The Weser-Bahn (Weser railway) is the name used in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) for a Regionalbahn service that connects Bünde in NRW via Löhne, Rinteln, Hamelin, Elze to Hildesheim. The section of the route from Rinteln to Hildesheim lies in the state of Lower Saxony. The service is numbered as RB 77 in NRW.[2]

RB 77 Weser-Bahn
Overview
LocaleNorth Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Current operator(s)Regionalverkehre Start Deutschland (since Dec. 2021)
Route
Distance travelled110 km
Technical
Operating speed120 km/h (75 mph) (maximum)
Timetable number(s)372
Route map
0
Bünde (Westf)
IC, RE, RB
5
Kirchlengern
RE, RB
10
Löhne
RE
16
Bad Oeynhausen Süd
22
Vlotho
29
Rinteln
51
Hessisch Oldendorf
63
Hamelin
75
Coppenbrügge
79
Voldagsen
83
Osterwald
92
Elze (Han)
IC, RE
98
Nordstemmen
RE
104
Emmerke
110
Hildesheim Hbf
ICE, RE
Source: German railway atlas[1]

Route

edit

The Weser-Bahn service runs on four different railway lines:

Rail services

edit

Until December 2003, the Weser-Bahn was operated by Deutsche Bahn with class 628 DMUs.

In 2002, the tender for the operation of Regionalbahn service RB 77 for eight years was publicly advertised; this was let to Eurobahn, a subsidiary of the Keolis group (Keolis Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin), based in Bielefeld.

From December 2011 to December 2021, the service was operated by NordWestBahn under a new ten-year contract. In November 2020, Regionalverkehre Start Deutschland announced that it will operate the service from December 2021 on.[3]

It is operated using two-part Alstom Coradia LINT diesel railcars, which are owned by Landesnahverkehrsgesellschaft Niedersachsen mbH (Lower Saxony state transport company, LNVG). In operations, the trains on the Weser-Bahn service continue through Hildesheim towards the Lamme Valley Railway to Bodenburg.

Fares

edit

The Weser-Bahn runs through several fare zones, some of which overlap. It can be used with the following fares:

  • between Bünde and Rinteln Der Sechser ("the six") fare of the Verkehrsverbund OstWestfalenLippe (transport association of Ostwestfalen-Lippe) applies;
  • between Hessisch Oldendorf and Hildesheim and on the Lamme Valley Railway to Bodenburg the fares of the Großraum-Verkehr Hannover (transport association of greater Hannover, GVH) apply (but only for travel cards, trips must include at least one station in the outer ring of the GVH);
  • for all journeys not included in the transport association zones, Deutsche Bahn fares and the NRW state fare (NRW-Tarif). The Lower Saxony state fare (Niedersachsen-Ticket) is valid on the entire Weser-Bahn between Bünde and Hildesheim.

Adjacent bus fare zones are:

  • between Hessian Oldendorf and Osterwald (Salzhemmendorf), the Öffi-Tarif of Nahverkehr Hameln-Pyrmont (Hameln-Pyrmont local transport);
  • between Elze and Hildesheim Hbf the fares of the Regionalverkehr Hildesheim (Hildesheim regional transport, RVHI).

Notes

edit
  1. ^ Eisenbahnatlas Deutschland (German railway atlas). Schweers + Wall. 2009. ISBN 978-3-89494-139-0.
  2. ^ "RB77: Weser-Bahn". NRW Rail Archive (in German). André Joost. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  3. ^ "start übernimmt zweites Regionalnetz in Norddeutschland" (in German). 2020-11-12. Retrieved 2024-01-25.