On the approach to Aachen West station is the junction with the Montzen Railway, which is exclusively used for freight trains to and from Belgium.

The track runs on a high embankment through western Aachen and then through a deep cutting, which used to be the location of Richterich station, but is now a crossover only.

In Richterich station there used to junction with the so-called Millions line (Millionen linie) to Simpelveld in the Netherlands.

Bank engines were once needed to push heavy trains towards Aachen up the steep grade from Herzogenrath to Kohlscheid.

Currently, the standard gauge rail link of the power company, WestEnergie und Verkehr GmbH is the only remnant of the district railway era.

The Lindern–Brachelen–Baal section of the line is on a high embankment across the low plain of the Rur river, which is crossed by a concrete bridge.

After Baal station the line crosses the largely rural country known as the Erkelenzer Börde (Westphalian for "fertile lowlands").

Between the freight yard and Rheydt Hauptbahnhof, the Iron Rhine from Wegberg runs as a single track, parallel with the Aachen–Mönchengladbach line.

The route was opened in the following sections: The Aachen-Düsseldorf-Ruhrort Railway Company was the operator of the line from 1854 until 31 December 1865.