Hagen–Hamm railway

The Hagen–Hamm railway is a continuous two-track, electrified main line in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, connecting Hagen via Schwerte, Holzwickede and Unna to Hamm.

History

The railway line from Hagen to Hamm was built by the Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company (German: Bergisch-Märkische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft, BME) to link its existing Elberfeld–Dortmund and Dortmund–Soest lines as well as Hamm station.

The section between Holzwickede and Unna was opened by the BME on 9 July 1855 as part of its Dortmund–Soest line.^[1] Ten years later, on 18 January 1866, the section from Unna to Hamm was made available for passenger traffic,^[2] while the section from Hagen to Holzwickede opened a year later on 1 April 1867.^[3][4]

Current situation

The whole length of the line is served hourly by Regional-Express services on lines RE 7, the Rhein-Münsterland-Express (Rheine–Krefeld), and RE 13, the Maas-Wupper-Express (Hamm–Venlo). The section between Hagen and Schwerte is also served by RE 17, the Sauerland-Express (Hagen–Warburg), every hour. The section between Holzwickede and Unna is also served by Regionalbahn service RB 59, Hellweg-Bahn.

Long distance Intercity-Express and InterCity trains operate on the line between Cologne and Hamm (continuing to Berlin) stopping only at Hagen and Hamm.

Notes

References

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