page_title: Aachen–Mönchengladbach railway
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Aachen–Mönchengladbach railway / History
caption_attribution_description: Bahnhof Übach-Palenberg um 1900
context_page_description: The Aachen–Mönchengladbach railway is a main line in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is an important link between the Ruhr and Belgium for freight trains and is served by regional passenger trains. The line was built by the Aachen-Düsseldorf-Ruhrort Railway Company and is one of the oldest lines in Germany, which was opened between 1852 and 1854.
context_section_description: The planning for the construction of the route was initially carried out by the Aachen-Neuß-Düsseldorf Railway Company (German: Aachen-Neuß-Düsseldorfer Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft), which on 21 August 1846 was granted a concession by the Prussian government for the construction of the Aachen–Neuss–Düsseldorf-Oberkassel line. The company got into financial difficulties as construction started. At the same time the Ruhrort-Crefeld District Gladbach Railway Company (Ruhrort–Crefeld−Kreis Gladbach Eisenbahngesellschaft) also became unfinancial. At their own request both companies were taken over in 1850 as the Royal Division of the Aachen-Düsseldorf-Ruhrort Railway Company (Königliche Direction der Aachen-Düsseldorf-Ruhrorter Eisenbahn), although this was also a limited company.
  The route was opened in the following sections:
  The Aachen-Düsseldorf-Ruhrort Railway Company was the operator of the line from 1854 until 31 December 1865. On 1 January 1866 the company’s assets were taken by the Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company (Bergisch-Märkische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft, BME), which was mainly owned by the Prussian government.
caption: Palenberg station in 1900
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