Cologne South Railway Station
| Cologne South | |
|---|---|
Reception building on the southeast side
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| Data | |
| Location in the network | Separation station |
| Design | Through station |
| Platform tracks | 4th |
| abbreviation | KKS |
| IBNR | 8003361 |
| Price range | 4th |
| Profile on Bahnhof.de | Koeln_Sued |
| location | |
| City / municipality | Cologne |
| country | North Rhine-Westphalia |
| Country | Germany |
| Coordinates | 50 ° 55 '39 " N , 6 ° 56' 16" E |
| Railway lines | |
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| Railway stations in North Rhine-Westphalia | |
The Köln Süd train station is located in the southwestern edge of Cologne city center in the Neustadt-Süd district between Luxemburger and Zülpicher Straße. The station is a local transport system stop on the left-hand Rhine route .
In the station, the freight bypass line branches off to the south bridge , which is also used by passenger trains if necessary. The station has four platform tracks on two central platforms . Two tracks of the freight train line run past the station .
history
The left Rheinstrecke (originally Bonn-Cölner Railway ) ran at the opening 1844 on a straight line radially Köln to and ended at that time the edge at the station "Cöln-Pantaleon" . With the opening of the Centralbahnhof in 1859, a new line was put into operation, which branched off to the west of the existing line and led on the inside of the inner fortification belt around the city to the Centralbahnhof. With the renovation of the Centralbahnhof, which began in 1889, the access routes were also rebuilt and raised by several meters. Since the line was now in the middle of the city due to the growth of Cologne, the train stations Cologne South (spelling until 1914: Cöln Süd ) and Cologne West were opened in 1891.
The first expansion came in 1896 when the freight line to the freight station Cologne Bonntor and two years later the new Rheinauhafen was put into operation. Another expansion brought the opening of the freight bypass line over Cologne's southern bridge in 1910 : two more tracks reserved for freight traffic were built parallel to the existing line. The freight line begins in Cologne West, leads via Cologne South and Cologne Eifeltor station to Hürth-Kalscheuren . In Cologne South, the route branches off via Cologne Bonntor to the Südbrücke, another connection leads south of Cologne South from Eifeltor directly via Bonntor to the bridge.
Current use and design
In addition to commuters from the south to Cologne, the station is also used intensively by commuters to Bonn or the Eifel , especially students from the nearby University of Cologne . Due to the central location of the train station with the adjoining nightlife district on Zülpicher Straße, the train station is very busy for most of the day.
Tracks 1 and 4 are used for traffic to and from Cologne Hbf and Bonn, while tracks 2 and 3 in between are mainly used as sidings for local traffic and for company trips. From here the south bridge and thus the right stretch of the Rhine can be reached. Since the timetable change in December 2015, the additional trains have stopped at platform 3 during rush hour of the RB 48 in the direction of Wuppertal-Oberbarmen, which are scheduled to be overtaken here.
The platform-free track 5 north of the platforms takes on freight traffic both in the direction of Cologne Eifeltor and in the direction of the Südbrücke, while track 6 (with the provisional platform that is currently inaccessible) is used for freight trains in the opposite direction. Since platform 3/4 is usually only used by arriving passengers and by the few passengers in the direction of Cologne Hbf, it is only equipped with three weather shelters. Platform 1/2, on the other hand, is about a third covered due to the number of passengers departing . Train destination indicators are installed on tracks 1 and 4. There are also ticket vending machines on both platforms, and an additional machine for cold drinks and sweets on platform 1/2.
In the reception building there is a DB Service Store and an art workshop with exhibition rooms.
Problems, dangers and remodeling plans
The entire Cologne Süd railway station and its surroundings no longer meet today's requirements in terms of technology, equipment, construction and appearance. The system has been characterized by considerable problems and serious defects for decades:
First of all, extremely long and cumbersome walking routes to reach the platforms are currently unavoidable. Tracks 1 and 2 are officially and directly accessible only via the entrance to the reception building (Luxemburger Straße). If you are coming from the heavily frequented Zülpicher Straße or from the immediately adjacent Dasselstraße / Bf Süd tram stop on line 9, your destination is tracks 1 and 2, you have to walk the entire length of the platform on tracks 3 and 4 up to the Luxemburger Straße entrance go through the underpass and overcome a total of six different stair sections to get to the other platform. A reason for many passengers to take the forbidden and extremely dangerous shortcut across the tracks to change platforms. This repeatedly leads to police blocking and sanctioning measures. At times, attempts were unsuccessful to block parts of this illegal access with a fence - but this project was finally abandoned.
In addition, all platforms are not accessible without steps - despite the central inner city location and the significant traffic importance of the station with around 15,500 people getting on and off every day. There are neither elevators nor ramps, although all platforms are on a significantly elevated embankment that cannot be reached at ground level. The barrier-free vehicles on line RE 5 (Rhein-Ruhr-Express) have been able to stop here since June 2019 due to the 76 centimeter high platforms. However, it is still only possible to go up and down to all tracks - extremely unusual for an RRX stop - via steep and long stairs. This makes the regional train station the last in all of Cologne that does not have a single step-free entrance. In addition, the station has been by far the most frequented, non- barrier-free station in the entire NVR area for years .
Structural changes to the station have been discussed and negotiated for many decades. The long-planned conversion has been delayed again and again due to many different reasons. This is due, among other things, to the tight and difficult space and ownership conditions. The partly listed station is located between two old railway bridges in urgent need of renovation. Their renewal has also been postponed several times for many years. In addition to the need to save money, there were also financing disputes between the various parties affected or responsible. For example, there was intense debate about how and to what extent the station should be rebuilt, as well as who is financing which portion.
In 2020, however, after several decades of delays, the station will finally be comprehensively modernized and made accessible by the end of October for around 11.3 million euros . For this purpose, the station will be retrofitted with additional accesses and elevators as part of the RRX connection in order to shorten the previously unusually long walking distances. In addition, additional roofs and guidance systems for the blind will be built and the sound and lighting will be renewed.
As early as 2010, a staircase was to be built for 1.6 million euros that would also allow direct access to tracks 1 and 2 from Zülpicher Straße, but this variant was ultimately discarded for reasons of statics. Instead, according to the planning approval procedure, a new, additional underpass is to be built on the side of the embankment - with access via a previous private property adjacent to Zülpicher Straße. For this purpose, the previously located café-restaurant with beer garden must be demolished. In order to avoid fearful dreams , the city of Cologne would like to achieve a breakthrough in the tunnel instead of the planned dead end. However, it must realize this at its own expense in a downstream, second construction phase.
Apart from that, the station is on one of the busiest and partly congested routes in Germany, which is to be significantly upgraded and expanded technically in the next few years. In addition to the modernization of the adjoining, more than seventy-year-old mechanical interlocking , the entire, outdated control and safety technology of the line running through the station is to be retrofitted with ETCS . In addition, the station will be significantly affected by the plans for the western clasp, which has dragged on since the 1990s. Also due to the unclear location of the future S-Bahn tracks that are to run through the station, the start of the station modernization has been postponed since then.
Another problem: The tram line 18 runs right past the station, but has no stop in the immediate vicinity of the station, but only stops 250 m south ( Eifelwall stop ) or 350 m north ( Barbarossaplatz stop ). The facility for the construction of a new station south stop for line 18 is registered in the state's public transport requirement plan in order to optimize the transfer options.
After all, the current bicycle infrastructure at the train station is completely inadequate, as the station is used by numerous commuters, especially and increasingly by students. Due to a clear lack of secure parking spaces, there are numerous "wild" parked bicycles on sidewalks, the street, private property or adjacent green spaces. In some cases, they block important access or escape routes and thus represent a potential danger. The city of Cologne has therefore been planning for years to build a new bicycle station with adequate parking facilities. In addition, the station forecourt is to be redesigned and u. a. can be upgraded with Kiss & Ride parking spaces as well as expanded outdoor catering to round off the overall appearance attractively.
passenger traffic
All regional transport lines of the Eifelbahn stop at Cologne Südbahnhof :
| line | course | Tact |
|---|---|---|
| RE 12 |
Eifel-Mosel-Express : Köln Messe / Deutz - Köln Hbf - Köln Süd - Euskirchen - Mechernich - Kall - Jünkerath - Gerolstein - Bitburg-Erdorf - Trier Hbf As of: Timetable change December 2015 |
three pairs of trains |
| RE 22 |
Eifel-Express : Cologne Messe / Deutz - Cologne Central Station - Cologne West - Cologne South - Erftstadt - Weilerswist - Euskirchen - Mechernich - Kall - Urft (Steinfeld) - Nettersheim - Blankenheim (Wald) - Schmidtheim - Dahlem (Eifel) - Jünkerath - Lissendorf - Oberbettingen - Hillesheim - Gerolstein Status: timetable change December 2016 |
60 min |
| RB 24 |
Eifel Railway : Cologne Messe / Deutz - Cologne Central Station - Cologne West - Cologne South - Hürth-Kalscheuren - Brühl-Kierberg - Erftstadt - Weilerswist - Weilerswist-Derkum - Euskirchen-Großbüllesheim - Euskirchen - Satzvey - Mechernich - Scheven - Kall Status: timetable change December 2016 |
60 min |
There are also all regional transport lines on the left-hand Rhine route :
In the wider vicinity of the station, the following lines of the Cologne Stadtbahn have stops in public transport :
| line | Line course | Tact |
|---|---|---|
| 9 | Sülz - Zülpicher Strasse / Gürtel - University - Dasselstrasse / Süd Bahnhof - Zülpicher Platz - Neumarkt - Heumarkt - Deutz / Messe Station - Deutz Technical University - Kalk Post - Kalk Kapelle - Vingst - Ostheim - Rath / Heumar - Königsforst | 10 min |
| 18th | Dellbrück, Thielenbruch - Holweide - Buchheim - Mülheim station - Mülheim Wiener Platz - Zoo / Flora - Reichenspergerplatz - Ebertplatz - Breslauer Platz / Hbf - Dom / Hbf - Appelhofplatz (Breite Strasse) - Neumarkt - Barbarossaplatz - Eifelwall - Klettenberg - Hürth - Brühl - Bornheim - Bonn West - Bonn main station | 5 min (main section) |
You can also change to the following bus route:
| line | Driving distance |
|---|---|
| 142 |
Ubierring - Chlodwigplatz - Volksgarten - South Railway Station - Weißhausstr. - University - Weinsbergstr./Gürtel - Ehrenfeld train station  - Liebigstraße - Nippes - Nippes , Merheimer Platz
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See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ [1] Bahnhof Süd in Cologne: At full risk over the tracks. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
- ↑ [2] Station report NVR. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
- ^ [3] City of Cologne: major construction project. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
- ↑ [4] Rail traffic in Cologne: A tunnel should make the south station safer. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
- ^ [5] Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger: Rail traffic in Cologne. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
- ↑ [6] Cologne south station on rrx.de. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
- ↑ http://www.koeln.de/koeln/bahnhof_koelnsued_soll_sicherheiter_haben_166670.html
- ^ [7] Reconstruction of the station Cologne Süd. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
- ↑ [8] DB Netz: Congested railways. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
- ^ [9] Signal box archive Cologne South Sof. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
- ↑ [10] Electronic signal box: Left side of the Rhine - 1st construction stage. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
- ↑ [11] Cologne railway node: Measures against the collapse - fit for the future. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
- ↑ https://ratsinformation.stadt-koeln.de/to0050.asp?__ktonr=190629
- ^ [12] City of Cologne: Bicycle station at the south station. Retrieved December 13, 2019.