It is located in the Neandertal (Neander valley), which prior to the German spelling reform of 1901 was spelled as Neanderthal.
From Düsseldorf-Gerresheim to Mettmann the line runs along a remaining part of the largely closed Düsseldorf-Derendorf–Dortmund Süd railway through Neandertal and terminates in Mettmann-Stadtwald, which is together with Mettmann-Jubiläumsplatz bus stop is an important traffic node.
His work on Late Neandertal sites, such as those of Zafarraya (Spain) and Arcy-sur-Cure (France), provided evidence for the late survival of Neandertals in Europe after the arrival of modern humans and the beginning of a genuinely “Upper Paleolithic” culture on the continent.