Royal Hanoverian State Railways

At that time its railway network, which comprised 800 kilometres of track, went over to the Prussian state.

These were the routes: The first line, a 16 kilometre stretch from Hanover via Misburg to Lehrte, was opened on 22 October 1843.

As a result of the political events of 1848/49 (March revolutions), further expansion of the railway network in the Kingdom of Hanover was delayed.

In the end they agreed upon the present-day route from von Löhne via Osnabrück to Prussian Rheine, that at the same time provided a junction at Münster to the Royal Westphalian Railway Company (Königlich-Westfälische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft) and from there a link via Salzbergen to Leer and Emden.

The link to the Dutch railway network was achieved from Hanoverian Salzbergen through Bentheim to Oldenzaal.