Kettwig is a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

in the city of Essen in western Germany on the

Ruhr Valley Railway The Ruhr Valley Railway (german: Ruhrtalbahn) is a partly abandoned railway line in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, running from Düsseldorf-Rath via Old Kupferdreh station, Bochum-Dahlhausen, Witten-Herbede, Hagen-Vorhalle and Sc ...

History

A first station at Kettwig was opened in 1871 by the

Bergisch-Märkische Eisenbahn The Bergisch-Markisch Railway Company (german: Bergisch-Märkische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft, BME), also referred to as the Berg-Mark Railway Company or, more rarely, as the Bergisch-Markische Railway Company, was a German railway company that togethe ...

and passenger service on the line Düsseldorf-Kettwig-Kupferdreh was started on 1 February 1872. A proper station hall and ticket office was commissioned in 1873 and erected in 1875, the old station building was sold to

Wermelskirchen Wermelskirchen (; Ripuarian: ''Wärmelßkirrshe'') is a town in the Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, southeast of Remscheid. It is home to one of Europe's biggest live Christmas trees (measuring 26m). Coat of arms ...

. During 1873, another single-track railway line to Mülheim an der Ruhr was also built. The BME was integrated into the state railways of

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

in 1882, and in 1887 a second track was built between Kettwig and Werden. In 1905, Kettwig was upgraded to a 1st class station, with express trains like the Essen to

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

service calling at the station. A passenger tunnel to access the second platform was also constructed. In 1926, after a construction time of over 13 years, a railway line to

Velbert Velbert ( Low Rhenish: ''Vèlbed'') is a town in the district of Mettmann, in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The town is renowned worldwide for the production of locks and fittings. Geography Velbert is located on the hills of 'Niede ...

via

Heiligenhaus Heiligenhaus () is a town in the district of Mettmann, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, in the suburban Rhine-Ruhr area. It lies between Düsseldorf and Essen. Bochum University of Applied Sciences (Hochschule Bochum, formerly Fachhochschu ...

was connected to the station, crossing the Ruhr on a third bridge. In March, 1945 the Ruhr bridges at Kettwig were destroyed by the German army. Services to Mülheim and Velbert were carried out from

Kettwig Stausee railway station Kettwig Stausee is a railway station in the city of Essen in western Germany on the Ruhr Valley line. It serves the southern part of the Kettwig borough, ''Kettwig vor der Brücke'', and is situated right next to the river Ruhr. History The st ...

instead, and only a single bridge connecting the line to Düsseldorf was ever constructed after World War II. The Kettwig depot was closed in 1953 by the

Deutsche Bundesbahn The Deutsche Bundesbahn or DB (German Federal Railway) was formed as the state railway of the newly established Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) on 7 September 1949 as a successor of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft (DRG). The DB remaine ...

. In 1968, the railway line Düsseldorf-Kettwig-Essen was fully electrified, and on May 22, 1968 the first line of the

Rhein-Ruhr S-Bahn The Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn (german: S-Bahn Rhein-Ruhr) is a polycentric and electrically driven S-train network covering the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Region in the German federated state of North Rhine-Westphalia. This includes most of the Ruhr (and ci ...

started calling at Kettwig. The

S-Bahn The S-Bahn is the name of hybrid urban-suburban rail systems serving a metropolitan region in German-speaking countries. Some of the larger S-Bahn systems provide service similar to rapid transit systems, while smaller ones often resemble c ...

line was renamed to S6 in 1974. Services at the station were substantially cut by November 1, 1977 when the station lost its autonomy due to the merger of Kettwig with the city of Essen. The ticket hall and station hall were closed, and the station was downgraded to a dependent outpost of

Essen Hauptbahnhof Essen Hauptbahnhof (German for "Essen main station") is a railway station in the city of Essen in western Germany. It is situated south of the old town centre, next to the A 40 motorway. It was opened in 1862 by the Bergisch-Märkische Eisenbah ...

. The former ticket hall building was sold to the city of Essen in 2001 and is now used as a cultural centre and restaurant. The station today sees regular service by

trains on the S6 line.

References

Footnotes

Sources

*{{cite web, url=http://people.freenet.de/ruhrtalbahn-kettwig/geschichte.html, title=Zeittafel der Eisenbahnen in Kettwig, author=Günter Voss, accessdate=2006-12-03

External links

IG Alter Bahnhof Kettwig
Railway stations in North Rhine-Westphalia S6 (Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn) Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn stations Railway stations in Germany opened in 1872