page_title: Siegburg–Olpe railway
section_title: Completion to the end of the First World War
hierarchical_section_title: Siegburg–Olpe railway / History / Completion to the end of the First World War
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: „Bekanntmachung - Ordnung zu der aus Anlass der Inbetriebsetzung der Eisenbahnstrecke Bergneustadt-Olpe stattfindenden Fest-Feier“
context_page_description: The Siegburg–Olpe railway or Agger Valley Railway is a single-tracked, non-electrified branch line in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Part of a direct link from Cologne, only the section from Overath to Gummersbach-Dieringhausen is still in operation. The section of line from Siegburg to Overath and from Dieringhausen to Olpe are closed.
  The line is named after the River Agger, which it follows for a long way and crosses several times.
context_section_description: On 15 October 1884, the first train ran from Siegburg on the newly completed line to Ründeroth. It was initially frequented by only four pairs of trains. Protests led by local industrialists meant that the line was extended to Bergneustadt. The line came under direction of the railway division (Eisenbahndirektion) at Frankfurt in 1895 but almost all of it (from the 0.7 kilometer point) was transferred to the railway division at Elberfeld in 1897.
  In 1893, in the Volme Valley Railway was built branching from Dieringhausen to Gummersbach station at the same time the original Niedersessmar station was renamed Gummersbach, where it is actually located. In 1897, the Wiehl Valley Railway, which branched from Osberghausen towards Waldbröl, was completed, which meant that Osberghausen station became a marshaling point.
  Finally a line closing the gap to Olpe was approved in 1898. A height difference to the watershed to the Dörspe valley had to be overcome. The Wegeringhausen tunnel was also built nearby. The construction was problematic and its cost rose to nearly twice the estimate. It was completed on 11 February 1903. This newly built section of track was especially important for the villages between Bergneustadt and Olpe. These were previously connected by poorly maintained roads and trails and the area and had not even been connected by telegraph. Therefore, the population enthusiastically celebrated its completion for several hours, despite the long connecting times to Siegburg and Cologne. At the completion of the extension to Olpe, five pairs of passenger trains ran between Siegburg and Olpe and four more between Siegburg and Bergneustadt.</ref>
  In 1910, the still operating section between Overath and Cologne was completed, ending through services between Siegburg and the Oberbergische district. This had a negative economic impact on Siegburg, because passengers now took the shorter, direct route to Cologne. The travel time from the Bergisches Land to Cologne was shortened to one and a half hours by the elimination of the detour via Siegburg and the old Siegburg–Overath route lost its importance.
  Between 1910 and 1914, the line was relaid in many places on the hillside, as there had been many fatal traffic accidents and complaints of noise pollution in the area between Osberghausen and Derschlag. Between Niedersessmar and Derschlag the old track was used by passenger and freight trams operated at lower speed by the Gummersbach Light Railways (Gummersbacher Kleinbahnen). Between Vollmerhausen and Niedersessmar the old track was completely removed.
  In 1913, a line was proposed to Eckenhagen. This 6.9 km long line was approved in March 1914, but the outbreak of the First World War, prevented its construction. Similarly, it was proposed in the 1920s to extend the Gummersbach Light Railways to Eckenhagen.
caption: Public notice for the opening ceremony of the Bergneustadt–Olpe section
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