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Aachen Hauptbahnhof

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(Redirected from Aachen Hbf) Railway station in Aachen, Germany
AachenDeutsche Bahn
Hbf
Station forecourt and main entrance
General information
LocationBahnhofplatz 2a
52064 Aachen
Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia
Germany
Coordinates50°46′03″N 6°05′28″E / 50.767635°N 6.091179°E / 50.767635; 6.091179
Line(s)
Platforms7
Construction
ArchitectFriedrich Mettegang
Architectural styleArt Nouveau
Other information
Station code1
DS100 codeKA
IBNR8000001
Category2
Fare zone
  • AVV: Aachen City-XL-Zone
  • VRS: 3100 (AVV transitional tariff)
Websitewww.bahnhof.de
History
Opened1905; 120 years ago (1905)
Services
Preceding station Eurostar Following station
Liège-Guilleminstowards Paris-Nord Eurostar Köln Hbftowards Dortmund Hbf
Preceding station DB Fernverkehr Following station
GeilenkirchenOne-way operation ICE 10 Terminus
Herzogenrathtowards Berlin Ostbahnhof ICE 14
Terminus Dürentowards Berlin Ostbahnhof
ICE 19
Liège-Guilleminstowards Brussels-South ICE 79 Köln Hbftowards Frankfurt (Main) Hbf
Preceding station Following station
Terminus FLX 30 Köln Hbftowards Leipzig Hbf
Preceding station DB Regio NRW Following station
Terminus RE 9 Aachen-Rothe Erdetowards Siegen Hbf
Aachen Schanztowards Heerlen or Alsdorf Poststraße RB 20 Aachen-Rothe Erdetowards Langerwehe/Düren or Stolberg Altstadt
Aachen Schanztowards Essen Hbf RB 33 Terminus
Preceding station Arriva Netherlands Following station
Aachen Westtowards Liège-Guillemins RE 18
LIMAX
Drielandentrein
Dreiländerzug
Train des trois pays 		Terminus
Preceding station National Express Germany Following station
Terminus RE 1 (NRW-Express) Aachen-Rothe Erdetowards Hamm (Westf) Hbf
RE 4 (Wupper-Express) Aachen Schanztowards Dortmund Hbf
Preceding station NMBS/SNCB Following station
Hergenrath(Belgium)towards Liège-Guillemins RE 29 euregioAIXpress Terminus
Location
Aachen Hauptbahnhof is located in North Rhine-WestphaliaAachen HauptbahnhofAachen HauptbahnhofLocation in North Rhine-WestphaliaShow map of North Rhine-WestphaliaAachen Hauptbahnhof is located in GermanyAachen HauptbahnhofAachen HauptbahnhofLocation in GermanyShow map of GermanyAachen Hauptbahnhof is located in EuropeAachen HauptbahnhofAachen HauptbahnhofLocation in EuropeShow map of Europe

Aachen Hauptbahnhof (German for Aachen main station) is the most important railway station for the city of Aachen, in the far west of Germany near the Dutch and Belgian border. It is the largest of the four currently active Aachen stations, and is integrated into the long-distance network.

History

A station at Aachen was first opened in 1841, when the Rheinische Eisenbahngesellschaft opened its line from Cologne. The line first was extended to Herbesthal (near the Belgian border) and on 15 October 1843 to Antwerp. The first station was built outside of the city walls, however the city soon grew and the station eventually became surrounded by new buildings. The Prussian state railways deemed that rather impractical and decided to build a new station situated on a hillside. Embankments and new bridges were built from 1901 onward, and on 21 December 1905 the station opened at its new location.

The station remained largely undisturbed until suffering from damage in 1944, when German troops were retreating. However, since the rail link was highly valued by the Allied forces, damage was cleared up rather quickly and in 1950 all war damage had been removed from the site. Since 2002 the Cologne–Aachen high-speed railway line allows connections to Cologne with speeds up to 250 km/h (160 mph).

Electrification

In 1966, Aachen Hauptbahnhof was electrified. Due to its proximity to Belgium, it was decided to implement the switching point from the Deutsche Bahn's 15 kV AC to the 3000 V DC used by the NMBS/SNCB in the station. Tracks 6 to 9 therefore have a switchable catenary and are used for international Thalys, ICE and Regional-Express services.

Renovations

The station hall was renovated from 2000 to 2006. In 2007 a new electronic signal box was built, enabling more streamlined operations and automatic switching of the correct voltages. The cost estimate for the revamp was around €40 million. The main changes were:

  • Construction of 400m long platforms for international traffic, replacing the old 250m platforms that did not allow economic usage due to their limited length.
  • Special through tracks (tracks 3 and 4) for freight trains to the Netherlands and Belgium (via Montzen) to Aachen West.
  • Constructional changes to the system changeover point to Belgium; a new track layout, which allows the smooth changeover of electric locomotives and is capable of handling the increasing number of through carriages.
  • Improvement of the layout to remove operating problems, especially in the sidings.

Train services

ICE 3M train en route from Brussels to Frankfurt in Aachen Hauptbahnhof.
Regional-Express trains in Aachen Hauptbahnhof.

The following services currently call at Aachen Hbf:

Series Operator Route Material Frequency Notes
Eurostar Eurostar Paris Nord – Brussels-South – Liège-Guillemins – Aachen Hauptbahnhof – Cologne – (Düsseldorf – Duisburg – Essen – Dortmund) Thalys PBKA 5x per day high speed service
ICE 79 DB Brussels-South – Brussels-North – Liège-Guillemins – Aachen Hauptbahnhof – Cologne – (Siegburg/Bonn – Montabaur – Limburg –) Frankfurt Airport – Frankfurt ICE 3M – Class 406 Every 2 hours high speed service
ICE 14 DB Aachen Hauptbahnhof – Mönchengladbach – Krefeld – Duisburg – Essen – Bochum – Dortmund – Hamm – Gütersloh – Bielefeld – Herford – Hannover – Wolfsburg – Berlin-Spandau – Berlin Hbf – Berlin Ostbahnhof ICE T 1x per day
FLX 30 Flixtrain Aachen Hauptbahnhof – Cologne – Düsseldorf – Duisburg – Essen – Dortmund – Bielefeld – Hannover – Berlin-Spandau – Berlin Hbf – Berlin Südkreuz – Lutherstadt Wittenberg – Leipzig Siemens Vectron BR193 + railway coaches 3x per week
NJ 425 ÖBB Nightjet Brussels-South – Brussels-North – Liège-Guillemins – Aachen Hauptbahnhof – Cologne-Ehrenfeld – Bonn Hbf – Koblenz Hbf – Mainz Hbf – Mannheim Hbf only operational stop/Dividing train – Frankfurt South – Erfurt Hbf – Halle (Saale) Hbf – Berlin Südkreuz – Berlin Hbf Compartment coaches, Couchette cars, Sleeping cars 3x per week Night Train
NJ 40425 Munich East – Rosenheim – Salzburg Hbf – Linz Hbf – St. Pölten Hbf – Wien Meidling – Vienna
RE 1

NRW-Express

National Express Aachen Hauptbahnhof – Eschweiler – Düren – Horrem – Cologne – Düsseldorf – Duisburg Hbf – Mülheim (Ruhr) – Essen – Bochum – Dortmund – Hamm 2x BR462 Siemens Desiro HC 1x per hour
RE 4

Wupper-Express

National Express Aachen Hauptbahnhof – Herzogenrath – Rheydt – Mönchengladbach – Neuss – Düsseldorf – Wuppertal – Hagen – Witten – Dortmund 1-2x BR462 Siemens Desiro HC 1x per hour
RE 9

Rhein-Sieg-Express

DB Regio NRW Aachen Hauptbahnhof – Eschweiler – Düren – Horrem – Cologne – Troisdorf – Siegburg/Bonn – Hennef – Au (Sieg) – Siegen Talent 2, DB Class 146.0 + 5-6x Double-deck Coach 1x per hour
RE 18

LIMAX

Arriva Nederland Aachen Hauptbahnhof – Aachen West – Herzogenrath – Eygelshoven Markt – Landgraaf – Heerlen – Valkenburg – Meerssen – Maastricht Stadler FLIRT 3 2x per hour
RB 20

Euregiobahn

DB Regio NRW Alsdorf-Annapark – Alsdorf-Busch – Herzogenrath-August-Schmidt-Platz – Herzogenrath-Alt-Merkstein – Herzogenrath – Kohlscheid – Aachen West – Aachen Schanz – Aachen Hauptbahnhof – Aachen-Rothe Erde – Eilendorf – Stolberg (Rheinland) – Eschweiler-West – Eschweiler Talbahnhof – Eschweiler-Nothberg – Eschweiler-Weisweiler – Langerwehe – Düren DB Class 643 2x per hour
Stolberg-Schneidmühle – Stolberg-Mühlener Bahnhof – Stolberg-Rathaus – Stolberg-Altstadt 2x per hour
RE 29

S 41
euregioAIXpress

SNCB/NMBS Liège-St.-Lambert – Liège-Guillemins – Angleur – Chaudfontaine – Pepinster – Verviers – Welkenraedt – Hergenrath – Aachen Hauptbahnhof SNCB Class 18 + 4x I11 Coaches 1x per hour
RB 33

Rhein-Niers-Bahn

DB Regio NRW Essen – Mülheim (Ruhr) – Mülheim-Styrum – Duisburg – Duisburg-Hochfeld Süd – Rheinhausen Ost – Rheinhausen – Krefeld-Hohenbudberg Chempark – Krefeld-Uerdingen – Krefeld-Linn – Krefeld-Oppum – Krefeld – Forsthaus – Anrath – Viersen – Mönchengladbach – Rheydt – Wickrath – Herrath – Erkelenz – Hückelhoven-Baal – Brachelen – Lindern – Geilenkirchen – Übach-Palenberg – Herzogenrath – Kohlscheid – Aachen West – Aachen Schanz – Aachen Hauptbahnhof 2x BR1440 Alstom Coradia Continental 1x per hour
Heinsberg – 1x per hour
S19

Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn

DB Regio NRW Aachen Hauptbahnhof – Aachen-Rothe Erde – Stolberg (Rheinland) – Langerwehe – Düren – Horrem – Cologne – Cologne/Bonn Airport station – Troisdorf (–Hennef(Sieg)) DB Class 423 2x per night

Operational usage

Aachen Hauptbahnhof is served by the following lines:

References

  1. Eisenbahnatlas Deutschland (German railway atlas) (2009/2010 ed.). Schweers + Wall. 2009. ISBN 978-3-89494-139-0.
  2. "Stationspreisliste 2025" [Station price list 2025] (PDF) (in German). DB Station&Service. 28 November 2024. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
  3. "Liniennetzplan Region Aachen" (PDF). Aachener Verkehrsverbund. 9 June 2019. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  4. "VRS-Gemeinschaftstarif" (PDF) (in German). Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Sieg. 20 April 2020. p. 197. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 June 2020. Retrieved 9 May 2020.

External links

Cologne-Aachen high-speed rail line (KBS 480)
Stations
Eurostar
Stations
Seasonal
Former
Lines
Rolling stock
Categories: