Stolberg (Rheinland) Hauptbahnhof is a railway station on the
line between Cologne and Aachen. It is the largest station for passengers and freight in the town of
Stolberg (Rhineland)
Stolberg (, Ripuarian: ) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It has a long history as an industrial town and belongs to the district Aachen and the lower district court of Eschweiler.
Geography
Stolberg is located approximately 5&nb ...
in the urban region of
Aachen in the German state of
North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhab ...
. It houses the
Vennbahn
The (, "Fen Railway") is a former railway line that was built partly across what was then German territory by the Prussian state railways. It is now entirely in Belgium, because the trackbed of the line, as well as the stations and other install ...
Museum and is situated at a junction.
Routes
Stolberger Hauptbahnhof is at the junction of four lines. The high-speed line between Cologne and Aachen runs from the east, first through the freight yard and then through the passenger station, and continues to the west. The
Mönchengladbach–Stolberg line, called locally the Eschweiler Valley Railway (german: Eschweiler Talbahn) also runs into the station from the east. The
Stolberg–Herzogenrath line runs from the north, first crossing the line between Cologne and Aachen and running to south of the main line to the west end of the station. The former
Stolberg–Kohlscheid line also branched off this line at Quinx junction between Stolberg and Würselen-Merzbrück. The fourth line is the
Stolberg–Eupen line, which leaves the station and runs to the south.
History

The then single-track railway line between Cologne and Aachen was opened by 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 b ...
(german: Rheinische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft, RHE) to Stolberg in 1841 with Stolberg station built in
Eilendorf about one kilometre from the northern border of the town of Stolberg and therefore poorly located for the Stolberg valley. In 1870 the
Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company
The Bergisch-Markisch Railway Company (german: Bergisch-Märkische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft, BME), also referred to as the Berg-Mark Railway Company or, more rarely, as the Bergisch-Markische Railway Company, was a German railway company that togeth ...
(''Bergisch-Märkische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft'', BME) opened the first part of the Hochneukirch–Stolberg line (known as the ''Eschweiler Talbahn'', “Eschweiler Valley Railway”)—from
Mönchengladbach
Mönchengladbach (, li, Jlabbach ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located west of the Rhine, halfway between Düsseldorf and the Dutch border.
Geography Municipal subdivisions
Since 2009, the territory of Mönchengladba ...
, reaching Stolberg in 1875, where Stolberg BME station was built a few hundred metres south of Stolberg RHE station.
Another short line was opened mainly for freight to Münsterbusch to the southwest of Stolberg in 1887 with its station near the other Stolberg stations.
The present station was built between 1886 and 1888 by the
Prussian state railways
The term Prussian state railways (German: ''Preußische Staatseisenbahnen'') encompasses those railway organisations that were owned or managed by the State of Prussia. The words "state railways" are not capitalized because Prussia did not have a ...
. It replaced the previous three stations on the four different lines. In 1935 the station became part of the area of the city of Stolberg and since then it has been called ''Stolberg (Rheinland) Hauptbahnhof''.
Current operations
The Stolberg Hauptbahnhof is served by following passenger services:
Thalys
Thalys (French: ) is a French-Belgian high-speed train operator originally built around the LGV Nord high-speed line between Paris and Brussels. This track is shared with Eurostar trains that go from Paris, Brussels or Amsterdam to London via ...
services between
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...
and Cologne and
Intercity-Express
The Intercity Express (commonly known as ICE ()) is a system of high-speed rail, high-speed trains high-speed rail in Germany, predominantly running in Germany. It also serves some destinations in Austria, Denmark (ceased in 2017 but planned to ...
services between
Frankfurt
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 ...
and
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
pass through without stopping.
References
External links
*
*
*
*
*
{{KBS 480
Railway stations in North Rhine-Westphalia
Railway stations opened in 1888
1888 establishments in Germany
Stolberg (Rhineland)