page_title: Vlotho station
section_title: 1945 and thereafter
hierarchical_section_title: Vlotho station / History / 1945 and thereafter
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Bahnhof Vlotho von Südwesten.
context_page_description: Vlotho station is a station on the Elze–Löhne railway in the east Westphalian town of Vlotho in the Herford district of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The line connects Löhne, Hamelin and Hildesheim and is served by the Weser-Bahn service. All buildings including the entrance building have not been used for their original purposes since 1992 and they are no longer owned by Deutsche Bahn.
context_section_description: After the war took traffic on the Elze–Löhne railway increased strongly because of the strong economic growth. The nearby Veltheim community power station, which was established in 1959, received a large proportion of its fuel by rail. Passenger services operated directly to and from Brunswick, Aachen and Mönchengladbach.
  The later gradually increasing shift of freight and passenger traffic from rail to road had consequences.  An average of 55 freight and 65 passenger trains passed through Vlotho station each day in 1961, but by 1992 the average had fallen to three freight and 22 passenger trains. The three freight trains served the Veltheim community power station with coal for electricity generation. Similarly, the average daily ticket sales had fallen from 600 to 30 and baggage handled had fallen from 50 to five pieces. The station operations had become unprofitable. In the course of rationalisation, freight operations were closed in June 1975. The goods shed was sold to a private owner. The signalbox that had controlled the station points burned down in October 2011 and was demolished.
  The former station building, which was heritage listed in 1988, was sold by Deutsche Bundesbahn to a private individual in 1992. He let the buildings stand empty, because in his opinion, a plan for its re-use could not be implemented. In 2007, the town bought the building, which had fallen into disrepair, from the heirs of the original purchaser. The station building is still empty and only makeshift repairs have prevented continuing decay. In the municipality there were considerations of removing the building from the heritage list and demolishing it. In February 2013, a new citizen group was founded to oppose the demolition of the station building and to support the use of station for community purposes.
caption: Vlotho station with the sign of the citizens group, March 2013
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