Cologne West station

Cologne West Köln West
Through station
Station building
Location	Hans-Böckler-Platz 2, Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia Germany
Coordinates	50°56′37″N 6°56′2″E / 50.94361°N 6.93389°E / 50.94361; 6.93389Coordinates: 50°56′37″N 6°56′2″E / 50.94361°N 6.93389°E / 50.94361; 6.93389
Line(s)	West Rhine Railway
Platforms	4
Other information
Station code	3324
DS100 code	KKW
IBNR	8003363
Category	4
Website	[1]
History
Opened	1891
Services
Preceding station   Deutsche Bahn   Following station Köln-Süd toward Trier Hbf RE 12 Eifel-Mosel-Express Köln Hbf toward Köln Messe/Deutz Köln-Süd toward Gerolstein RE 22 Eifel-Express Köln Hbf toward Köln Messe/Deutz Köln-Süd toward Kall RB 24 Eifel-Bahn Köln Hbf toward Köln Messe/Deutz Preceding station   National Express Germany   Following station Köln-Süd toward Bonn-Mehlem RB 48 Rhein-Wupper-Bahn Köln Hbf toward Wuppertal-Oberbarmen Preceding station   trans regio   Following station Köln-Süd toward Mainz Hbf RB 26 MittelRheinBahn Köln Hbf toward Köln Messe/Deutz Preceding station   KVB   Following station Piusstraße toward Mengenich Ollenhauerring 3 Friesenplatz toward Thielenbruch Piusstraße toward Bocklemünd 4 Friesenplatz toward Schlebusch Friesenplatz toward Heumarkt 5 Gutenbergstraße toward Am Butzweilerhof

Köln West (Cologne West) station is located in the northwestern edge of the Innenstadt of Cologne in the district of Neustadt-Nord in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located on Venloer Straße (street). The station is a stop for regional services on the Cologne ring railway (part of the West Rhine Railway). It is also served by lines 3, 4 and 5 lines of the Cologne Stadtbahn, which run through the Hans-Böckler-Platz/Bf. West underground station. The surface station has two platform tracks on a 303-metre-long island platform and eight tracks without platforms, which are used by intensive freight traffic.

The opening of Central Station (Centralbahnhof, now called the Hauptbahnhof) in 1859 required the building of a connecting line to the West Rhine Railway (German: Linke Rheinstrecke), running around the city to the west. The Prussian government built a new line of fortifications around Cologne and the new district of Neustadt (new town) inside the fortifications from 1881, requiring the reorganisation of the railway lines. On 9 January 1883, the City Council approved the relocation of the line on an embankment, which was built further from the centre than previously. This embankment ran on the inside of the new inner ring of fortifications through the new town and underpasses were built for all roads running to exits in the fortifications. Along the new line two stations were built under the direction of Ernst Dircksen: Cologne West (Köln West, spelt Cöln West until 1914) and Cologne South (Köln Süd). Both stations were opened in 1891. The front of the station building, which largely corresponds to its original appearance has been preserved until today, but there was formerly a waiting room located on the embankment, which spanned the platform area and the passenger tracks.

The passenger tracks separate from each other immediately north of the station. While the north-bound track runs relatively directly towards Cologne Central Station (Hbf), the south-bound track runs in a wide arc north of the operations station (Betriebsbahnhof, where trains coming from or going to Cologne Hbf are assembled, disassembled or parked), meaning that it is almost 500 m longer than the other track. The freight train tracks separate at an at-grade junction at the northern end of West Cologne station; one line connects to the Ehrenfeld district and on to the Cologne–Aachen high-speed railway and another runs to Cologne-Nippes and on to the Lower Left Rhine Railway. In addition, sidings branch from the so-called Schlundgleis (gullet track) that runs through the dismantled Köln Gereon freight yard and pass through several underpasses to the operating station.