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AiRail Service is offered by Deutsche Bahn AG in cooperation with Lufthansa, American Airlines and Emirates. It is one example of several a dedicated air-rail alliances currently[ when? ] operating worldwide.
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AiRail Service is currently offered between Frankfurt (Main) Flughafen Fernbahnhof (the long-distance railway station of Frankfurt International Airport) and 26 cities in Germany which include the central railway stations of Cologne, Dusseldorf and Stuttgart.
Right after arriving at the long-distance train station at Frankfurt Airport, Lufthansa Express Rail customers can quickly and conveniently drop off their baggage and also check in for their flight in the nearby AiRail Terminal. [1]
AiRail Service uses the Cologne-Frankfurt high-speed rail line (maximum speed of 300 km/h) and between Stuttgart and Mannheim (maximum speed of 250 km/h), rendering the train service faster[ clarification needed ] and more reliable than air transport on the same route.
AiRail Service was established as Lufthansa Airport Express in 1982, when Deutsche Bundesbahn (now Deutsche Bahn AG) established a direct connection between Düsseldorf and Frankfurt Airport using the DB 403 "Donald Duck" EMU with tilting technology in Lufthansa livery. In 1990 they established the Stuttgart-Frankfurt connection after the high-speed train line between Stuttgart and Mannheim was opened. Both services were closed due to high cost in 1993. [2] In 2000 they re-established the service between Stuttgart and Frankfurt, now using only some seats in regular cars in standard ICE service.