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New construction of the Sülzgurtel stop: light rail line 13 will be extended!
The city rail line 13 in Cologne will be extended to the Rhine from 2026 in order to expand capacity and improve public transport.
New construction of the Sülzgurtel stop: light rail line 13 will be extended!
Cologne's mobility transition is gaining momentum! From 2026, the “Sülzgurtel” stop on light rail line 13 will be rebuilt. The Lindenthal district council has already given the green light for this, as ksta.de reports. With this measure, the Cologne Transport Company (KVB) is reacting to the increasing number of passengers during rush hour.
Line 13 currently ends at the “Sülzgurtel” stop and offers transfer options to line 18, which runs to Bonn and in the direction of Thielenbruch. The conversion of the stop aims to noticeably expand the capacities of light rail lines 4, 13 and 18. Interestingly, the trains will be 70 meters long in the future, which will require adaptation to numerous stops. Stops on Aachener Straße/Gürtel, Wüllnerstraße and Dürener Straße/Gürtel have already been extended.
New construction of the “Sülzgurtel” stop
The existing stop on the “Sülzgurtel” has to be completely rebuilt due to its current design. The existing central platform is difficult to extend and must not only meet the high number of passengers, but also the safety-related standards. This is particularly urgent because the steel structure of the stop is in need of renovation and trees are integrated, which must also be taken into account in the planning.
“If plans go according to plan, construction work should begin in the summer holidays of 2026,” adds meinungfuer.koeln. This time limit is intended to help keep disruption to passengers as low as possible. At this point the only question that arises is: What will happen to the transfer options to line 18 during the construction period? There are still some details to be clarified!
A step into the future
Particularly in the context of urban development and the expansion of the public transport system, the extension of light rail line 13 will be more than just a local measure. The aim of the expansion is to encourage more people to switch to buses and trains. This is the key to implementing the mobility transition, as stadt-koeln.de shows. The new connection is intended not only to better develop the area around the Sülz belt, but also to connect neighboring districts such as Klettenberg, Zollstock and Raderthal to the light rail network.
In order to find the best solution, a feasibility study was carried out that examined different routes. The preferred variant of the above-ground route from the banks of the Rhine to Luxemburger Straße emerged as the winner in the study because it was rated best in terms of traffic benefits, costs and impacts.
The progress of this project is part of a larger plan to sustainably improve Cologne's transport infrastructure. Anyone who travels to work or to the countryside in the future can look forward to a more pleasant and comfortable journey. The mobility transition is finally taking shape!