Cologne South station

Cologne South Köln Süd
Through station
Station building from the southside
Location	Otto-Fischer-Str. 2, Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia Germany
Coordinates	50°55′39″N 6°56′16″E / 50.92750°N 6.93778°E / 50.92750; 6.93778Coordinates: 50°55′39″N 6°56′16″E / 50.92750°N 6.93778°E / 50.92750; 6.93778
Line(s)	West Rhine Railway Cologne freight bypass railway
Platforms	4
Other information
Station code	3321
DS100 code	KKS
IBNR	8003361
Category	4
Website	www.bahnhof.de
History
Opened	1891

Köln Süd (Cologne South) station is located in the southwestern edge of the Innenstadt of Cologne in the district of Neustadt-Süd in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located between the streets of Luxemburger Straße and Zülpicher Straße. The station is a stop for regional services on the West Rhine Railway. The Cologne freight railway bypass branches off from the station over the South Bridge; it is also used as needed by passenger trains. The station has four platform tracks at two island platforms and two tracks without platforms, which are used by the intensive freight traffic. It is classified by Deutsche Bahn as a category 4 station.

The original section of the West Rhine Railway (German: Linke Rheinstrecke) was opened in 1844 through the station as the Bonn-Cölner Eisenbahn (Bonn-Cologne Railway) on a direct approach to Cologne that ended at Cöln-Pantaleon station, which was then on the outskirts. With the opening of Central Station (Centralbahnhof, now called the Hauptbahnhof) in 1859, a new line was put into operation, which diverged to the west from the existing line and ran to the Central Station on the inside of the inner ring of fortifications built by Prussia around the city in the 1880s. Beginning with the 1889 renovation of the Central Station, the feeder lines were rebuilt and raised by several metres. Because of the growth of Cologne the route was now in the middle of the city and the stations at Cologne South (Köln Süd, spelt Cöln Süd until 1914) and Cologne West opened in 1891.

The first expansion of the station occurred when the freight line to Cologne Bonntor freight yard was opened in 1896 and the new Rheinauhafen (Rheinau harbor) was put into operation two years later. A further extension occurred in 1910 with the opening of the Cologne freight bypass railway, including the Cologne South Bridge. Two more freight-only tracks were built parallel to the existing line. The freight line starts in Cologne West and runs via Cologne South and Köln Eifeltorfreight yard to Hürth-Kalscheuren. In Cologne South, the line branches off to Cologne Bonntor via the South Bridge and another connection runs from Eifeltor in the south of Cologne via Bonntor towards the bridge.