It connects the marshalling yards of Duisburg-Wedau (formerly important, now closed and demolished) and Gremberg (in Cologne).

[2] It runs parallel, but a few kilometres to the east of the Cologne–Duisburg trunk line opened by the Cologne-Minden Railway Company (Cöln-Mindener Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft) thirty years earlier, from which it hoped to draw traffic.

Since the line bypasses the centre of the towns, soon after the nationalisation of both companies in 1879/1880 passenger operations were closed on parts of it.

After the Second World War passenger services ran only on the section from Mülheim-Speldorf to Düsseldorf-Rath (continuing to Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof) and from Hilden to Opladen.

Since then the only operation on the line is the Regionalbahn service, Der Wedauer (RB 37), from Duisburg Hauptbahnhof to Duisburg-Entenfang.