Wuppertal-Ronsdorf station

Geschichte

Wuppertal-Ronsdorf station is a station on the Wuppertal-Oberbarmen–Solingen railway in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is classified by Deutsche Bahn as a category 5 station. It is unusual in that it was once connected to lines with three different gauges.LocationThe station is located at the end of Nibelungenstraße in the Wuppertal district of Ronsdorf about 1.2 kilometres east of its centre at an altitude of 295 metres above sea level. Since the 1970s, it has been connected to the residential area of Rehsiepen, located east of the station, by a pedestrian bridge over the station’s tracks.HistoryDuring the construction of the Rittershausen–Remscheid line, a route was originally considered that would have run further west through Erbschlö and closer to central Ronsdorf. Topographic conditions led to the current route finally being selected; this runs through the hamlet of Blombach to the site of the station and continues along the Tannenbaumer Weg towards Lüttringhausen, Lennep and Remscheid.The station was opened at the same time as the line to Remscheid on 1 September 1868.The Ronsdorf-Müngsten RailwayThe Ronsdorf-Müngsten Railway (Ronsdorf-Müngstener Eisenbahn, RME) was built from 1890 as a metre gauge line to improve links with Ronsdorf and numerous metalworking companies in the Morsbach valley. The section from Stadtbahnhof ("City station"), which was adjacent to Wuppertal-Ronsdorf station, to Ronsdorf station was inaugurated on 28 May 1891. As early as 21 August 1891 the RME was extended to Clarenbach and on 16 November 1891 it was completed to Müngsten. The line was electrified in 1903. It was closed in stages up until 1959.