Noord-Brabantsch-Duitsche Spoorweg-Maatschappij

On May 28, 1869, Van Meukeren received the final Dutch concession for the construction of a railway from Boxtel via Gennep to the Prussian borders in the directions to Kleve and Wesel. On February 14, 1872, the final concession of the Prussian government followed. The company was initially based in Rotterdam, but moved to Gennep. The central workshop was also located there. The NBDS line was opened with the intention of being part of the fastest London – Berlin – Saint Petersburg connection. From 1881 express trains (boat trains) ran on this line, with which one could travel from Vlissingen via Wesel to Berlin and Hamburg without having to change trains. From Vlissingen station, the journey could be continued with ships of the Stoomvaart Maatschappij Zeeland, which took the travelers to Queenborough. Here it was possible to transfer to the trains of the London, Chatham and Dover Railway towards London. Because of this comfort, many monarchs and diplomats made use of this route for their European travels. Postal carriages and passenger carriages from the CIWL (WL and WR) rode along on the trains (mail trains). The German border station was Goch and Hassum, the Dutch one was Gennep. The railway was called the "German Line"; in Germany, the name was Boxteler Bahn.

Between Büderich and Wesel, the NBDS used a 1950m long railway bridge over the Rhine. It was built between 1872 and 1874, as part of the construction of the Hamburg – Münster – Wesel – Straelen – Venlo line by the Köln-Mindener Eisenbahn. Another important work of art on the 100 km long section was the Maasbrug near Gennep.

The First World War put an end to this prominent traffic in 1914. During this period, mainly refugees from England and America made use of the NBDS through the then neutral Netherlands. On June 1, 1919, the SS took over the operations of the line. On November 15, 1922, the NBDS was declared bankrupt by the court of Rotterdam. July 1, 1925, the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft took over the German section of the railway. This meant that the railway company was now nationalized on both sides of the border. The workshop was closed that same year. Express trains no longer ran on this section. The line was relegated to sidelines on both sides. In the Netherlands, on August 1, 1924, the line became nothing more than a branch line.

The railway after bankruptcy

At the end of World War II, the railway bridge at Wesel was blown up by the retreating German Wehrmacht on March 10, 1945. the German section of het Duitse lijntje came to an end. In the years 1949-1967 the German part was closed and broken up (Goch – Hassum closed to passengers in 1949 and to goods in 1967 and Goch – Uedem closed to passengers in 1963 and to goods in 1966). During the Second World War, the section between Xanten and Uedem had been damaged so many times by Canadian soldiers that it was never repaired. A road was constructed on the Goch – Uedem route.

In 1950, the NS ended the last piece of passenger traffic on the Boxtel – Uden line. In 1970 goods traffic on the Uden – Gennep section was terminated. The Maasbrug near Gennep was dismantled in 1973. The adjacent road bridge was built in 1955 on a railway bridge that was intended to be the one that never existed. In 2004 Railion ended goods traffic on the part from Boxtel to Veghel.

In protest against ProRail's plans to break up the connection at Boxtel, trips were made on Easter Monday 2005 with a steam engine and a light rail vehicle.