OHE


The Osthannoversche Eisenbahnen AG is a Celle based transportation company with railway network in North-eastern Lower Saxony around the Lüneburg Heath area of over 250 km.
The OHE's main business is the transportation of freight through their own routes as well as the network of the Deutsche Bahn.
Historically the company also operated passenger trains, which completely ended in 1977 after previous partial closures. After the de-monopolisation of the German railways in the 1990s the company re-entered the rail passenger market through the company NiedersachsenBahn GmbH which has a large stake in the company metronom
In March 2007 the OHE became majority owned by Arriva Deutschland.

History

Formation

In 1944 the OHE arose from the merger of several companies from the northeast area of Lower Saxony, its creation was not purely for economic reasons, but also being politically favourable to the national socialist Gau Osthannover government.
The company was formed on 10 July 1944 from a number of small railways previously under the management of the Niedersächsisches Landeskleinbahnamt :
Additionally the Kleinbahn Wittingen-Oebisfelde was also incorporated on the same day. The new company Osthannoverschen Railways AG 1944 had routes of 340 km total length: it was for decades the largest of the non-federal railways of Germany
At its founding in 1944 the main shareholders were the Prussian State and the Province of Hanover with 53% of the shares combined, the districts of Celle, Fallingbostel, Gifhorn, Harburg and Lüneburg also had owned shares.
By the end of 2006 the OHE was still state-owned with 40.2% held by the state of Lower Saxony and 33.8% by the German state
In July 2006 the German state, the state of Lower Saxony and DB Regio AG decided to sell their shares as part of a privatisation process. The successful bidder was Arriva-Bachstein GmbH; a consortium made up of Arriva and Verkehrsbetriebe Bach Stein GmbH, with an offer of 30million Euros, and various supplementary promises, subject to regulatory and parliamentary approval.
Shareholders as of 2008 were: Arriva Bachstein GmbH - 85.118%, Celle council - 5.615%, Gifhorn council - 3.224%, Lüneburg council- 2.178%, Soltau-Fallingbostel council- 2.160%, City of Celle - 1.187%, City of Wittingen - 0.468%, Flecken Brome - 0.050%

Rail network

Decommissioned and closed routes:
RouteLength
km		NameNotes
Soltau–Neuenkirchen12.01996 closed, 2006 completely eliminated
Beedenbostel–Mariaglück5.6Salt Line 2005 closed
Marschacht–Niedermarschacht1.1Elbe Marsh Railway1996 closed
Radenbeck–Oebisfelde43.1Ohre Valley Railway14.2 km Witttingen Radenbeck section closed, on offer to other railway companies until 2009; the later sections to Oebisfelde have been shut down since 1945: Rühen–Oebisfelde 1945, Radenbeck–Rühen 1983 : closed
Celle–Wietzenbruch4.3prior to 1998 part of Deutsche Bahn. 2005 closed, 2006 dismantled

The network is open to other rail companies, the OHE offers cheaper track access charges for through workings than for trains starting or ending on its own tracks.

Operations

Rail freight

The transportation of freight has always been an important part of the railway: in 2006 1.4 million of materials were transported, including wood, other construction materials, chemicals and fertilizers and military equipment for the military training grounds at Munster and Bergen. The relative amounts of freight were : wood 47%, chemicals/oil 17%, aggregates/building materials 16%, container 8%, other 7%, military 4%. As a railway company OHE transported in 2006 Germany 1.6 million tonnes with unit train loads being the main type of transport.
The OHE also operates in partnership with the Deutsche Bahn.

Passenger

Passenger work on OHE lines was at its peak at the very beginning of the companies history. In the subsequent decades a few passenger routes were shut, by the 1970s many remained but by 1977 all had closed:
1 July 1945: Rühen–Oebisfelde
22 May 1955: Beedenbostel–Mariaglück
28 May 1961: Soltau–Neuenkirchen
22 May 1966: Winsen–Niedermarschacht
31 May 1970: Hermannsburg–Munster und Salzhausen–Hützel
3 June 1973: Bleckede–Alt Garge
26 May 1974: Steinhorst–Wittingen und Wittingen–Rühen Horst
5 July 1974: Winsen–Salzhausen
1 June 1975: Bergen–Soltau
26 June 1975: Soltau–Hützel–Schwindebeck
30 May 1976: Celle Nord–Bergen und Beckedorf–Hermannsburg
23 June 1976: Celle Nord–Steinhorst Celle
22 May 1977: Lüneburg–Bleckede und Lüneburg–Schwindebeck
As a replacement for the rail closures the OHE ran bus services instead.
Through the subsidiary NiedersachsenBahn GmbH the OHE became involved in rail passenger transport once again with the company metronom which has operated since 2003 on the tracks of the Deutsche Bahn. Maintenance of metronom vehicles is carried out at the OHE owned works at Uelzen

Heritage traffic

Through the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Verkehrsfreunde Lüneburg e.V. the Heide-Express is run on the OHE network with rolling stock from yesteryear.

Management of other railway lines

With the dissolution of the Niedersächsisches Landeseisenbahnamt in 1959 the OHE took over some of the operations of the railway companies previously managed by the NLEA:
  • Bremervörde-Osterholzer Eisenbahn GmbH
  • Buxtehude-Harsefelder Eisenbahn GmbH
  • Eisenbahn Gittelde-Bad Grund GmbH
  • Lüchow-Schmarsauer Eisenbahn GmbH
  • Niederweserbahn GmbH
  • Steinhuder Meer-Bahn GmbH
  • Wilstedt-Zeven-Tostedter Eisenbahn GmbH
Since 1995 workings on the Rinteln-Stadthagener Verkehrs GmbH have been operated by the OHE', the Verkehrsbetriebe Grafschaft Hoya was managed by OHE between 1993 and 2001.
In addition, the operation of the 15 km long railway line from Bomlitz to Walsrode is operated by the OHE for the benefit of Dow Wolff Cellulosics

Subsidiaries

In addition to the company metronom and its main rail transport business the OHE operates a number of subsidiaries - mostly symbiotic to its main operational mode:
A variety of steam locomotives were inherited from the predecessor companies. Between 1946/49 22 steam locomotives of the Deutsche Reichsbahn were acquired to meet the demands of the increased traffic on its lines; they were operated under their old class names ; at the same time the existing locomotives were given new designations: Three locomotives were classified as Series 89, four as a 92.
Additionally 13 railcars were used on the OHE, inherited from predecessor companies, including four Wismar railbuses.
Between 1954 and 1959 seven large MaK locomotives and some Esslingen railbuses were acquired. In 1965, the last steam engine retired.
The OHE operates a fleet of 30 diesel locomotives of various types; from small shunters, to the giant diesel locomotives of the AdTranz Blue Tiger family. Whilst previously the 'connecting rod' MaK diesel locomotives were the backbone of the fleet, the company now makes use of articulated B'B' locomotives from MaK such as the MaK G 1202, G 1204 and G 1205, additionally three original 1600 hp G 1600 locomotives are still in use, and a further two similar locomotives of lower power.
A notable set of three locomotives are the extensively modified "DH 1504" DB Class 216 types - OHE designation 2000 85, 2000 86 and 2000 87. Another 'attraction' are the 'Blue Tiger' locomotives - which replaced the Deutz diesel locomotives of type DG 2000 CCM
Many of the locomotives have been modernized and equipped with new engines, radio control etc.
For mainline route service, the OHE uses the DH 1504, the Bombardier DE AC33C as well as three locomotives of the EuroRunner type In the late 2000s four Vossloh G2000 BB and one Vossloh G1700 BB have also been leased.
In addition, several electric locomotives of the Bombardier Traxx family are operated.

Literature