As early as 1832, the Dutch Lieutenant Brade proposed the construction of a railway on the west bank of the Rhine from Amsterdam to Cologne.

During the preliminary considerations for the construction of the Cologne–Minden railway, the committee proposed a line through Wesel, Münster and Bielefeld to Minden.

The head of the Cologne-Minden Railway Committee, David Hansemann, rejected the initiative on the grounds that the line chosen should be the shortest route, especially since the connection between Berlin and the fortified city of Cologne was more important[5][6] After Hansemann's rejection, the Wesel Committee concentrated increasingly on a link between Cologne and Amsterdam, which would connect the Ruhr with the North Sea.

After the March Revolution in 1848, Ludwig Bischoff had to resign from the school and leave the town of Wesel and the committee due to his liberal views.

The town continued to seek support from some senior military personnel; as early as 1843, the Prussian Ministry of War had endorsed a rail connection to Wesel.

In November 1850, the Prussian Minister of Commerce August von der Heydt instructed Wesel to stop promoting the scheme and indicated that the current situation made it impossible to issue an interest guarantee.

A station on the eastern side, on the other hand, satisfied the town and the CME and was ultimately built due to the problems with the western option.

[7] The CME intended to build the railway embankment to be flood-proof at 35 Prussian feet (≈ 11.0 metres) above the level of Wesel.

To protect the existing fortress, the Ministry of War called for the construction of Fort Fusternberg on the land between the station and the Lippe (at a cost of 185,000 thalers).

In addition, the construction of a horse-hauled railway including protective works from the station to the port was required in order to bring operating materials to safety in the fortress in the event of war (28,500 thalers).

The CME rejected the additional costs of 350,000 thalers and declared itself ready to build a bulwark on the strong point of Flamer Schanze on the other side of the Lippe.

The company pointed out that the railway embankment would be demolished without compensation in the event of war and therefore could not bear the additional costs.

[6] The CME had held opening ceremonies over several days from 17 October 1856, including, among other things, a special trip from Deutz to Amsterdam and back.

The mayor asked all the town councilors to gather on the platform in festive clothes when the train arrived at 12:30 p.m. and a music corps would also line up.

The condition for the granting of an overall license was the construction of a fixed crossing of the Rhine near Wesel, since the fortress would be able to prevent its use in the event of war.

The increasing tensions between Prussia and the French Empire, culminating in the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, led to the withdrawal of the Rothschild banking house from the project.

The company therefore always tried to delay the construction of the Haltern–Venlo line, which was not expected to be profitable, or to alter it to pass over a Rhine bridge near Ruhrort, which was rejected.

[11] Only when the Noord-Brabantsch-Duitsche Spoorweg-Maatschappij (North Brabantsch-German Railway Company; NBDS) agreed to run its trains to Wesel, was the CME ready to carry out its construction.

At the same time, it was decided to ensure that the radius of the two curves, which the Haltern–Venlo railway would follow in front of and behind Wesel station, would not to be too tight.

In preparation for the construction of the tracks, the CME had previously moved all storage areas and two military ramps to the east side, where a goods shed was later built.

In order to separate the traffic of the two main lines, it moved the Venlo Railway facilities to the west side of the entrance building, which used up the last remaining space between the station and the fortifications.

[22] In the Allied bombing of Wesel during the final phase of the Second World War the station was hardly affected in contrast to the town.

[25] Temporary bridges were used on the line to Oberhausen until 1946 and the trains to the north terminated in Emmerich until 1949, when the section to the border near Elten was restored to operation.

In its last years, it had only served local passenger and freight traffic, while international trains were covered from Oberhausen or Emmerich.

[31] In the same year, Deutsche Bundesbahn abandoned the carriage of express parcels, which since the dismantling of the railway tracks to the west had to be handled on the passenger platforms.

In the middle of the construction work, Deutsche Bahn issued its preliminary plans for the expansion of the Oberhausen–Emmerich line as part of the Trans-European Networks Rotterdam–Genoa corridor.

Initially, the construction of a third track between Wesel and Oberhausen on the east side was planned, but a short time later it became known that this would go all the way to Zevenaar in the Netherlands.

The lower wall surfaces in the waiting and service rooms, up to 1.5 metres above the floor, were given a coating of planed board instead of plaster.

As the wooden structures did not provide the minimum clearances as a result of the limits set by the regulations, a special permit was required.

[36] Despite the heavy Allied air raids on Wesel, the main entrance building survived the Second World War almost unscathed.