The line was opened between Mödrath and Zieverich (and continuing to Elsdorf) on 5 November 1896 for freight and on 20 February 1897 for passenger transport.

The track bed was correspondingly wide, it was laid with standard gauge sleepers at reduced spacing, and it used heavy rail.

[3] As of 2 June 1991, trains ran through from Neuss to Horrem, continuing in the peak hour to Cologne.

At the same time, all older level crossings were upgraded to the state of the art with flashing lights.

The crossing at Bahnhofstraße in Holzheim had been equipped with a full barrier and a gatekeeper who visually checked whether the tracks were free of vehicles; this is now done with a radar scanner.

Until the timetable change on 10 December 2017, the RB 38 (Erft-Bahn) operated from Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof or Neuss (on weekends) via Bedburg to Köln Messe/Deutz.

This service, which is located in the area served by the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Sieg (Rhine-Sieg Transport association), was shortened to the Bedburg–Cologne section at the timetable change.

the section beyond Bedburg was taken over at the timetable change by a new RB 39 (Düssel-Erft-Bahn) service operated by the private transport company VIAS.

Furthermore, first class has been dropped on the Erft-Bahn service, because of its low use and because trains are always crowded during the peak hour.

Currently RB 38 services are operated exclusively with class 628 diesel multiple units, mostly as coupled sets with four carriages.

Single class 628 sets (two carriages) are used on the short shuttles between Düsseldorf/Neuss and Grevenbroich and between Bedburg and Horrem.

[5] The Zweckverband Nahverkehr Rheinland (Rhineland local transport association, NVR) still plans to upgrade the southern section of the line by around 2020, including electrification and a flying junction in Horrem to connect to the existing S-Bahn line to Cologne.

The NVR is pursuing the goal of relieving the Hohenzollern Bridge in Cologne by eliminating the RB 38 services.

The Düren–Bedburg section was closed in 1995 and dismantled in 1995 to allow the expansion of the Hambach open cast mine.

"Bnf" took control of the remaining turnouts and signals until it was taken out of service with the commissioning of the electronic interlocking in 2007.

A halt was built the village of Glesch by the Bergheim District Railway in 1897 at its current location at line-kilometer 2.5.

The line passes the Hambach Railway (Hambachbahn) of RWE Power, which is used exclusively for the transport of coal and overburden.

The platform-less track 12 ran from the back of the railcar shed; this allowed only entrances and exits from or towards Horrem.

Horrem station is now the terminus of the Erft Railway; the extension of the line to Mödrath was closed in 1978 and has since been dismantled.

The Erft Railway is connected with the high-speed line at the station via a rail triangle.