....
(in Brunswick) via Ringelheim
Salzgitter-Ringelheim
Ringelheim is the sixth biggest suburb of Salzgitter in Lower Saxony, Germany. Located at the very far south-western end of the city, the most important station of the city is here, because the railway lines Hannover - Hildesheim - Salzgitter-Ringelheim - Goslar - Halle and Braunschweig -...
(Hanover) to Seesen
Seesen
Seesen is a town and municipality in the district of Goslar, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the northwestern edge of the Harz mountain range, approx...
(Brunswick). From there it was agreed to build the line via Harriehausen (again in Hanover) to Kreiensen, where both lines were connected. The line was opened on 5 August 1856. Three months earlier the Hanoverian Southern Railway was opened from Hanover to Kassel.
The line was successful and in 1865, the Altenbeken–Kreiensen railway was opened, creating a western connection with the Ruhr
Ruhr
The Ruhr is a medium-size river in western Germany , a right tributary of the Rhine.-Description:The source of the Ruhr is near the town of Winterberg in the mountainous Sauerland region, at an elevation of approximately 2,200 feet...
area. In 1868 this was followed by the link from Börßum to Jerxheim
Jerxheim
Jerxheim is a municipality in the district of Helmstedt, in Lower Saxony, Germany....
on the former Brunswick–Wolfenbüttel
Wolfenbüttel
Wolfenbüttel is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, located on the Oker river about 13 kilometres south of Brunswick. It is the seat of the District of Wolfenbüttel and of the bishop of the Protestant Lutheran State Church of Brunswick...
–Jerxheim
Jerxheim
Jerxheim is a municipality in the district of Helmstedt, in Lower Saxony, Germany....
–Oschersleben
Oschersleben
Oschersleben is a town in the Börde district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. The population in 1905 was 13,271, in 2005 about 18,000.-Geography:...
–Magdeburg
Magdeburg
Magdeburg , is the largest city and the capital city of the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Magdeburg is situated on the Elbe River and was one of the most important medieval cities of Europe....
railway. This connection became an important east-west route, with traffic to and from Göttingen
Göttingen
Göttingen is a university town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Göttingen. The Leine river runs through the town. In 2006 the population was 129,686.-General information:...
and Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
stronger than that to and from the Ruhr. The Herzberg–Seesen railway
Herzberg–Seesen railway
The Herzberg–Seesen railway, also known as the West Harz Line , is a 32 km long railway line, that runs along the western edge of the Harz mountains and serves the town and the district of Osterode am Harz...
, opened in 1871, however, did not fulfil expectations.
After the division of Germany traffic flows changed. All railways between Helmstedt
Helmstedt
Helmstedt is a city located at the eastern edge of the German state of Lower Saxony. It is the capital of the District of Helmstedt. Helmstedt has 26,000 inhabitants . In former times the city was also called Helmstädt....
(Brunswick–Magdeburg railway) and Walkenried
Walkenried
Walkenried is a municipality in the district of Osterode, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated in the southern Harz, approx. 15 km south of Braunlage, and 15 km northwest of Nordhausen....
(South Harz Railway) were disrupted at the Inner-German border, including the Jerxheim crossing on the line from Magdeburg via Eilsleben
Eilsleben
Eilsleben is a municipality in the Börde district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany....
and Oschersleben. Better access was sought in the Salzgitter
Salzgitter
Salzgitter is an independent city in southeast Lower Saxony, Germany, located between Hildesheim and Braunschweig. Together with Wolfsburg and Braunschweig, Salzgitter is one of the seven Oberzentren of Lower Saxony...
area. In 1956, a direct connection from Salzgitter-Bad to Brunswick was opened by closing a gap from Salzgitter to Drütte, partly using a section of the Brunswick–Derneburg railway that was closed in the 1940s.
The railway is not electrified and today Salzgitter-Drütte to Neuekrug-Hahausen is single track. It is part of Deutsche Bahn
Deutsche Bahn
Deutsche Bahn AG is the German national railway company, a private joint stock company . Headquartered in Berlin, it came into existence in 1994 as the successor to the former state railways of Germany, the Deutsche Bundesbahn of West Germany and the Deutsche Reichsbahn of East Germany...
’s Harz-Weser network. It is planned to be controlled remotely from the electronic interlocking in Göttingen.
Source
- Högemann, Josef (1995). Eisenbahnen im Harz (I), Band 1: Die Staatsbahnstrecken. Verlag Kenning, Nordhorn, ISBN 3-927587-435