The Mönchengladbach–Düsseldorf railway is a 24 km long main line on the left (western) bank of the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

in the

Lower Rhine region The Lower Rhine region or Niederrhein () is a region around the Lower Rhine section of the river Rhine in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, between approximately Oberhausen and Krefeld in the East and the Dutch border around Kleve in the West ...

of the

German state The Federal Republic of Germany is a federation and consists of sixteen partly sovereign ''states''. Of the sixteen states, thirteen are so-called area-states ('Flächenländer'); in these, below the level of the state government, there is a ...

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

. It has at least two tracks with continuous overhead electrification. The line was built by the Aachen-Düsseldorf-Ruhrort Railway Company and is one of the oldest lines in Germany, opened in 1853 and 1854.

History

The Aachen-Neuß-Düsseldorf Railway Company (''Aachen-Neuß-Düsseldorfer Eisenbahngesellschaft'', AND) was founded to build a railway line from

Aachen Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants. Aachen is locat ...

via Gladbach (now

Mönchengladbach Mönchengladbach (, ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in North Rhine-Westphalia, western Germany, west of the Rhine, halfway between Düsseldorf and the Netherlands, Dutch border. Geography Municipal subdivisions Since 2009, th ...

) and

Neuss Neuss (; written ''Neuß'' until 1968; ; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is on the west bank of the Rhine opposite Düsseldorf. Neuss is the largest city within the Rhein-Kreis Neuss district. It is primarily known for its ...

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

. This company depended on

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

n government guarantees and from 1850, it came under the management of the government-controlled ''Aachen-Düsseldorf-Ruhrort Railway Company'' (''Aachen-Düsseldorf-Ruhrorter Eisenbahn''), along with the ''Ruhrort-Crefeld District Gladbach Railway Company'', which opened the Duisburg-Ruhrort–Mönchengladbach line in 1849 and 1851. Prior to the

Austro-Prussian War The Austro-Prussian War (German: ''Preußisch-Österreichischer Krieg''), also known by many other names,Seven Weeks' War, German Civil War, Second War of Unification, Brothers War or Fraternal War, known in Germany as ("German War"), ''Deutsc ...

, the

n military opposed the building of fixed bridges across the Rhine for military reasons, except in fortified cities such as Cologne,

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

Koblenz Koblenz ( , , ; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz'') is a German city on the banks of the Rhine (Middle Rhine) and the Moselle, a multinational tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman Empire, Roman military p ...

and

. The line was built from Gladbach to Obercassel (now Oberkassel) and completed on 16 December 1852. Passenger services opened a month later on 17 January 1853. After completion of the line to the Belgian border at Aachen on 16 October 1854, freight traffic ran on the entire line. At the same time, Rhine station (''Rheinstation'') in Obercassel was opened. In 1866, the ''Aachen-Düsseldorf-Ruhrort Railway Company'' was acquired by the

Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company The Bergisch-Markisch Railway Company (, 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 together with the Cologne-Minden Railway (''Cöln-Min ...

(''Bergisch-Märkische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft'', BME). In July 1870, the Hamm Railway Bridge was opened over the Rhine, connecting to the BME’s Rheinknie station in Düsseldorf and bypassing the

Neuss Hauptbahnhof Neuss Central Station () is the railway station for the city of Neuss in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The main station building is built on a platform between the tracks and it is located at the junction of the Lower Left Rhine Ra ...

–Obercassel section. In 1882, the BME was nationalised and became part of

Prussian state railways The term Prussian state railways (German: ''Preußische Staatseisenbahnen'') encompasses those railway organisations that were owned or managed by the state of Prussia. The words "state railways" are not capitalized because Prussia did not have a ...

. In 1891, the new

Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof is the main railway station of Düsseldorf, the state capital of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. History The station was opened on 1 October 1891. It replaced the three following stations: *the ''Bergisch-Märkische ...

was opened and the line from Mönchengladbach was realigned to run to it. The line from Neuss to Oberkassel was closed in 1996.

Current situation

Following the establishment of the

Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn The Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn () is a polycentric S-bahn network covering the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Region in the German federated state of North Rhine-Westphalia. This includes most of the Ruhr (and cities such as Dortmund, Duisburg and Essen), the B ...

line S 8, part of the line was upgraded. Between Düsseldorf Hbf and Neuss Hbf, there is a separate two-track S-Bahn line next to the two-track main line.

Rail services

The route is served (as of 2018) by

Regional-Express In Germany, Luxembourg and Austria, the Regional-Express (; RE, or in Austria: REX) is a type of regional train. It is similar to a semi-fast train, with a top speed of and an average speed of about as it calls at fewer stations than ''R ...

trains on lines RE 4 ( Wupper-Express) and RE 13 (

Maas-Wupper-Express The Maas-Wupper-Express (RE 13) is a Regional-Express service in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), running from the Netherlands, Dutch border town of Venlo railway station, Venlo to Hamm (Westfalen) station, Hamm in Westphalia. Rou ...

). It is also served by S-Bahn lines S 8 (on the whole line), S 11 and S 28 (both between Düsseldorf and Neuss).

Planning

It is planned to establish a new station at Neuss Stadtwald between Neuss Hbf and

Büttgen Kaarst (; ) is a town in Germany. It lies in the district of Rhein-Kreis Neuss in North Rhine-Westphalia. It is 5 km west of Neuss and 12 km east of Mönchengladbach. Division of the town Kaarst consists of 5 subdivisions * Kaarst (23 ...

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Monchengladbach-Dusseldorf Railway Railway lines in North Rhine-Westphalia Railway lines opened in 1853 1853 establishments in Prussia 1853 establishments in the German Confederation Buildings and structures in Mönchengladbach Transport in Düsseldorf Buildings and structures in Rhein-Kreis Neuss nl:Spoorlijn Mönchengladbach - Düsseldorf