Börde Railway

Düren–Euskirchen railway
Bördeexpress near Zülpich
Overview
Native name	Bördebahn
Locale	North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Line number	2585
Technical
Line length	30.2 km (18.8 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Minimum radius	500 m (1,600 ft)
Maximum incline	1.25%
Route number	12474
Route map High-speed line from Aachen Rur Valley Railway from Heimbach 0.0 Düren Rur Valley Railway to Jülich former Erft Railway to Bedburg former line to DKB transfer station High-speed line to Cologne Connecting curve from Neuss 1.9 Brückenstraße (siding) former line from DKB transfer station former line from Nörvenich, Ringbahn Distelrath (Bw of the Rur Valley railway) former Düren District Railway to Zülpich 4.8 Binsfeld (request stop) 7.6 Bubenheim (former station, request stop) 9.1 Jakobwüllesheim (request stop) 13.0 Vettweiß (former station) former Düren District Railway from Nörvenich 19.5 Zülpich former Düren District Railway to Embken former Euskirchen District Railway 21.3 Nemmenich (request stop) 23.9 Dürscheven (most recently a siding) 27.3 Elsig (junction) Start of new route since 1960 former connecting curve to Eifel Railway 28.5 Euskirchen Ingridhütte (siding) Eifel Railway from Trier End of new route since 1960 29.8 Euskirchen Eifel Railway to Cologne Voreifel Railway to Bonn Erft Valley Railway to Bad Münstereifel Source: German railway atlas

The Börde Railway (German: Bördebahn) is a single track (formerly double track), non-electrified branch line in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, running from Duren via Zülpich to Euskirchen. It is named after the Jülich-Zülpich Börde (a plain with fertile loess soil), which it runs through. Today, it is particularly important for freight transport. Every weekend, the Eifel-Bördebahn (RB 28) is operated as a volunteer-operated passenger train. The services is also scheduled to run during the week from 2018, running hourly from 2020.

The Rhenish Railway Company (Rheinische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft, RhE) received a concession on 5 March 1856 for the construction and operation of a railway line between Duren and Schleiden. This route was required by the iron industry in the Eifel to transport ore and coal from the Inderevier and Wurm districts. On 6 October 1864, the Börde Railway was opened between Duren and Euskirchen. The steam locomotive Roer zog hauled seven carriages from Euskirchen to Duren.

In 1871, the section of the Eifel line from Euskirchen to Kall was opened. The Eifel line was then built past its original objective at Schleiden, although a branch line from Kall to Schleiden was not opened until 1884. In 1875 the Kalscheuren–Euskirchen section was completed. In 1880 the Euskirchen–Bonn line line was opened. At the same time the Rhenish Railway Company was nationalised by the Kingdom of Prussia.