German Railways A Study in the Historical Geography of Transport

Originally published in 1979, this volume is an invaluable study of a railway system and its adjustment to changing political-geographical conditions, as well as changes in economic and social geography. Each change in the territorial extent or in the internal territorial-administrative organisation of Germany has had its repercussions upon the spatial pattern of the country’s economy and consequently upon the demand for transport. Furthermore, the central position of Germany within the continent has given an added importance to the role of its railways in the overall pattern of the European railway system. For the transport geographer the comparisons and contrasts with the British railway system are particularly insightful.

Introduction. 1. Some Comparisons with Britain 2. The German Railway Network in its Physical Setting i) Northern Lowlands ii) Central Uplands iii) Southwestern Scarps and Vales iv) Alpine Foreland and Alps 3. Historical Growth of the German Railway Network 4. Particularism and the Railways 5. The Aftermath of the Franco-Prussian War 6. Railways and Strategy 7. The Shift from Private to State Railways 8. Particularism and Railway Operations 9. Railways After the 1914-1918 War 10. Creation of the Deutsche Reichsbahn 11. The Years after 1945 12. Aspects of Traffic and Services 12. Freight Traffic.

R. E. H. Mellor was Professor of Geography at the University of Aberdeen, U.K.