The government of North Rhine Westphalia, Germany has officially approved a funding of 305 million euros for the reconstruction project of the S rail transit line S11 in Cologne. The federal government will allocate the remaining 531 million euros through the National Public Transport Investment Program. This project, with a total investment of 836 million euros, aims to eliminate the biggest bottleneck in Cologne's urban railway network and strengthen the connectivity between the Ruhr area and Cologne's exhibition economy.

Cross regional fiscal coordination breaks through the deadlock

As the most densely populated state in Germany, North Rhine Westphalia's government has borne about 36.5% of the project cost, demonstrating the urgent need for improving transportation infrastructure at the local level. The federal government's matching funds ensure that the project is included in the national priority infrastructure list. According to the latest construction schedule, the entire S11 line is expected to be put into operation by 2030, which will significantly alleviate the congestion between Cologne Main Station and Cologne Exhibition Center/Detz Station. The current plan shows that after the completion of the line, the departure interval during peak hours will be shortened to every 10 minutes, and it is expected that the daily passenger flow will increase by about 45000 people.

Three dimensional expansion on both sides of the Rhine River

The core technology of the project focuses on the three-dimensional transformation of existing infrastructure. The most expensive single project is to build a 215 meter long elevated platform above the Cologne main station, exclusively for S-line trains traveling westward towards Hanslinger direction. This design avoids interference with existing railways on the ground. At the same time, the project also includes track widening for the 4.1-kilometer-long Cologne Delbr ü ck to Bergsigladbach section of the S11 line to achieve physical isolation from long-distance railways. Keywords: international rail transit, infrastructure engineering

In addition, Cologne Karksi Station will be added as a new station in the area east of Cologne Exhibition Center/Detz, where multiple S-lines will intersect in the future. Analysts point out that the upgrade of S11 is not only a transportation project, but also a key infrastructure investment for Cologne to cope with the post pandemic exhibition economy recovery and the potential passenger flow of the 2034 World Cup. With the landing of funds, the bidding for demolition and civil engineering projects will be fully launched in the next three months.Editor/Cheng Liting