| Angermünde-Schwedt railway | |
| Native Name Lang: | de |
| Routenumber: | 203 |
| Linenumber: | 6764 |
| Linelength Km: | 23.1 |
| Electrification: | 15 kV/16.7 Hz AC overhead catenary |
| Maxincline: | 1.0% |
| Speed: | (maximum) |
| Locale: | Brandenburg, Germany |
The Angermünde–Schwedt railway is a single track branch line in the district of Uckermark of the German state of Brandenburg. It connects the towns of Angermünde and Schwedt and the municipality of Pinnow to each other. Several halts on the line were abandoned in the 1990s.
Today, the line is served at two-hour intervals by Regional-Express service RE 3 via Eberswalde and Berlin to Lutherstadt Wittenberg. Since the timetable change in December 2014, Regionalbahn service RB 61 running from Monday to Friday between Schwedt and Angermünde only are operated by NEB Betriebsgesellschaft mbH, while services continuing towards Berlin as Regional-Express service RE 3 are operated by DB Regio. Both services run alternately on working days, so that there is an hourly service between Angermünde and Schwedt. The additional peak hour services of line RE 3 between Angermünde and Schwedt has since been redesignated as Regional-Bahn service RB 61.
The line separates at Angermünde station from the Berlin–Szczecin railway and runs in a long curve to the east. Between Pinnow and Schwedt, the newly built federal highway 2 runs largely parallel to the line and crosses it a total of four times.
The newly founded Angermünde-Schwedter Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft (Angermünde-Schwedt Railway Company, ASE) received the concession to build the round 25 kilometre-long line on 25 March 1872 for a connection from the Berlin–Szczecin railway to the Oder harbour in Schwedt. After about one and a half year of construction, the single-track branch line, which initially had no intermediate stations between the two terminal stations, was opened on 15 December 1873. For financial reasons, the Berlin-Stettiner Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft (Berlin-Stettin Railway Company, BStE) was responsible for management and also supplied the rolling stock. Six years later the company was nationalised and the operation was taken over by the Prussian state railways.
Around 1888, several more halts were put into operation along the line, including in Pinnow and Niederlandin.
In the 1944/45 timetable, seven train pairs ran daily on the line. These were confined to the main section and did not continue past Angermünde.
In the 1990s several stations were closed due to lack of demand. At the same time, Schwedt West station was closed and replaced by the more central halt of Schwedt Mitte. Deutsche Bahn operated Regional-Express service RE 3 from then on. Since these trains were operated with electric locomotives of class 143 and the branch line itself was not yet electrified, diesel locomotives of class 232 or, more rarely, class 219 were attached to the front of the trains at Angermünde station and then hauled the trains to Schwedt. The additional shuttles between Angermünde and Schwedt, on the other hand, were operated with class 628/928 diesel multiple units.
Since this operation was very costly, the Brandenburg government approved the electrification and upgrading of the line at the end of 2004 for €74 million.[1] In addition to the installation of overhead wires, all the important level crossings along the line were protected and the line was upgraded for a top speed of 80 km/h. The line has been electrified since the timetable change in December 2005.
In the later 2000s, Regional-Express service RE 3 was reinforced by a service between Angermünde and Schwedt during the week in order to be able to cope with the increase in passenger numbers on this section of the line and to ensure an hourly connection between Berlin and Schwedt.