page_title: Cologne Stadtbahn
section_title: Current routes
hierarchical_section_title: Cologne Stadtbahn / Current routes
caption_attribution_description: English: Technical map of the light rail system of Cologne (2017)
context_page_description: The Cologne Stadtbahn is a light rail system in the German city of Cologne, including several surrounding cities of the Cologne Bonn Region. The term Stadtbahn denotes a system that encompasses elements of trams as well as an underground railway network and interurban rail, even including three lines that are licensed as heavy rail and used by freight trains as well as Stadtbahn vehicles. Two of these lines connect the Cologne Stadtbahn to the Bonn Stadtbahn. These lines are jointly operated by both cities' transport authorities, resulting in both systems and the lines connecting them sometimes collectively referred to as Stadtbahn Rhein-Sieg.
  The Cologne Stadtbahn is operated by the Kölner Verkehrsbetriebe and the Bonn Stadtbahn is operated by the Stadtwerke Bonn. The KVB and SWB are members of the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Sieg, formed in 1987 to consolidate the transit authorities in the metropolitan Cologne area and operate a joint fare structure. There were 38 underground stations, with an additional four being added since 2015.
context_section_description: Because the light rail network evolved from the tram network instead of replacing it, there were numerous stations served by both light rail and tram vehicles for almost three decades. While high platforms for step less entry into light rail vehicles could be built on the outer branches, stations in the city center had to have low platforms to support trams as well. The introduction of low-floor technology in the early 1990s promised wheelchair-accessible entry throughout the network without having to build several hundred high platforms. To allow the introduction of low-floor trains without having to demolish existing high platforms, the network was divided into two sub-networks of different floor heights.
  On weekdays, all lines are served in 5- to 10-minute intervals from 6 am to 8 pm, with little or no service between around 1 am and about 4.30 am, and usually 15-minute intervals in the early night and early morning. On weekends, there is an hourly service throughout the night. Because several lines overlap on the routes through the city center, some stations are served by up to 30 trains per hour in each direction.
caption: Technical map
exif: {}