Lower Elbe Railway

The low or lower Elbe trains connect Hamburg- Harburg with Cuxhaven. The 103.6 km long railway line runs in a north -westerly direction parallel to the lower Elbe to Hamburg and Lower Saxon territory.

From Harburg through the Old Country to the Stade Lower Elbe Railway is electrified using overhead line ( rail power kV/16 15, 7 Hz), and is also served by the S3 S-Bahn Hamburg. For railcars to Neugraben propelled Harburg S -Bahn, the supply of direct current ( 1.200 V) is from a mounted next to the track power rail. The section Stade Cuxhaven still requires diesel traction.

• 2.1 Lower Elbe Railway
• 2.2 suburban and commuter rail

Route

Classification

The Lower Elbe Railway is run as Route number 121 in the schedule tables and is classified as a major railway since 1964. It is administratively part of the line - Taught Cuxhaven ( DB line number 1720); therefore, the line kilometering begins in Taught station near Hanover.

Route

The trail follows the transition of the Lower Saxon Geest to Elbmarschen and passes through almost completely flat, but often swampy terrain. Major cities in this area are Buxtehude, Stade and Otter village. The same course as the railway line takes 73 and the Federal Highway

Crossed waters

The Lower Elbe Railway crosses all left-side tributaries in the lower reaches of the Elbe:

• The Seevekanal ( inlet of the Seeve ) immediately behind the Hamburg- Harburg station
• The Göhlbach, which then flows together with the Seevekanal in a dock
• The Este in Buxtehude
• The floodplain, Liihe later, in Horne Castle
• The rocker in Stade
• Oste between the gates of heaven and Hechthausen
• Neuhaus - Bülkauer channel at Cadenberge
• The floodplain between Kehdingbruch and Neuhaus ( Oste)
• The Hadelner channel between Kehdingbruch, Easter break and Ottersdorf
• The Medem in Ottersdorf
• Altenbrucher channel in Cuxhaven- Altenbruch

Track Removal

The track is - except for the section between the gates of heaven and Hechthausen stations - all of which expanded at least twofold. The short single-track piece, however, is traced out double track, the temporary bridge over the Oste (1945 built by English pioneers ), however, is only one track, as well as the south-east bridge located on State Road 73

Exist between Stade and Cuxhaven only three stations in the railway engineering sense ( Himmelspforten, Hechthausen and Cadenberge ), located at Ottersdorf remote-controlled block signals. This has the consequence that it must come to schedule changes and cancellations during construction, the operation is stopped completely when working on the single-track section Himmelspforten - Hechthausen. Freight trains are diverted via Bremerhaven - Cuxhaven, it must then also there accounts for passenger trains.

Since 1968, the Lower Elbe Railway between Hamburg -Harburg and Stade is electrified with catenary. The route can be here one 20 -minute intervals of the S -Bahn, in addition to the metronome, until Buxtehude a 10 -minute intervals.

Between home field and Neugraben the powered direct current from a lateral busbar Harburg S -Bahn runs for several kilometers parallel to the Lower Elbe Railway.

Systems for freight

Located northwest of the former station Hamburg Unterelbe be due to a branch line, the investments of district freight station Hamburg Lower Elbe port with sidings to the Harburg seaports and those refineries.

At the level of the former station Hamburg -Hausbruch branch lines of the Hamburg port railway from the container terminal Altenwerder ( CTA) and Hamburg- Waltershof and on the Kattwyk bridge in the eastern Free Zone.

In the Stade large industrial area in Bützfleth is accessed with aluminum and chemical industries and the former nuclear power plant over a spur track. At present ( 2014) are transferred to the cars with a locomotive series 293 of DB Schenker Rail to and from Bützfleth.

Before the end point in Cuxhaven are extensive, largely abandoned railway tracks of the harbor and the fishing industry. At present ( 2014) is PCT Altmann main customer.

History and operation

Lower Elbe Railway

As a same path, the path from 1880 to 1881 in the former Province of Hanover was built by the Unterelbe'schen railway company. The first section of Harburg to Stade was opened to traffic on 1 April 1881. In the second half of 1881 the operation over Stade, it could be added. From 1882 through trains frequented by the then ' Venlo railway station "in Hamburg to Cuxhaven. The Dollern station was added in 1920. The breakpoints Hausbruch ( 1984) and Altenbruch, Neuhaus ( Oste) and Warstade - Hemmoor (1991 ) were abandoned.

Suburban and commuter rail

In the 1930s, the section Harburg- Neugraben was included in the tariff of the Hamburg S -Bahn. After the founding of the Hamburg Transport Association ( HVV) in 1965, this line was referred to as "S3 " on the wrong but continue to locomotive-hauled trains. While the population through the construction of new large settlements grew considerably in the districts of Hamburg Hausbruch and Neugraben- Fischbek in the 1960s and 70s, the connection remained in the city center of Hamburg deficient: to reach the Hamburg Central Station, a change in direction of the trains in Harburg was required Moreover, there was no regular timetable.

It was not until 1984, the DC-powered S- Bahn ( "S3 " and " S31 " ) has been extended from the city of Harburg until after Neugraben. Your route runs from Hamburg- home field about seven miles long south parallel to the Lower Elbe Railway.

Close to the capital settlement Neuwiedenthal created a new S- Bahn stop. The Neugrabener station was expanded to five tracks together with stabling and the founder temporal reception building replaced by a Umsteigeanlage in " modern concrete style " of the 1980s. In an extension of the S -Bahn in the densely populated Fischbek also been omitted so as not to diminish the importance of newly created ( shopping ) center in Neugraben.

With the opening of this new S- Bahn line railway stations Unterelbe, tempo work and house breaking at the old northern route were abandoned. In local transport to Buxtehude and Stade continued the German Federal Railroad in 1987 under the product name City-Bahn (CB) trains with modernized n cars with electric locomotives of the series 141. 2006/ 07, the 143 series was in use. Most trains from there now ended the Prague city Neugraben, some were usable but continued to Harburg Central Station and change of direction to Hamburg on HVV tariff.

In Eilzugdienst to and from Cuxhaven drove up to the 1980s diesel locomotives DB Class V 200.0 with n- car, then up to the December 8, 2007 locomotives of the DB Class 218 with modernized n- cars.

Since the expansion of the transport association area in the Hamburg Metropolitan Region to Lower Saxony in December 2004, and the stations between New Wulmstorf ( district of Harburg ) and Himmelspforten ( Stade ) - and most of the Lower Elbe Railway - as " R 50 " in the tariff of HVV included.

Since December 2007, the metronom Railroad Company operated the traffic to Cuxhaven. This modern double -deck coaches and a locomotive from the fleet of the country's transport company Niedersachsen ( LNVG ) the Series 246 ( TRAXX P160 DE ) are used, a diesel variant of the Bombardier TRAXX family. These trains run every hour usually to Hamburg Central Station.

Since the timetable change in December 2007, the line of the Hamburg S -Bahn from Neugraben Buxtehude was extended to Stade. This newly - remodeled or two-system S-Bahn railcar series 474.3 are used. These also make use of the overhead line and take turns going in mixed operation with the freight trains and regional trains of the metronome.

The expansion of the route consisted essentially of the establishment of two same-level Ausfädelungen and a cut-off section at the parking area Neugraben and in the increase of the platforms to 76 cm - the same place where freight trains - and 96 cm in Stade and Buxtehude. Furthermore, the block sections were shortened on the track to allow a denser sequence of moves. Furthermore, an additional breakpoint Fischbek was established.

Since the opening of the S -Bahn operation to Stade EVB - railcars route Bremerhaven Buxtehude no longer run until Neugraben. At times, individual nightly transfer trips from metronome features were released to and from the depot in Bremervörde for passengers, making a direct connection Hamburg- Bremervörde was possible. The transfer trips Stade- Bremervörde and back over the course of the EVB, however, are not approved for passengers.