Duisburg Hauptbahnhof

Duisburg Hauptbahnhof
Station building and forecourt
Operations
Category	2
Type	Crossing station
Platforms in use	12
Daily trains	610–634 (Mo–Fr), 531 (Sa), 521 (Su)
Daily entry/exit	ca. 82,000
DS100 code	EDG
Construction and location
Opened	1846 CME station 1862 BME station 1870 RhE station 1886 PSE station 1934 DRG station
Style of architecture	Functionalism
Architect	Eduard Lyonel Wehner
Location	Duisburg
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Country	Germany
Home page	www.bahnhof.de
51°25′48″N 6°46′21″E / 51.43°N 6.7725°E / 51.43; 6.7725
Route information
Duisburg–Oberhausen–Dortmund (Duisburg–)Oberhausen–Arnhem Duisburg–Essen–Dortmund Duisburg–Cologne Duisburg–Mönchengladbach Duisburg–Xanten Duisburg–Duisburg-Entenfang Duisburg–Bottrop(–Quakenbrück) S-Bahn S 1S 2
List of railway stations in North Rhine-Westphalia

Duisburg Hauptbahnhof (usually translated from German as Duisburg Central Station, short form: Duisburg Hbf) is the Hauptbahnhof of the city of Duisburg in western Germany. It is situated at the meeting point of many important national and international railway lines in the Northwestern Ruhr valley.

Lines

The station is situated at the northern end of the relatively straight Duisburg to Düsseldorf railway line which has to cope with one of the highest daily loads in continental Europe.^{[citation needed]} This line is slated to be widened to six tracks in the near future.^{[citation needed]} Currently it has four—and in some places five—tracks. Parallel to it to the east is the local line to Duisburg-Wedau, remnant of a relief line to Düsseldorf which only sees a local shuttle service today but is heavily used by freight trains (which usually don't run through the station but bypass it on a freight-only line two miles to the east). The third line from the south is the railway line to Krefeld and Mönchengladbach. This crosses the River Rhine and then splits into the main line and a branch to Moers and Xanten at Rheinhausen. North of the station, seven tracks run to the River Ruhr crossing (which is a sight on the Route der Industriekultur (Route of industrial heritage) due to a maze of girder bridges) where three tracks split for Oberhausen and on to Antwerp or Dortmund via Gelsenkirchen. The four-tracked main line turns east and runs via Essen and Bochum to Dortmund.

Operational usage

Duisburg Hauptbahnhof, 2004.

Inside the station

Railway

The station is an important hub for InterCityExpress, InterCity and EuroCity trains from and to the Netherlands, Berlin, Switzerland, Munich, Frankfurt and Cologne. It also is an important connection point for RegionalExpress and RegionalBahn lines and has two S-Bahn lines of the Rhein-Ruhr S-Bahn calling at the station. A nearby Stadtbahn station offers local connections as well as trams to Mülheim an der Ruhr and Düsseldorf.

Local travel

Underground station of Duisburg Stadtbahn (part of VRR) in 2009

Trams and buses call at the northern concourse (not connected to the main hall). There is another bus station at the eastern end of the main concourse, but not all lines serving the station call there. Taxis are available at both ends of the main concourse. The station is directly connected to the motorway A59 whichs runs under the plaza in front of the main entrance. Long-distance coaches depart from a small bus station at the city end of the station (behind the taxi ranks, to the left).

Architecture

The current station building dates from the 1930s and was modelled after the train station in Königsberg. After WW2 it was extensively rebuilt and many features (such as murals in the main concourse) were lost. Its 6 platforms are covered by a train shed at their southern ends and modern canopies to the north where there is a second concourse housing the bus and tram stops.

The station today has a rather drab feeling with the train shed in need of repair as there are quite a number of holes in the roof.

Amenities

As is usual with station of its size, Duisburg Hbf has a number of shops on its concourse and in the main hall. These include a book shop, a barber shop, several telecommunication accessories dealers, 2 bars, a small gambling arcade and several bakers and fast food stalls. The booking hall is located in the main hall (city exit), and lockers are provided at the beginning of the concourse to the right, next to the toilets. In the station building outside the concourse there is a hotel and local newspaper offices, and there used to be a fairly large night club which closed in early 2006 and has remained empty since.

History

The former station complex in 1910.

The northern area around Duisburg station at Königstraße, 1911.

Former private railways

Duisburg station was opened in Duisburg on 9 February 1846 by the Cologne-Minden Railway Company (Cöln-Mindener Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft, CME) along with the second section of its trunk line from Cologne-Deutz to Minden. On 15 May 1847 the line was extended to Hamm and Duisburg station became a through station on the line from Düsseldorf to Oberhausen.

Fifteen years later, in 1862, the Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company (Bergisch-Märkische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft, BME), opened its east-west route through the Ruhr region from Dortmund and Witten to Duisburg. Its station was built close to the existing station, but it was a terminal station that was approached only from the northeast, not a through station.

Finally, on 15 February 1870, a three kilometre long branch line was opened by the Rhenish Railway Company (Rheinische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft, RHE) from the Rheinhausen–Hochfeld train ferry to Duisburg, which became the starting point of its new route to Quakenbrück, completed in 1879. It built a through station next to other stations in Duisburg.

Prussian state railways

The station buildings of the three railway companies survived until after their nationalisation when they became part of the Prussian state railways. In the 1880s the three stations were demolished and a joint station building was built on an island between the platforms of the various lines.

The entrance to this building was to the north on Mülheimer Straße, which the lines crossed at that time over level crossings. It was not until the late 19th and early 20th centuries that all tracks had been raised above street level.

Deutsche Reichsbahn

At the beginning of the 1930s, the station, which had been taken over Deutsche Reichsbahn in 1920 when it absorbed the Prussian State Railway, was extended and rebuilt to its present size. The buildings have since been replaced.

The still-existing entrance building of the station at Portsmouthplatz was built from 1931 to 1934 under the direction of the government architect Johannes Ziertmann (an architect at the railway division of Essen) and was considered one of the most modern station buildings of its time. It is comparable with the entrance buildings in Düsseldorf and Oberhausen, built in the same period. The two sculptures at the front of a steel frame structure built for the ticket hall are by the Essen sculptor Joseph Enseling. The platform canopies were built with Vierendeel trusses and are structurally similar to the canopies at Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof, which were scrapped in the 1980s, and follow the conceptually similar canopies of Darmstadt Hauptbahnhof built before the First World War. The Duisburg platform canopies were the first all-welded steel construction of this size.

During the Second World War the station was heavily damaged in a heavy bombing attack on Duisburg by allied forces.

Deutsche Bundesbahn

The station has been rebuilt several times since the war. In 1992, as part of the inauguration of the Duisburg Stadtbahn (light rail), the new northern connecting hall (Verknüpfungshalle) was opened, all six platforms were lengthened to several hundred metres over the former road underpass connecting Mühlheimerstraße and Königstraße and provided with simple platform roofs, which are easily distinguished from the old station hall.

Deutsche Bahn

Mural by Otto Gerster of 1950 uncovered by the renovation

Lobby shortly before the completion of the renovation

On 12 December 2008 Deutsche Bahn and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia announced that much-needed renovation work would begin in mid of 2009. The total cost was estimated at € 60 million. The first phase includes the renovation of the lobby and the underpass. Among other things, the false ceilings would be removed and the building returned to its original state. Renovation work on the monumental facade is planned. The cost for the first phase is estimated at € 10.1 million.^[1]

On 24 July 2009, the first phase of renovation work began and the major renovations in the entrance hall were completed on 22 December 2009. From January 2010 work started on the renovation of the pedestrian tunnel. In a second, much more expensive construction phase, the railway platforms, railway tracks and the dilapidated roof will be rehabilitated in 2011.^[2]

Train services

The following services currently call at Duisburg Hauptbahnhof:

• intercity services:
• regional services:
  • NRW-Express Aachen - Cologne - Düsseldorf - Duisburg - Essen - Dortmund - Hamm - Paderborn
  • Rhein-Haard-Express Münster - Dülmen - Recklinghausen - Essen - Duisburg - Düsseldorf
  • Rhein-Emscher-Express Hamm - Dortmund - Gelsenkirchen - Duisburg - Düsseldorf
  • Rhein-Express Emmerich - Wesel - Oberhausen - Duisburg - Düsseldorf - Cologne - Bonn - Koblenz
  • Westfalen-Express Düsseldorf - Duisburg - Essen - Dortmund - Hamm - Bielefeld - Minden
  • Rhein-Hellweg-Express Hamm - Dortmund - Essen - Duisburg - Krefeld - Mönchengladbach
• local services (S-Bahn):
  • S1 Solingen - Düsseldorf - Duisburg - Essen - Dortmund
  • S2 Duisburg - Oberhausen - Gelsenkirchen - Herne - Dortmund

Series	Operator	Route	Material	Frequency	Notes
ICE10	DB	Berlin Ostbahnhof - Berlin Hbf - Berlin-Spandau - Wolfsburg Hbf - Hannover Hbf - Bielefeld Hbf - Hamm - Dortmund Hbf - Bochum Hbf - Essen Hbf - Duisburg Hbf - Düsseldorf Flughafen - Düsseldorf Hbf - Köln Messe/Deutz - Köln/Bonn Flughafen	ICE 1	1x per hour
ICE 31	DB
ICE 41	DB	Dortmund Hbf - Bochum Hbf - Essen Hbf - Duisburg Hbf - Düsseldorf Hbf - Köln Hbf - Siegburg/Bonn - Frankfurt/Main Flughafen Fernbahnhof - Mannheim Hbf - Stuttgart Hbf - Ulm Hbf - Augsburg Hbf - München-Pasing - München Hbf		14x per day (up to every 30 minutes)
ICE 42	DB	Hamburg-Altona - Hamburg Dammtor - Hamburg Hbf - Hamburg-Harburg - Bremen Hbf - Osnabrück Hbf - Münster Hbf - Dortmund Hbf - Bochum Hbf - Essen Hbf - Duisburg Hbf - Düsseldorf Hbf - Köln Hbf - Siegburg/Bonn - Frankfurt/Main Flughafen Fernbahnhof - Mannheim Hbf - Stuttgart Hbf - Ulm Hbf - Augsburg Hbf - München-Pasing - München Hbf		1x per day
ICE 43	DB	Amsterdam Centraal - Utrecht Centraal - Arnhem - Oberhausen Hbf - Duisburg Hbf - Düsseldorf Hbf - Köln Hbf - Siegburg/Bonn - Frankfurt/Main Flughafen Fernbahnhof - Mannheim Hbf - Karlsruhe Hbf - Offenburg - Freiburg Hbf - Basel Bad Bf - Basel SBB	ICE 3M	1x per day
ICE 78	DB	Amsterdam Centraal - Utrecht Centraal - Arnhem - Oberhausen Hbf - Duisburg Hbf - Düsseldorf Hbf - Köln Hbf - Siegburg/Bonn - Frankfurt/Main Flughafen Fernbahnhof - Frankfurt (Main) Hbf	ICE 3M	Every 2 Hours
IC26
IC30	DB	Hamburg-Altona - Hamburg Hbf - Hamburg-Harburg - Bremen Hbf – Osnabrück Hbf - Münster Hbf – Dortmund Hbf – Bochum Hbf - Essen Hbf - Duisburg Hbf – Köln Hbf - Bonn Hbf – Koblenz Hbf - Mainz Hbf – Mannheim Hbf - Heidelberg Hbf - Wiesloch-Walldorf - Vaihingen – Stuttgart Hbf		Every 2 Hours
IC32	DB	Salzburg Hbf - Freilassing - Traunstein - Prien a Chiemsee - Bad Endorf - Rosenheim - München Ost - München Hbf - München-Pasing - Augsburg Hbf - Ulm Hbf - Göppingen - Plochingen - Stuttgart Hbf - Heidelberg Hbf - Mannheim Hbf - Mainz Hbf - Bingen Hbf - Koblenz Hbf - Andernach - Remagen - Bonn Hbf - Köln Hbf - Düsseldorf Hbf - Duisburg Hbf - Essen Hbf - Bochum Hbf - Dortmund Hbf - Hamm - Gütersloh Hbf -Bielefeld Hbf - Herford - Hannover Hbf - Wolfsburg Hbf - Berlin-Spandau - Berlin Hbf - Berlin Südkreuz	DB Class 120 and IC stock	Every 2 Hours
IC35	DB	Norddeich Mole - Norddeich - Norden - Emden Hbf - Leer - Papenburg - Meppen - Lingen (Ems) - Rheine - Münster Hbf - Recklinghausen Hbf - Wanne-Eickel Hbf - Gelsenkirchen Hbf - Oberhausen Hbf - Duisburg Hbf - Düsseldorf Hbf - Köln Hbf - Bonn Hbf - Remagen - Andernach - Koblenz Hbf - Cochem - Bullay - Wittlich Hbf - Trier Hbf - Wasserbillig - Luxembourg	DB Class 101, DB Class 120 and IC stock	Every 2 Hours
IC51
IC55
RB31 Der Niederrheiner	NordWestBahn	Xanten - Alpen - Millingen (bei Rheinberg) - Rheinberg - Moers - Trompet - Rumeln - Rheinhausen - Duisburg Hbf		1x per hour
RB33 Rhein-Niers-Bahn	DB Regio	Wesel - Friedrichsfeld - Voerde - Dinslaken - Oberhausen-Holten - Oberhausen-Sterkrade - Oberhausen Hbf - Duisburg Hbf - Duisburg-Hochfeld Süd - Rheinhausen Ost - Rheinhausen - Hohenbudberg Bayerwerk - Krefeld-Uerdingen - Krefeld-Linn - Krefeld-Oppum - Krefeld Hbf - Forsthaus - Anrath - Viersen - Mönchengladbach Hbf	DB Class 425	1x per hour
RB35 Der Weseler	DB Regio	(Emmerich - Praest - Millingen - Empel-Rees - Haldern - Mehrhoog - Wesel-Feldmark -) Wesel - Friedrichsfeld - Voerde - Dinslaken - Oberhausen-Holten - Oberhausen-Sterkrade - Oberhausen Hbf - Duisburg Hbf (- Düsseldorf Flughafen - Düsseldorf Hbf)	DB Class 425, DB Class 110 + Coaching Stock	1x per hour	To Emmerich and Düsseldorf at Peak Times (Monday - Friday)
RB37 Der Wedauer	DB Regio	Duisburg Hbf - Duisburg-Wedau - Duisburg-Bissingheim - Duisburg Entenfang	DB Class 628	1x per hour

Long distance trains

Preceding station		Thalys		Following station
Düsseldorf Hbf toward Paris-Nord		Thalys		Essen Hbf Terminus
Preceding station		DB AG		Following station
Düsseldorf-Flughafen toward Köln/Bonn Flughafen		ICE 10		Essen Hbf toward Berlin Ostbahnhof
Düsseldorf Hbf toward München Hbf		ICE 31		Essen Hbf toward Kiel Hbf
		ICE 41		Essen Hbf toward Dortmund Hbf
		ICE 42		Essen Hbf toward Hamburg-Altona
Düsseldorf Hbf toward Basel SBB		ICE 43		Oberhausen Hbf toward Amsterdam Centraal
Düsseldorf Hbf toward Frankfurt (Main) Hbf		ICE 78		Oberhausen Hbf toward Amsterdam Centraal
Düsseldorf Hbf toward Köln Hbf		IC 26 Köln-Hamburg		Essen Hbf toward Hamburg-Altona
Düsseldorf Hbf toward Chur		IC/EC 30		Essen Hbf toward Ostseebad Binz or Seebad Heringshof
Düsseldorf Hbf toward Innsbruck Hbf		IC/EC 32		Mülheim Hbf toward Berlin Südkreuz
Düsseldorf-Flughafen toward Karlsruhe Hbf, Stuttgart Hbf, or Luxembourg		IC/EC 35		Oberhausen Hbf toward Emden Außenhafen or Norddeich Mole
Düsseldorf Hbf toward Köln Hbf		IC 55		Mülheim Hbf toward Leipzig Hbf
Düsseldorf-Flughafen toward Köln Hbf		IC 51		Essen Hbf toward Ostseebad Binz

Regional trains

Düsseldorf Airport S-Bahn service
Duisburg Hbf Duisburg-Rahm Düsseldorf-Angermund Düsseldorf Airport SkyTrain Parkhaus 4 SkyTrain Terminal A/B SkyTrain Terminal C Düsseldorf Airport Terminal C Düsseldorf-Unterrath Düsseldorf-Derendorf Düsseldorf Zoo Düsseldorf-Wehrhahn Düsseldorf Hbf

Preceding station		DB AG		Following station
Düsseldorf-Flughafen toward Aachen Hbf		RE 1 NRW-Express		Mülheim Hbf toward Paderborn Hbf
Düsseldorf-Flughafen toward Düsseldorf Hbf		RE 2 Rhein-Haard-Express		Mülheim Hbf toward Münster Hbf
Oberhausen Hbf toward Emmerich		RE 5 Rhein-Express		Düsseldorf-Flughafen toward Koblenz Hbf
Düsseldorf-Flughafen toward Düsseldorf Hbf		RE 6 Westfalen-Express		Mülheim Hbf toward Minden
Rheinhausen toward Mönchengladbach Hbf		RE 11 Rhein-Hellweg-Express		Mülheim Hbf toward Hamm
Rheinhausen toward Xanten		RB 31 Der Niederrheiner		Terminus
Duisburg-Hochfeld Süd toward Aachen Hbf		RB 33 Rhein-Niers-Bahn		Oberhausen Hbf toward Wesel
Düsseldorf-Flughafen toward Düsseldorf Hbf		RB 35 Der Weseler		Oberhausen Hbf toward Emmerich
Terminus		RB 37 Der Wedauer		Duisburg-Wedau toward Duisburg-Entenfang
Preceding station		eurobahn		Following station
Düsseldorf-Flughafen toward Düsseldorf Hbf		RE 3 Rhein-Emscher-Express		Oberhausen Hbf toward Hamm
Preceding station		Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn		Following station
Duisburg Schlenk toward Solingen Hbf		S1		Mülheim-Styrum toward Dortmund Hbf
Terminus		S2		Oberhausen Hbf toward Dortmund Hbf

Stadtbahn lines

Preceding station		Rhine-Ruhr Stadtbahn		Following station
Duissern toward Meiderich Bahnhof		U79		König-Heinrich-Platz toward Kaiserslauterner Straße
Lutherplatz toward Mülheim (Ruhr) Hbf		901		König-Heinrich-Platz toward Obermarxloh Schleife
Duissern toward Dinslaken Bf.		903		König-Heinrich-Platz toward Mannesmann Tor II

Notes

1. ^ "Bahn frei für den Umbau" (in German). Der Westen. 12 December 2008. http://www.derwesten.de/nachrichten/staedte/duisburg/2008/12/12/news-97924055/detail.html. Retrieved 18 August 2011. 
2. ^ "Hauptbahnhof erstrahlt in neuem Glanze" (in German). Der Westen. 21 December 2009. http://www.derwesten.de/staedte/duisburg/Hauptbahnhof-erstrahlt-in-neuem-Glanze-id2295414.html. Retrieved 18 August 2011. 

External links

• "Duisburg Hbf track plan" (in German) (PDF, 648 kB). Deutsche Bahn. http://www.db.de/site/bahn/de/geschaefte/infrastruktur__schiene/netz/netzzugang/dokumente/Bahnhof/SNB/E/EDG__NBS.pdf. Retrieved 18 August 2011. 
• "Platform heights and lengths" (in German). Deutsche Bahn. http://www.deutschebahn.com/site/bahn/de/geschaefte/infrastruktur__schiene/personenbahnhoefe/bahnsteige/bahnsteige__filter,variant=details,recordId=1374.html?c270156=Duisburg. Retrieved 18 August 2011. 
• "Duisburg Hbf" (in German). NRW Rail Archive. André Joost. http://nrwbahnarchiv.bplaced.net/bf/8000086.htm. Retrieved 18 August 2011. 
• "Operations in EDG track zone" (in German). NRW Rail Archive. André Joost. http://nrwbahnarchiv.bplaced.net/esn/EDG.htm. Retrieved 18 August 2011. 
• "Hauptbahnhof Duisburg" (in German). route-industriekultur. http://www.route-industriekultur.de/themenrouten/tr15/hauptbahnhof-duisburg.html. Retrieved 18 August 2011. 
• "History of station with current and historical photographs" (in German). duisburgweb.de. http://www.duisburgweb.de/DU_historisch_heute/H.htm. Retrieved 18 August 2011. 

Coordinates: 51°25′48″N 6°46′21″E / 51.43°N 6.7725°E / 51.43; 6.7725