Münster–Hamm railway

Münster–Hamm railway
Münster–Hamm railway
Overview
Line number	2931
Locale	North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Service
Route number	410, 455 (long distance)
Technical
Line length	36 km (22 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	15 kV/16.7 Hz AC overhead catenary
Operating speed	160 km/h (99.4 mph) (maximum)
Route map
Route map
	Legend
	138.0
	(0.0)
	Source: German railway atlas

The Münster–Hamm railway is an almost 36 kilometre-long, continuous double-track and electrified main line railway from Münster to Hamm in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It was one of Germany's oldest railways, built by the Munster Hamm Railway Company, which was established for this purpose, and opened on 26 May 1848.

History

The Cologne-Minden Railway Company (German: Cöln-Mindener Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft, CME) built its trunk line directly across Westphalia, bypassing the region around the town of Münster. The Munster Hamm Railway Company (Münster-Hammer Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft, MHE) was established to build a branch line to connect with the CME line. This line was opened on 26 May 1848 for passengers and on 8 July 1848 for freight traffic.^[2]^[3]

The company and line were taken over in 1855 by the Prussian government-funded Royal Westphalian Railway Company (KWE). The line was extended in the following year to Rheine as the Münster–Rheine line.

Operations

Although, formerly individual^[4] InterCity services ran on the line, it is now mainly used by regional (Regional-Express and regionalbahn) services running through western Westphalia and southern Münsterland. It is served by:

the hourly Rhein-Münsterland-Express (RE7) with stops in Hamm, Drensteinfurt, Münster-Hiltrup and Münster Hauptbahnhof.
every half-hour during the day Monday to Friday, otherwise hourly, the Ems-Börde-Bahn (RB69/89) with stops at all stations.

Notes

^ Eisenbahnatlas Deutschland (German railway atlas). Schweers + Wall. 2009. pp. 40, 52, 134. ISBN 978-3-89494-139-0.
^ Deutsche Reichsbahn (1984). Handbuch der deutschen Eisenbahnstrecken (in German). Mainz: H-W Dumjahn, Verlag Dumjahn. ISBN 3-921426-29-4.
^ Krause, Günther (1986). Entwicklung des Gleisnetzes der Direktion Essen (in German). Krefeld: Verlag Roehr. ISBN 3-88490-130-3NB: opening dates reversed{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
^ Not repeated through the day

External links

NRW rail archive of André Joost:

Description of line 2931: Münster ↔ Hamm
Description of line 2011: Lechtenberg junction ↔ Kanal
Description of line 2920: Feldmark junction ↔ Hamm Rbf Hvn

[Eisenbahnatlas-1] Eisenbahnatlas Deutschland (German railway atlas). Schweers + Wall. 2009. pp. 40, 52, 134. ISBN 978-3-89494-139-0.

[2] Deutsche Reichsbahn (1984). Handbuch der deutschen Eisenbahnstrecken (in German). Mainz: H-W Dumjahn, Verlag Dumjahn. ISBN 3-921426-29-4.

[3] Krause, Günther (1986). Entwicklung des Gleisnetzes der Direktion Essen (in German). Krefeld: Verlag Roehr. ISBN 3-88490-130-3NB: opening dates reversed{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)

[4] Not repeated through the day

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