Osnabrück–Brackwede railway

Osnabrück–Brackwede railway
Overview
Native nameBahnstrecke Osnabrück–Brackwede or Haller Willem
Line number2950
LocaleNorth Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony, Germany
Service
Route number402
Technical
Line length53 km (33 mi)
Number of tracks2
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in) standard gauge
Operating speed80 km/h (49.7 mph) (maximum)
Route map

52.9
Osnabrück Hbf
(2 level, high)
 
49.5
Osnabrück-Hörne
46.3
Osnabrück-Sutthausen
Malbergen
Former line to Hasbergen
42.1
Oesede
88 m
38.7
Kloster Oesede
35.6
Wellendorf
130 m
32.5
Hankenberge
High point on the line
180 m
29.8
Hilter
128 m
26.3
Dissen-Bad Rothenfelde
LS / NRW state border
22.6
Westbarthausen
19.9
Borgholzhausen
103 m
16.3
Hesseln
14.3
Storck KG
(siding)
13.9
Halle (Westf) Gerry-Weber-Stadion
12.8
Halle (Westf)
123 m
9.9
Künsebeck
120 m
9.0
Dürkopp plant
6.5
Steinhagen (Westf)
5.3
Steinhagen Bielefelder Straße
3.2
Quelle
1.9
Quelle-Kupferheide
0.0
Brackwede
137 m
Source: German railway atlas

The Osnabrück–Brackwede railway, also the called the Haller Willem, is a single-track branch line running through the Teutoburg Forest (German: Teutoburger Wald) from Osnabrück via Dissen-Bad Rothenfelde and Halle (Westf) to Brackwede in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The line is known for its steep climb to the Teutoburg Forest, where a tunnel was omitted for cost reasons. The railway was built in 1886 in response to demands for a line from Osnabrück to Bielefeld. In 1984, the section from Osnabrück to Dissen-Bad Rothenfelde was closed for passenger traffic, freight traffic continued until 1991. After numerous protests this section of track was reactivated in 2005. The entire line is owned by Deutsche Bahn, but the section from Dissen-Bad Rothenfelde to Osnabrück has been leased to the Verkehrsgesellschaft Landkreis Osnabrück (transport company of Osnabrück district). The Brackwede–Dissen section is part of Deutsche Bahn’s Münster-Ostwestfalen regional network (MOW).