New services and new layers for an old favourite! Köln - Aachen timetable updates are coming soon.
We’ve been talking about the upcoming Köln-Aachen timetable update for a little while now, coming to bolster the total service count with a huge new selection of playable and AI services.
As a reminder, this will be a free update to owners of the route and Train Sim World 5. Today we wanted to confirm all the Add-ons that will add layers on to the route following the update and the roll out plan for different platforms.
As a note: the timetable update will initially be rolled out to Steam players only, with other platforms receiving the update at a later time.
The Timetable and Additional Service Layers
With all relevant content installed, the service count will go up considerably from the original 552 services to over 4000 (of which around 600 will be playable)!
Below is the full list of Add-ons that will add playable and AI services to the new timetable:
Bremen-Oldenburg
- BR110 with n-wagen services on certain AI RB48 (Köln) and RE4 (Aachen) services.
Dresden-Riesa
- Playable Zacns freight services and static Zacns wagons around the route.
Frankfurt-Fulda
- for AI ICE-T services
Hauptstrecke Rhein-Ruhr
- for the BR 422 operating S6 services and BR 425 operating RE8, RB26, RB27 (all at Köln) and RB33 (at Aachen)
Linke Rheinstrecke
- for a BR 103 railtour service
LGV Méditerranée
- TGV AI services subsituting for Thalys services between Aachen and Köln
Maintalbahn
- for the DB BR 642 DMU serving all major stations. More details can be found below.
Main-Spessart Bahn
- for the DB BR 146
Ruhr-Sieg Nord's DB BR 363
- Shunting and local services throughout the route and in yards such as Stolberg and Köln Hansaring
Salzburg-Rosenheim
- BR 111 on RE4 services at Aachen Hbf
Schnellfahrstrecke Kassel-Würzburg
- ICE 1 AI services at Köln as well as a few playable services running the full length of the route, plus ICE 3 AI services at Köln. Most freight services also come from this Add-on.
Railpool BR 193 Vectron
- Playable and AI NightJet services
FlixTrain BR 193 Vectron
- FlixTrain AI services at Köln Hbf with a few playable depot moves and two full length runs (one each way).
DB BR 101 (original Add-on)
- IC services as AI at Köln as well as a few playable services running the full length of the route
DB BR 218
- One short freight service that is bound for a diesel-only branch line
S-Bahn Köln BR 423
- The BR 423 from the New Journeys pack runs all S11, S12 and S19 services. These are all in their own layers for this timetable and do not affect the New Journeys timetable.
Hauptstrecke Hamburg–Lübeck
- static Roos-t wagons throughout the route
S-Bahn Köln BR 423
- The BR 423 from the New Journeys pack runs all S11, S12 and S19 services. These are all in their own layers for this timetable and do not affect the New Journeys timetable.
Further timetable details
On the New Journeys timetable, RE8 and RB27 had problems joining the mainline in the southbound direction and always ran late, causing only northbound services to be playable. This timetable has them running on time in both directions.
In this timetable, the original RE1, RE9, S-bahn and ICE services will of course still feature. New AI services will also be seen at various stations such as Aachen Hbf, Düren and of course Köln Hbf which has non-stop activity through the day including RE7 trains.
For players with the Main-Spessart Bahn route Add-on there are additional peak-only RE1 services that run non-stop between Aachen Hbf and Düren only stopping at Stolberg Hbf. RE1 also has two services a day that stop additionally at Eilendorf.
DB BR 642 Services (from Maintalbahn)
The addition of RB20 services will allow players to serve a new station, Eilendorf Bahnhof, which is only serviced by RB20 and some peak RE services. RB20 trains also run between Langerwehe and Düren and as AI at Langerwehe.
Maintalbahn also adds:
- RB21 & RB28: AI traffic at Düren
- RB12, RE22, RB24. RB25: AI only traffic in the Köln area.
- RB38: Playable services between Köln Hbf and Horrem as well as AI only services at Horrem.
Freight services
For the freight fans, the timetable now features a huge new range of services to experience mostly via the Kassel - Wüurzburg route Add-on. Freight trains will need to stop at passing points for highspeed trains or even other freight trains, and whilst most are A-B runs, there are a few shunting services for Stolberg too.
Platform roll out
The timetable update is scheduled to be rolled out initially to Steam players only, with other platforms receiving the update at a later time. This will come with the next scheduled TSW patch update, alongside a range of other improvements and fixes for various add-ons, ahead of the release of Cargo Line Vol.3: Intermodal on 1st May.
We will provide further details about the new Köln-Aachen timetable on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and Epic Games players at a later time whilst our teams continue to test these platforms.
If you're a player on PlayStation 4, you may have already gotten a sneak preview of the new timetable, as this was unintentionally included on builds earlier in the month. We've not been able to further test this platform, and we will share more news for our roll out on PS4 alongside all other platforms as soon as we can. In the meantime, if you do give it a try on PS4, please be aware of any issues that you may encounter, and we welcome any thoughts you have in our Köln-Aachen Timetable feedback thread, which we will share early next week.
TSW5: Compatible Schnellfahrstrecke Köln - Aachen
If you're new to Train Sim World 5, you can still pick up Schnellfahrstrecke Köln-Aachen as Compatible content.
This high-speed route between two historic cities in Köln and Aachen features the DB BR 406 ICE 3M and DB BR 422 EMU, with both LZB and PZB operations. Stopping services arrive at intermediate stations such as Düren and Free Roam allows players to operate in and around the complex yard north of Köln, including the turntable.
In reality, freight is a regular feature along the route, as are S-Bahn services and depot movements between yards and stations, making it the ideal route to be updated with these additional timetabled services from the wider Train Sim World collection.
Find out more about Train Sim World 5 by following @trainsimworld on X/Twitter, Bluesky, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Twitch, and TikTok.
