Bonn central station restoration Track 1 now expected to open in summer of 2019

Bonn · Progress is being made on the renovation of the historic roof at Bonn central station, but it will take longer than initially planned. Track 1 will probably open again in the summer of 2019.

The most important message for passengers of Deutsche Bahn (German Rail - DB) consists of two words: Summer 2019. At that time, platform 1 at Bonn main station should be open again. This is another quarter of a year longer than previously calculated. As it stands now, the very final steps are scheduled to take place at the end of 2020. On Wednesday, representatives of Deutsche Bahn gave an overview of how the restoration work was coming along.

The vaulted construction of the roof has been in its original state for 130 years. As things stand, there is little reason to believe this type of construction won’t last another 130 years. Experts were on site to view the restoration work and were satisfied with how it was going. Despite the complexities involved, restoration is well under way, the first of a total of seven stages has now been completed.

There are a total of 5,500 square meters, which must be renewed successively. Nicolas Krallmann, head of construction and plant management at DB Station & Service, made a comparison of this historical renovation with all its round arches, columns, and rivets to the restoration of a vintage auto found in a barn in the countryside in France. Each step represents an enormous effort. Individual roof elements are dismantled and brought to a specialist in Dortmund, where they are examined and restored.

This is also the reason why passengers may have the impression that nothing is going on at the construction site, explains Kai Rossmann, head of Station Management for 115 stops in the Rhineland. Despite an initial planning analysis, surprises may pop up. In some cases, they are left with no alternative but to recreate some pieces from the original plan as those parts are not available.

For passengers, results from the restoration are already visible. Parts of the modernized roof already appear at the southern end. Workers will continue to renew the roof piece by piece to the north. Parallel to the work in the main building, work will also be carried out on the other projecting roof parts. Finally, a glass roof will be installed in the center of the main building to let in more light.

The initial cost estimate approached around 13 million euros but railway representatives have confirmed that the latest figure is 30 million euros. Reasons for the higher cost are the surprises that have come up, higher prices in the construction industry, and additional elements being brought to the project such as new escalators and a new floor for the platform. The costs are shared by DB, the federal government and Rhineland area public transport.

Orig. text: Rüdiger Franz

Translation: ck

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