Herford was connected by a single-track line built by the Cologne-Minden Railway Company on 15 October 1847. The first provisional station building was built out of brick in 1851. A second track was opened to
Bad Oeynhausen in 1853 and to
Bielefeld in 1854. The station facilities were rebuilt and the entrance building was extended between 1873 and 1875. A
roundhouse with a
turntable, water tower and a coal shed were built in 1879 and 1880. The single-track
line to Detmold was opened on 31 December 1880. The old station building was replaced by a new building in 1902. The
Herford–Kirchlengern line, which has always been single track, was opened on 1 was July 1904. Construction of two freight tracks between Hamm and Minden started in 1911 and they were taken in operation in stages between 1912 and 1916. The line has had four tracks ever since. In this context, the then ground-level line was placed on an embankment and the level crossings were replaced by bridges. During the Second World War there was only minor damage that could be repaired relatively quickly. The demolition of the locomotive depot began in 1954. The main line was electrified in the mid-1960s. The first electrically-hauled train ran through the station on 29 September 1968. This was followed by the electrification of the line to Altenbeken on 27 May 1975 and the connection to Kirchlengern on 20 September 1976. The wooden roofs on the platforms were replaced with steel roofs and a new freight handling facility was built in 1975/76. In 1987, the station building was heritage-listed. Since 1988,
Intercity trains have also stopped in Herford. General freight operations were abandoned in 1997. == Services ==