The Bonn–Cologne Railway Company (german: Bonn-Cölner Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft, BCE) is a former German Railway company, founded in July 1837 in

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

and granted a concession on 6 July 1840 to build and operate a railway line between Bonn and

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

History

Two options were examined for the route: a direct line along the course of the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

would have been cheaper. This would have passed through a sparsely populated area, which would have produced few passengers. Half a century later this route was used by the Rhine Bank Railway (''Rheinuferbahn'') built by another ''Cologne-Bonn railway'' (''Köln-Bonner Eisenbahnen'')—now line 16 of the

and

Bonn Stadtbahn The Bonn Stadtbahn ('' en, city rail'') is a part of the local public transit system in Bonn and the surrounding Rhein-Sieg area, that also includes the Bonn Straßenbahn. Although with six actual Stadtbahn lines (as well as three tram lines) th ...

s. Another option was built, a 29-km-long line, later part of the West Rhine line (''Linke Rheinstrecke''). It runs in a wide arc through Roisdorf, Sechtem, Brühl and Kalscheuren to St. Pantaleon station in Cologne. This terminal station was built immediately after passing through the Pantaleon gate of the medieval Wall. Bonn-Cölner-Eisenbahn 1844

The site for

Bonn station The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

was strongly debated. The location in Poppelsdorfer Allee was finally selected, because it was easier to extend the line from there to the south. The first earthworks were built in March 1842. The line was opened on 15 February 1844 after a grand ceremony of inauguration on 13 February. From the summer of 1844 six daily pairs of trains ran. The first four

locomotive A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the Power (physics), motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, Motor coach (rail), motor ...

s came from

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

Extension to Rolandseck

In 1844, the BCE increased its capital to fund an extension to

Koblenz Koblenz (; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz''), spelled Coblenz before 1926, is a German city on the banks of the Rhine and the Moselle, a multi-nation tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman Empire, Roman mili ...

and the shares were oversubscribed fourfold. Construction of the new route, however, was delayed partly because Bonn University protested to the

Prussian king The monarchs of Prussia were members of the House of Hohenzollern who were the hereditary rulers of the former German state of Prussia from its founding in 1525 as the Duchy of Prussia. The Duchy had evolved out of the Teutonic Order, a Roman C ...

Frederick William IV Frederick William IV (german: Friedrich Wilhelm IV.; 15 October 17952 January 1861), the eldest son and successor of Frederick William III of Prussia, reigned as King of Prussia from 7 June 1840 to his death on 2 January 1861. Also referred to ...

against the fragmentation of Poppelsdorfer Allee (avenue) on its land. The king finally commissioned the landscape architect

Peter Joseph Lenné Peter Joseph Lenné (the Younger) (29 September 1789 – 23 January 1866) was a Prussian gardener and landscape architect. As director general of the Royal Prussian palaces and parks in Potsdam and Berlin, his work shaped the development of 19 ...

to design of the intersection of the railway and Poppelsdorfer Allee. The BCE was authorised on 4 August 1854 to extend its line at least to Rolandseck. This was an important part of its success, as it was possible for travellers to change conveniently from train to steamship at the station. In addition the constriction of the Rhine Valley there made the construction of competing lines on the western side of the Rhine impossible. On 18 October 1855 the line was completed via

Bad Godesberg Bad Godesberg ( ksh, Bad Jodesbersch) is a borough ('' Stadtbezirk'') of Bonn, southern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. From 1949 to 1999, while Bonn was the capital of West Germany, most foreign embassies were in Bad Godesberg. Some buildings ar ...

and Mehlem to Rolandswerth and on 21 January 1856 the entire 14 km long extension to Rolandseck was opened.

Takeover of the company

On 1 January 1857, the Bonn–Cologne Railway Company was acquired by the

Rhenish Railway Company The Rhenish Railway Company (German language, German: ''Rheinische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft'', RhE) was along with the Cologne-Minden Railway Company (CME) and the Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company (BME) one of the railway companies that in the m ...

for 1.05 million Prussian thalers. Forty years later with the ''Köln-Bonner Eisenbahnen'' (KBE) was established with a similar name (but with more modern spelling), but it was not related to the BCE.

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bonn-Cologne Railway Company Defunct railway companies of Germany