Berlin Northern Railway

The Berlin Northern Railway (German: Berliner Nordbahn) is a 223-kilometre-long main line route, that runs from Berlin via Neustrelitz and Neubrandenburg to Stralsund on the Baltic Sea coast. Nowadays, long-distance and regional traffic on the Nordbahn is routed at Hohen Neuendorf onto the Berlin Outer Ring to the Karower Kreuz and on to Berlin Main Station or Berlin-Lichtenberg.

Berlin Northern Railway
Berlin–Neubrandenburg–Stralsund
Looking south from Löwenberg station
Overview
Native nameBerliner Nordbahn
Line number
  • 6088
  • 6030 S-Bahn to Oranienburg
LocaleBerlin, Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany
Service
Route number200.1, 200.85, 205, 209.12
Technical
Line length222.6 km (138.3 mi)
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in) standard gauge
Electrification
Operating speed
  • 120 km/h (74.6 mph) (Birkenwerder-Nassenheide)
  • 160 km/h (99.4 mph) (Nassenheide-Neustrelitz)
  • 100 km/h (62.1 mph) (otherwise)
Route map

from Tribsees
B 105
222.6
Stralsund Hbf
219.0
Voigdehagen
B 96
214.7
Zarrendorf
211.2
Elmenhorst
208.3
Wittenhagen
(former Bf)
B 194
to Greifswald
199.6
Grimmen
to Tribsees
192.7
Rakow
(former Bf)
189.2
Düvier
184.9
Toitz-Rustow
176.1
Demmin
from Tutow
172.4
Zachariae
169.8
Utzedel
165.2
Sternfeld
Strehlower Bach
161.4
Gnevkow
157.4
Gültz
149.1
Altentreptow
142.3
Neddemin
from Friedland
133.7
Neubrandenburg
125.4
Burg Stargard
117.6
Cammin (Meckl)
former station
from Strasburg
113.4
Blankensee (Meckl)
105.2
Thurow
98.5
Neustrelitz Hbf
Neustrelitz Süd
to Mirow
95.2
Strelitz Alt junction
from Mirow
88.7
Drewin
85.2
Düsterförde
MVBrandenburg state border
from and to Templin
78.0
Fürstenberg (Havel)
74.7
Drögen
65.4
Dannenwalde
Wentowsee
60.8
Altlüdersdorf
from Neuglobsow
56.2
Gransee
53.6
Buberow
51.5
Gutengermendorf
from and to Herzberg
from Prenzlau
44.3
Löwenberg
40.8
Grüneberg
34.8
Nassenheide
31.5
31.5
Fichtengrund
31.5
29.5
Sachsenhausen (Nordb)
27.4
Oranienburg,
terminus of S1
to Kremmen
25.7
Lehnitz
22.5
Borgsdorf
19.4
Birkenwerder,
terminus of S8
to Berlin outer ring
to Berlin outer ring
Berlin outer ring overpass
17.3
Hohen Neuendorf
S-Bahn from Berlin outer ring S8
BrandenburgBerlin state border
13.0
Frohnau
10.9
Hermsdorf
Tegel stream
9.4
Waidmannslust,
terminus of S85
Tegel–Friedrichsfelde industrial railway
8.1
Berlin-Wittenau U8
Nordgraben
from Basdorf
5.5
Wilhelmsruh
3.8
Schönholz
2.8
Wollankstraße
1.2
Bornholmer Straße
S-Bahn to Schönhauser Allee S1S2S25
and Gesundbrunnen S8S9S85
0.0
Berlin Old Nordbahnhof
Source: German railway atlas[1]

History

Construction of the line was preceded by decades of planning from 1843 until 1870 when the newly founded Berlin Northern Railway Company (German: Berliner Nord-Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft) gained the concessions from the states of Prussia and Mecklenburg-Strelitz. For financial reasons, the company was dissolved on 15 December 1875. The Prussian government acquired the unfinished railway and handed over further construction of it to the Lower Silesian-Markish Railway (Niederschlesisch-Märkische Eisenbahn). The opening took place in three stages:

The construction of the Northern Railway had a significant impact on the villages to the north of Berlin that were in the catchment area of the railway line. In some cases their population multiplied in the following decades. The term Nordbahn became part of place-names (for instance, Glienicke/Nordbahn) and newspapers used its name (Nordbahn-Nachrichten).

Water tower at Löwenberg station

The Berlin terminus of the railway, but only for freight, was the first freight yard at Eberswalder Straße, now the site of Mauerpark. Passenger services began at the original Nordbahnhof (North Station) in Pankow, today's Wollankstraße station, still evident in the design of the station and its forecourt. At the end of the 19th century the terminus of the railway or passenger trains for Berlin regional services was relocated to the Stettiner Bahnhof (Stettin—now Szczecinstation), built on Invalidenstraße; the freight remained at Eberswalder Straße.

Up to 1912 separate suburban tracks were built next to the long distance tracks between Gesundbrunnen and Frohnau. At the same time the line was moved to an embankment, to eliminate level crossings. In 1926, the section from Frohnau to Borgsdorf was treated similarly.

In 1925 the suburban services were electrified on the DC system on the section from Gesundbrunnen to Oranienburg. The route later became part of the Berlin S-Bahn. In 1950 the Stettiner Bahnhof was renamed the Nordbahnhof. Electrical operations continued until the building of the Berlin Wall on 13 August 1961, when the line between Frohnau and Hohen Neuendorf was closed. The Berlin section of the Northern Railway had already been closed for mainline traffic to Nordbahnhof on 18 May 1952.

Immediately after the wall was built, the S-Bahn between Oranienburg and Hohen Neuendorf became an isolated operation. Subsequently, S-Bahn tracks were built and electrified along the Berlin outer ring between Hohen Neuendorf and Blankenburg. This line was connected in November 1961 to the main S-Bahn network. In Berlin, S-Bahn services continued to Frohnau until the handover of operating rights of the S-Bahn in West Berlin from the East German Railways to the BVG on 9 January 1984. Services were first closed and only resumed on 1 October 1984. Rehabilitation carried out on the S-train tracks in 1985 placed them on a track profile that would make the restoration of the old main line for long distance traffic difficult.

After the reunification, many of the smaller stops were however closed (Düsterförde (1996), Strelitz Alt (1995), Neddemin, Randow, Toitz-Rustow.

In 1992, the gap between Frohnau and Hohen Neuendorf was reopened so that continuous S-Bahn services could resume on the Northern Railway to Oranienburg.

In the long term, the recommissioning of the direct route from Berlin to Birkenwerder is planned. For this purpose, the long-distance railway tracks of the northern railway between the station Berlin-Gesundbrunnen and Birkenwerder on a length of 18.8 kilometres are to be rebuilt with two tracks with a line speed of 160 km/h, but no date has been set for this.

See also

References

  1. Eisenbahnatlas Deutschland (German railway atlas). Schweers + Wall. 2017. pp. 7, 8, 16, 26, 36, 124–25, 128–29. ISBN 978-3-89494-146-8.
  • Peter Bley (2002). Berliner Nordbahn. 125 Jahre Eisenbahn Berlin–Neustrelitz–Stralsund (in German). Berlin: Neddermeyer. ISBN 3-933254-33-7.
  • Royal Prussian Ministry of Public Works (1982) [1896]. "Die Berliner Nordbahn". Berlin und seine Eisenbahnen 1846–1896 (in German) (Reprint: Verlag Ästhetik u. Kommunikation, Berlin ed.). Berlin: Springer. pp. 274–282. ISBN 3-88245-106-8.
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