Düsseldorf has opened the first section of its new Stadtbahn link to Düsseldorf Airport, bringing the city’s first direct underground rail service to the terminal with the new Flughafen Terminal stop. Regular passenger service began on Friday on the 1.9-kilometre extension from Freiligrathplatz, with U80 trains running between Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof and the airport and U81 serving the Messe and arena corridor on event days.
The opening removes a long-standing gap in the local transit network and gives the airport a direct urban rail connection for the first time. U80 is scheduled every 20 minutes and reaches the terminal in about 18 minutes. U81 links Flughafen Terminal with Merkur Spiel-Arena/Messe Nord during major exhibition days, adding capacity for trade fair and stadium traffic. Stadt Düsseldorf marked the opening with Oberbürgermeister Dr. Stephan Keller, Staatssekretärin Dr. Claudia Elif Stutz and NRW Ministerpräsident Hendrik Wüst in attendance.
The new station includes lifts for accessibility, while the first train reaches the airport shortly after 4:00 and the last departs around 1:00. The station design was chosen through a competition won by Düsseldorf artist Anna Vogel.