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MRCE/HKX 182 526 HKX 1805 (Köln Hbf - Hamburg-Altona) Gelsenkirchen, 10-04-2013. © Eddy Konijnendijk.

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MRCE/HKX 182 526 HKX 1805 (Köln Hbf - Hamburg-Altona) Gelsenkirchen, 10-04-2013. © Eddy Konijnendijk.

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MRCE/HKX 182 536 HKX 1803 (Köln Hbf - Hamburg-Altona) Gelsenkirchen, 11-09-2014. © Eddy Konijnendijk.

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MRCE/HKX 182 536 HKX 1803 (Köln Hbf - Hamburg-Altona) Gelsenkirchen, 11-09-2014. © Eddy Konijnendijk.

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Hamburg-Harburg saw U2-036 on the Hamburg-Köln Express on 25 September 2014. E-Mail: Leon2711schrijvers@yahoo.co.uk

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Hamburg-Harburg saw U2-036 on the Hamburg-Köln Express on 25 September 2014. E-Mail: Leon2711schrijvers@yahoo.co.uk

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Hamburg-Köln-Express ES 64 U2-030 arrived in Duisburg Hbf on 9th of February 2013. Photo ©Arnim v. Herff

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Hamburg-Köln-Express 55 80 22-75 014-2 D-NOB arrived in Duisburg Hbf on 9th of February 2013. Photo ©Arnim v. Herff

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56 80 19-94 006-9 D-CBB is hired by Hamburg-Köln-Express. Here it was seen in Düsseldorf Hbf with advertisements of HKX on 3rd of October 2012. Photo ©Arnim v. Herff

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Hamburg-Köln-Express is a new rail-company which serves between the towns in its name. 75% of it is owned by Railroad Development Corporation, a company which was founded to rescue the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad in 1990. After some troubles with Deutsche Bahn AG and rolling-stock HKX started service with hired vehicles in summer 2012. Here ES 64 U2-030 left Düsseldorf Hbf for Hamburg on 3rd of October 2012. Photo ©Arnim v. Herff

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The HKX (Hamburg-Köln-Express) is a private open access operator on the line Hamburg - Köln. Originally they planned to use refurbished cars from Austrian class 4010 with new locomotives, but none of the cars have been finished to a state where they could be used again, so in fact they are operating with a wild mixture of rented rolling stock. The locomotives are owned by leasing company Mitsui Rail Capital Europe, class Siemens ES64U2 (same as ÖBB class 1116), the cars are (in this case) originally from DB and DR but now owned by other companies. Among them are two 1960s TEE coaches type Avmz 111 (repainted in 1970s ivory/purple-red colours) which are known for their comfort and popular among fans, as the HKX fare is considerably lower than the first class fare that you would have to pay to use the same rolling stock in a train of Deutsche Bahn. Köln Messe Deutz, 2013-08-01. tobias b köhler

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Hamburg-Köln-Express (HKX) First class compartment coach (54 seats) originally built for DB 1968, today owned by Centralbahn AG, an operator of special trains. The appearance is more or less as it was in the 1970s but the numbers "1" standing for first class are too big. Other coaches of the same series have been modernized with electronic destination displays and are still used in EC/IC trains of Deutsche Bahn. So the comfort of the HKX is very comparable to the IC, the old coaches just don't have electric plugs for laptops. Köln-Deutz, 2013-08-01. tobias b köhler

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