Wittenberge–Buchholz railway

The Wittenberge–Buchholz railway or Wittenberge–Buchholz branch (German: Bahnstrecke Wittenberge-Buchholz or Wittenberge-Buchholzer Zweigbahn) was licensed to, planned and built by the Berlin-Hamburg Railway Company (BHE) and opened in 1874 as an additional link between the cities of Berlin, Hamburg and Bremen in Germany. It ran through Wittenberge, Dömitz, Dannenberg, Lüneburg and Buchholz and was originally to have been extended to Bremerhaven.

Wittenberge–Buchholz
Route
Overview
Line number	1151 (Wittenberge–Buchholz) 1280 (Jesteburg–Buchholz)
Service
Route number	112
Technical
Line length	142
Track gauge	1,435
Electrification	Jesteburg–Buchholz: 15 kV 16,7 Hz AC
Operating speed	60 max.
Route map Main line from Bremen Old line from Bremervörde Heath Railway from Soltau 268,3 Buchholz (Nordheide) (Keilbahnhof) Main line to Hamburg 265,1 Reindorf 262,0 Jesteburg 7,7 Jesteburg crossover New goods line to Maschen Rbf 259,3 Marxen 255,3 Brackel (b Lüneburg) 252,6 Tangendorf 249,5 Wulfsen to the Line to Winsen Hützel–Winsen line 246,0 Bahlburg 237,6 Mechtersen 235,1 Vögelsen 233,1 Ochtmissen 231,6 Sternkamp (siding) Main line from Hamburg Line from Büchen Line from Bleckede 229,0 Lüneburg (West/Ost) Line to Soltau Main line to Celle 223,7 Wendisch Evern Elbe Lateral Canal 216,9 Vastorf 211,8 Bavendorf 206,0 Dahlenburg 202,4 Neetzendorf 196,3 Göhrde (former station) 192,1 Leitstade 182,5 Hitzacker Line from Lüchow 175,6 Dannenberg Ost (line ends east of the station yard) Elbe Bridge Dömitz, L. Saxony–M.-Vorpommern state border 164,7 Dömitz Old line to Ludwigslust 140,3 Polz M.-Vorpommern–Brandenburg state border 149,5 Lenzen (Elbe) 140,3 Lanz 134,1 Cumlosen Main line from Ludwigslust 128,5 Wittenberge Nord Line from Wittstock 126,6 Wittenberge Line to Stendal Main line to Berlin

The single-tracked main line ran through the present-day states of Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Lower Saxony. With the destruction of the bridge over the Elbe at Dömitz at the end of the Second World War and the subsequent division of Germany it suddenly lost its importance and, as a result, was partially closed.

Today two sections of the line are still open: the longer one of the two between Dannenberg and Lüneburg in the Wendland is known today as the Wendland Railway (Wendlandbahn); whilst western end of the shorter section from Buchholz to Jesteburg merges into the line to the Maschen Marshalling Yard.

The freight carried on the line includes the transport of nuclear waste containers with radioactive waste to a terminal at the end of the track one kilometre east of the Dannenberg Ost station, where it is off loaded for further transport by road to a nuclear waste storage facility. This was subject to blockading by anti-nuclear activists in November 2010.

Literature

• Dietmar Ramuschkat, „Berlin–Bremen via Wittenberge–Lüneburg–Buchholz. Eine Eisenbahnlinie entsteht“, videel, Niebüll 2002, ISBN 3-89906-316-3
• Wolfgang Fiegenbaum, Wolfgang Klee, „Abschied from der Schiene, Stillgelegte railways im Personenverkehr Deutschlands 1980–1985“, Motorbuch (S. 22ff), Stuttgart 1988, ISBN 3-613-01191-3
• „Eisenbahnatlas Deutschland“, Ausgabe 2007/2008, Verlag Schweers + Wall GmbH, 6. Auflage (April 2007), ISBN 978-3-89494-136-9

External links

• Dömitz Railway Bridge at www.lostplaces.de
• Old Lüneburg–Buchholz line at www.spurkranz.de