Magdeburg–Halberstadt Railway Company

Critical to the competitiveness of the railway within Prussia was the connection from Berlin to Hamburg and Bremen.

Acquisition of the Hanover-Altenbeken Railway Company (Hannover-Altenbekener Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft) gave the MHE access to the Westphalian line and thus to the Ruhr.

With the purchase of more railways—including the highly profitable Magdeburg-Leipzig Railway—the line grew to a length of 1,024 kilometres in 1879.

The western entrance building built by the Berlin-Potsdam-Magdeburg Railway was shared by the MHE.

In December 1879 the Magdeburg-Halberstadt Railway Company was acquired by the Prussian state after shareholders had approved the takeover bid with the necessary two-thirds majority (13,140 to 6,441 votes).