North–South railway
The North–South railway (German: Nord-Süd-Strecke) is an amalgamation of several railway lines in Germany that came to significant importance in West Germany and are therefore commonly regarded as a single entity. During the division of Germany, it was the most important and the most densely used long-distance line of the Deutsche Bundesbahn. Since 1991, after the opening of the Hanover–Würzburg high-speed railway, the line mainly sees local passenger trains, freight trains and night services, as the long-distance services almost exclusively use the new line.
The single lines on the route were quite notable, however the long-distance traffic Hanover–Fulda–Frankfurt/Würzburg was negligible. Most trains between Hanover and Frankfurt were routed via Kassel Central Station and the Main-Weser Railway, and many trains to Bavaria ran via Leipzig/Halle and the Saal Railway line.
The situation changed drastically after World War II – Germany was divided in half, and, owing to the Wanfried Agreement, all of the lines forming the North-South line were situated inside West Germany. As the connection via Leipzig and Halle was no longer available, the lines had to carry most of the traffic, which had shifted from Germany's previous East-West orientation. Providing a convenient bypass around the GDR, the lines also took international trains like the Copenhagen to Vienna expresses. The Deutsche Bundesbahn favoured the faster connection via Hanover, Fulda and Würzburg over the Main-Weser Railway which had the disadvantage of the terminal station in Kassel, among others. With the Main-Weser Railway taking most of the freight traffic, the passenger traffic on the North–South railway increased steadily in the 1950s and 1960s.
...
Wikipedia