Attentive pedestrians walking across or along the railway tracks between Kessenich and Bonn Central Station will certainly have seen the weed covered dead track at the right side of the double-tracked railway line to Cologne and Koblenz. The track is a relic of the historic railway traject Oberkassel-Bonn, opened on November 1, 1870.
In 1869 Rheinische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft (Rhenanian Railway Company) started the construction of a railway from Ehrenbreitstein to Troisdorf. On July 11, 1870 the second (1) section of the line was opened, linking Neuwied to Oberkassel (44,9 km). At that time all train traffic on the right bank of the Rhine terminated at Oberkassel. During construction of the extension line to Troisdorf (completed on March 1, 1871) all northbound trains arriving in Oberkassel were detoured over the left Rhine railway line via the railway traject Bonn-Oberkassel: a short distance from Oberkassel station, the trains turned left to a pontoon terminal at the waterfront where engine and wagons were decoupled and separately loadad onto cable ferries to cross the Rhine. At the opposite shore of the river, recoupled by guards and drivers, trains started again overland to enter the main left railway line at Kessenich. The railway traject Oberkassel-Bonn was used until 1914.
(1) First section: Ehrenbreitstein – Neuwied (16,6 km)
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