The North–South railway is an amalgamation of several railway lines in Germany that came to significant importance in West Germany and are therefore commonly regarded as a single entity. During the division of Germany, it was the most important and the most densely used long-distance line of the Deutsche Bundesbahn. Since 1991, after the opening of the Hanover–Würzburg high-speed railway, the line mainly sees local passenger trains, freight trains and night services, as the long-distance services almost exclusively use the new line.

The Hanover–Würzburg high-speed railway is a double-track, electrified high-speed railway between Hanover and Würzburg in Germany, 327 kilometres (203 mi) in length. The line, built between 1973 and 1991, was the longest contiguous new project constructed by Deutsche Bundesbahn. The total costs were almost DM 11.9 billion.