The Ruhr Valley line primarily served the transport of coal to the port of Ruhrort, bypassing the Heißen hills.

The main line of the Ruhr Valley line was opened on 1 February 1872, from Oberbilk BME (now Düsseldorf-Oberbilk), through Düsseldorf BME (now Düsseldorf Hbf), Düsseldorf-Derendorf, Düsseldorf-Rath and Ratingen Ost, passing through a tunnel through the Hösel mountain and across a bridge over the Ruhr valley—now the site of the Kettwig Reservoir (Kettwig Stausee)—to Kettwig, running on the northern side of the Ruhr to Essen-Werden to Essen-Heisingen and crossing the river again to Kupferdreh.

Passenger trains on the Lower Ruhr Valley line coming from Mülheim initially stopped at Kettwig vor der Brück station.

[3] The Upper Ruhr Valley Railway (Obere Ruhrtalbahn) was opened in 1870 via Schwerte along the river through Fröndenberg to Arnsberg.

Since the beginning of 2005, the Bochum-Dahlhausen–Hattingen–Herbede–Wengern Ost–Hagen-Vorhalle–Hagen Hbf section of the line (the Middle Ruhr Valley Railway) has been used for tourist traffic.

The Bochum Dahlhausen Railway Museum (Eisenbahnmuseum Bochum-Dahlhausen) had operated trains on the Herbede–Wengern Ost section since 1981.

The tourist trains are operated by TouristikEisenbahn Ruhrgebiet GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of RVR.