Oldenburg–Bremen railway

Bremen–Oldenburg
Weser bridge
Route number:	390
Line length:	44.4
Gauge:	1435
Voltage:	15 kV 16.7 Hz AC
Maximum speed:	160
Legend line to Leer line from Wilhelmshaven 0.0 Oldenburg Hbf former line to Brake Bascule bridge over the Hunte line to Osnabrück 2.3 Hemmelsberg junction to line from Osnabrück A 29 4.3 Neuenwege Wüsting line from Brake 16.7 Hude 18.6 Hude-Langenberg siding 21.8 Bookholzberg 25.4 Schierbrok 27.5 Hoykenkamp line from Osnabrück 30.7 Delmenhorst former line to Lemwerder line to Harpstedt line to Lemwerder 33.5 Delmenhorst Df 34.1 Heidkrug Bremen / Lower Saxony state border 37.0 Bremen-Huchting siding Bremen-Thedinghausen railway 40.5 from Bremen-Grolland/Neustädt port 41.8 Bremen-Neustadt Weser formerly from Weserbahnhof 42.9 Bremen Hbf Bwm Bremen port railway 44.4 Bremen Hbf Osnabrück–Hamburg

The Bremen–Oldenburg railway is a 44.4 km-long mainline railway that connects Oldenburg in the northwest of the German state Lower Saxony and Bremen.

It is served by a daily Intercity Express service between Oldenburg and Munich, InterCity trains between Norddeich, Oldenburg and Leipzig, as well as freight and regional trains. In the future, it is planned that the Bremen S-Bahn will operate over the line.

Route

Bremen Hauptbahnhof

Oldenburg Hauptbahnhof

Old Oldenburg station 1885

The line leaves Bremen Hauptbahnhof at its western exit and snakes through several tight bends through the former main freight yard and the "northwest node" to highway 6 passing the junctions of many freight lines to the bridge over the Weser. Until the construction of the Weser tunnel, this was the northernmost permanent crossing of the river.

The line continues through Bremen-Neustadt in a westerly direction to Delmenhorst, where a busy line branches off to Vechta and Osnabrück (operated by NordWestBahn). From there it runs in a northwesterly direction towards Hude. There it connects with the line to Nordenham. In the Oldenburg district of Osternburg it joins the line from Osnabrück. The line crosses the Hunte on a bascule bridge to Oldenburg Hauptbahnhof.

History

The track was a joint project of the states of Oldenburg and Prussia and together with the Oldenburg–Wilhelmshaven line was officially opened on 14 July 1867. Scheduled operation began to Oldenburg on the following day and to Wilhelmshaven in September. Two years later a connection was opened from Oldenburg to Leer on the Emsland Railway (Münster–Leer–Emden); in 1875 the line was opened to Nordenham. This connected all the ports between the Weser and the Ems to the south and east, in particular to Bremen, Hamburg and Hanover. From the beginning it was an important link in the northern German rail network.

In the Second World War, the Weser Bridge in Bremen was destroyed. A replacement structure was destroyed by ice in 1947, but was repaired within five weeks. The current bridge was completed in 1962.

Current situation

Today the line is consistently double track, electrified and cleared for operations up to 160 km/h. The current regional rail services will in the future be replaced by line 3 of the Bremen S-Bahn, probably running hourly. The S3 will run from Bremen to Oldenburg and on to Bad Zwischenahn. The construction of the JadeWeserPort in Wilhelmshaven is expected to significantly increase freight traffic.

References

• Eisenbahnatlas Deutschland (German railway atlas). Schweers + Wall. 2007. ISBN 978-3-89494-136-9.