Cologne–Mönchengladbach railway

Rheydt–Köln-Ehrenfeld
Route number:	465
Line length:	49.4
Gauge:	1435
Maximum speed:	120
State:	North Rhine-Westphalia
Route[1]
Legend Line from Mönchengladbach 49.4 Rheydt Hbf Former line from Rheydt freight yard Rheydt Gbf Line to Aachen Former line from Mönchengladbach 46.4 Rheydt-Odenkirchen 41.5 Hochneukirch Former line to Stolberg 38.7 Jüchen 35.0 Gubberath A 46 Erft Railway from Neuss 31.3 Grevenbroich Erft Railway to Bedburg 27.6 Erftwerk 24.3 Oekoven 20.0 Rommerskirchen Former line to Holzheim Freight line to Niederaußem 15.5 Stommeln 11.5 Pulheim 5.6 Köln-Bocklemünd HSL from Aachen (grade separated) 3.5 Köln-Ehrenfeld Westkopf (junction) Köln-Müngersdorf Technologiepark 1.7 Köln-Ehrenfeld Gbf 0.0 Köln-Ehrenfeld HSL to Cologne Hbf

The Rheydt-Cologne railway is a mostly double-track electrified railway in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia between Rheydt and Cologne-Ehrenfeld. Only the section between Rheydt Hauptbahnhof and Rheydt-Odenkirchen is single track.

History

A steam train in Odenkirchen station in 1874

The first part of the line was built as part of the Mönchengladbach–Stolberg railway, which was built in stages between 1870 and 1875 by the Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company (German: Bergisch-Märkische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft) from the current Mönchengladbach Hauptbahnhof (central station) via Geneicken, Mülfort, Odenkirchen and Hochneukirch and continuing to Jülich, Eschweiler and Stolberg. In 1889, a connection was built from Hochneukirch station, which was located on this line, to the Erft Railway near Grevenbroich station. The direct link from Grevenbroich to Köln-Ehrenfeld station was opened in 1899. The direct link between Odenkirchen and Rheydt Hauptbahnhof was finally opened in 1908. This meant that the 1870 line through Geneicken, which ran to Mönchengladbach Hauptbahnhof parallel with the line through Rheydt Hauptbahnhof and which had already been duplicated, was sidelined. This section of line, which was electrified in 1968, initially continued to be used for trains from Mönchengladbach to Cologne, but it was finally closed in May 1985 and dismantled between Odenkirchen and Geneicken.

Operations

The line is served by Regional-Express service RE 8 (Rhein-Erft-Express), operating with class 425 electric multiple units, and Regionalbahn service RB 27 (Rhein-Erft-Bahn) operating with a class 143 electric locomotive and three double-deck coaches. Each service operates hourly.

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  Pulheim

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  Stommeln

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  Rommerskirchen

1. ^ Eisenbahnatlas Deutschland (German railway atlas). Schweers + Wall. 2009. ISBN 978-3-89494-139-0. 

External links

NRW Railways archive of André Joost (German):

• Beschreibung der Strecke 2611 (Köln-Ehrenfeld Gbf ↔ Rheydt)
• Beschreibung der Strecke 2612 (Köln-Ehrenfeld Gbf ↔ Köln-Ehrenfeld Westkopf)
• Beschreibung der Strecke 2613 (Köln-Ehrenfeld Pbf ↔ Köln-Ehrenfeld Gbf)