Köln Geldernstraße/Parkgürtel Station
A commuter rail stop above an underground light rail station that was completely flooded during heavy rain in 2017 and again in the 2021 floods.
The station lies in the Bilderstöckchen district of Cologne, where the S-Bahn meets the Stadtbahn of the Kölner Verkehrs-Betriebe (KVB), whose tracks run underground. Its history is closely tied to the expansion of the city's ring route and the Chorweiler branch line.
At a Glance
- Type
- S-Bahn stop with an underground Stadtbahn station
- Location
- Bilderstöckchen district, Nippes borough
- Tracks
- two S-Bahn platform tracks, two underground Stadtbahn tracks
- Platform
- island platform, 210 metres long
- Opened
- S-Bahn stop in 1975, underground station in 1974
- Services
- S 11, S 6 during peak hours, Stadtbahn line 13, three bus routes
- Accessibility
- platform access by lift and an upward-running escalator
Beneath the S-Bahn stop lies a light rail station that was completely flooded by heavy rain on 19 July 2017 – its escalators took over three months to get running again, and during the 2021 floods the water once more rose above the platform edge.
History
The underground station was built in 1974 as part of the expansion of the Gürtel route. A year later, on 1 June 1975, an S-Bahn branch line from Longerich via Chorweiler to Chorweiler Nord opened. The Geldernstraße/Parkgürtel stop was newly opened in connection with it.
Flooding of the Underground Station
On 19 July 2017, the entire underground station filled with water after torrential rain. Technical Relief Agency (THW) crews pumped out the tunnel while the station was closed. During this time, line 13 ran only in two separate sections, supplemented by a replacement bus. According to the KVB, a transformer had been flooded, which knocked out the station's systems. Boarding and alighting were provisionally possible again on 7 August 2017, and the escalators were back in service after more than three months. During the 2021 floods, water once more rose above the platform edge; the THW and fire brigade pumped the station out.
The Brief Stop of the RE 6a
Because of construction work at Cologne Hauptbahnhof, the RE 6a regional express stopped here for two weeks in mid-April 2016. Afterwards, the Verkehrsclub Deutschland, the Nachbarn 60 and the Greens of Köln-Nippes campaigned for a permanent stop. They argued that the journey time to Düsseldorf was up to 40 minutes shorter than by S-Bahn. On 11 December 2016, the RE 6a was merged with the RE 6.
Today
On weekdays, twelve trains per hour serve the station. The S 11 runs towards Neuss and via Köln Hauptbahnhof to Bergisch Gladbach. In 2013, the approach to the station was renovated with new lamps, brighter lighting, repainted walls and taller safety poles. The station is unstaffed; bicycle parking and a taxi service are available.
Timeline
- 1974Underground station built during expansion of the Gürtel line
- 1975Station reopened with the Longerich–Chorweiler Nord branch line (1 June)
- 2013Station access renovated, new lighting, escalators replaced
- 2014From 14 December, S 6 runs partly to Köln-Worringen
- 2015DB Regio introduces RE 6a (13 December)
- 2016RE 6a merged with RE 6 (11 December)
- 2017Heavy rain floods the underground station (19 July)
- 2021Flood inundates station above platform edge
Gallery
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Sources & links
- Official website
- Official website (retrieved 2026-10-28)
- Wikidata (retrieved 2026-10-28)
- Wikipedia (retrieved 2026-10-28, rev 264923060)
Auto-generated, last verified: 2026-10-28
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