Berlin Northern Railway

Berlin Northern Railway
Berlin–Neubrandenburg–Stralsund
Overview
Native name Berliner Nordbahn
Locale Berlin, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Line number 6088
6030 S-Bahn to Oranienburg
Technical
Line length 222.6 km (138.3 mi)
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification
  • 15 kV/16.7 Hz AC Overhead catenary (main line)
  • 750 V DC third rail (S-Bahn: Berlin–Oranienburg)
Operating speed 160 km/h (99.4 mph) (maximum)
Route number 200.1, 200.85, 205,
209.12, 209.20
Route map

Legend
 Operating points and lines[1] 
 from Rostock
 222.6 Stralsund
 from and to Sassnitz
 to Greifswald
 219.0 Voigdehagen
 214.7 Zarrendorf
 211.2 Elmenhorst
 208.3 Wittenhagenformer station
 Trebel
 199.6 Grimmen
 197.4 Vietlipp
 to Tribsees
 192.7 Rakowformer station
 184.9 Toitz-Rustow
 to Loitz
 Peene
 176.1 Demmin
 from Tutow
 Tollense
 172.4 Zachariae
 169.8 Utzedel
 165.2 Sternfeld
 Strehlower Bach
 161.4 Gnevkow
 157.4 Gültz
 149.1 Altentreptow
 Tollense
 142.3 Neddemin
 from Friedland
 from Güstrow
 from Waren
 133.7 Neubrandenburg
 to Pasewalk
 125.4 Burg Stargard
 117.6 Cammin (Meckl)former station
from Strasburg
113.4 Blankensee (Meckl)
105.2 Thurow
from Rostock
98.5 Neustrelitz Hbf
Neustrelitz Süd
to Mirow
95.2 Strelitz Alt junctionfrom Mirow
 88.7 Drewin
 85.2 Düsterförde
 MV–Brandenburg state border
 from and to Templin
 78.0 Fürstenberg (Havel)
 Havel
 74.7 Drögen
 65.4 Dannenwalde
 Wentowsee
 60.8 Altlüdersdorf
 from Neuglobsow
 56.2 Gransee
 53.6 Buberow
 51.5 Gutengermendorf
 from and to Herzberg
 from Prenzlau
 44.3 Löwenberg
 40.8 Grüneberg
 34.8 Nassenheide
 Havel
 31.5 to Wensickendorf
 31.5 Fichtengrundsince 1896
 31.5 from Wensickendorf
 29.5 Sachsenhausen (Nordb)
27.4 Oranienburg,terminus of
to Kremmen
Oder-Havel Canal
25.7 Lehnitz
22.5 Borgsdorf
Briese
19.4 Birkenwerder
to Berlin outer ring
to Berlin outer ring
Berlin outer ring overpass
17.3 Hohen Neuendorf,terminus of
S-Bahn from Berlin outer ring
Brandenburg–Berlin state border
13.0 Frohnau
10.9 Hermsdorf
Tegel stream
9.4 Waidmannslust,terminus of
Tegel–Friedrichsfelde industrial railway
8.1 Berlin-Wittenau
Nordgraben
from Basdorf
5.5 Wilhelmsruh
from Hennigsdorf
3.8 Schönholz
2.8 Wollankstraße
from Bernau
1.2 Bornholmer Straße
S-Bahn to Schönhauser Allee
and Gesundbrunnen

to Schönhauser Allee
and Gesundbrunnen
Berliner Ringbahn overpass
0.0 Berlin Old Nordbahnhof

The Belin Northern Railway German: Berliner Nordbahn) is a 223-kilometre-long main line route, that runs from Berlin via Neustrelitz and Neubrandenburg to Stralsund on the Baltic Sea coast. Nowadays, long-distance and regional traffic on the Nordbahn is routed at Hohen Neuendorf onto the Berlin Outer Ring to the Karower Kreuz and on to Berlin Main Station or Berlin-Lichtenberg.

History

Construction of the line was preceded by decades of planning from 1843 until 1870 when the newly founded Berlin Northern Railway Company (German: Berliner Nord-Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft) gained the concessions from the states of Prussia and Mecklenburg-Strelitz. For financial reasons, the company was dissolved on 15 December 1875. The Prussian government acquired the unfinished railway and handed over further construction of it to the Lower Silesian-Markish Railway (Niederschlesisch-Märkische Eisenbahn). The opening took place in three stages:

The construction of the Northern Railway had a significant impact on the villages to the north of Berlin that were in the catchment area of the railway line. In some cases their population multiplied in the following decades. The term Nordbahn became part of place-names (for instance, Glienicke/Nordbahn) and newspapers used its name (Nordbahn-Nachrichten).

Water tower at Löwenberg station
Looking south from Löwenberg station

The Berlin terminus of the railway, but only for freight, was the first freight yard at Eberswalder Straße, now the site of Mauerpark. Passenger services began at the original Nordbahnhof (North Station) in Pankow, today's Wollankstraße station, still evident in the design of the station and its forecourt. At the end of the 19th century the terminus of the railway or passenger trains for Berlin regional services was relocated to the Stettiner Bahnhof (Stettin—now Szczecin—station), built on Invalidenstraße; the freight remained at Eberswalder Straße.

Up to 1912 separate suburban tracks were built next to the long distance tracks between Gesundbrunnen and Frohnau. At the same time the line was moved to an embankment, to eliminate level crossings. In 1926, the section from Frohnau to Borgsdorf was treated similarly.

In 1925 the suburban services were electrified on the DC system on the section from Gesundbrunnen to Oranienburg. The route later became part of the Berlin S-Bahn. In 1950 the Stettiner Bahnhof was renamed the Nordbahnhof. Electrical operations continued until the building of the Berlin Wall on 13 August 1961, when the line between Frohnau and Hohen Neuendorf was closed. The Berlin section of the Northern Railway had already been closed for mainline traffic to Nordbahnhof on 18 May 1952.

Immediately after the wall was built, the S-Bahn between Oranienburg and Hohen Neuendorf became an isolated operation. Subsequently, S-Bahn tracks were built and electrified along the Berlin outer ring between Hohen Neuendorf and Blankenburg. This line was connected in November 1961 to the main S-Bahn network. In Berlin, S-Bahn services continued to Frohnau until the handover of operating rights of the S-Bahn in West Berlin from the East German Railways to the BVG on 9 January 1984. Services were first closed and only resumed on 1 October 1984. Rehabilitation carried out on the S-train tracks in 1985 placed them on a track profile that would make the restoration of the old main line for long distance traffic difficult.

In 1992, the gap between Frohnau and Hohen Neuendorf was closed so that continuous S-Bahn services could resume on the Northern Railway to Oranienburg.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Eisenbahnatlas Deutschland (German railway atlas). Schweers + Wall. 2009. ISBN 978-3-89494-139-0.

External links

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