Puttgarden station is a major ferry terminal on the Vogelfluglinie (bird flight line) on the island of Fehmarn in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. It lies between the town of Puttgarden and Marienleuchte.
All rail traffic was discontinued on 31 August 2022. Until 2019, it primarily served the needs of international long distance traffic between Hamburg and Copenhagen, and in 2020-2022 regional traffic to Lübeck. Rail traffic is expected to restart in 2029, but not have stops for passengers in Puttgarden.
Operation and history
In 1961, a large ferry terminal was built in Puttgarden and in 1963 it was put into operation together with the Fehmarn Sound Bridge, because the traditional ferry from Germany to Denmark between Rostock-Warnemünde and Gedser was at the time beyond the Iron Curtain, and the replacement route from Großenbrode Quay to Gedser was too time consuming.
The ferry terminal was opened on 14 May 1963 by the Danish King Frederik IX and German PresidentHeinrich Lübke. The station was very important from the beginning, since a large proportion of rail freight and passenger traffic was shipped to and from Scandinavia via Puttgarden. This is shown by the large and, since the end of freight traffic on the bird flight line, almost completely idle network of rail tracks.
After the completion of the bridge over the Great Belt in Denmark in 1998, most trains run for financial reasons over a lengthy detour by that route because of the limited track capacity of the roll-on/roll-off ships and to avoid the associated shunting. Freight through the rail yards at Puttgarden was initially partially closed and then closed completely. Simultaneously with the closing of freight traffic in the period from 1996 to 1998, the ferry terminal was modernised by the shipping company Scandlines.
In 2007, the station was completely modernised, including the provision of level access even to the unused platforms along with glass, automatic exit doors and modern toilet facilities with toilets for the disabled. The final stage of this work was the reconstruction of the platform, significantly shortening and slightly raising the platform, and the equipping of the station with a modern lighting and sound system.
The former locomotive-hauled EuroCity service from Hamburg to Copenhagen were replaced in the 1990s by a three-carriage Danish IC3 multiple unit, which can be coupled and uncoupled without any shunting. Since December 2007, some of the IC3 services have been replaced by German Intercity-Express services operated by class 605 (ICE-TD) diesel multiple units, together providing several services each day on the Copenhagen–Hamburg route. One pair runs to/from Berlin.
In August 2010, the Burg auf Fehmarn station was reactivated, and is now called Fehmarn-Burg station. Until December 2010, some services of Intercity line 31 to/from Frankfurt began and ended in Puttgarden. These now start or finish at Fehmarn-Burg.[3]
Beginning August 31, 2022, all rail traffic between Neustadt and Puttgarden was suspended due to construction work on the double-track railway line connecting to the Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link (currently forecast in 2028) until its completion.[4][5] Because of this all rail traffic at Puttgarden station ceased at this date and is replaced by a bus service. It is not expected that trains will stop at Puttgarden when the Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link is in traffic since the ferry traffic is expected to close and the village Puttgarden has small population.
Infrastructure
Track field looking towards Burg with Regionalbahn operated by class628
The station had a total of 22 kilometres of track and 145 turnouts. Only two platform tracks were in service in the end.
Outside the port areaFerry in portEntrance to the harbour
The port next to the station area has four docks, two of them with ramps allowing passengers to board and disembark. Only the basin adjoining track 2 and 3 is still used to operate trains and rail wagons on and off the train ferry. The Deutsche Ferienroute Alpen-Ostsee (German Alpine–Baltic Holiday Route) ends in Puttgarden after 1738 kilometres.
From the ferry terminal, there are several bus services operated by Autokraft, including to Burg auf Fehmarn.
Operations
There was until 2022 the regional line RB 85 Lübeck – Timmendorferstrand – Oldenburg (Holst) – Fehmarn-Burg – Puttgarden going every two hours.
Until 2019 there were trains Hamburg – Lübeck – Vordingborg – Copenhagen, which used the ferry Puttgarden – Rødby. All trains were diesel powered due to lack of electricification.
Fehmarn is an island in the Baltic Sea, off the eastern coast of Germany's northernmost state of Schleswig-Holstein. It is Germany's third-largest island, after Rügen and Usedom. Fehmarn is separated from the German peninsula of Wagria in Holstein by the Fehmarn Sound, and from the southern Danish island of Lolland by the Fehmarn Belt. It is connected to the Holsatian mainland by the Fehmarn Sound Bridge. The island belongs to the district of Ostholstein. The closest larger towns on the mainland are Heiligenhafen and Oldenburg in Holstein. Right opposite Fehmarn, on the tip of the Wagrian Peninsula, is Großenbrode.
European route E47 is a road connecting Lübeck in Germany to Helsingborg in Sweden via the Danish capital Copenhagen. It is also known as the Vogelfluglinie (German) or Fugleflugtslinjen (Danish). The road is of motorway standard all the way except for 28 km (17 mi) in Germany and 6 km of city roads in Helsingør, Denmark; there are also two ferry connections.
The rail transport system in Denmark consists of 2,633 km of railway lines, of which the Copenhagen S-train network, the main line Helsingør-Copenhagen-Padborg, and the Lunderskov-Esbjerg line are electrified. Most traffic is passenger trains, although there is considerable transit goods traffic between Sweden and Germany.
Scandlines is a ferry company that operates the Rødby–Puttgarden and Gedser–Rostock ferry routes between Denmark and Germany.
The Fehmarn Belt fixed link or Fehmarn Belt tunnel is an under-construction immersed tunnel, which will connect the Danish island of Lolland with the German island of Fehmarn, crossing the 18-kilometre-wide (11 mi) Fehmarn Belt in the Baltic Sea.
is a ferry harbour and a village on the German island of Fehmarn. It lies on an important route between Germany and Denmark known as the Vogelfluglinie which crosses the 18 kilometres (11 mi) strait, the Fehmarnbelt, to Rødby on the island of Lolland.
Rostock Hauptbahnhof, also Rostock Central Station, is the main railway station in the German city of Rostock. It is situated well to the south of the city centre, to which it is linked by tram. The station was opened in 1886 by the Deutsch-Nordischer Lloyd, operating a combined railway/ferry line to Nykøbing Falster in Denmark. The station was expanded in 1913 and 1922, but was heavily damaged in World War II. The importance of the traditional route to Hamburg and Copenhagen diminished after the post-World War II division of Germany, with long-distance services instead focusing on cities within the German Democratic Republic. Electrification reached the station in 1985. After German reunification, the station was extensively modernised.
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The Vogelfluglinie (German) or Fugleflugtslinjen (Danish) is a transport corridor between Copenhagen, Denmark, and Hamburg, Germany.
The Fehmarn Sound Bridge connects the German island of Fehmarn in the Baltic Sea with the German mainland near Großenbrode.
Rødbyhavn is a small town and harbour on the south coast of Lolland, Denmark, with a population of 1,516. Since 2007 it has been a part of Lolland Municipality.
The DBAG Class 605, commonly known as the ICE TD is a high-speed diesel multiple unit (DMU) train, formerly in service with Deutsche Bahn and DSB.
Lübeck Hauptbahnhof is the main railway station serving the Hanseatic city of Lübeck, in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. It is a through station at the western edge of the city centre. With around 31,000 travelers and visitors each day, Lübeck Hbf is the busiest of all the railway stations in Schleswig-Holstein. It is classified by the Deutsche Bahn as a category 2 station.
The Lübeck–Lüneburg railway line is a 77 kilometre-long, single-track non-electrified rail link from Lübeck on the Baltic coast of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein to Lüneburg in Lower Saxony. The line was opened in sections between 1851 and 1864 and is one of the oldest railways in Germany.
The Hamburg–Lübeck railway is one of the most important mainline railways of the German states of Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg. It connects the two Hanseatic cities of Hamburg and Lübeck, and is part of the line to Denmark. The line was opened in 1865.
The Lübeck–Puttgarden railway is part of the international Vogelfluglinie between Germany and Denmark and connects Lübeck with Puttgarden on the Baltic Sea island of Fehmarn in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. The line is now closed north of Neustadt for the construction of the Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link.
The South Line is a government-owned railway line in Denmark. Technically, the line connects Ringsted with Nykøbing Falster, from which it branches to Gedser and Rødbyhavn. In practice, Ringsted is not the terminal station, so the line is often said to continue to Copenhagen.
Warnemünde station is located in the seaside resort of Warnemünde, a district of the Hanseatic city of Rostock in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The station opened on 30 September 1903 and is located on the Neustrelitz–Warnemünde railway. It is the terminus of all three Rostock S-Bahn lines. In addition, some long-distance trains serve the station. Until 1995, it was the starting point of ferries to Gedser in Denmark. The station building and some other facilities of the station have heritage protection.
The Hamburg freight rail bypass is a railway line in the German city of Hamburg. It runs from Hamburg-Eidelstedt via Hamburg-Rothenburgsort to Hamburg-Harburg and connects the long-distance railways approaching Hamburg, bypassing the link line and the railway junctions on the approaches to Hamburg-Altona station and Hamburg Hauptbahnhof. The line is mainly used for rail freight.
Nykøbing Falster railway station is a railway station serving the city of Nykøbing Falster on the island of Falster, Denmark. It is located in the centre of the town, on the eastern edge of the historic town centre, and immediately adjacent to the Nykøbing Falster bus terminal.
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