The Bochum–Gelsenkirchen railway, also known as the Glückauf-Bahn (referring to Glück auf, the traditional German miners greeting), is a passenger railway from Bochum Central Station (Hauptbahnhof) to Gelsenkirchen Central Station in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is served by Regionalbahn passenger service RB 46). It is also used by freight traffic from Bochum freight yard at the former Bochum Süd station and Bochum-Präsident to Gelsenkirchen-Schalke Nord. The line was built in sections between 1867 and 1876 of the Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company. The curve connecting to Bochum Central Station was opened in 1979.

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Bochum–Gelsenkirchen railway
Overview
Line number	2153
Locale	North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Service
Route number	428
Technical
Line length	17.8 km (11.1 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Route map Legend Duisburg-Ruhrort–Dortmund railway freight line to Ruhrort Rhein-Herne Canal   Essen–Gelsenkirchen- 33.1 Nordstern junction Bismarck railway to Gelsenkirchen-Hessler and Essen   31.9 Gelsenkirchen-Schalke Nord Gelsenkirchen-Schalke Gelsenkirchen-Bismarck– Winterswijk railway to Dorsten & Welver–Sterkrade railway to Gelsenkirchen-Horst Nord Rhine-Herne Canal Duisburg-Ruhrort– Dortmund railway to Schacht Graf Bismarck III mine 29.8 Gelsenkirchen-Bismarck Gelsenkirchen 29.6 Gelsenkirchen-Zoo to Gelsenkirchen- Wattenscheid 27.8 Wanne Unser Fritz Essen–Gelsenkirchen railway to Essen-Kray Nord Duisburg-Ruhrort–Dortmund railway to Schalke Bickern junction Unser Fritz junction to Gelsenkirchen- Wattenscheid to Wanne- Röhlinghausen Wanne-Eickel 25.3 Crange junction Wanne-Eickel–Hamburg railway to Münster Recklinghausen 23.5 Herne-Rottbruch Hgn junction Herne Duisburg–Dortmund railway Herne-Rottbruch over autobahn km km Herne-Rottbruch 22.4 Südstraße level crossing 21.1 Rensingstraße level crossing 20.4 Bochum-Riemke 20.4 Bochum-Riemke Nord 19.3 to Wanne-Röhlinghausen Bochum-Riemke 18.5 to Osterath–Dortmund Süd railway (Rhenish line) Bochum-Hamme 17.3 Osterath–Dortmund Süd railway (Rhenish line) Bochum Heintzmann (Plang) siding 16.4 Bochum-West 16.0 Bochumer Verein siding 15.9 line relocated in 1979 to the new station Bochum Süd 15.3 Bochum Witten/Dortmund–Oberhausen/Duisburg railway to Essen│to Dortmund   Source: German railway atlas[1] This diagram: view talk edit

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Until 1978, the Deutsche Bundesbahn passenger service ran from Bochum-Langendreer via Bochum-Nord, Bochum-Riemke to Wanne-Eickel (see Bochum-Riemke–Wanne-Eickel line below). After the construction of a connecting curve from Bochum Central Station (Hauptbahnhof) to the line towards Riemke in 1979,^[2] passenger services ran until 1990 from Bochum over the curve from Herne-Rottbruch to Herne,^[3] but subsequently services ran via Wanne-Eickel to Gelsenkirchen Central Station.^[4] Herne Rottbruch station represented a special case for operations, because it is located on a bridge over autobahn 43, but it has not been served since 1990.^[5] In the early 90s, the electronics manufacturer Nokia, which then had a factory near the railway, sponsored the modernisation of the fleet (starting with three vehicles of class 515 battery electric multiple units and followed by class 628 diesel multiple units). As a result, the line was renamed the Nokia-Bahn ("Nokia Railway") and Bochum-Graetz station was renamed Bochum-Nokia. Following Nokia's closure of its Bochum factory in late 2008, the line was renamed the Glückauf-Bahn. At the timetable change of 2009/10, the station was renamed Bochum-Riemke.^[6]

Since the timetable change in December 2023, Vias has operated the Ruhr-Sieg network consisting of the RB 46 (Bochum – Gelsenkirchen), the RE 16 (Essen – Iserlohn) and the RB 91 (Hagen – Siegen/Iserlohn). The Stadler Flirt electric multiple units on the line were acquired from the previous operator DB Regio.^[7]

The Wanne-Eickel–Gelsenkirchen-Zoo–Dorsten section is used in passenger operations by Regionalbahn service RB 43.^[8] Until 1988, trains were operated by class 515 battery cars from the northernmost track of Wanne-Eickel station via a connecting curve directly to Wanne-Unser Fritz ("Our Fred", serving the Unser Fritz colliery, which was named after Frederick III) station. Today, the connecting curve is dismantled^[9] and the station is closed.^[10] Since the closure of the curve, passenger trains depart from the southern platform in Wanne-Eickel over the longer, southern connecting curve without stopping at Gelsenkirchen Zoo.^[11]

The 1968/69 timetable included a Wanne-Eickel–Gelsenkirchen-Zoo–Gelsenkirchen-Schalke–Bottrop-Süd–Oberhausen service. In 1940, there was a Wanne-Eickel–Gelsenkirchen-Bismarck–Schalke Nord–Gelsenkirchen-Hessler–Essen service.

Freight from Bochum-Langendreer runs over line 2153. This bypasses the stations of Wanne-Eickel and Herne, reaching Recklinghausen and Gelsenkirchen-Bismarck directly.^[4]