Your travel may be affected by the current COVID19 crisis, so please check before departure. Train operators’ exchange and refunds policies are available here. Deine Reise könnte von Einschränkungen auf Grund der Coronavirus Pandemie betroffen sein – bitte prüfe dies vor der Abfahrt. Die Stornobedingungen der einzelnen Transportunternehmen findest du hier. (auf Englisch) Tu viaje puede verse afectado por la crisis actual de COVID19, por favorverifica tu itinerario antes de la salida. Las políticas de cambios y reembolsos de los operadores de trenes están disponibles aquí (en inglés) Il tuo viaggio potrebbe subire cambiamenti a causa dell’attuale crisi da COVID19. Per favore,controlla il tuo itinerario prima della partenza. Le politiche di modifica e rimborso dei vari operatori ferroviari sono disponibili qui (in inglese)

Essen to Cologne by train

Prices explained

Prices explained

At Rail Europe we believe in price transparency. We use real data from Rail Europe searches to estimate the cheapest fares you should be able to find for your journey.

The cheapest price is the lowest fare we've ever found for this journey. These prices can usually be found by searching when booking opens but they vary due to availability, which depends on factors like the day of the week or time of year.

More popular journeys include 30 day advance and 7 day advance prices. These are updated every two weeks using prices we've found by searching exactly 7 or 30 days from the most recent Thursday (we picked Thursday because this is when average prices are usually found).

30 day and 7 day prices fluctuate based on demand and availability at the time of search. For example, the 7-day price in summer is likely to be more expensive than the same journey in winter.

Prices are sourced in GBP and converted to other currencies using the daily market exchange rate.

We're always seeking to improve how price-checking works, and we welcome feedback on how we can make it better.

More advice about how to find the cheapest tickets can be found in our infographic.

  1. Cheapest Price $14.63
  2. 30 day advance $20.72
Trustpilot logo 89% based on 52,351 reviews
  • First train
    04:27
  • Last train
    00:48
  • Avg changes
    0
  • Fastest journey
    46m
  • Distance
    57 kilometres
  • Trains per day
    63
  • Avg. journey time
    56m
  • Train operators

Travelling from Essen to Cologne by train

Fast trains from Essen to Cologne take around 46 minutes, covering a distance of approximately 57 kilometres. There are frequent services on the rail route between Essen and Cologne.

1. Are there direct trains from Essen to Cologne?

Direct trains from Essen to Cologne have been found.

We usually find around 64 direct trains on the route from Essen to Cologne every weekday.

Trains are typically more frequent on weekends, when we found around 65 departures.

2. How long is the train journey from Essen to Cologne?

The Essen to Cologne train travel time is normally about 46 minutes, whatever time you make the journey.

3. What are the Essen to Cologne train times and schedule?

On weekdays the earliest direct train to Cologne is usually scheduled to depart Essen around 04:27 and the last train is around 00:48. This is the same at the weekend.

What's the Essen to Cologne train price?

The earlier you book the better, and the cheapest tickets we've found for trains from Essen to Cologne are $14.63.

Trains departing 30 days in advance will cost around $20, and when booking 7 days in advance the price is usually the same. Booking on the day of travel may be more expensive.

When to book Essen to Cologne train tickets?

Trains in Germany usually open for booking around 6 months in advance. If booking is not yet open for your dates then you can set a booking alert to receive an email on the day that the cheapest tickets are released for your journey from Essen to Cologne by train.

Help with booking alerts

Which train companies operate between Essen and Cologne?

More than one train company operates on the route from Essen to Cologne, so you’ll be travelling with one or more of the following rail operators:

  • ABELLIO Rail NRW
  • Eurocity (EC)
  • Eurocités
  • Hamburg-Köln-Express
  • ICE
  • Inter City
  • Intercites
  • Intercity
  • Intercity-Express (ICE)
  • Intercités
  • Regional-Express
  • S-Bahn
  • Thalys

You can check which train you’ll be travelling on by looking for the train name in search results.

Cologne to Essen by train

Other journeys to Cologne View all journeys to Cologne

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Child and youth passengers

The definition of "Child" and "Youth" varies by country and operator. This is why we ask for the age of young passengers.

Sometimes children below a certain age can travel without a seat for free. If you want to guarantee a seat for child passengers, enter '6' as the age of the child.

Read more about child and youth passenger ages. See also youth discounts and railcards.