Münster–Hamm railway

The Münster–Hamm railway is an almost 36 kilometre-long, continuous double-track and electrified main line railway from Münster to Hamm in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It was one of Germany’s oldest railways, built by the Munster Hamm Railway Company, which was established for this purpose, and opened on 26 May 1848.

Münster–Hamm railway
Overview
LocaleNorth Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Line number2931
Technical
Line length36 km (22 mi)
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification15 kV/16.7 Hz AC overhead catenary
Operating speed160 km/h (99.4 mph) (maximum)
Route number410, 455 (long distance)
Route map

 line from Rheine
 trunk line from Hamburg
 Warendorf Railway from Rheda-Wiedenbrück
170.3
 Münster Hbf
line to Lippstadt
169.4
 Münster freight yard
 Baumberge Railway to Coesfeld
 line to Haltern, line to Lünen
 Wanne-Eickel–Hamburg freight bypass
165.7
 Lechtenberg junction
163.8
 Münster-Hiltrup
 Dortmund-Ems Canal
 Dicke Wief
161.4
 Steinersee
156.7
 Rinkerode
150.8
 Drensteinfurt
146.6
 Mersch (Westf)
139.2
 Hamm-Bockum-Hövel
 line to Werne
138.0
(0.0)
 Feldmark junction
(1.1)
 Hamm Radbod siding
 trunk line from Minden
 Lippe and Datteln-Hamm Canal
(2.9)
 Hamm Rbf Hvn
134.8
 Hamm (Westf) Hbf
 line to Warburg
 line to Hagen
 Freight line from Hamm Gallberg
 Hamm marshalling yard
 line to Oberhausen
 Selmig junction
 Freight line to Bönen Autobahn
 trunk line to Dortmund
Source: German railway atlas[1]

History

The Cologne-Minden Railway Company (German: Cöln-Mindener Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft, CME) built its trunk line directly across Westphalia, bypassing the region around the town of Münster. The Munster Hamm Railway Company (Münster-Hammer Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft, MHE) was established to build a branch line to connect with the CME line. This line was opened on 26 May 1848 for passengers and on 8 July 1848 for freight traffic.[2][3]

The company and line were taken over in 1855 by the Prussian government-funded Royal Westphalian Railway Company (KWE). The line was extended in the following year to Rheine as the Münster–Rheine line.

Operations

Although, formerly individual[4] InterCity services ran on the line, it is now mainly used by regional (Regional-Express and regionalbahn) services running through western Westphalia and southern Münsterland. It is served by:

Notes
  1. Eisenbahnatlas Deutschland (German railway atlas). Schweers + Wall. 2009. pp. 40, 52, 134. ISBN 978-3-89494-139-0.
  2. Deutsche Reichsbahn (1984). Handbuch der deutschen Eisenbahnstrecken (in German). Mainz: H-W Dumjahn, Verlag Dumjahn. ISBN 3-921426-29-4.
  3. Krause, Günther (1986). Entwicklung des Gleisnetzes der Direktion Essen (in German). Krefeld: Verlag Roehr. ISBN 3-88490-130-3 NB: opening dates reversed
  4. Not repeated through the day
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NRW rail archive of André Joost:

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