Frankfurt City Tunnel | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Native name | City-Tunnel Frankfurt | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Line number |
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Locale | Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Service | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Route number | 645.2, 645.5, 645.6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Technical | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Line length | 6.36 km (3.95 mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Electrification | 15 kV/16.7 Hz AC overhead catenary | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Frankfurt City Tunnel is a standard gauge railway in Frankfurt and the core of the Rhine-Main S-Bahn. The line runs underground for its entire length.
The first section was put into operation on 28 May 1978 to Hauptwache. S-Bahn trains began operating on the Taunus Railway (S1), the Main-Lahn Railway (S2), the Limes Railway (S3), the Kronberg Railway (S4), the Homburg Railway (S5) and the Main-Weser Railway (S6) after climbing a ramp under the former postal station in the tunnel and reached the surface about 500 metres (1,600 ft) east of the central station. The Main Railway service (S14, now S8), was introduced shortly later.
The line runs northeast for about 700 metres (2,300 ft) from the central station to Taunusanlage station, built on the site of the old city walls near the Alte Oper and the Deutsche Bank Twin Towers. The tunnel bends to the east and after 250 metres (820 ft) it joins Tunnel C of the Frankfurt U-Bahn, which was built together with the City Tunnel under the Freßgass (the pedestrianised streets of Kalbächer Gasse and Große Bockenheimer Straße, named after its eateries) to Hauptwache. In 1983, the city tunnel was extended, largely in a cut and cover tunnel, 600 metres (2,000 ft) to the east beneath the Zeil to Konstablerwache. This section is also a joint tunnel with the U-Bahn; the S-Bahn lines run between the U-Bahn lines.
The tunnel has a train frequency of roughly 28 trains per hour in each direction, that is one train every two minutes. During the rush hour the frequency is approximately one train every two minutes.
The next major phase of construction followed in 1990 when the line was extended in a southeasterly direction. Ostendstraße station was built between the streets of Hanauer Landstrasse and Ostendstraße. 300 metres (980 ft) further south the route crosses the Main. The tunnel was built by digging a trench in the river bottom and sinking the tunnel tubes into it, half the river at a time. After passing under the Main the tunnel divides: One branch runs in the direction of Sachsenhausen where it runs under the Sachsenhausen old town to Frankfurt Lokalbahnhof and then climbs a ramp to the embankment of the South Main railway to Frankfurt South station. At the South station the S-Bahn connects with regional and main line services was built, trams and the U-Bahn.
The second section, which was completed in 1992, branches off to the east on the Sachsenhausen side after the passage under the Main towards Mühlberg. Then the line comes to the surface prior for a few kilometres until the next station at Offenbach-Kaiserlei where the Offenbach City Tunnel begins. This underground section has three underground stations and ends at Offenbach Ost station, where the Rodgau line branches off.
Between Konstablerwache and Ostendstraße stations the entrance for a tunnel branching towards Frankfurt East station was built for the proposed north Main branch of the S-Bahn to Hanau.
The Rhine-Main S-Bahn system is an integrated rapid transit and commuter train system for the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main region, which includes the cities Frankfurt am Main, Wiesbaden, Mainz, Offenbach am Main, Hanau and Darmstadt. The network comprises nine S-Bahn lines, eight of which currently travel through the cornerstone of the system, a tunnel through central Frankfurt. The first section of this tunnel was opened on May 28, 1978. Further tunnel sections were opened in 1983 and 1990, before its completion in 1992. The system belongs to the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund (RMV) and is operated by DB Regio, a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn.
The U-Bahn Line B is the second line in the network of the Frankfurt U-Bahn. It leads in west–east direction from the central railway station (Hauptbahnhof) over the old town to Konstablerwache, where it splits into two branches to Bornheim and Preungesheim. Originally planned as an independent main line, the D line represents an extension of the U4 to Bockenheimer Warte from the central railway station.
Frankfurt (Main) Süd or Frankfurt Südbahnhof is one of three railway stations for long-distance train services in Frankfurt, Germany. Unlike Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof it is not a terminus but a through station, and has nine tracks with five platforms. It is a stopping station for some long-distance routes and for regional traffic. It is also one of the major rapid-transit railway hubs in the city with S-Bahn and U-Bahn services.
The Frankfurt am Main tramway network is a network of tramways forming a major part of the public transport system in Frankfurt am Main, a city in the federal state of Hesse, Germany.
The S1 service of the S-Bahn Rhein-Main system bearing the KBS number 645.1 is an important railway connection running east–west. It operates between the Hesse state capital Wiesbaden and the southern Offenbach rural district serving the densely populated area along the Main river.
The Frankfurt Airport loop is a 15.8-kilometre-long (9.8 mi) double-track railway line connecting Frankfurt and Frankfurt Airport and operated as part of the Frankfurt S-Bahn. It is electrified at 15 kV/16.7 Hz.
The S2 service of the S-Bahn Rhein-Main system bearing the KBS number 645.2 is a railway connection between the small Taunus town Niedernhausen and Dietzenbach.
The S3 service of the S-Bahn Rhein-Main system bearing the KBS number 645.3
The S4 service of the S-Bahn Rhein-Main system bearing the KBS number 645.4
The S5 service of the S-Bahn Rhein-Main system bearing the KBS number 645.5
The S6 service of the S-Bahn Rhein-Main system bearing the KBS number 645.6
The S8 service of the S-Bahn Rhein-Main system bearing the KBS number 645.8. It is largely concurrent with the S9 service, diverging only to run local through Mainz. It runs 24 hours, 7 days.
Frankfurt (Main) Hauptbahnhof is a four-track S-Bahn station below Frankfurt (Main) Hauptbahnhof and as such part of the busiest railway station in Frankfurt, Germany. It is also the busiest rapid transit station in Frankfurt.
Frankfurt (Main) Hauptwache station is a major train station in the city centre of Frankfurt, Germany.
Frankfurt am Main Konstablerwache station is a major train station and metro station at the Konstablerwache square in the city centre of Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Frankfurt Lokalbahnhof is an underground S-Bahn station in the district of Sachsenhausen of Frankfurt am Main, Germany. The station was opened when the City Tunnel was extended to Frankfurt South station in 1990. It consists of two tracks, surrounding a central platform.
The A line is the north-to-south main line of the Frankfurt U-Bahn. It is the oldest and longest line of the U-Bahn system. Served by four routes starting at Südbahnhof Railway Station in Sachsenhausen, the A line runs through downtown Frankfurt up to Heddernheim Station in the north of the city, where it branches out to Ginnheim, Oberursel (U3), Riedberg and Bad Homburg (U2). The U9 service between Ginnheim, Riedberg and Nieder-Eschbach does not use the central section and tunnels of the line, making it the only light rail service of the network that does not serve downtown Frankfurt. The Riedberg and Ginnheim branches were planned as parts of the future D line subway but are operationally part of the A line until the D line development and construction is finished.
The Line C is a line on the Frankfurt U-Bahn. It consists of the U6 and the U7.
Niedernhausen station serves the municipality of Niedernhausen in the German state of Hesse. It is the most important station on the Main-Lahn Railway between the stations of Frankfurt-Höchst and Eschhofen in Limburg an der Lahn. It is the terminus of the Ländches Railway running from Niedernhausen to Wiesbaden Hauptbahnhof and of line S2 of the Rhine-Main S-Bahn from Frankfurt.
The Frankfurt Schlachthof–Hanau railway is a railway line that is used by the Rhine-Main S-Bahn and connects the Frankfurt City Tunnel via the Offenbach City Tunnel and Mühlheim with Hanau. It mostly runs parallel to the Frankfurt–Göttingen railway and was built to relieve the busy long-distance railway line. To distinguish it from the planned North Main S-Bahn to Hanau via Maintal, the route is also referred to as the South Main S-Bahn.