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The Brunswick–Magdeburg railway is a 83 km long German main line railway

Rail transport in Germany

, Germany had a railway network of 41,315 km. 19,857 km are electrified. The total track length was 76,473 km. Germany is a member of the International Union of Railways . The UIC Country Code for Germany is 80.-Overview:...

. It is with the Berlin–Lehrte railway and the Hanover–Berlin high-speed line one of the most important east-west lines between Hanover

Hanover

Hanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...

 and Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

. Important intermediate stations are Königslutter

Königslutter

-External links:*...

, 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....

 and Eilsleben

Eilsleben

Eilsleben is a municipality in the Börde district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany....

.

It is now used mainly for east-west freight traffic, as well as Intercity

Intercity (Deutsche Bahn)

Intercity is the second-highest train classification in Germany, after the ICE. Intercity services are loco-hauled express services, usually over long-distances. There are Intercity routes throughout Germany, and routes generally operate with a two-hour frequency, with multiple routes giving a more...

 and Regionalbahn

RegionalBahn

The Regionalbahn is a type of local passenger train in Germany.-Service:Regionalbahn trains usually call at all stations on a given line, with the exception of RB trains within S-Bahn networks, these may only call at selected stations...

 trains.

History

Brunswick

Braunschweig

Braunschweig , is a city of 247,400 people, located in the federal-state of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located north of the Harz mountains at the farthest navigable point of the Oker river, which connects to the North Sea via the rivers Aller and Weser....

 (German

German language

German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

: Braunschweig) and 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....

 had already been connected with a railway line via 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....

 and 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:...

 in 1843. This line took a southerly route, taking advantage of easy terrain. In Wolfenbüttel it connected with the Brunswick–Bad Harzburg line and in Oschersleben it connected with the Magdeburg–Halberstadt line. This connected the lines of the Duchy of Brunswick State Railway

Duchy of Brunswick State Railway

The Duchy of Brunswick State Railway was the first state railway in Germany. The first section of its Brunswick–Bad Harzburg railway line between Brunswick and Wolfenbüttel opened on 1 December 1838.-Opening:...

 and Magdeburg-Halberstädt Railway Company

Magdeburg-Halberstadt Railway Company

The Magdeburg-Halberstadt Railway Company was a railway in Prussia. It was nationalized in 1879.-History :The Magdeburg-Halberstadt Railway Company received a concession on 14 January 1842 from the Prussian government to build the 58 km long railway line from Magdeburg–Oschersleben–Halberstadt...

 (German: Magdeburg-Halberstädter Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft, MHE).

This was followed in 1844 by the Hanover–Brunswick railway and in 1846 by the Magdeburg–Potsdam line. In 1845 the Old Brunswick station was opened as a terminus.

As traffic increased, the MHE sought from the early 1860s to build a direct Berlin-Hanover line. This was initially rejected by the governments of the Kingdom of 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...

 and Duchy of 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...

. After Hanover lost the war of 1866

Austro-Prussian War

The Austro-Prussian War was a war fought in 1866 between the German Confederation under the leadership of the Austrian Empire and its German allies on one side and the Kingdom of Prussia with its German allies and Italy on the...

, and were annexed by Prussia

Prussia

Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...

, the MHE set about building its Berlin-Lehrte

Lehrte

Lehrte is a town in the district of Hanover, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 17 km east of Hanover. Lehrte is a picturesque town with a population of 45,000 and a modern infrastructure, combined with local culture and an interesting history.-History:The first documented...

 line via Stendal

Stendal

Stendal is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is the capital of Stendal District and unofficial capital of the Altmark. Its population in 2001 was 38,900. It is located some west of Berlin and around east of Hanover...

. This route bypassed the cities of Magdeburg and Brunswick and threatened the importance of the line of the Berlin-Potsdam-Magdeburg Railway Company (German: Berlin-Potsdam-Magdeburger Eisenbahngesellschaft, BPME), especially since it connected in the west only to the network of its rival, the MHE.

Construction and opening

The BPME considered several options for a dedicated connection between its main line and the former Duchy of Brunswick State Railway network, which had been privatised and was now the Brunswick Railway Company (Braunschweigische Eisenbahngesellschaft). While it was clear that its eastern end would be in Magdeburg, in the west several variants were discussed. Brunswick was an important destination and connected well to the west, but had an unfavourable terminal station. It was decided to build a line from Magdeburg to Eilsleben

Eilsleben

Eilsleben is a municipality in the Börde district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany....

, where it would branch to 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....

 and Schöningen

Schöningen

Schöningen is a town of about 13,000 inhabitants in the district of Helmstedt, Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located near the border with Saxony-Anhalt, on the southeastern rim of the Elm hill range...

. From Helmstedt the Brunswick Railway Company would continue the line to Brunswick, while in Schöningen there had been since 1868 a connection to Jerxheim, which had a link to 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....

 and the Brunswick Southern Railway 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 there connected with 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 Kassel

Kassel

Kassel is a town located on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Kassel Regierungsbezirk and the Kreis of the same name and has approximately 195,000 inhabitants.- History :...

  via the Hanoverian Southern Railway and via Altenbeken

Altenbeken

Altenbeken is a municipality in the district of Paderborn, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.-Geography:Altenbeken is situated in the Eggegebirge, approx. 15 km northeast of Paderborn...

 to 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...

 district via the Altenbeken–Kreiensen railway. This gave the new line the same connections to the west as the MHE’s main line.

Between Eilsleben and Brunswick the line crosses the Lappwald

Lappwald

The Lappwald is a heavily wooded range of hills, 20 km long and up to 5 km wide, in central Germany. It stretches northwards from the town of Helmstedt. The border between Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt runs through the woods, of which about three quarters is on Lower Saxon terrain...

 ridge and the Elm hills. The line is winding and passes over embankments and through cuttings. The line was opened on 15 September 1872.

Development up to World War II

While the Berlin–Lehrte line, opened a year earlier, remained the fastest line for passenger between Hanover and Berlin, the line via Helmstedt also carried passenger traffic between the two cities and traffic from Hanover to Halle

Halle, Saxony-Anhalt

Halle is the largest city in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is also called Halle an der Saale in order to distinguish it from the town of Halle in North Rhine-Westphalia...

 and Leipzig

Leipzig

Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...

. In addition, substantial freight traffic was carried on both branches. In 1937 five express trains ran each day each way on the line.

Transit route

Since the line passed through relatively undemanding terrain and has no large structures, it was only impassable for a few days during and after World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. The allies decided to use this line exclusively for the military transport of the Western powers in Berlin. The Berlin–Lehrte line remained usable, but was used less.

In 1960, the current Brunswick Hauptbahnhof opened, which removed the need for trains between Magdeburg and Hanover to reverse.

Rail transport between Helmstedt and Eilsleben was reopened under the Transit Agreement

Transit Agreement (1972)

The Transit Agreement of 26 May 1972 arranged access to and from West Berlin from West Germany and secured the right of West Berliners to visit East Berlin and East Germany also secured the rights of GDR citizens to visit the FRG, but only in cases of family emergency.-References:*...

 of 1972. In the 1980s, there were negotiations between West Germany

West Germany

West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....

 and East Germany over an expansion of the transit routes. East Germany preferred the Lehrte line, to keep transit traffic out of Potsdam and Magdeburg. In the West, however, there were discussions of improved connections with Brunswick.

German Unity Transport Project

After the fall of the wall

Berlin Wall

The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin...

 it was quickly decided to build a high-speed line between Hanover and Berlin. However, it was also clear that the construction would take several years. The initial experience with speed lines also showed that a separation of freight and high speed passenger traffic made sense. Under the German Unity Transport Projects, it was decided to restore as quickly as possible the existing routes and to electrify lines that were intended primarily for freight later. The core of this plan was the Helmstedt–Magdeburg line. In 1993 it was upgraded for operations at 160 km/h and electrified. In the east it connected with the Biederitz–Dessau line

Biederitz–Dessau railway

The Biederitz–Dessau railway is a double-tracked, standard gauge, electrified railway line in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt timetabled as 254 and 256. The line begins in Biederitz near Magdeburg and runs via Güterglück and Zerbst to Dessau Hauptbahnhof in Dessau-Roßlau...

, which in turn connected at Güterglück

Güterglück

Güterglück is a village and a former municipality in the district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2010, it is part of the town Zerbst....

 with a now closed section of the former Canon railway, leading to Berlin. The direct line to Berlin via Brandenburg (Havel) and Potsdam was electrified in 1995.

In 1991 the first diesel-powered Intercity

Intercity (Deutsche Bahn)

Intercity is the second-highest train classification in Germany, after the ICE. Intercity services are loco-hauled express services, usually over long-distances. There are Intercity routes throughout Germany, and routes generally operate with a two-hour frequency, with multiple routes giving a more...

 train ran from Hanover via Brunswick and Magdeburg to Berlin. Two years later the first Intercity-Express (ICE) ran on the line. The major change came in 1998 when the Hanover–Berlin high-speed line opened. Since then, the hourly ICE trains between Frankfurt and Berlin run on the line only on the 5 km section between Brunswick and the junction with the Weddel loop.

Operations in 2010

Intercity passenger trains on the line Leipzig-Magdeburg-Hanover-Cologne/Oldenburg

Oldenburg

Oldenburg is an independent city in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated in the western part of the state between the cities of Bremen and Groningen, Netherlands, at the Hunte river. It has a population of 160,279 which makes it the fourth biggest city in Lower Saxony after Hanover, Braunschweig...

 serve the line approximately hourly.
In addition, there is a Regionalbahn

RegionalBahn

The Regionalbahn is a type of local passenger train in Germany.-Service:Regionalbahn trains usually call at all stations on a given line, with the exception of RB trains within S-Bahn networks, these may only call at selected stations...

 train that runs every hour on weekdays.

The line is heavily used for freight. It is part of an electrified corridor connecting the Czech Republic

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....

 and the industrial regions of Saxony

Saxony

The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....

 and Saxony-Anhalt

Saxony-Anhalt

Saxony-Anhalt is a landlocked state of Germany. Its capital is Magdeburg and it is surrounded by the German states of Lower Saxony, Brandenburg, Saxony, and Thuringia.Saxony-Anhalt covers an area of...

 with the German and Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 seaports on the North Sea

North Sea

In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...

.