Cologne-Minden Railway Company
As early as 1847 the Cologne-Minden Railway Company ("Cöln-Mindener Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft", CME) had opened the Dortmund-Hamm leg of its trunk line. To its south the Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company ("Bergisch-Märkische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft", BME) opened the parallel Dortmund–Soest line in 1855.