Münster–Rheine railway

Münster–Rheine railway
Overview
Line number2931 (Hamm−Emden)
LocaleNorth Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Service
Route number410
Technical
Line length39 km (24 mi)
Number of tracks2
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification15 kV/16.7 Hz AC overhead catenary
Route map

Legend
from Almelo (NL) / Emsland Railway
from Spelle
from Ochtrup
208.9
 Rheine
to Osnabrück
 Rheine marshalling yard
former line to Dorsten
202.0
 Rheine-Mesum
195.5
 Emsdetten
193.2
 Emsdetten Stadt siding
190.6
 Reckenfeld
185.2
 Greven
A 1
179.6
 Münster-Sprakel
from Enschede
173.4
 Nevinghoff
173.1
 Münster Zentrum Nord
from Hamburg
from Rheda-Wiedenbrück
170.3
 Münster (Westf) Hbf
to Lippstadt
to Coesfeld
to Wanne-Eickel
to Lünen
to Hamm
Source: German railway atlas[1]

The Münster–Rheine railway is a nearly 39 km long main line railway from Münster to Rheine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is entirely double track and electrified.

It was opened by the Prussian government-funded Royal Westphalian Railway Company in 1856 and is one of the oldest railways in Germany.

History

The Royal Westphalian Railway (German: Königlich-Westfälische Eisenbahn, KWE) built its main line from Hamm to Warburg in the early 1850s. In 1855, the KWE took over the Munster-Hamm Railway Company (Münster-Hammer Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft), together with its line to Munster, which it then extended further north to Rheine. It opened its line on 23 June 1856, reaching Rheine station on the same day as both of the two sections of the Hanoverian Western Railway were completed to the station: the line from Löhne and the Emsland Railway to the North Sea port of Emden.[2]

In 1879, the Rhenish Railway Company (Rheinische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft, RhE) opened its own North Sea route from Duisburg via Rheine to Quakenbrück and so made the station one of the major railway junctions in north-western Germany.[3]

Current operations

IC 2333 leaving Münster Hbf to run to Norddeich Mole via Emden Hbf

Two Regional-Express service operate on the line: the RE 15 (the Emsland-Express) and the RE 7 (Rhein-Münsterland-Express), both hourly. The RB 65 Regionalbahn service (the Ems-Bahn) runs at 30-minute intervals on the line. Every two hours InterCity services between Norddeich Mole and Luxembourg run on the line.

References

  1. ^ Eisenbahnatlas Deutschland (German railway atlas). Schweers + Wall. 2009. pp. 39–40, 134. ISBN 978-3-89494-139-0.
  2. ^ "Line 2931: Bochum Hbf ↔ Gelsenkirchen-Bismark (↔ Nordstern)". NRW Rail Archive (in German). André Joost. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
  3. ^ "Connecting line 2273: Bottrop Delog/Detag ↔ Quakenbrück". NRW Rail Archive (in German). André Joost. Retrieved 9 September 2015.