State:	North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with four of the country's ten largest cities. The state was formed in 1946 as a merger of the northern Rhineland and Westphalia, both formerly part of Prussia. Its capital is Düsseldorf. The state is currently run by a coalition of the...

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The Wupper-Express (RE 4) is a Regional-Express service in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia

North Rhine-Westphalia

North Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with four of the country's ten largest cities. The state was formed in 1946 as a merger of the northern Rhineland and Westphalia, both formerly part of Prussia. Its capital is Düsseldorf. The state is currently run by a coalition of the...

 (NRW) running from Aachen

Aachen Hauptbahnhof

Aachen Central Station is the train station for the city of Aachen, in the far west of Germany near the Dutch and Belgian border. It is the largest of the four currently active Aachen stations, and is integrated into the long-distance network.- History :...

 via Mönchengladbach

Mönchengladbach Hauptbahnhof

is a railway station in the city of Mönchengladbach in western Germany.-Overview:The station is the largest railway station in the city and, along with Rheydt Hbf, one of the two Hauptbahnhof stations in Mönchengladbach...

, Düsseldorf

Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof

is the Hauptbahnhof for the city of Düsseldorf in Germany, state capital of North Rhine-Westphalia.-History:The station was opened on 1 October 1891 opened as Düsseldorf Central Station...

, Wuppertal, Hagen

Hagen Hauptbahnhof

is the Hauptbahnhof for the city of Hagen in western Germany. It is an important rail hub for the southeastern Ruhr area, offering regional and long distance connections....

 to Dortmund

Dortmund Hauptbahnhof

is the central station for the city of Dortmund in Germany.The station's origins lie in a joint station of the Köln-Mindener Eisenbahn and Bergisch-Märkische Eisenbahn which was built north of the city centre in 1847. That station was replaced by a new station, erected in 1910 at the current site....

. The service is operated every hour by DB Regio

DB Regio

DB Regio AG is a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn which operates short and medium distance passenger train services in Germany, and operates light and heavy rail infrastructure in the United Kingdom.-Germany:...

 NRW. It is the third most widely used Regional-Express line in the area administered by the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr

Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr

The Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr is the public transport association covering the area of the Rhine-Ruhr megalopolis in Germany...

 with approximately 24,000 passengers a day.

History

Today's RE 4 is the successor to the former StädteExpress line SE from Aachen

Aachen Hauptbahnhof

Aachen Central Station is the train station for the city of Aachen, in the far west of Germany near the Dutch and Belgian border. It is the largest of the four currently active Aachen stations, and is integrated into the long-distance network.- History :...

 to Hagen and Iserlohn

Iserlohn

Iserlohn is a city in the Märkischer Kreis district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the largest city by population and area within the district and the Sauerland region.-Geography:...

. Later, the end point was moved to Hamm and after the abolition of InterRegio

InterRegio

The InterRegio is a train service seen in some European countries. Mostly they are trains that run "from region to region", as best described by Swiss Federal Railways.-Switzerland:...

 services it was extended to Munster

Münster Hauptbahnhof

-History:The original Münster station was opened in 1848 by the Münster-Hamm Railway Company, when it opened by the Münster–Hamm railway to the then capital of the Prussian Province of Westphalia as a terminus of its branch line from Hamm, where it connected with Cologne-Minden trunk line. The...

. Under the second stage of North Rhine-Westphalia’s integrated timetable (ITF 2), introduced in December 2002, it was replaced by the Maas-Wupper-Express (RE 13) and the Ems-Börde-Bahn (RB 89) services between Hagen and Munster and the Wupper-Express has since then run to Dortmund with a stop in Witten

Witten Hauptbahnhof

is the Hauptbahnhof for the town of Witten in western Germany. It is situated southwest of the town.In 1849 the station was opened as Witten West by the Bergisch-Märkische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft. At the end of the 19th century the whole station was reconstructed, the new station building was was...

.

Route

The Wupper-Express runs successively over the Aachen–Mönchengladbach, the Mönchengladbach–Düsseldorf and the Düsseldorf–Elberfeld

Düsseldorf–Elberfeld railway

The Düsseldorf–Elberfeld railway is a 27 km long main line railway in Germany, originally built by the Düsseldorf-Elberfeld Railway Company, connecting Düsseldorf and Elberfeld via Erkrath, Hochdahl and Vohwinkel...

 lines. The service then follows the Elberfeld–Dortmund railway

Elberfeld–Dortmund railway

The Elberfeld–Dortmund railway is a major German railway. It is part of a major axis for long distance and regional rail services between Wuppertal and Cologne, and is served by Intercity Express, InterCity, Regional Express, Regionalbahn and S-Bahn trains....

 as far as Witten station, from where it uses the tracks of the Witten/Dortmund–Oberhausen/Duisburg railway and the Oberstraße Tunnel on its way to Dortmund station. At night, the RE 4 operates to Düsseldorf Airport Terminal station

Düsseldorf Airport Terminal station

Düsseldorf Airport Terminal is an underground station on the Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn at the end of the Düsseldorf-Unterrath–Düsseldorf Airport Terminal railway, situated underneath Terminal C of Düsseldorf International Airport, Düsseldorf in western Germany. It is served by the S11 line...

.

The Wupper-Express runs parallel to Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn lines on large sections of track and it has some of the character of a fast S-Bahn service and is perceived by passengers accordingly.

Rollingstock

The Wupper-Express uses class 111 locomotives

DB Class 111

The Baureihe 111 is a class of electric locomotives built for the Deutsche Bundesbahn, and now owned by Deutsche Bahn AG.- History :Class 111 is the successor of the Class 110 express Einheitslokomotive...

 and non-air conditioned double-deck coaches. Additional peak hour services operate between Düsseldorf and Aachen with class 110

DB Class E 10

The class E 10 is an electric locomotive of the Deutsche Bundesbahn, introduced in 1952. It belongs to the Einheits-Elektrolokomotiven program and was built for express passenger service. In 1968 the series was redesignated as class 110 and class 112...

 and 111 locomotives, operated exclusively with refurbished Silberling

Silberling

Silberling is the colloquial name for the n-coaches of the Deutsche Bundesbahn, a type of regional passenger coach of which more than 7,000 units were built from 1958 to 1981...

 carriages.

See also

• List of regional rail lines in North Rhine-Westphalia
• List of scheduled railway routes in Germany