Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof
Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof is the main railway station of Düsseldorf, the state capital of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
History
The station was opened on 1 October 1891. It replaced the three following stations:- the Bergisch-Märkische station of the Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company, originally opened by the Düsseldorf-Elberfeld Railway Company in 1838 in the area that is now Graf-Adolf-Platz as a through station on the company's east-west line from Elberfeld to its station at Rheinknie.
- the Cologne-Minden station which the Cologne-Minden Railway Company opened in 1845 southeast of the BME station as a terminus to which branches were built from the company's north-south Cologne–Duisburg main line, and
- the Rhenish station built by the Rhenish Railway Company in 1877 in Düsseldorf-Pempelfort at the end of a branch line from its north-south Troisdorf–Mülheim-Speldorf line. The branch line was the first section of a line to Dortmund, which two years later was completed as far as Mettmann.
Construction of station building in the 1930s
The original Hauptbahnhof was built in the Wilhelmine style. After three decades it had become too small and its style had become unfashionable. In November 1930, eight designs were submitted to the public as part of a competition to redesign the station. The station building was built from 1932-1936 conforming to a design dictated by the Reichsbahn directorate of Wuppertal and its architects, Krüger and Eduard Behne. It features a notable clock tower.The station underwent major reconstruction in the 1980s, finishing in 1985, when the Stadtbahn lines passing under the station were opened. This reconstruction involved the remodeling of the old ticket offices into a food court, the installation of lifts and the opening of the station toward the city borough of Oberbilk, where, at the western exit of the station, new office buildings were erected on the site of a former steel works. The former 1st class waiting room has been remodeled into a hotel and a discothèque.
Some minor changes were carried out in the year 2005; the old toilets from 1985 were torn out to make room for a fast food restaurant, a small 1st class lounge was installed in the northern passenger tunnel also. The dated ceilings and information systems in the passenger tunnels are scheduled for replacement also, as they do not meet current fire protection standards.
Operational usage
The station is frequented by roughly a quarter million passengers per day and is therefore Germany's sixth busiest station. All modes of rail transport are offered on the 20 main line tracks, including InterCityExpress, InterCity and EuroCity trains for long distance travel, DB NachtZug, D-Nacht and EuroNight overnight trains as well as RegionalExpress, RegionalBahn and S-Bahn services for regional distribution. The station is integrated into the Rhein-Ruhr S-Bahn network and local traffic operates under the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr transport association. The subterranean station, operated by Rheinbahn, has 4 tracks that are part of the Stadtbahn lines of Düsseldorf. The 6 tramway stops in front of the station connect the Hauptbahnhof to the local tram network, also operated by Rheinbahn.Long-distance
The station is served by the following long-distance services:| Line | Route | Frequency |
| Berlin-Gesundbrunnen – Berlin – Hannover – Bielefeld – Hamm – Dortmund – Bochum – Essen – Duisburg – Düsseldorf Airport – Düsseldorf | Hourly | |
| Hamburg – Bremen – Osnabrück – Münster – Dortmund – Essen – Duisburg – Düsseldorf – Cologne | 1 train | |
| Essen – Duisburg – Düsseldorf – Köln Messe/Deutz – Frankfurt Airport – Frankfurt – Würzburg – Nuremberg – Munich | Hourly | |
| Dortmund – Essen – Duisburg – Düsseldorf – Cologne – Siegburg/Bonn – Frankfurt Flughafen – Mannheim – Stuttgart – Munich | Every 2 hours | |
| or Düsseldorf – Cologne – Siegburg/Bonn – Frankfurt Airport – Mannheim – Karlsruhe – Freiburg – Basel | Individual services | |
| Dortmund – Essen – Duisburg – Düsseldorf – Mannheim – Stuttgart | Every 2 hours | |
| Amsterdam – Utrecht – Arnhem – Oberhausen – Duisburg – Düsseldorf – Cologne – Frankfurt Airport – Frankfurt | Every 2 hours | |
| Dortmund – Essen – Duisburg – Düsseldorf – Cologne – Aachen – Liège-Guillemins – Brussels – Paris-Nord | Individual services | |
| Dortmund – Essen – Duisburg – Düsseldorf – Frankfurt Flughafen – Frankfurt – Würzburg – Nürnberg – Passau – Vienna – Vienna Airport | Individual services | |
| Hamburg – Bremen – Münster – Dortmund – Essen – Duisburg – Düsseldorf – Cologne – Bonn – Koblenz – Mainz – Mannheim – Stuttgart | Every 2 hours | |
| Dortmund – Essen – Duisburg – Düsseldorf – Cologne – Bonn – Koblenz – Mainz – Mannheim – Heidelberg – Stuttgart – Ulm | Every 2 hours | |
| – Emden – Münster – Recklinghausen – Gelsenkirchen – Oberhausen – Duisburg – Düsseldorf – Cologne – Bonn – Koblenz | Every 2 hours | |
| Düsseldorf – Cologne – Bonn – Koblenz – Wittlich – Trier – | 1 train pair | |
| Gera – Jena – Weimar – Erfurt – Eisenach – Kassel – Dortmund – Düsseldorf | 2 train pairs | |
| Hamburg Hbf – Hamburg-Harburg – Osnabrück – Münster – Gelsenkirchen – Essen – Duisburg – Düsseldorf – Cologne | 1-3 train pairs | |
| Leipzig – Lutherstadt Wittenberg – Berlin Südkreuz – Berlin Hbf – Berlin-Spandau – Hannover – Bielefeld – Dortmund – Essen – Duisburg – Düsseldorf – Cologne – Aachen | 1-2 train pairs | |
| ÖBB Nightjet Düsseldorf – Cologne – Bonn – Koblenz – Mainz – Nuremberg – Regensburg – Passau – Wels – Linz – Amstetten – | 1 train pair | |
| ÖBB Nightjet Düsseldorf – Cologne – Bonn – Koblenz – Mainz – Nuremberg – Augsburg – Munich – Kufstein – Wörgl – Jenbach – Innsbruck | 1 train pair |
Regional services
In local passenger service, Dortmund is served by the following regional and S-Bahn lines :| Line | Route | Frequency |
| NRW-Express | Aachen – Eschweiler – Düren – Horrem – Cologne – Düsseldorf Hbf – Düsseldorf Airport – Duisburg – Mülheim – Essen – Bochum – Dortmund – Hamm | 60 min |
| Rhein-Haard-Express | Düsseldorf Hbf – Düsseldorf Airport – Duisburg – Mülheim – Essen – Gelsenkirchen – Recklinghausen – Münster | 60 min |
| Rhein-Emscher-Express | Düsseldorf Hbf – Duisburg – Oberhausen – Wanne-Eickel – Gelsenkirchen – Herne – Dortmund – Hamm | 60 min |
| Wupper-Express | Aachen – Mönchengladbach – Düsseldorf Hbf – Wuppertal – Hagen – Dortmund | 60 min |
| Rhein-Express | Wesel – Duisburg – Düsseldorf Airport – Düsseldorf Hbf – Cologne – Bonn – Remagen – Andernach – Koblenz | 60 min |
| Rhein-Weser-Express | Minden – Herford – Bielefeld – Hamm – Dortmund – Essen – Mülheim – Duisburg – Düsseldorf Hbf – Neuss – Cologne – Cologne/Bonn Airport | 60 min |
| Niers-Express | Düsseldorf Hbf – Krefeld – Geldern – Kleve | 30 min |
| Rhein-Hellweg-Express | Düsseldorf Hbf – Düsseldorf Airport – Duisburg – Mülheim – Essen – Dortmund – Hamm – Paderborn | 60 min |
| Rhein-IJssel-Express | Arnhem – Emmerich – Wesel – Oberhausen – Duisburg – Düsseldorf Airport – Düsseldorf Hbf | 60 min |
| Düssel-Erft-Bahn | Neuss – Grevenbroich | 60 min, 30 min, 60 min |
| Dortmund – Bochum – Essen – Mülheim – Duisburg – Düsseldorf Airport – Düsseldorf Hbf – Hilden – Solingen | 15 min, 30 min, 20 min | |
| Köln-Nippes – Cologne – Langenfeld – Düsseldorf Hbf – Ratingen Ost – Essen | 20 min | |
| Mönchengladbach – Neuss – Düsseldorf Hbf – Wuppertal – Wuppertal-Oberbarmen – Gevelsberg – Hagen | 20 min | |
| Düsseldorf Flughafen Terminal – Düsseldorf Hbf – Neuss – Dormagen – Cologne – Bergisch Gladbach | 20 min | |
| Kaarster See – Neuss – Düsseldorf Hbf – Mettmann Stadtwald | 20 min | |
| Langenfeld – Düsseldorf Hbf – Wuppertal-Vohwinkel | Some peak services |