Celle–Soltau railway

Celle–Soltau railway
Overview
Locale	Lower Saxony, Germany
Line number	9170
Technical
Line length	58.9 km (36.6 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Operating speed	60 km/h (37 mph)
Route number	159 (1976)
Route map
	Legend
	Soltau (Han) Süd
	(passenger ops closed)
	Source: German railway atlas [1]

Last updated March 18, 2019

The Celle–Soltau railway is a standard gauge railway in the state of Lower Saxony in northern Germany that belongs to the East Hanoverian Railways (Osthannoversche Eisenbahnen or OHE). It is the OHE's busiest line.

Lower Saxony is a German state (Land) situated in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with 47,624 km² (18,388 sq mi), and fourth-largest in population among the 16 Länder federated as the Federal Republic of Germany. In rural areas, Northern Low Saxon and Saterland Frisian are still spoken, but the number of speakers is declining.

Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central and Western Europe, lying between the Baltic and North Seas to the north, and the Alps to the south. It borders Denmark to the north, Poland and the Czech Republic to the east, Austria and Switzerland to the south, France to the southwest, and Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands to the west.

History

The initiative for the construction of a railway to Bergen came from the district of Celle. The Garßen–Beckedorf–Bergen section was opened on 23 April 1902 by the Kleinbahn Garßen-Bergen . Its terminus had to be at Garßen because they failed to reach agreement with the town of Celle on the route of the line through the town. Following the approval of the Kleinbahn Celle–Wittingen a solution emerged, however, in the shape of junction with that railway. So it was more than two years later, on 13 December 1904, that the line to Celle-Vorstadt on the Celle–Wittingen railway went into service, making through services to Celle possible. As a result, passenger services to Garßen were withdrawn and goods services (which consisted of transfers to the state railway) followed suit on 1 September 1910. However, the railway facilities at Garßen were not finally dismantled until the 1930s.

Garßen is a Lower Saxon village in the southern part of the Lüneburg Heath and, since 1973, part of the borough of Celle in Germany. It lies on the northeastern side of the town.

The Celle–Wittingen railway is a line belonging to the East Hanoverian Railways. Because its western portion runs along the River Lachte, it is also known as the Lachte Valley Railway (Lachtetalbahn).

On 23 April 1910 the line was extended from Bergen to Soltau and also from Beckedorf to Munster. For that purpose a new firm was founded the Kleinbahn Celle-Soltau und Munster, in which the previous owners and the districts of Fallingbostel and Soltau as well as other local authorities participated.

A joint operating agreement was struck with the Kleinbahn Celle-Wittingen.

During Germany's rearmament prior to the Second World War, several sidings were converted to military depots (Scheuen, Bergen). Traffic levels rose sharply as a result. From 1940 the railway no longer ran as a Kleinbahn , but was treated as a public railway; that resulted in a new company Eisenbahn Celle-Soltau, Celle-Munster being set up.

The term Kleinbahn was a light railway concept used especially in Prussia for a railway line that "on account of its low importance for general railway transport" had less strict requirements placed on its construction and operation that main lines or secondary lines. Even public railway lines built for constructional or industrial purposes were counted as Kleinbahnen.

Between 1989 and 1992 large sections of the line were upgraded with Y sleepers superstructure.

In 1969, after the most important intermediate stations had been equipped with electric signal boxes with push-button routing, the line from Celle became remotely controlled using a central block system. This was only the second to be introduced on German railways.

Services

Passenger numbers were quite low in the early years (1904: 69,000 passengers), but climbed following the extension of the line to Soltau and Munster to 250,000 passengers per year. The addition of military trains meant that numbers rose considerably during the First and Second World Wars. At least three to four pairs of trains ran daily, both between Celle and Soltau as well as between Celle and Munster. From 1950 even Eilzug trains ran from Celle via Soltau to Lüneburg. Between 1953 and 1959 there were also passenger trains to the military depot station at Bergen. In 1959 the passenger services were incorporated into the Deutsche Bundesbahn (DB) federal railway station at Celle and in 1961 into the DB station at Soltau, which was better for passengers needing connexions. Railbuses were mainly used towards the end, sometimes with trailer cars. From 1967 busses were also used and, little by little, railway services were reduced. In the 1970s passenger services were withdrawn completely: on 30 May 1975 between Bergen and Soltau, and on 31 May 1976 the rest of the traffic between Celle and Bergen.

An Eilzug is a type of passenger train in German-speaking countries which roughly equates to a British 'fast-stopping train' or 'semi-fast train'. The term has largely been superseded, but is still used on some lines.

The Deutsche Bundesbahn or DB was formed as the state railway of the newly established Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) on 7 September 1949 as a successor of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft (DRG). The DB remained the state railway of West Germany until after German reunification, when it was merged with the former East German Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR) to form Deutsche Bahn AG, which came into existence on 1 January 1994.

A railbus is a lightweight passenger rail vehicle that shares many aspects of its construction with a bus, typically having a bus body and four wheels on a fixed base, instead of on bogies. Originally designed and developed during the 1930s, railbuses have evolved into larger dimensions, with characteristics similar in appearance to a light railcar, with the terms railcar and railbus often used interchangeably. Railbuses designed for use specifically on little-used railway lines were commonly employed in countries such as Germany, Italy, France, the United Kingdom and Sweden.

The goods trains hauled agricultural products in the main, but the transportation of logs was also important. The only industries were in Celle. Military transportation to the various military installations was also important. Even after the Second World War further military facilities were added and, on many stations, tank-loading ramps were built. Until 1978 the DB also ran goods trains through the line because the distances were shorter than on their own DB lines; towards the end this amounted to 135,000 t per year. In 2006 three goods trains ran on the line each week, as well as ad hoc trains and goods trains hauled by the OHE between DBAG routes.

Sources

Gerd Wolff: Deutsche Klein- und Privatbahnen. Band 10: Niedersachsen 2. Zwischen Weser und Elbe. EK-Verlag, Freiburg 2007, S. 226–258, ISBN 978-3-88255-669-8

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References

↑ Eisenbahnatlas Deutschland (German railway atlas) (10 ed.). Schweers + Wall. 2017. p. 21. ISBN 978-3-89494-146-8.

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[Eisenbahnatlas-1] Eisenbahnatlas Deutschland (German railway atlas) (10 ed.). Schweers + Wall. 2017. p. 21. ISBN 978-3-89494-146-8.