Elberfeld–Dortmund railway
Network of the Bergisch-Märkische Railway
Overview
Line number	2550 (Wuppertal–Hagen) 2801 (Hagen–Dortmund) 2525 (Wuppertal–Schwelm, S-Bahn) 2701 (W-Oberbarmen–Schwelm, freight)
Locale	North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Service
Route number	427, 455 (long distance) 450.5, 450.8 (S-Bahn)
Technical
Line length	56 km (35 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	15 kV/16.7 Hz AC overhead catenary
Operating speed	160 km/h (99.4 mph) (max)
Route map km Dortmund–Hamm railway to Hamm Dortmund–Enschede railway to Lünen 31.3 Dortmund ↓S1S2S5 Duisburg–Dortmund railway to Wanne-Eickel Witten/Dortmund–Oberhausen/Duisburg railway to Bochum/Witten S1 Dortmund West (planned) Welver–Sterkrade railway S2S4 & Osterath–Dortmund Süd railway Dortmund–Soest railway to Soest Dortmunderfeld–Schnettkerbrücke junction line Osterath–Dortmund Süd railway to Dortmund-Lütgendortmund 27.6 & Welver–Sterkrade railway to Dortmund-Huckarde Schönau junction 25.6 Dortmund-Barop Dortmund-Hombruch (planned) 23.2 Dortmund-Kruckel Witten Rüdinghauser Feld (planned) 20.3 Witten-Annen Nord Witten Universität (planned) ← to Dortmund-Löttringhausen to Bochum-Langendreer → Witten/Dortmund–Oberhausen/Duisburg railway to Bochum/Dortmund 15.3 Witten Witten–Wengern Ost/Schwelm railway to Schwelm 7.8 Wetter Ruhr Ruhr Valley Railway to Hattingen (Ruhr) (freight only) Düsseldorf-Derendorf–Dortmund Süd railway 4.3 Hagen-Vorhalle A 1 to Düsseldorf-Derendorf– Dortmund Süd railway 3.6 Hagen-Vorhalle Yo junction to Düsseldorf-Derendorf–Dortmund Süd railway to Hagen-Eckesey (freight only) Ruhr Valley Railway to Hagen-Hengstey (   freight line ) Düsseldorf-Derendorf–Dortmund Süd railway ← to Hagen-Eckesey│to Hagen-Hengstey → to Düsseldorf-Derendorf–Dortmund Süd railway to Hagen-Eckesey Volme Hagen–Hamm railway to Hamm & Ruhr-Sieg railway to Siegen Hagen goods yard Hagen-Eckesey (planned) Düsseldorf-Derendorf–Dortmund Süd railway to Hagen-Eckesey 0.0 141.7 Hagen ↑S5│S8S9↓ Volme to Volme Valley Railway Düsseldorf-Derendorf– Dortmund Süd railway to Gevelsberg   S8 140.8 Rehsiepen (Nord) junction to Volme Valley Railway Volme Valley Railway to Lüdenscheid 140.2 Rehsiepen junction flying junction 138.1 Hagen-Haspe Ennepe Valley Railway 132.7 Gevelsberg Ennepe Valley Railway to Altenvoerde Ennepe 130.5 Ennepetal km Witten–Wengern Ost/Schwelm railway to Gevelsberg S8S9 5.2 126.0 Schwelm to Düsseldorf-Derendorf– Dortmund Süd railway 3.7 Schwelm West 2.2 Wuppertal-Langerfeld (original) 1.8 Wuppertal-Langerfeld to Düsseldorf-Derendorf– Dortmund Süd railway Wuppertal-Langerfeld freight line flyover Wuppertal-Oberbarmen–Opladen railway to Wuppertal-Rauenthal Wupper original alignment to Wuppertal-Rauenthal 0.0 120.9 Wuppertal-Oberbarmen 118.9 Wuppertal-Barmen km 117.0 Wuppertal-Unterbarmen 115.7 Wuppertal-Döppersberg original start of line 115.4 Wuppertal Düsseldorf–Elberfeld railway to Düsseldorf S8 km [1]

The Elberfeld–Dortmund railway is a major railway in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is part of a major axis for long distance and regional rail services between Wuppertal and Cologne, and is served by Intercity Express, InterCity, Regional Express, Regionalbahn and S-Bahn trains.

This 56 km long line was the main line of the Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company. It was opened in 1849 and has been redeveloped several times since and is now fully electrified.

History

Since the Cologne-Minden Railway Company had decided to build its route via Duisburg rather than through the valley of the Wupper river, the Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company (German: Bergisch-Märkische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft, BME) determined to build its own line through the Wupper valley, to create a link between the highly industrialised area of the Bergisches Land with the east, particularly to connect with the Märkische coal fields, near Dortmund. On 12 July 1844, it acquired a concession from the Prussian government for a rail link in the highly industrialised area of the Wupper valley and the Bergisch land. The line was opened from Döppersberg in Wuppertal to Schwelm on 9 October 1847. It was extended to Hagen and Dortmund on 20 December 1848.^[2][3]

On 9 March 1849, Düsseldorf-Elberfeld Railway Company's and the BME completed a line connecting the Elberfeld–Dortmund line with the Düsseldorf–Elberfeld line, which connected Wuppertal-Steinbeck to the Rhine at Düsseldorf and was completed in 1841.^[2] This line ran through the new Elberfeld station (now called Wuppertal Hauptbahnhof) and the nearby Döppersberg station was closed.

Development of the Main Line

After the BME was nationalised, its main line between Düsseldorf and Dortmund were gradually upgraded. Between 1900 and 1915 additional tracks were built for local traffic with the existing tracks being reserved for through trains. The first section of track was opened in 1911 between Unterbarmen and Oberbarmen, followed by the section between Elberfeld and Vohwinkel opened on 10 April 1913. Two years later, the gap was closed between Elberfeld and Unterbarmen.^[4]

Current situation

The line runs partly parallel with the tracks of the Wuppertal Northern Railway built by the Rhenish Railway Company, which ran through the countryside of the northern Wupper valley and is now largely abandoned.

The S-Bahn line S8 and S9 from Hagen to Wuppertal (S8 continue to Düsseldorf and Mönchengladbach) uses sections of both routes, which are connected by a short section of the largely abandoned Witten-Schwelm line. The S-Bahn line S5 connecting Dortmund, Witten and Hagen (where it connects with S8 and S9) runs entirely on the historic BME route.

Services

The line is also used every hour by Intercity Express line 10, connecting Cologne and Berlin via Hamm, Hanover, stopping at Wuppertal and Hagen. Additional InterCity trains also operate between Cologne and Hamm on IC lines 31 and 55 every 2 hours.

The section of the line between Hagen and Wuppertal is served hourly by Regional-Express line RE 4 (Wupper-Express) between Dortmund and Aachen via Dusseldorf, stopping at major stations. The line is also served hourly by line RE 7 (Rhein-Münsterland-Express) between Krefeld and Münster via Cologne and Hamm and by line RE 13 (Maas-Wupper-Express) between Venlo (Netherlands) and Hamm via Mönchengladbach. Various Regionalbahn services also operate on the line.

Notes