Siegburg–Overath section usually had only local significance. Following the opening of the Cologne–Overath railway, trains ran from Cologne to Dieringhausen or even Hagen. The timetable only included a service over the whole of the original line from Siegburg to Olpe until the Second World War. There were also mostly only local passenger trains on the section between Dieringhausen and Olpe. There were few express trains in the timetable which ran to points outside the area. This was also one of the reasons for the closure of passenger services, partly caused by poor design, including the lack of a direct connection from Olpe to Gummersbach except via an awkward set of points in the Dieringhausen district. History Planning and construction The first documented written discussions on a railway through the Oberbergische district date back to 1861. At that time, manufacturers founded a committee that planned a railway connection between Cologne and Kassel. This was originally intended to be a main line. This project did not materialise because the Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company (Bergisch-Märkische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft) preferred a more northerly lines via Hagen and because of the problem of financing it—a main line would have cost 30 million gold marks. For comparison, the section from Bergneustadt to Olpe was priced at 3,367,000 marks in its building permit. The planners of the Siegburg–Olpe railway preferred a direct connection to Cologne from the beginning rather than the indirect route via Siegburg. But at this time, there was still a military base in Cologne, which was in the way of the line. Another early plan proposed a line through the Agger valley from Siegburg to the Ruhr as part of the East Rhine Railway. This plan was rejected after the intervention of Cologne industrialists. The Agger Valley Railway was the first major railway line inside the district of Oberbergischer Kreis. Before its construction, some critics claimed that its operations would not be profitable, so it was only agreed after long discussions and after the exertion of political pressure. The critics came mainly from the Cologne area because of its connection to Siegburg, as well as from the staff of the Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company, which favoured a route to the north. The political pressure included the Prussian minister for railway at the time, Albert von Maybach, the most influential person in the region in relation to railway construction after Hermann von Budde. The first railway connections in the