Salzwedel station is the station of the district town of Salzwedel in Altmark in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. Until 2004, it was a railway junction, but as a result of the closure of nearly all branch lines it has lost most of its importance. Only one railway line still runs through Salzwedel.
The former locomotive depot now houses a railway museumThe platforms of Salzwedel station
Salzwedel station was built in 1870 during the construction of the Stendal–Uelzen railway (part of the America Line from Berlin to Bremen and Bremerhaven) by the Magdeburg-Halberstadt Railway Company. Railways formerly ran in seven directions from Salzwedel station or Salzwedel Neustadt station (which lay to the immediate east), as the table below shows. A locomotive depot (Bahnbetriebswerk) was built directly next to it in order to service these routes. During the Second World War, the station area was destroyed in an air raid on 22 February 1945, which caused about 300 deaths. Of the seven lines, only the Stendal–Uelzen railway remain. During the division of Germany the line was cut at the border, but continuous operations were restored on 19 December 1999. It has been extensively modernised since reunification and electrified so that it can be used an alternative route for Intercity-Express train from Berlin to Hamburg.
Passenger services on the last additional line connecting to the station, the Salzwedel–Wittenberg railway, were closed at the timetable change in December 2004. It had recently been upgraded. The decades-old Ferkeltaxe (“piglet taxis”) class VT2.09 railbuses were replaced by modern Desiro low-floor railcars built by Siemens from 2003. But neither they nor a specially formed citizens' initiative could save the route.
The area around the station was reconstructed from scratch in the late 1990s. Deutsche Bahn renovated the entrance building and built two new island platforms, which can be reached by a new underpass with its entrance in an extension of the station building. The town of Salzwedel built a new bus station on the station forecourt and a large station parking area.
Rail services
Operations of regional train services were converted a few years ago to modern class 425 electric railcars. Since the timetable change in December 2006, the RE 20 service has been operated with double-deck trains.
In the 2016 timetable the following services serve Salzwedel station:
Every two-hour buses run from the bus station as the Arendsee Express to Wittenberg and as "Drömling-Express" to Oebisfelde. These services were established after the cancellation of passenger services on the Salzwedel–Wittenberg railway and the Oebisfelde–Salzwedel railway.
The Altmark is a historic region in Germany, comprising the northern third of Saxony-Anhalt. As the initial territory of the March of Brandenburg, it is sometimes referred to as the "Cradle of Prussia", as by Otto von Bismarck, a native of Schönhausen near Stendal.
The Hanover–Berlin high-speed railway is a 258-kilometre (160 mi) high-speed rail line linking the German cities of Hanover and Berlin.
The America Line is the unofficial name of a railway line in northern Germany which is mainly of regional importance today. It runs in an east-west direction and links Stendal in Saxony-Anhalt with the Hanseatic city of Bremen.
The Bremen State Railway was a railway line built by the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen on Prussian state territory. In spite of its name and although owned by the state it was operated under Prussian law as a private railway. Constructionally it formed the 97 km long Uelzen–Langwedel railway, the western section of the America Line.
The Uelzen–Langwedel railway runs through the Lüneburg Heath in north Germany in an east-west direction. The line became known as part of the so-called America Line.
The Brunswick–Uelzen railway line is a largely, single-tracked, non-electrified branch line in the north German state of Lower Saxony. It serves the northern part of Brunswick Land and the eastern region of the Lüneburg Heath. The most important station en route is Gifhorn. The line has also been called the Mühlenbahn for several years due to the many mills along its route.
Uelzen is a railway station located in Uelzen, Germany, at the eastern edge of the Lüneburg Heath Nature Park. The station is located on the Hannover–Hamburg railway, Uelzen–Langwedel railway, Stendal–Uelzen railway and Brunswick–Uelzen railway. The train services are operated by Deutsche Bahn, Metronom and Erixx.
The Berlin–Hamburg Railway is a roughly 286 km (178 mi) long railway line for passenger, long-distance and goods trains. It was the first high-speed line upgraded in Germany to be capable of handling train speeds of over 200 km/h (120 mph).
Wittenberge station is the railway station for the Brandenburg town of Wittenberge in Germany. About 5,000 passengers use the station daily and it is served by around 100 trains per day.
Soltau (Han) station is in the town of Soltau in the German state of Lower Saxony, located in the centre of the Lüneburg Heath. As a junction station on two railway lines, Hannover Hbf – Buchholz (Heath Railway) and Bremen Hbf – Uelzen (Uelzen–Langwedel railway), it is a central transport hub of the region and serves commuters and visitors to the Lüneburg Heath as a destination and transfer station.
The Berlin–Lehrte railway, known in German as the Lehrter Bahn, is an east–west line running from Berlin via Lehrte to Hanover. Its period as a separate railway extended from its opening in 1871 to the nationalisation of its owner, the Magdeburg-Halberstadt Railway Company on 1 July 1886. The company's Berlin station, the Lehrter Bahnhof was finally torn down in 1958.
Wustermark station is a railway station in the town of Wustermark in the Havelland region of the German state of Brandenburg, to the west of Berlin. The station is located on the Berlin–Lehrte railway and is connected with the Jüterbog–Nauen railway, part of which became part of the Berlin outer ring in the 1950s. It is classified by Deutsche Bahn as a category 5 station.
Wolfsburg Hauptbahnhof is the main station of the city of Wolfsburg in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is on the Hanover–Berlin railway and it is the last Intercity-Express stop running east before Stendal or Berlin-Spandau.
Oebisfelde is a railway station located in Oebisfelde, Germany. The station opened in 1871 and is located on the Berlin-Lehrte Railway. The train services are operated by Abellio Rail Mitteldeutschland.
The Salzwedel–Dannenberg railway was a branch line between Salzwedel in the north of Saxony-Anhalt and Dannenberg in eastern Lower Saxony in Germany. It was built in 1891 by the Prussian state railways, initially as a stub line from Salzwedel to Lüchow and extended in 1911 to Dannenberg. Shortly before the end of the Second World War the line between Salzwedel in the Soviet Zone and Lübbow in the British Zone was cut. Passenger services ceased in 1975, goods trains continued tor run until the end of 1997. The section still being worked between Lüchow and the station at Dannenberg Ost has been owned since 2001 by the Deutsche Regionaleisenbahn (DRE) and is called the Jeetzel Valley Railway (Jeetzeltalbahn).
Stendal is a railway station in the town of Stendal, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. The station lies on the Berlin-Lehrte railway, Hanover–Berlin high-speed railway, Magdeburg-Wittenberge railway, Stendal–Uelzen railway, Stendal-Tangermünde railway and Stendal–Niedergörne railway. It is an important railway hub for regional trains and is also used by Intercity and Intercity-Express (ICE) trains regularly. Until the winter 2012 timetable Stendal station was only by Deutsche Bahn trains. Since December 2012, the station has also been served by some services operated by Ostdeutsche Eisenbahn. It is classified by Deutsche Bahn as a category 3 station.
The Magdeburg-Wittenberge railway is a two-track, electrified main line in the east of the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is one of the oldest lines in Germany, opened in 1849 by the Magdeburg-Wittenberge Railway Company, which operated it until 1863, when it was taken over by the Magdeburg-Halberstadt Railway Company. It was nationalised in 1879.
The Stendal–Uelzen railway is a mostly single-track, electrified main line and connects Stendal in the east of Altmark, Saxony-Anhalt with Uelzen in Lower Saxony. The most important stop along the way is Salzwedel.
Büchen station is a railway junction in Büchen in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. About 4,000 passengers embark or disembark each day.
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