The highlight of the Hamburg - Lübeck - Kiel route is the magnificent Lübeck Hbf with its fine overall roof. In the early 1980s the south end of the station was still semaphore signalled and the area was the last stamping ground of the stylish Class 220 diesel-hydraulics. Electrification came in 2008.
The 62km line from Hamburg to Lübeck was opened in 1865 and the 81km from Kiel to Lübeck in 1873. With connections south to Büchen and east to Bad Kleinen, Lübeck became an important junction and, between 1945 and 1989, the border station with the DDR.
Generally the line runs through a flat landscape but there is some pleasant countryside north of Lübeck.
Generally the line runs through a flat landscape but there is some pleasant countryside north of Lübeck.