The new U81 light rail line, a key transport artery, was officially opened in Düsseldorf on 4 September 2026. The Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia, Hendrik Wüst, Dr Stephan Keller, Lord Mayor of the state capital Düsseldorf, State Secretary Dr Claudia Elif Stutz and Oliver Krischer, Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Transport of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, jointly commissioned the first section of the U81 light rail line.
The new light rail line connects Düsseldorf Airport with the city centre and the Düsseldorf Exhibition Centre. Wayss & Freytag Ingenieurbau, Mitte division, constructed the new transport link in a joint venture with its partners Implenia Civil Engineering and MCE. At the heart of the light rail line are the Nordstern Bridge – an arched steel bridge built using the incremental launching method whilst traffic continued to flow – and a 400-metre-long underground tunnel constructed using the cut-and-cover method.
The new light rail line significantly improves access to the airport terminal by public transport and creates new direct connections. This benefits travellers and employees alike, as well as commuters and visitors to trade fairs and events.
The U81 connects the airport terminal directly to the Merkur Spiel-Arena/Messe Nord stop for all major international trade fairs. The journey time between the airport terminal and Merkur Spiel-Arena/Messe Nord is just under seven minutes. The U80 also runs on this route every 20 minutes between Düsseldorf Central Station and the airport terminal, taking around 18 minutes to complete the journey.
The Nordstern Bridge on the U81 has been honoured three times in recent years by renowned expert juries. These awards, recognising the bridge from different perspectives, confirm the outstanding quality of the Nordstern Bridge as an innovative engineering structure and a defining feature of the new U81 link to the airport.
Treasurer Dorothée Schneider pays tribute to the close collaboration between all those involved: “This structure is not just about concrete, steel and technology. Behind this structure are people. People who planned, calculated, tested, built, co-ordinated and, time and again, found solutions. Our thanks go to all of them today.”
Copyright photos: City of Düsseldorf/Communications Department, Wayss & Freytag Ingenieurbau AG
