Line S 6 is a

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 co ...

line in the

Rhein-Ruhr The Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region (german: Metropolregion Rhein-Ruhr) is the largest metropolitan region in Germany, with over ten million inhabitants. A polycentric conurbation with several major urban concentrations, the region cover ...

network. It calls, among others, at the cities of

Essen Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and D ...

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

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 ...

and was the first S-Bahn line in the Rhine-Ruhr network, becoming operational on 28 September 1967 between Ratingen Ost and

Düsseldorf-Garath Garath () is a suburb of Düsseldorf, Germany, south of the city centre and part of Borough 10. It has an area of , and 19,048 inhabitants (2020). Geography Garath adjoins the Düsseldorf suburbs of Urdenbach to the north-west , Benrath to ...

. It is operated at 20-minute intervals using coupled sets of class 422 four-car electrical multiple units. Line S 6 runs over lines built by various railway companies: * from Essen Hauptbahnhof to

Essen-Werden Werden is a southern borough of the city of Essen in Germany. It belongs to the city district ''IX Werden/Kettwig/Bredeney'' and has 9,998 inhabitants as of June 30, 2006. The borough occupies a space of and is situated at a median height of . __ ...

over the

Essen-Werden–Essen railway The Essen-Werden to Essen railway is an electrified railway line in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is a main line railway with two tracks, except for the ''Stadtwald Tunnel'', running through the metropolitan area of Essen and c ...

, opened by the

Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company 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 ...

in 1877, * from Essen-Werden to Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof over 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 ...

, opened by the Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company in 1872 and 1874, * from Düsseldorf to Cologne over the Cologne–Duisburg railway, opened by the

Cologne-Minden Railway Company The Cologne-Minden Railway Company (German, old spelling: ''Cöln-Mindener Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft'', ''CME'') was along with the Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company and the Rhenish Railway Company one of the railway companies that in the mid-19th ...

in 1845 and * from Cologne to Köln-Nippes over the

West Lower Rhine Railway The Left Lower Rhine line (german: Linksniederrheinische Strecke) is a main line on the left (western) bank of the Rhine in the lower Rhine region of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, running from Cologne to Cleves (Kleve) and formerly v ...

opened by the Cologne-Crefeld Railway Company in 1855. It was opened on 28 September 1967 between Ratingen Ost and Düsseldorf-Garath. It was extended from Ratingen Ost to Essen on 26 May 1968 and from Garath to on 12 December 1968, from Langenfeld to Köln Hansaring on 2 June 1991 and from Hansaring to on 13 June 2004.

References

{{Reflist

S06 1967 establishments in West Germany