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With almost 1 million inhabitants, Cologne (Köln) is Germany's fourth largest city. In the 1960s, Köln decided to build an underground tram system (like Stuttgart or Hanover) instead of a full metro (like Nuremberg or Munich). The first underground stretch opened in 1968. Most subways in the city centre were built until 1974, and in the 1980s and 90s the tunnel networks was gradually expanded. Currently the network includes 44.5 km of metro-like routes, either underground, elevated (L13) or at grade. This is complemented by 48 km of conventional railway lines (Lines 16 and 18 to Bonn) and 94 km of tram routes. The total length of the network is 186 km. Only 12 % of the network are on routes shared with car traffic.

The system is a true network with many lines sharing certain stretches. In 1994 it was decided that the east-west lines shown in red on the map will not be converted to Stadtbahn operation with high-floor vehicles. Instead new low-floor trams were acquired which offer the same accessibility (35 cm). From Dec. 2003, also the "ring lines" (shown in green) were added to the low-floor network, whereas all other lines will eventually be converted to Stadtbahn lines similar to the networks in Stuttgart or Frankfurt with high platforms (90 cm) and mainly separate right-of-way when running at grade. Most underground stations have been rebuilt with high platforms in recent years, but some still have low platforms only (e.g. Appellhofplatz-Zeughaus, Reichenspergerplatz).

In Aug. 2007, the line layout was simplified, with several line numbers (6, 8, 17, 19) having disappeared.

For Bonn click here.

1968 - Friesenplatz - Dom/Hauptbahnhof
1969 - Appellhofplatz - Barbarossaplatz
1970 - Poststraße - Severinstraße and Dom/Hbf - Breslauer Platz (- ramp Turiner Str.)
1973 - Chorweiler subway
1974 - Breslauer Pl. - Ebertplatz - Neusser Str/Gürtel (3.6 km); Hansaring - Reichenspergerstr. (2.8 km); elevated "Gürtel"-route Nußbaumerstr. - Mülheim Bridge (Line 13 - 5.9 km)
1976 - underground station Fuldaer Str. (650 m)
1983 - Deutz subway
1985 - Friesenplatz - H.Böckler-Platz - Gutenbergstr.
1987 - Hansaring - Rudolfplatz - Zülpicher Platz
1989 - H.Böckler-Platz - Venloer Str./Gürtel
1992 - Venloer Str./Gürtel - Bocklemünd
1997 - Mülheim Bridge - Bf. Mülheim
27 May 2000 - Line 1 extended underground (500 m) at its eastern end to Bensberg
15 June 2002 - Line 1 Junkersdorf - Weiden-Schulstraße (2.7km)
       - Line 3 Bocklemünd - Mengenich-Ollenhauerring
16 June 2003 - Line 4 rebuilt to Stadtbahn standard between Keupstraße and Odenthaler Straße
28 May 2006 - Line 1 Weiden-Schulstraße - Weiden West (1 km)

Fotos © (1) Thomas Schunk, (2-4) Paul Lohkemper, (5) Robert Schwandl | Mehr Fotos

 Projects

From Breslauer Platz/Hauptbahnhof to Bonntor, a 3.9 km long north-south tunnel is under construction running via Heumarkt, Severinstraße and Chlodwigplatz. It will be used by lines 5 and 16 (open 2011?). This section is mostly being excavated by tunnel-boring machines, with some stations being of the tube-type. South of Bonntor, a surface alignment will take line 5 to Arnoldshöhe, whereas line 16 will rejoin its present alignment along the River Rhine.

Line 3 is planned to be extended to a western underground terminus at Görlinger Zentrum.

- OPERATION

Most lines run on a basic 10 minute headway during the day and every 15-30 minutes late evening. Through bundled routes headways are reduced to only a few minutes at most stations. Lines 16 and 18 operate between Cologne and Bonn every 20 minutes from 5:00 until 24:00. On most routes there is a tram every hour all night long from Friday to Saturday and from Saturday to Sunday.

- FARES

The Cologne Stadtbahn is integrated in the VRS tariff system (Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Sieg), which also includes the city of Bonn. In 2007, prices for Cologne only are ("CityTicket" - price class 1b, in Euro):

Single - 2.30
4 Trips - 7.80
1-Day Ticket - 6.40 (weekdays after 9:00)
Weekly Pass - 18.20

KVB Kölner Verkehrsbetriebe (Official Page)

VRS Info Page (Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Sieg - Official page)

Nord-Süd-Stadtbahn (Official site)

Rheinsiegbahn

Stadtbahn Bonn at UrbanRail.Net

UrbanRail.Net Cologne/Bonn Light Rail Gallery

Betriebshof Köln (incl. large photo gallery)

NEW:

Christoph Groneck:

Köln/Bonn Stadtbahn Album
The Cologne/Bonn Light Rail Network

Nahverkehr in Deutschland, Band 6
Urban Transport in Germany, Vol. 6

144 Seiten | pages
17x24 cm
3 Netzpläne | 3 Network maps
ca. 350 Farbfotos | colour photos
Text deutsch & English

ISBN 3 936573 07 7
19.50 EUR

Published December 2005

More info and sample pages | Mehr Info und Probeseiten

Schwandl, Robert: Schnellbahnen in Deutschland / Metros in Germany. U-Bahn - Stadtbahn - S-Bahn. - April 2007, Berlin, ISBN 978 3 836573 18 3

- Anything you want to know about German metro and light rail systems, with detailed maps and hundreds of colour photos; 192 pages; Text German and English - More details

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