Hanover–Berlin high-speed railway

Hanover–Berlin high-speed railway
Overview
Native name	Schnellfahrstrecke Hannover–Berlin
Locale	Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Brandenburg, and Berlin, Germany
Line number	1730 (Hannover–Lehrte) 6107 (Lehrte–Oebisfelde) 6185 (Oebisfelde–Berlin-Spandau) 6109 (Berlin-Spandau–Berlin Ostbf)
Operation
Opened	15 September 1998
Technical
Line length	258 km (160 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	250 km/h (160 mph) (maximum)
Route number	301, 349
Route map 0.0 Hannover Hbf 16.1 239.3 Lehrte Fallersleben junction Weddel loop from Brunswick 180.9 Wolfsburg Hbf ~178 Beginning of 250 km/h operations 167.3 267.9 Oebisfelde 216.8 Beginning of Stendal southern bypass (105.1) Stendal 198.8 End of Stendal southern bypass Elbe bridge, Hämerten (810 m) Havel (230 m) 170.9 Rathenow 166.0 Beginning of great bustard protection zone 165.6 Bamme junction main line 148.5 Ribbeck junction main line 148.0 End of great bustard protection zone (18.5) Berlin-Staaken 118.0 End of 250 km/h operations From Hamburg 112.7 18.3 Berlin-Spandau To Hbf (low level) (see Berlin Stadtbahn) 9.0 Berlin Zoologischer Garten 5.4 Berlin Hbf (high level), North–South mainline 0.0 Berlin Ostbf Source: German railway atlas

The Hanover–Berlin high-speed railway is a 258 kilometre railway line linking the German cities of Hanover and Berlin

The Wolfsburg-Berlin section was built as a new line and runs largely parallel to the Lehrter Bahn (the old Berlin-Hanover railway) opened in 1871. The whole line was opened officially on 15 September 1998 and has been in commercial service since 20 September 1998.

The overall Hanover-Berlin project (including the reorganization and upgrading of the Lehrter Bahn) was carried out as German unity rail project no 4 of the federal transport plan.

The line consists of five sections: upgraded line between Hanover and Lehrte (for operations up to 160 km/h) and between Lehrte and Wolfsburg (200 km/h), the new and upgraded line between Wolfsburg and Oebisfelde (68 km altogether); the 148 km-long new line between Oebisfelde and Staaken (250 km/h) and the connection between Staaken and the Berlin Stadtbahn and Berlin station (60 to 160 km/h).

Due to its flat profile the line has few structures, apart from a cut-and-cover tunnel under the Elbe-Seitenkanal (c. 1975) and four large bridges over the Mittelland Canal, the Elbe, the Havel and the Havel Canal. The line was the first German line which was mostly constructed with slab (ballast-less) track.

In the 1980s planning began on an improved line for ICE trains for transit traffic (people who were allowed to transit, but did not have a visa to visit East Germany) between West Germany and West Berlin. In September 1988, the governments of West Germany and East Germany began negotiations in relation to the development of the Lehrterbahn for speeds up to 200 km/h.

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