Bahnhof Köln-Nippes
Station with a railway museum in the former depot and Deutsche Bahn's first CO2-neutral maintenance facility, mostly in Cologne-Nippes.
The station lies mostly in the Nippes district, but its S-Bahn stop is in neighboring Bilderstöckchen. Only a few metres of track remain in Nippes itself today.
At a Glance
- Type
- Station made up of several station sections
- Location
- Mostly in the Nippes district, Nippes borough; passenger station in Bilderstöckchen
- Opened
- 1855
- Main line
- Cologne – Krefeld – Kleve
- S-Bahn
- S 6 and S 11
- Old station building
- Escher Straße, listed since 2002, now residential
The old Köln-Nippes station building on Escher Straße has been a listed monument since 2002 and is now used as housing, while the station itself now lies almost entirely in the neighboring district of Bilderstöckchen. Only a few meters of track remain in the Nippes district itself.
One Station, Many Parts
Besides the Köln-Nippes station proper, the complex included six further station sections in 2016, each with its own function. Bez 1, Bez 4 and Nf are located at the former marshalling yard, now used as a stabling yard, and on a line parallel to the main line; Bez 1 also connects to the HGK rail network. The Etzelstraße junction links the main line to Kleve with the other lines. The S-Bahn uses its own line towards Köln-Worringen, with a passenger station and a turnback facility, which joins the main line at Etzelstraße. Between Köln-Nippes and Köln-Longerich, this S-Bahn line has no tracks of its own.
History
Operations began on 15 November 1855 with the line from the Crefelder Bahnhof in Cologne to Neuss. In 1860 the Cöln-Crefelder Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft was taken over by the Rheinische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft, which built its central workshop near Nippes; the marshalling yard opened at about the same time. It was extensively expanded in the early 20th century, and the locomotive depot was added in 1914. The station has been part of the Cologne S-Bahn since 1975. With the opening of the Cologne trunk line on 26 May 1990, the new passenger station on Hartwichstraße went into service, and the old building on Escher Straße, just under a hundred metres to the south, was abandoned.
Railway Museum and New Depots
The locomotive depot, last known as Bw Köln 1, was closed in 1991. Since 1992 it has housed the Cologne Railway Museum (Eisenbahnmuseum Köln), whose best-known subtenant is the Rheinisches Industriebahn-Museum. DB Regio opened an S-Bahn depot on the site of the former marshalling yard in 2015. On 23 February 2018, the ICE maintenance depot Köln was inaugurated, the first CO2-neutral maintenance facility of Deutsche Bahn. The former station building and the former signal box R 4 were demolished to make way for it. All of these facilities are located in Bilderstöckchen.
Signal Box and S-Bahn Service
Since 13 April 1975, the Nf signal box, a relay interlocking, has controlled the station's facilities. It replaced several mechanical and electromechanical signal boxes from the early 20th century and also remotely controls the S-Bahn line as far as Köln-Chorweiler Nord, as well as the Etzelstraße junction. The S 6 of the Rhein-Ruhr S-Bahn runs from Essen Hbf to Köln-Nippes, continuing via Köln-Chorweiler to Köln-Worringen during peak hours. The S 11 connects Bergisch Gladbach with Düsseldorf Airport.
Condition and Redesign
In the NVR ranking of appearance, cleanliness and functionality, the S-Bahn station placed last in 2021. According to the ranking, it was covered in graffiti and had dirty, dark corners that were perceived as unsafe spaces. Following a citizens' petition, a redesign of the station surroundings was approved in September 2022: around €250,000 is to go towards redesigned intersections to better protect pedestrians and cyclists.
Timeline
- 1855Station opens with the Cöln Crefelder Bf – Neuss line section
- 1860Rheinische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft takes over the line; central workshop is built
- 1914Köln-Nippes locomotive depot enters service
- 1975Nf signal box commissioned (13 April); station joins the Cologne S-Bahn network
- 1990New passenger station on Hartwichstraße opens (26 May)
- 1992Former depot becomes home of the Eisenbahnmuseum Köln
- 2002Old station building listed as a protected monument
- 2018ICE maintenance facility Cologne inaugurated (23 February)
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Sources & links
- Official website
- Official website (retrieved 2026-10-24)
- Wikidata (retrieved 2026-10-24)
- Wikipedia (retrieved 2026-10-24, rev 271349883)
Auto-generated, last verified: 2026-10-24
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