Lehrte–Nordstemmen railway
Overview
Line number	1770
Locale	Lower Saxony
Service
Route number	323, 363.3
Technical
Line length	27 km (17 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)standard gauge
Electrification	15 kV/16.7 Hz AC catenary
Operating speed	140 km/h (87 mph) (maximum)
Route map Legend Line to HanoverS 4S 7 Line to CelleS 7 16.1 Lehrte, reversal ofS 7 (former route until 1990) HSL to Berlin Line to Brunswick (former route until 1990) Potash mine 22.7 Sehnde Mittelland Canal Hohenfels potash mine,HSM tram museum 30.1 Algermissen Siegfried, Giesen potash mine 35.1 Harsum A 7 B 6 Hildesheim-Peine District Railway Line to Brunswick Line to Goslar,Lamme Valley Railway 40.7 Hildesheim Hbf, termini ofS 3S 4 45.4 Himmelsthür junction Hildesheim loop 46.8 Emmerke Hanover–Würzburg high-speed line 49.7 Rössing junction Southern RailwayS 3 Southern Railway from Hanover 52.2 Nordstemmen Southern Railway to Göttingen Source: German railway atlas[1]

TheLehrte–Nordstemmen railway is a continuous double track, electrified main line railway in the German state ofLower Saxony. It connects the railway junction ofLehrte withHildesheim andNordstemmen, where it connects with theHanoverian Southern Railway. The section from Lehrte to Hildesheim opened in 1842 and is one ofthe oldest lines in Germany.

The Lehrte–Hildesheim line was the southern branch of thecross railway built by theRoyal Hanoverian State Railways (German:Königlich Hannöverschen Staatseisenbahnen), along with the east-west arms (theHanover–Brunswick line) and the northern arm (theLehrte–Celle line). It was opened on 12 July 1846. The previously insignificant town of Lehrte became a railway junction, as a result of the scepticism ofKing Ernst August concerning railways and his opposition to substantial railway facilities in the city of Hanover.

His sonGeorge V was more supportive of railways. In 1853 the first section of the Hanoverian Southern Railway opened from Hanover toAlfeld. A connecting line was opened on 15 September 1853 from Hildesheim toNordstemmen station adjacent to the Southern Railway. This originally single-track line was duplicated in 1875 by theHanover-Altenbeken Railway Company (German:Hannover-Altenbekener Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft) as part of a project to continue itsElze–Löhne railway to the east through Hildesheim toVienenburg.

After the Hanoverian Southern Railway was extended to Kassel in 1856, it was possible to operate fromHarburg throughCelle, Lehrte and Hildesheim toKassel andFrankfurt. This line was mainly used by freight trains; passenger trains went through Hanover. The opening of the Hannover freight rail bypass in 1909 made the Southern Railway available for freight traffic to the south.

The Lehrte–Hildesheim line also encouraged the opening of severalpotash mines.

The Nordstemmen–Lehrte line was electrified on 29 May 1965.

The historic route left Lehrte station just after the platforms and went directly south. The station was handicapped by a level crossing affecting north-south and east-west traffic. Therefore, in 1990 the line from Hildesheim between Lehrte andSehnde was moved well to the east, now leaving from a new junction with the linesfrom Brunswick andWolfsburg. As a result, the Lehrte-Nordstemmen line became longer by about two kilometres. Further development of the node occurred in 2008 at Lehrte with the opening at a grade-separated route for traffic between Celle and Hildesheim, which passes over the passenger tracks between Lehrte and Wolfsburg.

The line originally ran in an almost straight line between Lehrte and Hildesheim. Since the early 1990s, it leaves the Hanover-Brunswick line at Lehrte in an easterly direction. It makes a curve of almost 180 degrees to the west and meets the old route south of Lehrte. It then goes south across mostly flat terrain through Sehnde,Algermissen andHarsum, where it approachedHildesheim station from the east. The line then goes due west to Nordstemmen. Since 1991, it has crossed theHanover–Würzburg high-speed line to which it is connected to and from the south by theHildesheim loop. Since 1893 at the end of the line there has also been a single-track connecting curve to the north, connecting with the Hanoverian Southern Railway at Barnten station.

Since 14 December 2008,Hanover S-Bahn line S3 has operated on the line between Lehrte and Hildesheim and S-Bahn line S4 (from Bennemühlen and Hanover) has operated over the line between Barnten and Hildesheim, in place of the previousRegionalbahn service. This meant that the intermediate stations had to be rebuilt. On the Barnten–Hildesheim routeRegional-Express trains also operate to theHarz. On the Nordstemmen–Hildesheim route, Eurobahn trains operate every hour. With the long-distance trains operating over the line between the Hildesheim loop and Hildesheim, this section of this line is well used.

• Railway lines in Lower Saxony
• Railway lines opened in 1846
• Buildings and structures in Hanover Region
• Buildings and structures in Hildesheim (district)
• Hanover S-Bahn

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