Industry | Rail |
---|---|
Headquarters | Celle, Germany |
Key people
|
Wolfgang Birlin, Chairman of the Board Piers Marlow, Chairman of the Supervisory Board |
Products | Transport and logistics |
Number of employees
|
1231 (2004), 1262 (2005), 1252 (2006) |
Parent | Arriva Deutschland |
Website | http://www.ohe-transport.de/ |
Wolfgang Birlin, Chairman of the Board
The Osthannoversche Eisenbahnen AG (OHE) is a Celle based transportation company with railway network in North-eastern Lower Saxony around the Lüneburg Heath area of over 250 km.
The OHE's main business is the transportation of freight through their own routes as well as the network of the Deutsche Bahn AG.
Historically the company also operated passenger trains, which completely ended in 1977 after previous partial closures. After the de-monopolisation of the German railways in the 1990s the company re-entered the rail passenger market through the company NiedersachsenBahn GmbH which has a large stake in the company metronom
In March 2007 the OHE became majority owned by Arriva Deutschland GmbH.
In 1944 the OHE arose from the merger of several companies from the northeast area of Lower Saxony, its creation was not purely for economic reasons, but also being politically favourable to the national socialist Gau Osthannover government.
The company was formed on 10 July 1944 from a number of small railways previously under the management of the Niedersächsisches Landeskleinbahnamt (LKA):
Additionally the Kleinbahn Wittingen-Oebisfelde (KWOe) was also incorporated on the same day. The new company Osthannoverschen Railways AG 1944 had routes of 340 km total length: it was for decades the largest of the non-federal railways of Germany
At its founding in 1944 the main shareholders were the Prussian State and the Province of Hanover with 53% of the shares combined, the districts of Celle, Fallingbostel, Gifhorn, Harburg and Lüneburg also had owned shares. By the end of 2006 the OHE was still state-owned with 40.2% held by the state of Lower Saxony and 33.8% by the German state