In 1879, HK Notnagel & Co. of Altona, a lessee of Himmelmoor, located in Quickborn, where peat was mined for heating, called for the construction of a railway for the transport of peat.
Since 1981, the AKN has also operated the Alster Northern Railway (Alsternordbahn, ANB) and the Elmshorn-Barmstedt-Oldesloe railway (EBOE).