in 1863 the lbe was permitted to build a direct line to hamburg, which opened on 1 august 1865. the approximately 63 km-long route ran from lübeck via reinfeld, oldesloe, ahrensburg, rahlstedt and wandsbek to lübecker bahnhof (lübeck station) in hamburg. the lbe's route network in 1870 was 111.27 kilometres long. heavy traffic on the line to hamburg meant that a second track was built in 1875-76.