Witten Hauptbahnhof

Witten Hauptbahnhof
Through station
File:Witten-hbf.jpg
Location	Bergerstraße 58452 Witten, Germany Witten, North Rhine-Westphalia Germany
Coordinates
Line(s)	Witten/Dortmund–Oberhausen/Duisburg railway S 5 Elberfeld–Dortmund railway S 5 Witten–Wengern Ost/Schwelm railway
Platforms	4
Construction
Architect	Richard Sauerbruch
Other information
Station code	6822
DS100 code	EWIT
Category	3
Website	www.bahnhof.de
History
Opened	9 March 1849 / 1901

Witten Hauptbahnhof is a railway station in the town of Witten in western Germany. It is situated southwest of the town.

In 1849 the station was opened as Witten West by the Bergisch-Märkische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft. At the end of the 19th century the whole station was reconstructed, the new station building was designed by the architect Richard Witten Sauerbruch and opened in 1901. It is now part of The Industrial Heritage Trail (German: Route Industriekultur). In 1940 the station was renamed Witten Hauptbahnhof.

History

Witten station was originally built as part of the Elberfeld–Dortmund trunk line of the Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company, which was opened on 20 December 1848, originally only for freight. On 26 October 1860, the BME began building its Ruhr route from this station.

Deutsche Reichsbahn opened a freight rail line through Witten-Höhe to Wengern Ost connecting with the Ruhr Valley Railway on 4 October 1926. In Witten-Höhe, the Witten–Wengern Ost/Schwelm railway branched off from 15 May 1934 to 30 November 1979, carrying passenger trains to Gevelsberg West and Schwelm. This line was permanently closed at the beginning of 1983. Passenger services continued through Wengern Ost to Hagen-Vorhalle for three years, but were also closed on 1 June 1986.

Current situation

The section of the Elberfeld–Dortmund line to the south is used by both long distance and regional services, the section of the line to the north has, however, only been used by Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn line S 5 since 1988.

The regional services stop in the station on the Witten/Dortmund–Oberhausen/Duisburg line to Essen Hauptbahnhof. Since 1988, long-distance services have run without stopping in Witten on the same route as well as on the faster line built via the Oberstraße Tunnel to Dortmund Hauptbahnhof.

The only lines still in operation on the south bank of the Ruhr (Witten Hbf to Witten-Höhe, Witten-Höhe to Wengern Ost, Wengern Ost to Hagen-Vorhalle) are now connected together as a through freight route.

Line	Line name	Route
RE 4	Wupper-Express	Aachen – Mönchengladbach – Düsseldorf – Wuppertal – Hagen – Dortmund
RE 16	Ruhr-Sieg-Express	Essen – Bochum – Witten – Hagen – Letmathe – (Finnentrop – Siegen) / Iserlohn
RB 40	Ruhr-Lenne-Bahn	Essen – Bochum – Witten – Hagen
S 5	Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn	Dortmund – Witten – Wetter (Ruhr) – Hagen

Preceding station		Abellio Rail		Following station
Bochum Hbf toward Essen Hbf		RE 16 Ruhr-Sieg-Express		Wetter toward Siegen
Bochum Hbf toward Essen Hbf		RB 40 Ruhr-Lenne-Bahn		Wetter toward Hagen Hbf
Preceding station		Deutsche Bahn		Following station
Dortmund Hbf Terminus		RE 4 Wupper-Express		Hagen Hbf toward Aachen Hbf
Preceding station		Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn		Following station
Witten-Annen Nord toward Dortmund Hbf		S 5		Wetter toward Hagen Hbf