Köln Messe/Deutz station (called Köln-Deutz until November 2004, Colognian: Düx, pronounced [dʏks]) is an important railway junction for long-distance rail and local services in the Cologne district of Deutz in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is situated close to the eastern bank of the Rhine and connected via the Hohenzollern Bridge to Köln Hauptbahnhof, the city's main station, which is just a few hundred metres away. The Cologne Trade Fair (German: Koelnmesse) grounds are directly north of the station, hence the Messe in the station's name. The Stadtbahn station of Deutz/Messe is nearby and connected by a pedestrian tunnel. The station is a junction station, which has platforms on two levels: the high-level platforms are used by trains running in the east-west direction across the Hohenzollern Bridge to and from Köln Hauptbahnhof. The lower level (Köln Messe/Deutz tief) is used by trains running in a north-south direction bypassing the Hauptbahnhof from Köln-Mülheim station towards Troisdorf. It serves an important function in providing some relief for the Köln Hauptbahnhof bottleneck—some ICE services call at Köln-Deutz instead of Köln Hbf, eliminating the need for changing direction, while many regional trains from the west terminate here to prevent them blocking the Hauptbahnhof. From Wikipedia