Hamburg-Altona–Kiel railway

The Hamburg–Altona–Kiel railway (Danish: Christian VIII. Østersø Jernbane) is the oldest railway line in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein, and the first railway in Denmark or its dependencies at the time, and first to reach the Baltic Sea.[2] Today, it connects Hamburg, Neumünster and Kiel. It is one of the first railways in Germany. When it opened in 1844, Altona and Kiel were the largest cities in the Duchy of Holstein. The line is now owned by DB Netz.

Hamburg-Altona–Kiel
Overview
LocaleSchleswig-Holstein, Germany
Line number1220
Technical
Line length104.877 km (65.168 mi)
Number of tracks2 throughout
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification
Operating speed160 km/h (99.4 mph) (maximum)
Route number131
Route map

 Kiel, old station
(1844–1899)
105.587 00,000
 Kiel Hbf
(since 1 June 1899)
to Flensburg and to Rendsburg
104.100 00,000
 Kiel main goods yard
to Lübeck
103.000 00,000
 Meimersdorf Ost
(siding
101,000 00.000
 Meimersdorf marshaling yard
100.000 00,000
 Meimersdorf
95.311 00,000
 Flintbek
86.631 00,000
 Bordesholm
80.711 00,000
 Einfeld
from Flensburg
75.800 00,000
 Neumünster goods yard
from Heide
from Ascheberg
74.688 00,000
 Neumünster
74.113 00,000
to Bad Oldesloe
and to Henstedt-Ulzburg
 Blockstelle Padenstedt
65.620 00,000
 Arpsdorf
60.510 00,000
 Brokstedt
from Itzehoe
52.228 00,000
 Wrist
47.740 00,000
 Siebenecksknöll
42.377 00,000
 Dauenhof
36.236 00,000
 Horst (Holst)
31.300 00,000
from Barmstedt
31.000 00,000
from Glückstadt
30.697 00,000
 Elmshorn
Elmshorn port railway
from Uetensen
23.173 00,000
 Tornesch
(Keilbahnhof)
21.972 00,000
End of the Uetersen Railway
19,262 00,000
 Prisdorf
15.953 15.792
 Pinneberg
14.233
 Thesdorf
12.028
 Halstenbek
10.780
 Bickbargen crossover
10.500 00,000
Hamburg-Eidelstedt En (siding)
9.481
 Krupunder
9.314 09.314
 SH–Hamburg state border
8.881 00,000
Hamburg-Eidelstedt freight yard
7.234
 Elbgaustraße
6.371
from Henstedt-Ulzburg
to freight bypass
6.100
 Hamburg-Eidelstedt (S)
5.451
4.383
1068 m reduction
4.170
Langenfelde bridge, A 7
4.044
 Hamburg-Stellingen (S)
4.765 00,000
 Hamburg-Langenfelde
(siding)
4.149 00,000
 Hamburg-Langenfelde depot
2.635
 Hamburg-Langenfelde (S)
(flying junction)
1.399
Hamburg-Diebsteich
(Planned long-distance station)
1.299
7.830
S-Bahn line
from Hauptbahnhof
Long-distance line
from Hauptbahnhof
6.249
S-Bahn line
from Hamburg-Blankenese
Altona Harbour Railway
0.710 00,000
 Hamburg-Altona
5.898
 Hamburg-Altona (S-Bahn)
0.000 00,000
 Altona
(old station)
City-S-Bahn
Source: German railway atlas[1]

Route
Kiel station

The route begins at the terminal station of Hamburg-Altona. This line runs parallel to the route of Hamburg S-Bahn lines S3 and S21.

The first stop on the main line is Pinneberg, which provides interchange with the S-Bahn. The Marsh Railway to the North Sea coast and the line to Henstedt-Ulzburg branch from Elmshorn.

Further north in Neumünster the line connects to Flensburg, to Heide and Büsum and to Bad Oldesloe. Freight and express trains to Scandinavia do not continue towards Kiel, but instead run on the continuously electrified line from Neumünster to the Danish border at Flensburg. Regional services run from Kiel to Lübeck and to Flensburg.

History
Hamburg-Altona-Kiel line with branches to Elmshorn to Glückstadt) and Neumünster to Rendsburg in 1849

The line was built by the Altona-Kiel Railway Company (Altona-Kieler Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft, AKE). Construction commenced in 1842 and the line opened on 18 September 1844. The company’s operations were taken over by the Prussian state railways in 1884.

The opening of the Hamburg-Altona link line in 1866 made it possible for the first time for trains from Kiel to Hamburg Hauptbahnhof. However, the facilities at Kiel could not handle main line trains suitable for operations to Hamburg. Moreover, the older residents of Holstein preferred to travel to the Holstein town of Altona, rather than the "big city" of Hamburg.

On 24 September 1995, the 109 kilometre long line was put into electric operations. The travel time between Hamburg and Kiel was shortened by up to 38 minutes. For the first time, two pairs of Intercity-Express trains served Kiel daily.

Current operations
DB 112 149 in Kiel Hauptbahnhof

A variety of traffic runs along the entire length of the line, or on the section between Hamburg and Neumünster, consisting of freight traffic, ICE/IC/EC long-distance passenger services and regional passenger services. These are operated by different railway companies, including Deutsche Bahn AG and Regionalbahn Schleswig-Holstein. In addition there are DSB services from Fredericia via Neumünster to Hamburg Hauptbahnhof.

The trains used on the route are of types often used by the railway companies. The share of Regional-Express services operated with double-deck carriages was increased from 14 December 2008. All RE services are now run with double-deck carriages. ICE and IC services between Hamburg and Denmark or Kiel also stop in Neumünster.

On 4 April 2009, DB Regio took operations of the Kiel–Neumünster regional service back from Nord-Ostsee-Bahn (NOB), in exchange for the passenger services on the Kiel–Eckernförde section. DB Regio operated the service with class 648 multiple units again, which was intended to rationalise rolling stock circulation. The Regionalbahn Kiel / Neumünster service, which is run as RB 77, is operated with a class 112 or 143 electric locomotive and a five-car SHE set, consisting of a 1st class carriage, three 2nd class carriages and a control car.

The Wrist–Hamburg-Altona route has been operated as the RB 71 service since December 2014. It is operated by Nordbahn Eisenbahngesellschaft with electric FLIRT sets at hourly frequency. Wrist station received an additional reversing track.

In long-distance operations, the line between Hamburg and Kiel is served by ICE trains of the first and second generation and IC and EC services operated with an electric locomotive of classes 101 or 120 and eight to eleven cars. Between Hamburg, Neumünster and continuing to Flensburg, there are four daily Danish IC3 services each way on the Hamburg–Fredericia route (due to train path conflicts these trains not stop in Neumünster, but instead stop in Hamburg-Dammtor and Schleswig) and Intercity services operated with an electric locomotive of classes 101, 120 or 182 with seven to ten passenger cars.

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References
  1. Eisenbahnatlas Deutschland (German railway atlas). Schweers + Wall. 2009. p. 3, 12, 118-20. ISBN 978-3-89494-139-0.
  2. commons:File:Bahnkarte_Deutschland_1849.jpg (Ludwigslust–Wismar railway is younger)
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