Löhne–Rheine railway

Löhne–Rheine
standard gauge
Electrification	15 kV/16.7 Hz AC overhead catenary
Operating speed	140 km/h (87 mph) (max)
Route map Legend line from Emden line from Almelo (NL) Salzbergen line from Quakenbrück former line from Ochtrup 208.9 Rheine former line to Dorsten line to Münster 178.1 Ems bridge crossover 177.9 Kümpers siding 173.0 Rodde Dortmund-Ems Canal A 30 168.2 Hörstel Mittelland Canal Uffeln port 163.8 Ibbenbüren-Esch Ibbenbüren coal mine 158.6 Ibbenbüren Teutoburg Forest Railway 154.1 Ibbenbüren-Laggenbeck former Perm Railway from Hasbergen 148.1 Velpe (Westf) 142.9 Lotte (Kr Tecklenburg) 142.8 NRW / LS state border A 1 Tecklenburg Northern Railway from Rheine line from Oldenburg 137.4 Osnabrück-Eversburg (wedge station) 133.7 Osnabrück Altstadt "Klus curve" to Bremen 132.4 Osnabrück Hbf (two level station) "Münster" curve" from Münster Osnabrück marshalling yard "Stahlwerks curve" and "Schinkel curve" 129.3 Lüstringen junction 122.4 Wissingen 116.8 Westerhausen (Melle) 113.4 Melle-Euer Heide siding 111.3 Melle 104.0 Bruchmühlen 103.8 LS / NRW state border 103.0 Möller siding 98.5 Bünde town siding Ravensberg Railway from Rahden 95.2 Bünde (Westf) 90.3 Kirchlengern line to Herford former Wallücke Railway (narrow gauge) 87.8 Löhne (Westf) freight yard west trunk line from Herford 86.8 Löhne (Westf) freight yard 85.3 Löhne (Westf) Weser Railway to Hildesheim trunk line to Minden Source: German railway atlas[1]

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The Löhne–Rheine railway is a two-track, continuously electrified railway main line from

The Löhne–Rheine line is part of the Hanoverian Western Railway, which was built by the Royal Hanoverian State Railways in the 1850s to develop the western parts of the former Kingdom of Hanover. The first section of this line, part of the Emsland Railway, was opened on 24 November 1854, between Emden and Papenburg, but it had no connection with the existing rail network.

To avoid repeated crossing of the Wiehen Hills, rather than build its own line from the Hanover–Minden line in Minden, the southern section of the Western Railway branched off from the Hamm–Minden line of the Cologne-Minden Railway Company (Köln-Mindener Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft) in Löhne.

On 21 November 1855 passenger operations started on the section between Löhne and Osnabrück. The former Hannöversche Bahnhof ("Hanoverian station") is now the lower part of the

Just six months later the next section was put into operation, closing the gap from Osnabrück to Papenburg via Rheine and Salzbergen. On 23 June 1856 passenger trains ran for the first time between Minden and Emden.

Connecting lines

The importance of the line and its stations increased with the opening of a number of connecting lines, particularly to

Two lines connected at Eversburg station, the

In addition, there are other links, such as that of the

• on the whole line, Regional-Express services are operated by DB Regio Niedersachsen every two hours on route RE 60 (Ems-Leine-Express) between Rheine and Brunswick,
• on almost the whole line, Regionalbahn services are operated hourly by Westfalenbahn from Rheine to Kirchlengern on route RB 61 (Wiehengebirgs-Bahn), continuing to Bielefeld
• on the section of Bünde–Kirchlengern, the hourly Ravensberger Bahn service is operated by EuroBahn (
  Ravensberg Railway
  from Bielefeld Hbf via Bünde to Rahden,
• and on the short stretch between the Bünde and Löhne, a generally hourly Regionalbahn service is operated from Monday to Friday by EuroBahn on route RB 77 (Weser-Bahn), continuing to Hildesheim.

References