Rhein Ruhr Express

Rhein Ruhr Express
Two coupled trains used on the RRX
Overview
Area served	Dortmund Bochum Essen Mülheim a. d. Ruhr Düsseldorf Cologne
Locale	North-Rhine Westphalia
Transit type	Regional rail
Number of lines	7
Website	www.rrx.de
Operation
Began operation	9th December 2018 (9th December 2018)
Operator(s)	National Express Germany
Character	Mainline rail
Number of vehicles	84
Headway	Every 15 minutes on the main section
Technical
Track gauge	1435 mm (normal gauge)
Top speed	160 kilometres per hour (99 mph)

The Rhein-Ruhr-Express (RRX) is a currently under construction regional rail system in the German Rhine-Ruhr area connecting the Ruhr Valley and the central Rhineland. The main goal is to provide a fast connection on its most important section from Dortmund via the Ruhr Valley to Cologne every quarter of an hour. Like the previous Regional-Express-lines the new ones will continue onward from the central section to other cities and states. As part of the project new Siemens Desiro HC trains, that are supposed to already increase punctuality because of the higher capacity and acceleration, were bought and the region's infrastructure is being upgraded and expanded. Operation on the first line started in December of 2018, while four out of seven planned lines operate now in 2023. The construction is planned to be finished by 2030 and the project is expected to replace 24,000 drives per day when finished.

Planned routes

Currently in 2023 there are seven planned lines that will all operate once per hour each, but the planning is not finished as some passenger estimates from 2006 were already exceeded in 2015. On the central section from Dortmund via Bochum, Essen, Mülheim a.d. Ruhr and Düsseldorf to Cologne four of the lines will provide an interlined service every quarter of an hour and continue on from there to the following cities:

• RRX 2 Dortmund – Hamm – Paderborn – Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe
• RRX 4 Dortmund – Hamm – Bielefeld
• RRX 6 Dortmund – Hamm – Bielefeld – Minden
• RRX 1/RRX 2 Köln – Aachen (half-hourly)
• RRX 4/RRX 6 Köln – Bonn – Koblenz (half-hourly)

The other three lines serve part of the central section, but either use parallel routes or branch off to serve the wider region. All the lines continue outwards from the central section to connect to more cities or even neighboring states. The full planned lines are:

• RRX 1 Dortmund – Bochum – Bochum-Wattenscheid – Essen – Duisburg – Düsseldorf-Flughafen – Düsseldorf – Düsseldorf-Benrath – Leverkusen – Köln-Messe/Deutz – Köln – Köln-Ehrenfeld – Horrem – Düren – Langerwehe – Eschweiler – Stolberg – Aachen-Rothe Erde – Aachen
• RRX 2 Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe – Hofgeismar – Warburg – Willebadessen – Altenbeken – Paderborn – Lippstadt – Soest – Hamm – Kamen – Dortmund – Bochum – Bochum-Wattenscheid – Essen – Duisburg – Düsseldorf-Flughafen – Düsseldorf – Düsseldorf-Benrath – Leverkusen – Köln-Mülheim – Köln-Messe/Deutz – Köln – Köln-Ehrenfeld – Horrem – Düren – Langerwehe – Eschweiler – Stolberg – Aachen-Rothe Erde – Aachen
• RRX 3 Münster – Dortmund – Dortmund-Mengede – Castrop-Rauxel – Herne – Herne-Wanne-Eickel – Gelsenkirchen – Essen-Altenessen – Oberhausen – Duisburg – Düsseldorf-Flughafen – Düsseldorf – Neuss – Dormagen – Köln – Köln-Messe/Deutz – Köln/Bonn Flughafen
• RRX 4 Bielefeld – Bielefeld-Brackwede – Isselhorst-Avenwedde – Gütersloh – Rheda-Wiedenbrück – Oelde – Neubeckum – Ahlen – Hamm-Heessen – Hamm – Kamen – Dortmund – Bochum – Essen – Mülheim – Duisburg – Düsseldorf-Flughafen – Düsseldorf – Düsseldorf-Benrath – Leverkusen – Köln-Mülheim – Köln-Messe/Deutz – Köln – Köln Süd – Brühl – Sechtem – Roisdorf – Bonn – Bonn UN Campus – Bonn-Bad Godesberg – Bonn-Mehlem – Oberwinter – Remagen – Sinzig – Bad Breisig – Brohl – Namedy – Andernach – Weißenthurm – Mülheim-Kärlich – Koblenz-Lützel – Koblenz-Stadtmitte – Koblenz
• RRX 5 Wesel – Dinslaken – Oberhausen-Sterkrade – Oberhausen – Duisburg – Düsseldorf-Flughafen – Düsseldorf
• RRX 6 Minden – Porta Westfalica – Bad Oeynhausen – Löhne – Herford – Bielefeld – Gütersloh – Rheda-Wiedenbrück – Oelde – Neubeckum – Ahlen – Hamm-Heessen –Hamm – Kamen – Dortmund – Bochum – Essen – Mülheim – Duisburg – Düsseldorf-Flughafen – Düsseldorf – Düsseldorf-Benrath – Leverkusen – Köln-Mülheim – Köln Messe/Deutz – Köln – Köln Süd – Brühl – Bonn – Bonn UN Campus – Bonn-Bad Godesberg – Remagen – Sinzig – Bad Breisig – Andernach – Koblenz-Stadtmitte – Koblenz
• RRX 7 Osnabrück – Lengerich – Münster – Dülmen – Haltern – Recklinghausen – Herne-Wanne-Eickel – Gelsenkirchen – Essen – Mülheim – Duisburg – Düsseldorf-Flughafen – Düsseldorf