The station was opened in 1847. From 1906 to 1909, the line and the station were elevated to raise the railway tracks above the streets in the urban area. Around this time, the station was renamed Krefeld Hauptbahnhof (main station). Until 1950, there was also a nearby station of the
Crefelder Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft (Krefeld Railway Company, later spelt with an initial "K",
CEC); its line to Rheydt used the route now occupied by
federal highway 9. This
Krefeld Süd (south) station was rebuilt during the elevation of the tracks to the south of the main station, but the trains did not run into the main station. The line to Rheydt now only extends as far as the Krefeld steelworks as a siding. Previously there was also a connection to the line to
Hülser Berg (part of the Viersen–Moers line, which is now partly operated as the
Schluff museum railway). The line to Hülser Berg is still connected to Krefeld station by a slightly longer route. Krefeld no longer has a significant role as railway node since the closure of the large Hohenbudberg marshalling yard (on the line to Duisburg, just outside the city limits) and the freight yard located east of the station and the abandonment of long-distance passenger services. There is still an important maintenance facility in Krefeld-Oppum, including for the servicing of
Intercity-Express trains. ==Services ==