Trains and other things: Wunstorf, Eystrup, Tostedt, Uelzen, Lehrte

Today I'm spending a day in Lower Saxony, travelling in a circle from Hannover and back via railways Wunstorf-Bremen, Bremen-Hamburg, and Hamburg-Hannover. Actually, this would be the first real railway day on my Europe vacation where I will se about 24 freight trains, and many passenger trains.

First, I'm visiting one of the major sights in Hannover - Herrenhausen gardens.

Promoted as "the most important baroque garden in Europe", the park has many sculptures and fountains.

Schloss Herrenhausen

Galerie Herrenhausen

From Herrenhausen gardens, I'm taking Hannover Stadtbahn to the nearest S-Bahn station Leinhausen.

TW3000 tram manufactured by Vossloh and Alstom

Leinhausen station is located at the Hannover-Minden railway.

Two tracks are allocated for S-Bahn, while the other two for long distance trains. Here is DB Intercity with Class 101 locomotive.

Class 424 from Bombardier/Siemens

My first longer stop is at Wunstorf

Wunstorf is a so called island station, with two important railways on each side of the station. Here is Class ET.600 "Stadler Kiss" EMU on the Hannover-Minden line.

Class 152 "Eurosprinter" ES 64 F at the Winstorf-Bremen railway on the way to Bremen.

RE train

Since it is an island station, it is somehow difficult to know at which side the freight train will pass, this one did not travel the way I expected.

Class 146 is a Bombardier Traxx P160 AC1 locomotive built for DB Regio

DB Class 218 diesel locomotive

Class 185 is a Traxx F140 AC2

ET.600 from Westfalenbahn

Bicycles are allowed on the train

Soon, Sweden will get its version of this train in Mälardalen region. Swedish version will be named ER1. Preliminary start date is December 2019.

Class 145 Traxx F140 AC

It takes a train to transport cars

ICE2 train

Class 152 Eurosprinter

More cars

Wunstorf station was constructed in 1848

Class 187 Traxx F160 AC3 LM from Akiem/Captrain

IC2 train

It is a very busy railway here in Wunstorf

Class 186 Traxx F140 MS from ITL/Captrain Polska

The train station had no shop, but at the nearby bus station I found this coffee machine

Class 193 Vectron MS from ITL/Captrain

My next train is this Regional Express service between Hannover and Norddeich Mole

Usually there is no need to reserve seats on RE train, but it seems that it is possible on this line

Nienburg is the last stop for the S-Bahn line from Hannover.

I'm travelling on the Wunstorf-Bremen railway which opened in 1847. It is 122,3 km long, and the maximum speed here is 160km/h

My next stop is Eystrup. RE trains is operating once an hour here, so I will spend 1 hour taking photos

The reason why I stopped in Eystrup, was that it is a smaller station than Wunstorf - hence it is easier to take photos here.

193 842 Vectron MS, from ELL/WLC - Wiener Lokalbahnen Cargo

This Vectron MS is equipped with operations in Germany, Austria, Poland and Netherlands

Not sure how long this train is, but the maximum length is now 740m in Germany (630m in Sweden).

Intercity train

Class 155 is an old locomotive from East Germany, manufactured in 1982

At the time of this photo 155 191 belonged to Railpool

IC2 train is operating here on the line Norddeich-Leipzig

Place for bicycle carriage

Class 140 locomotive

This 140 184 was manufactured in 1960

140 184 is used by ELV - Eisenbahn Logistik Vienenburg

185 013, Traxx F140 AC1

RE8 to Hannover

185 398

Green light for the side track, my next train is approaching

I'm not travelling all the way to Bremen, instead I will get off here in Verden and switch to a bypass path for the Bremen-Hamburg railway

Verden-Rotenburg railway is a 27km long bypass railway used by freight, diverted long distance services and one non-frequent passenger service - RB76, operated with this Class 638 diesel car.

Although the line is electrified, it is now operated with a diesel unit

Verden station has a shop

If I would miss this RB76 train, I would need to go all the way to Bremen - which would be a long detour.

RB76 is operated by EVB - Eisenbahnen und Verkehrsbetriebe Elbe-Weser

628 150 was manufactured in 1993

Class 440 "Alstom Coradia Continental" has arrived from Bremen

Class 628

Space for bicycles

The line opened in 1928, although there are several old stations along the route, RB76 service has no stops here. Here is Holtum

The trip is short, and now the train has entered the Bremen-Hamburg railway

2nd class

1st class

RB76 at Rotenburg

At Rotenburg I'm taking the Metronom service RE4

1st Class on Metronom

My next stop will be Tostedt station

RB41 service to Bremen

Tostedt station

Hamburg-Bremen railway is part of the Wanne-Eickel-Hamburg railway connecting Hamburg with Ruhr area. The line is used by Intercity services

Class 151 is a locomotive manufactured in the 70's by AEG and Krupp

151 150 from Railpool

185 054 Traxx F140 AC1

My next train is this RB41

My next stop is at Buchholz

From Buchholz there is a RB service to Hannover through the non-electrified railway Heidebahn. The line is operated with this Lint DMU

Buchholz has also a railway to Maschen Marshalling Yard, here is a Class 187 on the way there

187 112 Traxx F140 AC3

Vossloh DE18 from Maschen

I'm continuing my journey

I have reached Hamburg-Harburg, where I will switch to trains on my way back to Hannover

I will make stops along my way on this line too. There are RE services from Metronom here too, but the railway planner suggest that I should take ICE train for my next journey

On ICE train, I can have a drink and a snack on my way

My next stop will be Uelzen

Inside ICE4 train

ICE4 at Uelzen

In 2000, the station was renovated by Austrian artist and architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser.

The station has now become a tourist attraction

193 842 Vectron AC from boxXpress.de

192 102 Smartron from EGP - Eisenbahngesellschaft Potsdam mbH

Smartron is the newest locomotive from Siemens. The description says: "The ‘Smartron’ is preconfigured for freight traffic in Germany, being optimised for ‘cost-efficient operation with high operational safety’."