Cologne Airport loop
Encyclopedia
The Cologne Airport Loop is a 15.2 kilometre-long railway line, which connects the Cologne/Bonn Airport station to the Cologne–Frankfurt high-speed rail line. The loop is used by Intercity-Express trains, the Rhine-Erft Express (RE 8) and S-Bahn line 13
.
district of Gremberghoven and crosses the B8 highway
(Frankfurter Straße). After the A59 autobahn
underpass it swings towards the southeast and crosses farmland in a cutting. The newly established Frankfurter Strasse station connects the industrial zone of Gremberghoven and the Airport Business Park to public transport. The station is served by the S-Bahn and the S-Bahn-like Oberbergische line RB25 regional service on the Agger Valley Railway
.
After passing unde the Schloß-Röttgen tunnel (1,047 m) the line turns to run parallel and to the north of the A59 in a northeasterly direction to the Airport interchange and the Porz-Grengel motorway junction. It then enters into the 4,210 m Airport Tunnel. It passes the Wahner Heide nature reserve and through the airport, the airport station and back under the A59 completely underground. The route then returns to the surface and passes between Eisdorf and Wahn on a ridge. After a 400 m long embankment, the line connects with the new line.
The line runs for 15.19 kilometres, with 2.50 km of the line at ground level, 5.01 km in cuttings, 1.01 km on embankments, 5.26 km in tunnel and 1.41 km on bridges and ramps.
and was handed over to its operator on 12 June 2004.
and Troisdorf
with 58 pairs of trains on weekdays. The connection to the south is served very poorly.
The Regional Express line RE 8 operates over the airport loop every hour. However, the first train from the south reaches the airport after 7 AM and on Sundays, after 10 AM. Getting to the airport earlier than this from Bonn and Koblenz is only possible on significantly slower indirect services.
Most of the hourly Intercity-Express services between Cologne and Berlin start or stop at the airport station. This creates operational problems, as the airport station was planned as a through station only and no turning facilities were built. Since the station has limited facilities, the terminating ICE trains take up platform space properly reserved for S-Bahn trains. As a result, two thirds of the S-Bahn trains operating towards Cologne must use the outer platform, with the low platforms designed in Germany for long-distance trains, twenty centimetres lower than appropriate for S-Bahn trains, thus creating a step between the platform and the carriage floor.
Rhein-Ruhr S-Bahn
The Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn is a polycentric S-Bahn network covering the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Region in the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. This includes most of the Ruhr , the Berg cities of Wuppertal and Solingen and parts of the Rhineland...
.
Route
The double track line branches off the high-speed rail line north-west of the CologneCologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
district of Gremberghoven and crosses the B8 highway
Bundesstraße 8
The Bundesstraße 8 is a road in southwestern Germany of great historical importance. It has existed since the 9th century, known then as Via Publica, and until recent times was a key trade route linking the towns of Duisburg, Cologne, Frankfurt, Würzburg, Nuremberg, Regensburg and Passau...
(Frankfurter Straße). After the A59 autobahn
Bundesautobahn 59
is an autobahn in Germany that starts in Dinslaken and runs with three breaks along Duisburg, Düsseldorf and Cologne to Bonn.In the south of Duisburg it is the city highway, too....
underpass it swings towards the southeast and crosses farmland in a cutting. The newly established Frankfurter Strasse station connects the industrial zone of Gremberghoven and the Airport Business Park to public transport. The station is served by the S-Bahn and the S-Bahn-like Oberbergische line RB25 regional service on the Agger Valley Railway
Agger Valley Railway
Agger Valley Railway is the established name of two railway lines in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia:* the Siegburg–Olpe railway, the historic Agger Valley Railway that is now only open between Overath and Dieringhausen,...
.
After passing unde the Schloß-Röttgen tunnel (1,047 m) the line turns to run parallel and to the north of the A59 in a northeasterly direction to the Airport interchange and the Porz-Grengel motorway junction. It then enters into the 4,210 m Airport Tunnel. It passes the Wahner Heide nature reserve and through the airport, the airport station and back under the A59 completely underground. The route then returns to the surface and passes between Eisdorf and Wahn on a ridge. After a 400 m long embankment, the line connects with the new line.
The line runs for 15.19 kilometres, with 2.50 km of the line at ground level, 5.01 km in cuttings, 1.01 km on embankments, 5.26 km in tunnel and 1.41 km on bridges and ramps.
History
The connection of the airport loop railway was approved by the Federal Government on 20 December 1989 as part of the decision to build the Cologne–Frankfurt high-speed rail line on its current alignment. The construction of the Airport Link began on 4 December 2000 at Porz-Wahn stationPorz-Wahn station
Porz-Wahn is a railway station situated at Porz, Cologne in western Germany. It is served by the S12 and S13 lines of the Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn.- References :...
and was handed over to its operator on 12 June 2004.
Operating
While the airport loop was planned and built as part of the Cologne-Frankfurt high-speed line, few trains run along both lines. The main mode of transport on the airport loop is S-Bahn line S13 between CologneKöln Hauptbahnhof
Köln Hauptbahnhof is the central railway station in Cologne, Germany.The station is an important local, national and international hub, with many ICE, Thalys and Intercity trains calling there, as well as regional RegionalExpress, RegionalBahn and local S-Bahn trains...
and Troisdorf
Troisdorf station
Troisdorf station is a railway junction in the town of Troisdorf in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, where the line from Cologne separates into the East Rhine Railway to Neuwied and the Sieg Railway to Siegen. In addition to various regional rail services Troisdorf is served by the S 12...
with 58 pairs of trains on weekdays. The connection to the south is served very poorly.
The Regional Express line RE 8 operates over the airport loop every hour. However, the first train from the south reaches the airport after 7 AM and on Sundays, after 10 AM. Getting to the airport earlier than this from Bonn and Koblenz is only possible on significantly slower indirect services.
Most of the hourly Intercity-Express services between Cologne and Berlin start or stop at the airport station. This creates operational problems, as the airport station was planned as a through station only and no turning facilities were built. Since the station has limited facilities, the terminating ICE trains take up platform space properly reserved for S-Bahn trains. As a result, two thirds of the S-Bahn trains operating towards Cologne must use the outer platform, with the low platforms designed in Germany for long-distance trains, twenty centimetres lower than appropriate for S-Bahn trains, thus creating a step between the platform and the carriage floor.