The Wuppertal-Vohwinkel-Essen Überruhr Railway is a long, continuous two-track electrified main line. It is known as the ''Prince William Railway'', the first railway linking the valleys of the

Wupper The Wupper () is a right tributary of the Rhine in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Rising near Marienheide in western Sauerland it runs through the mountainous region of the Bergisches Land in Berg County and enters the Rhine at Le ...

and the

Ruhr The Ruhr ( ; , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr Area, sometimes Ruhr District, Ruhr Region, or Ruhr Valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 1,160/km2 and a populati ...

. The first line on the route was opened in 1831 by the ''Deil Valley Railway Company'' (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

: ''Deilthaler Eisenbahn Aktiengesellschaft'') along the Deilbach Valley and was the first railway in Germany, although horse-hauled until its conversion to standard gauge in 1847.

Construction of the line

Deil Valley Railway Company/Prince William Railway Company

On 21 June 1844 the Prince William Railway Company (German: ''Prinz-Wilhelm-Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft'', ''PWE'') had received the concession for the rebuilding of its existing line between Nierenhof (near Langenberg, now part of

Velbert Velbert (, Low Rhenish: ''Vèlbed'') is a town in the district of Mettmann (district), 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 ...

) and Hinsbek (a suburb of Kupferdreh, now part of

Essen Essen () 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 Dortmund, as well as ...

). The line was converted from

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...

() to standard gauge () and extended in the south to Vohwinkel and in the north to Überruhr and opened for passenger operations on 1 December 1847.

Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company

The Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company (German: ''Bergisch-Märkische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft'', ''BME'') took over operation of the route on 27 March 1854 and on 1 January 1863 it acquired the Prince William Railway Company and its line. It extended the line in a north-easterly direction to Steele (later Steele Hauptbahnhof, now Essen-Steele Ost station, connecting to a section of its Witten/Dortmund–Oberhausen/Duisburg line opened in March 1862) and from there along the Ruhr through Dahlhausen and on to Langendreer BME. The Essen-Überruhr–Bochum-Langendreer line was opened five months later on 1 June 1863.

Terminal station

Since the extension of the line in 1847 trains had to reverse in the terminal station (German: ''Kopfstation'', literally "head station") in the Siebeneick Valley to continue their journey. This need was overcome in 1868 with the realignment of the track and the closure of the station.

Ruhr Valley Railway

On 1 February 1872 the first part of the BME's

Ruhr Valley Railway The Ruhr Valley Railway () is a partly abandoned railway line in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, running from Düsseldorf-Rath station, Düsseldorf-Rath via Old Kupferdreh station, Bochum-Dahlhausen station, Bochum-Dahlhausen, Witten-H ...

was opened from Düsseldorf-Oberbilk to Essen-Kupferdreh, and in 1874 another section of it from Essen-Überruhr to Hagen-Vorhalle (connecting with the Elberfeld–Dortmund line). Both routes now no longer connect with the Prince William line, the sections from Essen-Kupferdreh to Essen-Werden and Essen-Überruhr via Altendorf (now Essen-Burgaltendorf) to Bochum-Dahlhausen are now closed and partially dismantled.

Current situation

In the 1970s work began on developing the main lines in the central Ruhr area for 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 ...

. On 1 February 1978 a direct connection was opened for the first time from Essen-Überruhr to Essen-Steele (then Essen-Steele West), while the line between Essen-Überruhr and Essen-Steele Ost was closed. The new connecting curve is a single-track line like the old line. This work allowed a new through service. Instead of going to Essen-Steele Ost and further east, trains from Wuppertal-Vohwinkel could continue to

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 Eisenba ...

. The section from Essen-Steele Ost to Bochum- Dahlhausen West junction had already been incorporated (on 26 May 1974) into S-Bahn line S3. The Wuppertal-Vohwinkel-Essen Überruhr line was upgraded for its inclusion in the S-Bahn on 15 December 2003 and electrified for its whole length. Velbert-Rosenhügel station was rebuilt and Velbert-Neviges station was relocated. In addition, the Aprath station closed in 1965 was reopened as Wülfrath-Aprath station. The old platforms of Domap station, which was closed in May 1965, were also demolished. S-Bahn line S9 runs every 30 minutes from

Wuppertal Wuppertal (; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany, with a population of 355,000. Wuppertal is the seventh-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and List of cities in Germany by population, 17th-largest in Germany. It ...

to Wuppertal-Vohwinkel, Velbert, Essen-Überruhr, Essen-Steele, Essen Hbf, Essen-Borbeck,

Bottrop Bottrop () is a city in west-central Germany, on the Rhine–Herne Canal, in North Rhine-Westphalia. Located in the Ruhr area, Ruhr industrial area, Bottrop adjoins Essen, Oberhausen, Gladbeck, and Dorsten. The city had been a coal-mining and ...

and

Gladbeck Gladbeck () is a town in the district of Recklinghausen (district), Recklinghausen in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Gladbeck is quite a young town, first recognised 21 July 1919 when it was given town rights. The town established itself aroun ...

. Once an hour S-Bahn trains continue to

Recklinghausen Recklinghausen (; ) is the northernmost city in the Ruhr-Area and the capital of the Recklinghausen district. It borders the rural Münsterland and is characterized by large fields and farms in the north and industry in the south. Recklinghaus ...

Haltern am See Haltern am See (''Haltern at the lake'', before December 2001 only Haltern) is a medium-sized town in the northern part of the Recklinghausen (district), district of Recklinghausen in the Münster (region), ''Regierungsbezirk'' Münster in North Rh ...

and

Hagen Hagen () is a city in the States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany, on the southeastern edge of the Ruhr area, 15 km south of Dortmund, where the rivers Lenne and Volme meet the Ruhr (river), Ruhr. In 2023, the ...

References

Footnotes

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wuppertal-Vohwinkel-Essen-Uberruhr Railway Railway lines in North Rhine-Westphalia Standard-gauge railways in Germany 820 mm gauge railways in Germany Railway lines opened in 1831 1831 establishments in Prussia Ruhr Transport in Essen Buildings and structures in Wuppertal