Osterath–Dortmund Süd railway

Osterath–Dortmund Süd railway
Osterath–Dortmund Süd railway
	Network of the former Rhenish Railway Company
Overview
Line number	2610 (Osterath – Lohbruch); 2504 (Lohbruch – DU-Rheinhausen); 2505 (DU-Rheinhausen – BO Nord); 2151 (BO Nord – DO-Dorstfeld); 2126 (DO-Dorstfeld – DO Süd); Connecting lines:; 2312 (DU-Hochfeld Süd – DU Hbf); 2326 (DU Hbf – DU-Hochfeld Süd Vorbf);
Locale	North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Service
Route number	425 (KR-Oppum – DU Hbf); 450.4 (DO-Lüttgendortmund – DO Süd);
Technical
Line length	76 km (47 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Operating speed	120 km/h (74.6 mph) or 80 km/h (49.7 mph)
Route map
Route map
	Dortmund Süd
	(former Dortmund RhE/KWE)
	Dortmund West
	(interchange station planned)**
	Dortmund-Dorstfeld
	(interchange station, high level) *
	Dortmund-Somborn crossover
	(single track from here)
	Former line to Essen-Altenessen
	and Essen-Bergeborbeck
	Essen-Altendorf junction
	(formerly Altendorf station)
	Mülheim (Ruhr)-Heißen
	(depot; former station)
	Mülheim (Ruhr) Hbf
	(former Keilbahnhof)
	Former Lower Ruhr Valley Railway
	MH-Styrum–E-Kettwig
	Former Lower Ruhr Valley Railway
	from Essen-Kettwig
	(former course via
	Hohenbudberg marshalling yard)
	current Lower Left Rhine Railway
	from Krefeld
	-0.1
	49.2
	original Rhenish route to Krefeld
	(only freight)
	original Lower Left Rhine Railway
	from Krefeld
	Source: German railway atlas ; Right: RhE kilometrage, left new S-Bahn kilometrage ; * Dortmund–Bochum S1 ; ** Dortmund–Hagen S5

The Osterath–Dortmund-Süd railway is a historically significant line in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Parts of it are closed, much of it is now used for freight only, but several sections are still used for Regional-Express, Regionalbahn or Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn services.

The nearly 76 kilometre long line was built in three stages between 1866 and 1874 by the Rhenish Railway Company (German: Rheinische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft, RhE), creating a third major east-west line through the Ruhr area. It was intended to compete effectively with the established and profitable lines of its competitors—the Duisburg–Dortmund line of the Cologne-Minden Railway Company and the Ruhr line of Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company, but it was not successful.