Brackwede station

Brackwede
Through station
Location	Brackwede, North Rhine-Westphalia Germany
Coordinates	51°59′49″N 8°29′55″E / 51.99694°N 8.49861°ECoordinates: 51°59′49″N 8°29′55″E / 51.99694°N 8.49861°E
Line(s)	Hamm–Minden railway (KBS 400) Osnabrück–Bielefeld railway (KBS 402) Bielefeld–Paderborn railway (KBS 403)
Other information
Station code	811 [1]
DS100 code	EBWE [2]
Category	4 [1]
Website	www.bahnhof.de
History
Opened	15 October 1847 [3]

Brackwede station is the main station in the city of Bielefeld in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia except for Bielefeld Hauptbahnhof. It was opened in 1847 with the opening of the Cologne-Minden trunk line.^[3] It is classified by Deutsche Bahn as a category 4 station.^[1] Train services are operated by NordWestBahn and Eurobahn.

Station environment

Brackwede station has six tracks. The platform for tracks 5 and 6 was completely renovated for Expo 2000 and the reactivation of the Osnabrück–Bielefeld railway to Osnabrück; the height of the platform was raised to 76 cm and given weather protection. The remaining tracks have a platform height of 38 cm.

The platforms are accessible via a pedestrian tunnel that goes from Eisenbahnstraße under the railway tracks and the Ostwestfalendamm expressway to the Naturbad Brackwede (natural bathing pool) on the border of district of Quelle. The tunnel is the main pedestrian and cycling route between central Brackwede and Quelle and since the re-opening of the natural pool in 2009 has provided barrier-free access to both sides. However, the platforms are accessible from the tunnel only via stairs and therefore there is no access for disabled people. The rear part of the tunnel that passes under the Ostwestfalendamm was embellished by young people with a continuous piece of graffiti showing the "skyline" of Brackwede.

The station has a parking area. In addition, covered bike racks and lockable bike boxes are available.

Close-by located next to the Ostwestfalendamm and the natural pool, are a mosque of the Turkish-Azerbaijani Cultural Association, a junkyard, a Turkish/Russian supermarket, Lutter valley including the Lutterkolk (pond) and the sources of the Lutter as well as the Gestamp GMF Umformtechnik (formerly the ThyssenKrupp Umformtechnik) company.

Rail services

The following Regionalbahn services stop at Brackwede station:^[4]

Linie	Name	Linienverlauf	Betreiber
RB 67	Der Warendorfer	Bielefeld – Brackwede – Gütersloh – Warendorf – Münster (Westf)	Eurobahn
RB 69	Ems-Börde-Bahn	Bielefeld – Brackwede – Hamm (Westf) – Münster (Westf)	Eurobahn
RB 74	Senne-Bahn	Bielefeld – Brackwede – Sennestadt – Paderborn	NordWestBahn
RB 75	Haller Willem	Bielefeld – Brackwede – Halle (Westf) – Osnabrück	NordWestBahn

Preceding station		eurobahn		Following station
Isselhorst-Avenwedde toward Münster Hbf		RB 69 Ems-Börde-Bahn		Bielefeld Hbf Terminus
Preceding station		NordWestBahn		Following station
Isselhorst-Avenwedde toward Münster Hbf		RB 67 Der Warendorfer		Bielefeld Hbf Terminus
Brackwede Süd toward Paderborn Hbf		RB 74 Senne-Bahn		Bielefeld Hbf Terminus
Quelle-Kupferheide toward Osnabrück Hbf		RB 75 Haller Willem		Bielefeld Hbf Terminus

Stadtbahn and bus connections

Services on Bielefeld Stadtbahn line 1 stop 300 metres to the north east of the station on Gütersloh Straße at a stop called Bahnhof Brackwede, which is reached via a staircase that is not accessible for the disabled. The station is also served by the following bus routes.^[4]

Line	Route	Operator	Frequency
48	Bielefeld Hbf – Quelle – Steinhagen (Westf.) – Brockhagen – Versmold	go.on	6 per day
80	Bielefeld Hbf – Verl – Neuenkirchen – Rietberg – Mastholte – Lippstadt	TWE Veolia Verkehr Niedersachsen / Westfalen GmbH	4 per day
83	Bielefeld Hbf – Senne – Sende/Verl – Schloß Holte	Wittler & Voßhans	2 per day
87	Bielefeld Hbf – Ummeln – Holtkamp – Isselhorst – Gütersloh	Stadtwerke Gütersloh	Hourly
88	Bielefeld Hbf – Quelle – Steinhagen (Westf.) – Amshausen – Künsebeck – Halle (Westf.)	go.on	Hourly
95	Bielefeld Hbf – Brackwede – Ummeln – Isselhorst – Gütersloh	bvo DB Ostwestfalenbus	Every 30 or 60 minutes
187	Bielefeld Radrennbahn – Ummeln – Miele-Werke – Gütersloh (service for Miele company workers)	Stadtwerke Gütersloh	2 per day

It has long been planned for bus lines running on the Brackwerd city ring to pass the station and to end at a terminus in the station district (Bahnhofsviertel), in order to improve connections between trains and buses. Since the relocation of the bus route 94 to Brackweder Kirche, however, only two bus routes operate on this route.

Bielefeld International Bus Station

On 30 March 2009, the previous three stops for international long-distance bus services in Bielefeld (Hauptbahnhof, Sennestadt Ratio-Markt and Kesselbrink) were brought together at Brackwerd station. This mainly offers connections to Poland and Eastern Europe (including the Baltic states), but also to Western and Southern European countries (France, Portugal, England, Belgium).^[5] The domestic long-distance buses to Magdeburg and Berlin (Berlin Linien Bus GmbH) run via the Hauptbahnhof. For the relocation of the bus station to the central part of the Brackwerd station building, it was renovated and equipped with a waiting room for travellers as well as toilets. A travel agency and a newspaper stand are also located in the station building.

Modernisation

The platform for tracks 5 and 6 and the central part of the station building of Brackwede station is in a very dilapidated condition. The pedestrian tunnel is like a cave, the other platforms have a height of only 38 cm and there were formerly no display boards for the trains, nor barrier-free access to the platforms. In the course of the upgrade for Expo 2000 all stations were modernised along the line to Osnabrück. Only Brackwede station has not been fully rehabilitated. The cost of the remedial work is estimated by DB Station&Service to cost about €4-5 million.^[6] DB Station&Service has installed dynamic train service indicators with funding from the recent economic stimulus package.

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. "Brackwede station operations". NRW Rail Archive (in German). André Joost. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
4. "Brackwede station". NRW Rail Archive (in German). André Joost. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
5. "Busbahnhof Bielefeld" (in German). Reiseagentur Kloda. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
6. Sigrid Beer (27 May 2009). "Landesregierung hat keine Lösung für den Schandfleck" (in German). The Greens. Retrieved 26 December 2013.