uptbahnhof main station, which also serves as the connection to the Regional-Express and Intercity-Express network of regional and nationwide high-speed trains, respectively. Following Essen's appointment as European Capital of Culture 2010, the main station, which is classified as a station of highest importance and which had not been substantially renovated over decades, will be redeveloped with a budget of � 57 million until early 2010. Other important stations in Essen, where regional and local traffic are connected, are the Regionalbahnh�fe (regional railway stations) in the boroughs of Altenessen, Borbeck, Kray and Steele. Further 20 S-Bahn stations can be found in the whole urban area.
Together with the neighbouring city of M�lheim an der Ruhr and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Essen maintains Essen/M�lheim Airport (IATA: ESS, ICAO: EDLE). While the first flights had already arrived in 1919, it was officially opened on 25 August 1925. Significantly expanded in 1935, Essen/M�lheim became the central airport of the Ruhr area until the end of the Second World War, providing an asphalted runway of 1,553 m (5,095 ft), another unsurfaced runway for gliding and destinations to most major European cities. It was heavily damaged during the war, yet partly reconstructed and used by the Allies as a secondary airport since visibility is less often obscured than at D�sseldorf Airport. The latter then developed into the large civil airport that it is now, while Essen/M�lheim now mainly serves occasional air traffic (some 33,000 passengers each year), the base of a fleet of airships and Germany's oldest public flight training company. Residents of the region around Essen typically use D�sseldorf Airport (~ 20 driving minutes) and occasionally Dortmund Airport for both domestic and international flights
