Herford station

Herford
Through station
Location	Herford, North Rhine-Westphalia Germany
Coordinates	52°07′10″N 8°39′50″E / 52.11944°N 8.66389°ECoordinates: 52°07′10″N 8°39′50″E / 52.11944°N 8.66389°E
Line(s)	Hamm–Minden (KBS 370 and KBS 400) Herford–Bünde–Rahden/Rheine (KBS 386) Herford–Altenbeken (KBS 405)
Platforms	7
Other information
Station code	2708 [1]
DS100 code	EHFD [2]
Category	2 [1]
Website	www.bahnhof.de
History
Opened	15 October 1847 [3] current station building: 1902

Herford station is a junction station with four platforms and seven platform tracks^[4][5] in the town of Herford in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It lies on the quadruple track, electrified Hamm–Minden railway, a section of the original route of the historic Cologne-Minden Railway Company.

In Herford Station, the line to Altenbeken branches off to the south and the Ravensberg Railway branches off towards the north to Bünde and Rahden with a connection to the Löhne–Rheine railway. It is classified by Deutsche Bahn as a category 2 station.^[1]

Location

Station building with covered access to the bus platform

The station is located in Radewiger Feldmark only about 300 metres from the Herford inner city (Radewig). Just a little further, is the MARTa Herford art and design museum opened in 2005. On the way there is the Herford music school. The district administration, the army recruiting office, the tax office, the Technisches Rathaus (a section of the municipal administration dealing with planning and planning approvals), the GoParc discothèque and the Radewig and MARTa-Viertel parking garages are also nearby.

The railway line is elevated so that intersecting streets of the town can run under it. The station is orientated in a largely north–south direction.

History

Herford was connected by a single-track line built by the Cologne-Minden Railway Company on 15 October 1847.^[6] The first provisional station building was built out of brick in 1851. A second track was opened to Bad Oeynhausen in 1853 and to Bielefeld in 1854. The station facilities were rebuilt and the entrance building was extended between 1873 and 1875. A roundhouse with a turntable, water tower and a coal shed were built in 1879 and 1880. The single-track line to Detmold was opened on 31 December 1880.^[7] The old station building was replaced by a new building in 1902. The Herford–Kirchlengern line, which has always been single track, was opened on 1 was July 1904.^[8]

Construction of two freight tracks between Hamm and Minden started in 1911 and they were taken in operation in stages between 1912 and 1916.^[9] The line has had four tracks ever since. In this context, the then ground-level line was placed on an embankment and the level crossings were replaced by bridges.

During the Second World War there was only minor damage that could be repaired relatively quickly. The demolition of the locomotive depot began in 1954.

The main line was electrified in the mid-1960s.^[6] The first electrically-hauled train ran through the station on 29 September 1968. This was followed by the electrification of the line to Altenbeken on 27 May 1975^[7] and the connection to Kirchlengern on 20 September 1976.^[8]

The wooden roofs on the platforms were replaced with steel roofs and a new freight handling facility was built in 1975/76. In 1987, the station building was heritage-listed. Since 1988, Intercity trains have also stopped in Herford. General freight operations were abandoned in 1997.

Services

The station is served by two Intercity services:

Line	Route	Frequency
IC 32	Berlin Südkreuz – Hannover – Herford – Bielefeld – Dortmund – Duisburg – Cologne	120 min (Fri/Sun)
IC 55	Leipzig – Magdeburg – Hannover – Herford – Bielefeld – Dortmund – Wuppertal – Cologne	120 min

Herford is the second biggest node for regional services after Bielefeld in Ostwestfalen-Lippe and is served by several Regional-Express and Regionalbahn services.^[10]

Line	Name	Route	Frequency	Operator
RE 6	Westfalen-Express	Minden – Löhne – Herford – Bielefeld – Hamm – Dortmund – Duisburg – Düsseldorf	060 min	DB Regio NRW
RB 61	Wiehengebirgs-Bahn	Bad Bentheim – Rheine – Osnabrück – Bünde – Herford – Bielefeld	060 min	Westfalenbahn
RE 70	Weser-Leine-Express	Braunschweig – Hannover – Minden – Löhne – Herford – Bielefeld	120 min	DB Regio Niedersachsen
RB 71	Ravensberger Bahn	Rahden – Bünde – Herford – Bielefeld (continues as RB 73 to Lemgo)	060 min	Eurobahn
RB 72	Ostwestfalen-Bahn	Herford – Lage – Detmold – Altenbeken – Paderborn	060 min	Westfalenbahn
RE 78	Porta-Express	Nienburg – Minden – Löhne – Herford – Bielefeld	120 min (Mon–Fri)	DB Regio NRW

Preceding station		Deutsche Bahn		Following station
Bielefeld Hbf towards Cologne Hbf		IC 55		Bad Oeynhausen towards Leipzig Hbf
Bielefeld Hbf toward Düsseldorf Hbf		RE 6 Westfalen-Express		Löhne toward Minden Hbf
Bielefeld Hbf Terminus		RE 70 Weser-Leine-Express		Löhne toward Braunschweig Hbf
Bielefeld Hbf Terminus		RE 78 Porta-Express		Löhne toward Nienburg
Preceding station		eurobahn		Following station
Brake bei Bielefeld toward Bielefeld Hbf		RB 71 Ravensberger Bahn		Hiddenhausen-Schweicheln toward Rahden
Preceding station		Westfahlenbahn		Following station
Brake bei Bielefeld toward Bielefeld Hbf		RB 61 Wiehengebirgs-Bahn		Hiddenhausen-Schweicheln toward Bad Bentheim
Terminus		RB 72 Ostwestfalen-Bahn		Bad Salzuflen toward Paderborn Hbf

Bus station with a city bus operated by Verkehrsbetriebe Minden-Ravensberg (VMR) in February 2011

The station is also served by 12 local and regional bus routes.^[10]

References

1. "Stationspreisliste 2016" [Station price list 2016] (PDF) (in German). DB Station&Service. 1 December 2015. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
2. Eisenbahnatlas Deutschland (German railway atlas) (2009/2010 ed.). Schweers + Wall. 2009. ISBN 978-3-89494-139-0.
3. "Herford station operations". NRW Rail Archive (in German). André Joost. Retrieved 24 December 2013.
4. "Station track plan" (PDF) (in German). Deutsche Bahn. Retrieved 24 December 2013.
5. "Platform heights and lengths" (in German). Deutsche Bahn. Retrieved 24 December 2013.
6. "Line 1700: Hannover - Hamm (Westf)". NRW Rail Archive (in German). André Joost. Retrieved 24 December 2013.
7. "Line 2980: Herford - Himmighausen". NRW Rail Archive (in German). André Joost. Retrieved 24 December 2013.
8. "Line 2981: Herford - Kirchlengern". NRW Rail Archive (in German). André Joost. Retrieved 24 December 2013.
9. "Line 2990: Minden (Westf) - Hamm (Westf)". NRW Rail Archive (in German). André Joost. Retrieved 24 December 2013.
10. "Herford station". NRW Rail Archive (in German). André Joost. Retrieved 24 December 2013.