In 1854 a controversial decision was taken to locate a new rail and road bridge next to the cathedral, following consideration of such proposals as connecting the bridge to an existing freight yard and temporary passenger station on the banks of the Rhine (Rhine Station) at the street of Trankgasse, which is to the southeast of the current Hauptbahnhof.

The city agreed to the proposal in 1857 and made available the ground of the former Botanical garden to the north of the cathedral and on the site of part of the old University of Cologne, suppressed by the French in 1798.

The original Central Station (German: Centralbahnhof[8]) was built beginning in 1857 to the plans of Hermann Otto Pflaume on behalf of the RhE, which had in the same year acquired the BCE.

On 9 January 1883, the Cologne City Council decided by one vote, finally, for the second option under a plan by the engineer E. Grüttefien of Berlin.

Only the first and second class waiting rooms in Trankgasse and Johannisstraße (streets) survived World War II and subsequent modifications and are now used as a restaurant and the Alter Wartesaal events centre.

On 23 September 1957, the new station hall with its shell-shaped roof was opened to the design of the architects Schmitt and Schneider.

The so-called colonnade includes 70 shops and restaurants with over 11,500 square metres (124,000 sq ft) of retail space and 700 employees.

[10] It is planned to extend the platform for track 1 to provide a secure area for checking passenger and baggage to enable ICE trains to run to London-St Pancras in 2016.

Long-distance trains connect in the station from the Ruhr region, southern Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Belgium.

In the past, therefore, a direct connection, such as a moving walkway over the Rhine was considered, but this controversial idea was rejected as too expensive for the time being.

Long-distance traffic load is concentrated to and from the east of the station, while regional trains mainly run to and from the west.

[13] Although its platforms are divided into three sections each, they are still remarkably crowded throughout the day, and a major extension of the station is impossible because of its historic surroundings.

An international Intercity Express service also operates every two hours during the day on the Brussels–Liege—Aachen–Cologne line, continuing to Frankfurt.

With a combined 403 scheduled long-distance arrivals and departures each day at Cologne in the summer timetable of 1989, it was the most important node in the network of Deutsche Bundesbahn.

[14] With 383 scheduled long-distance arrivals and departures, in Deutsche Bahn's timetable of summer 1996, it was the second most important node (after Hannover Hauptbahnhof).

Line 5 has been rerouted from Dom/Hauptbahnhof to Rathaus station to connect with the first open part of the north-south Stadtbahn tunnel, which is currently under construction.

DB Fernverkehr have announced their intention to operate a direct ICE service from Cologne to London St Pancras via Brussels and the Channel Tunnel.