Bergisch-Märkische Eisenbahn

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The Bergisch-Märkische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft was a railway company in Germany, developing the railway network in the Ruhr area together with the Köln-Mindener Eisenbahn during the 19th century.

[edit] History

The BME was founded on October 18, 1843 in Elberfeld (now a part of Wuppertal) to provide railway access for the Wupper valley, since the Köln-Mindener Eisenbahn had previously favoured laying its track via Duisburg.

Over the next decades, the BME built (and bought) a number of railway lines in the Ruhr valley:

1847–1849 Elberfeld - Oberbarmen – Schwelm – Hagen – Witten – Dortmund
1855 Dortmund – Hörde – Unna – Soest
1857 buyout of the Düsseldorf-Elberfelder Eisenbahn: Düsseldorf - Erkrath - Hochdahl - (Wuppertal-)Elberfeld
1859–1861 Hagen – Letmathe – Finnentrop – Kreuztal – Siegen (Ruhr-Sieg-Strecke)
1859–1862 Witten – (Bochum-)Langendreer – (Essen-)Steele – Essen – Mülheim (Ruhr) – (Mühlheim-)Styrum – Duisburg
1863 acquisition of Steele-Vohwinkler Eisenbahn (Prinz-Wilhelm-Eisenbahn)
1864 acquisition Aachen-Düsseldorf-Ruhrorter Eisenbahn
1866 Viersen – Kaldenkirchen – Venlo
1868 buyout of Hessische Nordbahn
1870 Neuss – Düsseldorf (including bridge over the Rhine)
1870–1873 Schwerte – Brilon Wald - Warburg
1872 Düsseldorf – (Essen-)Kettwig – (Essen-)Kupferdreh - Herdecke - Schwerte (Ruhrtalbahn)
1873 Rheydt-Odenkirchen – Jülich – Düren, Jülich - Weisweiler - Eschweiler-Aue (Talbahnlinie)
1876 Mülheim-Styrum – (Essen-)Kettwig(Untere Ruhrtalbahn)
1877 (Essen-)Werden – Essen
1879 Rheydt-Dalheim - Dutch border
1880 buyout of Niederländisch-Westfälische Eisenbahn