Ahlen (Westfalen) station

Ahlen station—abbreviated to Ahlen —serves the town of Ahlen in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is situated on the electrified, four-track Hamm–Minden railway, which connects the Ruhr region to Hanover. It was originally part of the network of the former Cologne-Minden Railway Company and is now part of the Deutsche Bahn network.HistoryThe station was opened on 15 Ahlen October 1847 during the construction of the trunk line of the Cologne-Minden Railway Company . The first station building, built in 1848, was demolished during the First World War, because at this point the line, which had previously run at ground level, was placed on an embankment. The new station building, which is still in use, opened in 1916.Current significanceThe station is a classed as a category 4 station. It is connected by services every half-hour to Bielefeld, Hamm (Westf) and Gütersloh, which each provide further connections under North Rhine-Westphalia’s integrated timetable.The station has a travel centre, which since 2007 has been operated by a private travel agency. There is also a bookstore with a kiosk operation and a bakery. For the purchase of tickets outside of business hours ticket machines are available at the travel centre for long-distance and local services.