The Lower Elbe Railway (german: Niederelbebahn or ''Unterelbebahn''), is a

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in Track (rail transport), tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the ...

line between

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

and

Cuxhaven Cuxhaven (; ) is an independent town and seat of the Cuxhaven district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town includes the northernmost point of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the shore of the North Sea at the mouth of the Elbe River. Cuxhaven has a ...

in northwestern Germany, which was opened in 1881 by the ''Lower Elbe Railway Company'' (''Unterelbesche Eisenbahngesellschaft''). At 103.6 kilometres of length, the line runs close to the southern bank of the Lower Elbe river.

Line features

The Lower Elbe Railway is a main line since 1964 and is currently listed as

Kursbuchstrecke NB: The scheduled routes given here are based primarily on the timetable of the Deutsche Bahn dated 9 December 2007.In addition the list of routes (see external links) reflects those of the German Regional Railway (''Deutsche Regionaleisenbahn'') ...

121. The line is part of the ''Strecke 1720'', with the kilometrage starting at

Lehrte Lehrte is a town in the district of Hanover, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 17 km east of Hanover. In the 19th century Lehrte was the most important railway junction in the former Kingdom of Hanover. As of the 21st ...

near

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

. The line features two tracks on most sections, except between the stations

Himmelpforten Himmelpforten (Low Saxon: ''Himmelpoorten'') is a municipality west of Hamburg (Germany) in the district of Stade in Lower Saxony. It is located on the creek. Himmelpforten is also part and the seat of the ''Samtgemeinde'' ("collective municipal ...

and

Hechthausen Hechthausen is a municipality in the district of Cuxhaven, in Lower Saxony, Germany. History Hechthausen belonged to the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen, established in 1180. In 1648 the Prince-Archbishopric was transformed into the Duchy of Brem ...

. The line has been electrified between Hamburg and

Stade Stade (), officially the Hanseatic City of Stade (german: Hansestadt Stade, nds, Hansestadt Stood) is a city in Lower Saxony in northern Germany. First mentioned in records in 934, it is the seat of the district () which bears its name. It is l ...

since 1968. The

Hamburg S-Bahn The Hamburg S-Bahn is a suburban commuter railway network in the Hamburg Metropolitan Region. Together, the S-Bahn, the Hamburg U-Bahn, the AKN railway and the regional railway form the backbone of railway public transport in the city and the ...

line to

Neugraben [] is a Boroughs and quarters of Hamburg, quarter of Hamburg, Germany, belongs to the borough Harburg, Hamburg, Harburg. The quarter consists of the old settlements ''Neugraben'' and ''Fischbek'', and the more recently constructed area ''Neuwieden ...

runs parallel to the line since 1984; and since 2008, toward Stade, using dual-voltage vehicles. The trains between

and

have been operated by

metronom Metronom Eisenbahngesellschaft mbH is a German non-entirely-state-owned railway company based in Uelzen, Lower Saxony since December 2005. The company's activities focus exclusively on passenger transport, operating services from Hamburg to B ...

since late 2007. File: Bahnstrecke_cadenberge.jpg, Lower Elbe Railway in Cadenberge File:Map_elbe_mouth_1910.jpg, Lower Elbe and Lower Elbe Railway on a 1910 map File:Belum_zug_kommt.jpg, Trail between Belum and Kedingbruch File:Neuhaus_oste_eisenbahnlinie.jpg, The line in Neuhaus (Oste)

References

External links

www.niederelbebahn.de

www.niederelbe-s-bahn.de

Railway lines in Hamburg Railway lines in Lower Saxony Hamburg S-Bahn 1881 establishments in Germany {{Hamburg-SBahn-stub