 The greater part of the route, along with the western section of the Ruhr line of the Rhenish Railway Company ("Rheinische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft", RhE), forms the Duisburg–Mönchengladbach line, one of the main line in Germany’s lower Rhine region, connecting the stations of Duisburg and Mönchengladbach.The "Ruhrort-Crefeld District Gladbach railway" was established to bring coal mined in the Ruhr district to consumers in the Lower Rhine region.The RCG therefore concluded a contract with the Cologne-Minden Railway Company (CME), which at that time was the only railway company then operating in the northern Ruhr area.