5 December 1906; 117 years ago (1906-12-05)[5] 1 November 1914; 109 years ago (1914-11-01)
Electrified
29 January 1908; 116 years ago (1908-01-29), 6.3 kV AC system (overhead; turned off in 1955)[6] 22 April 1940; 84 years ago (1940-04-22), 1.2 kV DC system (3rd rail)[6] at opening
On 6 December 1906, the Hamburg-Altonaer Stadt- und Vorortbahn (City and suburban railway) — later abbreviated Hamburg S-Bahn — opened the double track Ohlsdorf–Blankenese line.[7] Planned as an electric railway with overhead lines, the trains were first steam powered, because of difficulties concerning the construction of the electrical installations and a delay delivering the engines.[8] Overhead lines were completed by 1 October 1907,[5] however, electric operation only started on 29 January 1908.
Prior to 2008, Ohlsdorf had a bus shuttle service to bring passengers from the station to the airport. This was discontinued when a new station was constructed in the airport. An S-Bahn maintenance depot is located south-east of the station.
Passengers travelling in the direction from the central station to the airport have to pay attention at Ohlsdorf, the last station before the airport, because all trains are split at this station. The front part (carriages 1, 2 and 3) proceeds to the airport, while the rear part (carriages 4, 5 and 6) runs to the suburb of Poppenbüttel. Signs and announcements in German and English language inform passengers. Trains pause at Ohlsdorf for about 2 minutes to couple or uncouple and to allow passengers to change to the desired half of the train.[citation needed]
^Borchers, Jan; Heimann, Martin; Pischek, Wolfgang (2002), Die Hamburg S-Bahn (in German), Munich: GeraMond, p. 30, ISBN3-7654-7191-7
^Höltge, Dieter; Kochems, Michael (2008), Straßen- und Stadtbahnen in Deutschland (in German), vol. Band 11: Hamburg, Freiburg: EisenbahnKurier, p. 254, ISBN978-3-88255-392-5