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
The West Rhine railway (German: ''Linke Rheinstrecke'', literally 'left (bank of the) Rhine route') is a famously picturesque, double-track electrified railway line running for 185 km from Cologne via Bonn, Koblenz, and Bingen to Mainz. It ...
(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
Koblenz Hauptbahnhof is a railway station in the city of Koblenz in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It is the focal point of rail transport in the Rhine-Moselle-Lahn area. It is a through station in southern Koblenz built below Fort G ...
(main station). In addition, it played an essential role as the station serving the
Federal Horticultural Show 2011
The Federal Horticultural Show 2011 (german: Bundesgartenschau 2011) was held from 15 April to 16 October 2011 in Koblenz, Germany. It was the first Federal Horticultural Show in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Venues had been the plateau ...
in Koblenz.
Location
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 on today's Fischelstraße. It was called the Rhenish station (''Rheinischer Bahnhof'', after the
Rhenish Railway Company
The Rhenish Railway Company (German: ''Rheinische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft'', RhE) was along with the Cologne-Minden Railway Company (CME) and the Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company (BME) one of the railway companies that in the mid-19th century ...
, its builder) and was on the West Rhine Railway, running from
Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
to
Bingerbrück
Bingerbrück () is a ''Stadtteil'' of Bingen am Rhein, on the opposite side of the river Nahe from the old town of Bingen. It was self-administering until 1969.
Points of interest
Binger Mäuseturm
"The Mouse Tower of Bingen" - a customs tower ...
. In 1902, it was replaced by the current Koblenz Hauptbahnhof.
History
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.
In 2005, it was estimated that the station would cost €9.1 million, but it ended up costing about €18.5 million. The state of Rhineland-Palatinate provided about €9.1 million of this.
Services
Koblenz Stadtmitte has three platform tracks, consisting of a side platform on track 1 and a central platform between tracks 2 and 3. The platforms are designed for trains with a length of 180 metres. Access to the platforms is barrier-free and the platforms have a height of 76 cm to provide barrier-free access to trains. The station is served by four services. It is served by
Regional-Express
In Germany, Luxembourg and Austria, the Regional-Express (RE, or in Austria: REX) is a type of regional train. It is similar to a semi-fast train, with average speed at about 70–90 km/h (top speed often 160 km/h) as it calls at ...
line 5 services, running between Koblenz and
Emmerich, and
Regionalbahn 26 services, running between Koblenz and
Cologne-Deutz
The Cologne borough of Deutz (german: Köln-Deutz ; ), is a part of central Cologne, Germany, and was once an independent town.
History
Deutz was established under Roman Emperor Constantine I in 310 AD, when he established ''Castrum Divitia'', ...
. These two services use tracks 1 and 2. Track 3 is used by RB 10 services in both directions between
Neuwied
Neuwied () is a town in the north of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, capital of the District of Neuwied. Neuwied lies on the east bank of the Rhine, 12 km northwest of Koblenz, on the railway from Frankfurt am Main to Cologne. Th ...
and
Frankfurt am Main
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
. RB 27 services also stop on track 3 in both directions, running on the right bank route (
East Rhine Railway
The East Rhine Railway (German: ''Rechte Rheinstrecke'', literally 'right (of the) Rhine railway') is a major, double-track, electrified railway line, running along the right bank of the Rhine from Cologne to Wiesbaden. The -long line forms two D ...
) through Neuwied between Koblenz and Cologne.
Notes
External links
*
{{commons category, Haltepunkt Koblenz Stadtmitte, Koblenz Stadtmitte station
Stadtmitte
Railway stations in Germany opened in 2011