Altenbeken–Kreiensen railway

Altenbeken–Kreiensen railway
Overview
Locale	Lower Saxony, Germany
Line number	1760 (Altenbeken–Langeland) 2974 (Langeland–Holzminden) 1940 (Holzminden–Kreiensen)
Technical
Line length	93.5 km (58.1 mi)
Number of tracks	2: Altenbeken–Ottbergen Stadtoldendorf–Vorwohle
Operating speed	80 km/h (50 mph) (maximum)
Route number	403 (Altenbeken–Holzminden) 354 (Holzminden–Kreiensen)
Route map Line from Paderborn 0.0 Altenbeken Line from/to Warburg Altenbeken (Tunnel) (junction) Rehberg Tunnel (1632 m) Tunnel Station (junction) 3.5 Langeland Line to Hanover 5.9 Reelsen Reelsener Tunnel (246 m) 9.9 Bad Driburg (Westf) 15.2 Herste (Awanst) 21.9 Brakel (Kr Höxter) 26.1 Hembsen 31.6 Ottbergen 31.7 Solling Railway to Northeim 34.3 Amelunxen West 36.3 Godelheim 40.9 Höxter Rathaus Höxter Light Railway 41.9 Höxter 43.0 Höxter-Corvey Weser 45.1 Lüchtringen North Rhine-Westphalia Lower Saxony state border former line from Scherfede 48.9 150.5 Holzminden 139.2 Deensen-Arholzen 135.6 Stadtoldendorf former line from Emmerthal 128.6 Vorwohle 121.1 Wenzen 115.3 Naensen Naensen Tunnel (884 m) Greene Viaduct Greene Ippensen Tunnel (205 m) Leine Hanoverian Southern Railway from Northeim 105.8 Kreiensen Hanoverian Southern Railway to Hanover Line to Brunswick Source: German railway atlas

The Altenbeken–Kreiensen railway is part of a former long-distance route in Germany from the Ruhr area via Altenbeken, Ottbergen, Holzminden, Kreiensen and Seesen towards Berlin. The once continuous double track main line railway is now operated as a single track east of Ottbergen. It runs through the Egge ridge and along the northern edge of the Solling hills.

The section in North Rhine-Westphalia up to and including Holzminden is also known as the Egge Railway (German: Eggebahn).

The line from Altenbeken to Godelheim was opened on 1 October 1864 by the Royal Westphalian Railway Company and extended on 10 October 1865 to Holzminden. It connected with the Brunswick Southern Railway, which was opened by the Duchy of Brunswick State Railway between Holzminden and Kreiensen on 10 October 1865, creating a link with Brunswick (Braunschweig). To connect with the Brunswick area the line bypassed the town of Einbeck with two tunnels and a long climb. Originally the route was considered a long distance line from the Ruhr to Brunswick and Berlin. The section east of Ottbergen remained a secondary line because after Prussia’s annexation of the Kingdom of Hanover in 1866 a bypass of Hanover was no longer necessary. The section from Altenbeken to Ottbergen connected with the Solling Railway (Sollingbahn), opened in 1873, and the South Harz Railway (Südharzstrecke), opened 1868–69, creating an important west-east connection to Göttingen, Halle and Leipzig. The line lost importance because more traffic shifted to the north-south direction over the decades after 1945 as a result of the division of Germany. The most striking construction on the Egge Railway is the 1,631 m long Rehberg Tunnel at Altenbeken.

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