Heath Railway

Hanover Hauptbahnhof–Buchholz (Nordheide)
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Route number:	123 Hannover–Buchholz 363.4 Hannover–Bennemühlen 109d (1941)
Line number:	1711, 1712
Line length:	133.1
Maximum incline:	10.5  %
Maximum speed:	80
Legend to Göttingen and to Würzburg to Altenbeken to Brunswick and to Berlin 0,0 Hanover Hbf 2,6 Hanover-Nordstadtformerly Hanover-Hainholz from Minden and from Bremen 4,8 Hanover-Herrenhausen 5,8 Hanover-Ledeburg Mittellandkanal 7,9 Hanover-Vinnhorst 9,9 Langenhagen Mitte 11,4 Langehagen Pferdemarkt to Lüneburg to Hanover Airport 14,6 Langenhagen-Kaltenweide 19,6 Bissendorf 22,6 Mellendorf 26,3 BennemühlenEnd of the electrified line 30,6 Lindwedel 34,6 Hope from Celle 40,1 Schwarmstedt to Rethem (Aller) Aller 44,1 Hademstorf 46,8 Eickeloh 51,0 Hodenhagenformerly Riethagen 56,0 Düshorn from Altenboitzen (formerly from Verden (Aller)) 62,0 Walsrode to Bomlitz (and formerly to Visselhövede) from Bomlitz (Werksbahn Eibia) 65,5 Honerdingen 70,3 Bad Fallingbostel 76,8 Dorfmark Böhme 80,7 Jettebruch 83,1 Mittelstendorf Soltau–Neuenkirchen railway from Langwedel 88,0 Soltau (Han) to Lüneburg and to Celle Böhme to Uelzen Uelzen–Langwedel railway 92,3 Soltau Nord 95,4 Wolterdingen (Han) 99,1 Gröps 101,6 Hemsen (b. Soltau) 105,4 Schneverdingen 111,5 Barrl 115,3 Wintermoor 121,7 Handelohformerly Handorf-Welle 125,1 Büsenbachtal 127,0 Holm-Seppensen 130,7 Suerhop Bremerhaven–Buxtehude railway from Bremervörde from Rotenburg (Wümme) 133,1 Buchholz (Nordheide) to Hamburg

The Heath Railway (German: Heidebahn) is a regional railway line in North Germany that crosses the Lüneburg Heath from which it derives its name. Most of the line is unelectrified and single-tracked. It links Buchholz in der Nordheide with Hanover, the capital city of Lower Saxony. Together with the east-west Uelzen–Langwedel railway, this north-south line is one of the two most important railways on the heath.

Current services

The Heath Railway is important for commuter traffic to Hanover and Hamburg as well as for day tourists.

On its southern section between Langenhagen and Bennemühlen the Heath Railway is electrified and forms Line S 4 on the Hanover S-Bahn network. The track has been doubled as far as Bissendorf.

The northern end between Buchholz in der Nordheide and Handeloh a Regionalbahn route, R 41, which is part of the Hamburg Transport Association (HVV) network. On the line between Handeloh and Soltau the HVV fare tariff is restricted to season tickets. The line is rated for a top speed of 80 km/h.

Because the Hamburg–Uelzen–Hanover and Hamburg–Rotenburg (Wümme)–Verden (Aller)–Hanover routes are much faster, the Heath Railway is of little importance for through services; the journey from Hamburg to Hanover via Soltau takes at least 2 hours, 51 minutes according to the winter timetable 2009/2010. No through connexions are offered; for example passengers have to change in Buchholz (Nordheide), Soltau and/or Bennemühlen. A through train on the Heath Railway from Soltau to Harburg should, however, be available when the timetable changes in December 2010.

There are regular goods trains only on the southern part of the line to Walsrode.

• Bennemühlenbahnhof.JPG

  Bennemühlen station

• Bahnhofsoltau001.JPG

  Soltau station

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Heidebahn.

• The Heidebahn
• Heidebahn: Schwarmstedt fares with information on the fares of theGVH and HVV transport networks
• The Heath Railway in the Third Reich
• VCD concept for its expansion as a freight line