The station Aachen Süd on the line Aachen-Liège seen from above the Buschtunnel on 10 July 2007. This station, located at the upper end of the steep grade (26 ‰) between Aachen Hbf and the tunnel, used to have several tracks which were used to shunt the bank engines. The need for this operations has decreased substantially during the last years, as most trains (highspeed traffic between Cologne and Bruxelles and local traffic between Aachen and Liège) are EMUs which can climb the grade independently. To make room for the renovation of the Buschtunnel, they removed all tracks but one, it seems likely that the station will be removed completely (or transformed into a crossover). The portal of the old tunnel (built between 1838 and 1843) can be seen in the lower left corner, while the concrete walls on the right belong to the new tunnel that was excavated during the last two years. In September this single-tracked tube shall go into service. The track construction inside seems to be going on, some sleepers for slab track (which will be used in the tunnel) are stored next to the old tracks in the middle of the picture. The enlargement inserted in the upper left corner shows the only remaining exit signal at this end of the station. Like all signals of this station it is equipped with a crocodile of the Belgian train protection system, but not with the German Indusi.

Digital photo by Christoph Schmitz (christoph.schmitz2@post.rwth-aachen.de)