The first electric local railway in EuropeUpon completion the construction of the bridge on 12th November 1898 the local railway service to Krefeld commenced on 15th December 1898. This was the first electrical suburban railway in Europe to offer a scheduled service. The trains travelled from Duesseldorf to Krefeld at the impressive speed of 40 km/h. However, because it was a main-line service, it was not allowed to operate on public roads, because the tracks could only be built as close as possible to the villages and towns that were served, but not through them.
The main-line railway to Krefeld, which is today the U 76 line in the Rheinbahn’s network, is still characterised by the original route. The journey takes passengers through little picturesque farms on the outskirts of the villages. The railway between Haroldstrasse in Duesseldorf and Rheinstrasse in Krefeld is 22.2 km in length. In Duesseldorf as far as Oberkassel Station and in Krefeld, a two-track service is operated. Between the cities there is only one track.
In order to facilitate a national railway freight service right from the outset, the tracks on the Oberkassel side were built with standard national railway profiles. In Osterath, the railway intersected with a national railway overpass and then continued in a straight line along a lonely section of track to Krefeld-Diessem. From there, the train wound through the narrow streets around the central station to its present-day terminal in Krefeld’s Rheinstrasse. In Oberkassel, an electricity works was built to power the railway. It also provided electricity to the citizens of Oberkassel so that income could be generated through third party revenue.
The coach sheds and workshops were located at the depot next to the electricity works in Oberkassel. When operations commenced in 1898, there were 13 tramcars and 8 trailers for passenger transport and 8 freight cars. In addition to the power station and depot, the company also built homes on Hansaallee for its employees. These houses are mostly semi-detached and still owned by the company. They demonstrate that the Rheinbahn’s business philosophy has always accorded priority to the welfare of its employees.
The Rheinbahn service initially only extended to Ratinger Tor and was extended on 25th November 1899 via Alleestrasse and Breitestrasse to Haroldstrasse. In 1899, an agreement was concluded with the Duesseldorf city council as regards tramway freight transportation. At the expense of the Rheinbahn, the city council built a track to the lower Rhine wharf from Ratinger Tor via Ratinger Strasse to Burgplatz. This enabled the Rheinbahn to link up its freight warehouse on Schlossufer with the local railway line. Although this description of the Rheinbahn’s freight operations is rather dry, it shows how the company made a conscious and successful attempt to offer a comprehensive portfolio of all feasible transport services.
With skill and business acumen, it operated freight services that took stones and salt to the market place, or cabbages, vegetables and other agricultural products to Krefeld and Heerdt.
A curious story was found in historical press reports: one driver fell asleep while operating one of the freight trains. He continued to Oberkassel without stopping and without picking up one single milk churn. You can well imagine the looks of amazement on the farmers’ faces as they waited with their churns at the side of the track.