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Cologne freight bypass railway
Cologne freight bypass railway
	Towers at the eastern end of the South Bridge
Overview
Native name	Güterumgehungsbahn Köln
Line number	2641 (Köln Süd–Köln-Kalk Nord); 2642 (Cologne South–Cologne Bonntor); 2656 (Cologne South bridge–Gremberg Nord);
Locale	North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Technical
Line length	7.7 km (4.8 mi) + 7.1 km (4.4 mi)
Number of tracks	2
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	15 kV/16.7 Hz AC Overhead catenary
Operating speed	60 km/h (37 mph)
Route map
Route map
	Legend
	Cologne South
	junction
	Stadtbahn 18
	Vorgebirge Railway
	Stadtbahn 16
	Rhine Shore Railway
	0.0
	3.6
	Troisdorf–Mülheim-Speldorf railway
	(freight line) to Köln-Kalk Nord yard
	Cologne-Frankfurt high-speed railway
	East Rhine Railway, Sieg Railway
	Source: German railway atlas
	This diagram: view; talk; edit;

The Cologne freight bypass railway (German: Güterumgehungsbahn Köln) is a main line railway in southern Cologne in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is fully duplicated and electrified.

The railway crosses the Cologne South Bridge, connecting the West Rhine Railway (Linke Rheinstrecke), Cologne South station and the Cologne Eifeltor freight yard on the left (western) side of the Rhine with the Sieg Railway, the Cologne-Frankfurt high-speed railway, the East Rhine Railway (Rechte Rheinstrecke), and the marshalling yards of Cologne-Kalk Nord and Gremberg on the right (eastern) side of the Rhine. It was opened on 5 April 1910, disrupted by the bombing of the South Bridge on 6 January 1945, reopened with one track on 3 May 1946 and two tracks in 1950 and electrified on 27 May 1962.^[2]

Operations

The line is mainly used by freight trains in order not to have to run through Cologne Hauptbahnhof (main or central station).

Along the line, there are no passenger stations. During the development of the Western Ring (Westring) project as part of the Rhine-Sieg S-Bahn (operated as part of the Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn), consideration is being given to running over the South Bridge.

Until the upgrade of the Köln Messe/Deutz station, the bypass line was used by Intercity-Express (ICE) trains from Düsseldorf and Wuppertal running towards the Cologne-Frankfurt high-speed railway avoiding, on the one hand, a change of direction in Cologne station and, on the other hand, twice using the chronically overloaded Hohenzollern Bridge, which can only be run over at 30 km/h.

Currently, except for occasional ICE and EuroNight services, the rail bypass is only used by passenger trains on an unscheduled basis, for example during disruption or construction on the direct line.

Notes

^ Eisenbahnatlas Deutschland [German railway atlas]. Schweers + Wall. 2009. pp. 146, 148. ISBN 978-3-89494-139-0.
^ "Line 2641: Köln Süd Abzw ↔ Köln-Kalk Nord Ksf". NRW Rail Archive (in German). André Joost. Retrieved 29 June 2013.