Berlin Northern Railway

Berlin Northern Railway Berlin–Neubrandenburg–Stralsund
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Overview
Native name	Berliner Nordbahn
Locale	Berlin, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Line number	6088 6030 S-Bahn to Oranienburg
Technical
Line length
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	15 kV/16.7 Hz AC Overhead catenary (main line) 750 V DC third rail (S-Bahn: Berlin–Oranienburg)
Operating speed	160 km/h (99.4 mph) (maximum)
Route number	200.1, 200.85, 205, 209.12, 209.20
Route map Legend  Operating points and lines  from Rostock 222.6 Stralsund from and to Sassnitz to Greifswald 219.0 Voigdehagen 214.7 Zarrendorf 211.2 Elmenhorst 208.3 Wittenhagenformer station Trebel 199.6 Grimmen 197.4 Vietlipp to Tribsees 192.7 Rakowformer station 184.9 Toitz-Rustow to Loitz Peene 176.1 Demmin from Tutow Tollense 172.4 Zachariae 169.8 Utzedel 165.2 Sternfeld Strehlower Bach 161.4 Gnevkow 157.4 Gültz 149.1 Altentreptow Tollense 142.3 Neddemin from Friedland from Güstrow from Waren 133.7 Neubrandenburg to Pasewalk 125.4 Burg Stargard 117.6 Cammin (Meckl)former station from Strasburg 113.4 Blankensee (Meckl) x20px 105.2 Thurow x20px from Rostock 98.5 Neustrelitz Hbf Neustrelitz Süd to Mirow 95.2 Strelitz Alt junctionfrom Mirow 88.7 Drewin 85.2 Düsterförde MV–Brandenburg state border from and to Templin 78.0 Fürstenberg (Havel) 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 Havel 31.5 to Wensickendorf 31.5 Fichtengrundsince 1896 31.5 from Wensickendorf 29.5 Sachsenhausen (Nordb) 27.4 Oranienburg,terminus of to Kremmen Oder-Havel Canal 25.7 Lehnitz 22.5 Borgsdorf Briese 19.4 Birkenwerder to Berlin outer ring to Berlin outer ring Berlin outer ring overpass 17.3 Hohen Neuendorf,terminus of S-Bahn from Berlin outer ring Brandenburg–Berlin state border 13.0 Frohnau 10.9 Hermsdorf Tegel stream 9.4 Waidmannslust,terminus of x20px Tegel–Friedrichsfelde industrial railway 8.1 Berlin-Wittenau Nordgraben from Basdorf 5.5 Wilhelmsruh from Hennigsdorf 3.8 Schönholz 2.8 Wollankstraße from Bernau 1.2 Bornholmer Straße S-Bahn to Schönhauser Allee and Gesundbrunnen x20px to Schönhauser Allee and Gesundbrunnen Berliner Ringbahn overpass 0.0 Berlin Old Nordbahnhof

The Belin 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.

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:

• 10 July 1877: Berlin–Oranienburg–Neustrelitz–Neubrandenburg (134 km)
• 1 December 1877: Neubrandenburg–Demmin (42 km)
• 1 January 1878: Demmin–Stralsund (47 km)

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).

File:Bahnhof Löwenberg, Sommer 2007.jpg

Water tower at Löwenberg station

File:Nordbahn, Bf. Löwenberg, südliche Einfahrt.jpg

Looking south from 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 Szczecin—station), 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.

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

See also

• Stellwerk Fichtengrund