Koblenz-Stadtmitte station

Koblenz Stadtmitte
Through station
Station platforms
Location	Pastor-Metzdorf-Weg, Koblenz, Rhineland-Palatinate Germany
Coordinates	50°21′27″N 7°35′24″E / 50.35750°N 7.59000°E / 50.35750; 7.59000Coordinates: 50°21′27″N 7°35′24″E / 50.35750°N 7.59000°E / 50.35750; 7.59000
Line(s)	West Rhine Railway Neuwied–Koblenz railway
Platforms	3
Other information
Station code	8258
DS100 code	KKSM
IBNR	8003341
Category	4
Website	www.bahnhof.de
History
Opened	14 April 2011

Koblenz Stadtmitte station (German: Haltepunkt Koblenz Stadtmitte, freely translated as "Koblenz City Centre station") was opened on 14 April 2011 on the West Rhine Railway (German: Linke Rheinstrecke) in central Koblenz in the German state of Rhineland Palatinate. The main purpose of this station is to improve public transport access to central Koblenz because it is more convenient than Koblenz Hauptbahnhof (main station). In addition, it played an essential role as the station serving the Federal Horticultural Show 2011 in Koblenz.

Koblenz Stadtmitte is classified as a Haltepunkt, which means a station that is not a rail junction and has no sets of points. It is centrally located in the Koblenz city centre, right behind the Löhr-Center shopping centre, and near the pedestrian zone. There is also a bus station in the same shopping centre near the station, with a direct bus connection to almost every district of Koblenz.

In the second half of the 19th century there had been an earlier station near the modern station in today’s Fischelstraße. It was called the Rhenish station (Rheinischer Bahnhof, after the Rhenish Railway Company, its builder) and was on the West Rhine Railway, running from Cologne to Bingerbrück. In 1902, it was replaced by the current Koblenz Hauptbahnhof.

Already in the 1930s there were proposals for a station near the centre of the city. However, these were not pursued. This idea was raised again in the late 1970s and plans were developed. Despite considerable debate a decision to build the station was not taken until 2005. A major factor in this decision was the selection of Koblenz as the site for the Federal Horticultural Show 2011. Preliminary work began in January 2008. Before the start of work on the station, the westernmost of the three tracks had to be moved about five metres to the west for a length of about 300 metres to make room for the platform. Subsequently construction started on a central platform for tracks 2 and 3 and an outside platform for track 1. On 14 April 2011, a day before the start of the Federal Horticultural Show, operations started at the station.