Deutsche Bahn (DB) and Eurostar have teamed up to make a Germany to United Kingdom high-speed train link possible. But as independent railway commentator and specialist in cross-border passenger train connections Jon Worth knows, there are a few hurdles.
One of the aspects of Jon Worth’s #CrossChannelRail report that generated the strongest reaction was his conclusion that serving Cologne Main Station (Köln Hbf) with trains to London St. Pancras International would be too complex, and that it would be better to use Cologne / Bonn Airport (Köln / Bonn Flughafen) or Horrem instead. Those alternatives would make it easier both to secure a platform and to construct a suitable terminal.
The core problem at Cologne Main Station is not so much the availability of a platform, but the difficulty of routing a train through the station efficiently.
In theory, a solution similar to Rotterdam Central could be envisaged for platform 1, the single platform on the station building side. Space inside the station — perhaps where the DB Lounge or even the staff canteen is currently located — could be repurposed for check-in and border procedures. Ten minutes before departure, the platform would be secured, passengers would board, and the train would depart.
The difficulty is that platform 1 faces the wrong direction. Trains leave it eastbound.
To head west towards Ehrenfeld and onward to Aachen (Aken, Aix-la-Chapelle) and Brussels, a train would need to cross multiple heavily congested tracks at the western end of Cologne Main Station. That would be a recipe for delays and an unreliable service, which is why Worth originally ruled this option out.
However, following a presentation he gave in Paris, Worth was approached by someone with a creative alternative. The proposal was to route the train as follows:
A Frankfurt–London service would first cross the Südbrücke (the southern bridge), enter Cologne Main Station from the west, then depart eastwards from platform 1 as normal. From there it would loop via Deutzerfeld and Kalk, cross the Südbrücke again, and only then continue westwards towards Ehrenfeld, Aachen and Brussels. This would add around 15 minutes to the journey time, but the argument was that this would be preferable to forcing passengers to change at an out-of-town station.
Good idea, but…
The idea is undeniably imaginative and would offer some impressive views of Cologne. However, it also raises serious concerns.
Martin Hoffmann highlighted the operational headaches around Deutzerfeld, Alexander Krumeich noted that crossing the Rhine three times in an area where rail capacity is already stretched makes little sense, and on social media NymeHess, Bela and Mac the squirrel all questioned the reliability of such a routing.
For these reasons, Worth intends to reference the idea in a future update of the #CrossChannelRail report, but for now he remains convinced that serving Cologne via alternative stations is the more realistic and robust solution.
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