is the
Hauptbahnhof of the city of
Duisburg in western
Germany. It is situated at the meeting point of many important national and international railway lines in the Northwestern
Ruhr valley.
Lines
The station is situated at the northern end of the relatively straight Duisburg to
Düsseldorf railway line which has to cope with one of the highest daily loads in continental Europe. This line is slated to be widened to six tracks in the near future. Currently it has 4, in some places 5 tracks. Parallel to it to the east is the local line to Duisburg-Wedau , remnant of a relief line to Düsseldorf which only sees a local shuttle service today but is heavily used by freight trains (which usually don't run through the station but bypass it on a freight-only line 2 miles to the east). The third line from the south is the railway line to
Krefeld and
Mönchengladbach. This crosses the River
Rhine and then splits into the main line and a branch to
Moers and
Xanten at Rheinhausen.
North of the station 7 tracks run to the
Ruhr crossing (which is a sight on the "Route der Industriekultur" (Route of industrial heritage) due to a maze of girder bridges) where 3 tracks split for
Oberhausen and on to
Antwerp or
Dortmund via
Gelsenkirchen. The 4-tracked main line turns east and runs via
Essen and
Bochum to Dortmund.
Operational usage
Railway
The station is an important hub for
InterCityExpress,
InterCity and
EuroCity trains from and to
the Netherlands,
Berlin,
Switzerland,
Munich,
Frankfurt and
Cologne. It also is an important connection point for
RegionalExpress and
RegionalBahn lines and has two
S-Bahn lines of the
Rhein-Ruhr S-Bahn calling at the station. A nearby
Stadtbahn station offers local connections as well as trams to
Mülheim an der Ruhr and
Düsseldorf.
Local travel
Trams and buses call at the northern concourse (not connected to the main hall). There is another bus station at the eastern end of the main concourse, but not all lines serving the station call there.
Taxis are available at both ends of the main concourse.
The station is directly connected to the motorway
A59 whichs runs under the plaza in front of the main entrance.
Long-distance coaches depart from a small bus station at the city end of the station (behind the taxi ranks, to the left).
Architecture
The current station building dates from the 1930s and was modelled after the train station in
Kalinigrad. After WW2 it was extensively rebuilt and many features (such as murals in the main concourse) were lost. Its 6 platforms are covered by a train shed at their southern ends and modern canopies to the north where there is a second concourse housing the bus and tram stops.
The station today has a rather drab feeling with the train shed in need of repair as there are quite a number of holes in the roof.
Amenities
As is usual with station of its size, Duisburg Hbf has a number of shops on its concourse and in the main hall. These include a book shop, a barber shop, several telecommunication accessories dealers, 2 bars, a small gambling arcade and several bakers and fast food stalls.
The booking hall is located in the main hall (city exit), and lockers are provided at the beginning of the concourse to the right, next to the toilets.
In the station building outside the concourse there is a hotel and local newspaper offices, and there used to be a fairly large night club which closed in early 2006 and has remained empty since.