Elze–Löhne railway
The Elze–Löhne railway is a non-electrified line from the town of Elze in the German state of Lower Saxony via Hamelin station, Hamelin and Rinteln station, Rinteln to Löhne station, Löhne in North Rhine-Westphalia. It runs between the Weser ...
in the town of
Rinteln
Rinteln () is a small town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located on the banks of the Weser river north of the Porta Westfalica. The town of Rinteln is in the broad valley between the hills of the Weserbergland and the North Lippe Bergland. In ...
in the district of
Schaumburg
Schaumburg is a district (''Landkreis'') of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by (clockwise from the north) the districts of Nienburg, Hanover and Hameln-Pyrmont, and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (districts of Lippe and Minden-Lübb ...
in the German state of
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...
. The town lies on the
Weser
The Weser () is a river of Lower Saxony in north-west Germany. It begins at Hannoversch Münden through the confluence of the Werra and Fulda. It passes through the Hanseatic city of Bremen. Its mouth is further north against the ports o ...
and is important for tourism. It is classified by
Deutsche Bahn
(, ; abbreviated as DB or DB AG ) is the national railway company of Germany, and a state-owned enterprise under the control of the German government. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG).
DB was fou ...
Rinteln station is located north of town centre on the Weser Railway from
Bünde
Bünde (; ) is a town in the Herford district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
Geography
Bünde is situated between Osnabrück (west), Hannover (east) and Bielefeld (south).
Waterways
The town is crossed from west to east by the River Else ...
and
Löhne
Löhne (; , ) is a town in the district of Herford, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
Geography
Löhne is situated on the river Werre, approx. 8 km north of Herford and 20 km south-west of Minden
Minden () is a middle-sized to ...
Hildesheim
Hildesheim (; or ; ) is a city in Lower Saxony, in north-central Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim (district), Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of t ...
and
Bodenburg
Bodenburg is a village in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located about 20 km south of Hildesheim, and about 5 km from Bad Salzdetfurth. The community has a population of 1,814 (2021).
Overview
A castle with a moat and a stand-alone tower ...
. The line is operated by
NordWestBahn
The Austrian Northwestern Railway (German: ''Österreichische Nordwestbahn'', ÖNWB, Czech: ''Rakouská severozápadní dráha'') was the name of a former railway company during the time of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. Today, the term is still ...
. Trains run hourly on week days and every two hours on weekends.
Conditions
Since the carrying out of some restoration measures, the station has only two platform tracks next to an island platform, as well as a through track (next to the former home platform), which is used by the heritage trains. The much neglected and vacant building, which was built in 1978, was renovated in 2009. The island platform itself is accessed via an underpass built in 1910. Public transport tickets and tickets for selected long-distance services are available from vending machines on the platform.
Necessary renovation work was carried out on the platform as part of the economic stimulus package from August to October 2009.
At the station forecourt there is a bus station, a Park & Ride facility and the platform (Rinteln Nord) of the Rinteln–Stadthagen railway, which is operated by ''Dampfeisenbahn-Weserbergland e. V.'' (“steam railway of the Weser Uplands”, DEW) as a heritage railway. Until 1969, there was a direct connection through the town centre via the Exter Valley Railway (''Extertalbahn'') to
Barntrup
Barntrup () is a town in the Lippe district of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It has an area of 59.46 km2 and 8,501 inhabitants (2019).
It lies 40 km east from Bielefeld and 9 km west from Bad Pyrmont at the east border of NRW to ...
.
As part of the economic stimulus programs, the station has been renovated by