Instead it was decided to cross the river at Rehme (near Bad Oeynhausen), continuing north on the eastern bank through the gap, which was widened with explosives and then along a levee to a station built on the eastern bank of the river.

As it was a border station on one of the major routes for east–west traffic, it was originally highly fortified.

In 1866 the Kingdom of Hanover was annexed by Prussia, allowing the railway to operate continuously from Berlin to Cologne without frontiers.

In 1950 the Bundesbahn Central Office, which was responsible for technological development and the procurement of rail vehicles and infrastructure was relocated to Minden, although some of these activities were also carried out in Munich.

This function was no longer required after the absorption of Hanover by Prussia, so the station always showed plenty of space and could accommodate new, larger traffic flows smoothly and without further modification.