Frankfurt South station

Frankfurt (Main) Süd
Through station
Entrance building
Location	Frankfurt, Hesse Germany
Coordinates	50°5′58″N 8°41′10″E / 50.09944°N 8.68611°ECoordinates: 50°5′58″N 8°41′10″E / 50.09944°N 8.68611°E
Line(s)	Frankfurt–Hanau (north bank) (KBS 349, KBS 351, KBS 640) Frankfurt–Hanau (south bank) (KBS 645) Rhine-Main S-Bahn ()
Platforms	9
Construction
Architectural style	Jugendstil
Other information
Station code	1856
DS100 code	FFS
Category	2[1]
Website	www.bahnhof.de
History
Opened	15 November 1873
Traffic
Passengers	22,500[2]

Frankfurt (Main) Süd (German for Frankfurt (Main) South) 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 9 tracks with five platforms.^[3] It is a stopping station for some long-distance routes (ICE, IC) and for regional traffic (Regional-Express and RegionalBahn). It is also one of the major rapid-transit railway hubs in the city with S-Bahn and U-Bahn services.

Environment

The station is located in the district of Sachsenhausen south of the Main. From the station forecourt, the Diesterwegplatz, five streets radiate: Hedderichstraße to the southwest and northeast, Diesterweg to the northwest, leading to Schweizer Platz, Stegstraße to the north (leading to the Eiserner Steg—Iron Bridge—for pedestrians) and Brückenstraße to the northeast (leading to the Alte Brücke—Old Bridge). On Diesterwegplatz there is a market on Tuesdays and Fridays.

A block west of the station runs the Schweizer Straße, the main axis of Sachsenhausen. Immediately northeast of the station forecourt, between Hedderichstraße and Textorstraße was the old Sachsenhausen Tram Depot, which was closed in 2003 and has since been gutted and rebuilt. It now contains a large supermarket and an office of the Frankfurt city library. The southern exit from the station leads to the Mörfelder Landstraße.

History

Environs of the former Bebraer Bahnhof, 1893

The government of the Electorate of Hesse (Kurhessen) had begun building the Frankfurt–Bebra railway from Bebra in North Hesse to Fulda, Hanau and Frankfurt before its annexation by Prussia after the Austro-Prussian War of 1866. The project was completed by the Prussian state railways on 15 December 1868. Until the opening of the line south of the Main, trains from Bebra to Frankfurt had to use the North Main line and the Frankfurt City Link Line. On 15 November 1873 the new line south of the Main between Hanau and Frankfurt via Sachsenhausen and Offenbach was opened, including South Station (opened as Bebraer Bahnhof, "Bebra line" station) and Offenbach Hauptbahnhof. The South Main line is still the most important rail link connecting Frankfurt with Leipzig, Berlin and Hamburg.

After the completion of South Main line, the Frankfurt-Sachsenhausen station (Bahnhof Frankfurt-Sachsenhausen) at Darmstädter Landstraße (opened in 1848) of the Frankfurt-Offenbach Local Railway became a terminus, with trains only operating towards Offenbach. The track formerly connecting it to the Main-Neckar Railway to the west was removed. In 1876 it was renamed Lokalbahnhof; the Frankfurt Lokalbahnhof S-Bahn station is named in its honour, although it is about 250 metres south of the old station, which closed in 1955.

The current building was opened in 1914. In its simplified Art Nouveau style, it is similar to the Höchst station opened the same year. During the building of the U-Bahn station (completed in 1984), almost the entire station building was demolished and rebuilt after the completion of the tunnelling. It now includes a community centre. The former steel train shed was demolished during the U-Bahn construction and not rebuilt.

The Rhine-Main S-Bahn uses the two northern platforms, regional and mainline services use the three southern platforms.

Operations

ICE T Homburg/Saar in Frankfurt South station on its way to Frankfurt Airport

Long-distance services

Line	Route	Frequency
ICE 50	Dresden – Leipzig – Erfurt Hauptbahnhof – Fulda – Frankfurt  – Frankfurt Airport	Individual services
IC 31	Kiel – Hamburg – Bremen – Dortmund – Cologne – Koblenz – Mainz – Frankfurt Airport – Frankfurt South – Nuremberg – Passau	One pair daily
IC 50	Leipzig – Weimar – Fulda – Frankfurt South – Frankfurt Airport	120 min
IC	Frankfurt South – Mannheim – Karlsruhe – Freiburg – Basel	One pair daily
CNL	Zürich – Basel – Frankfurt South – Erfurt – Dresden - Prague / Dresden – Berlin Lichtenberg	One pair daily
CNL	Zürich – Basel – Frankfurt South – Hamburg – Padborg – Copenhagen	One pair daily
D	Basel – Freiburg – Frankfurt South – Erfurt - Berlin – Warsaw – Moscow	One pair daily

Regional services

The following Regional-Express and Regionalbahn services stop at Frankfurt South station:

Line	Route	Frequency
RE 50	Frankfurt (Main) Hbf – Frankfurt South – Offenbach Hauptbahnhof – Hanau – Fulda	60 min
RE 55	Frankfurt (Main) Hbf / Frankfurt Airport – Frankfurt South – Offenbach / Maintal Ost – Hanau – Aschaffenburg – Würzburg (– Nuremberg)	60 min
RE 64	Frankfurt (Main) Hbf – Frankfurt South – Offenbach – Hanau – Babenhausen – Groß-Umstadt Wiebelsbach (– Erbach (Odenw))	120 min
RB 55	Frankfurt (Main) Hbf – Frankfurt South – Maintal Ost – Hanau – Aschaffenburg	60 min
SE 50	Frankfurt (Main) Hbf – Frankfurt South – Offenbach – Hanau Hbf – Langenselbold – Gelnhausen – Wächtersbach (– Bad Soden-Salmünster)	60 min
	Bad Soden (Taunus) – Frankfurt Hbf (tief) – Frankfurt South – Langen (Hess) – Darmstadt Hbf	30 min
	Kronberg (Taunus) – Frankfurt Hbf (tief) – Frankfurt South – Langen (Hess) (– Darmstadt Hbf)	30 min
	Friedrichsdorf (Taunus) – Bad Homburg – Frankfurt Hbf (tief) – Frankfurt South	15 min
	Friedberg (Hess) – Groß Karben – Bad Vilbel – Frankfurt Hbf (tief) – Frankfurt South	15 min

Urban public transport

Südbahnhof tram stop

Walls of the underground station decorated with historic photographs, including of the old station building

Frankfurt South station plays a particularly important role for transport. It is at the interface between the inner city and the southern suburbs and it is served by, in addition to the regional services discussed above, lines S 3 to S 6 of the Rhine-Main S-Bahn, U-Bahn services on corridor A (U 1 to U 3 and U 8), tram lines 14, 15, 16, 19 and the Ebbelwei Express. Tram line 19 starts at South station. Numerous city and regional bus lines run from the station, especially to the southern region and to Frankfurt Airport. Some of these buses stop at the southern entrance on Mörfelder Landstraße.

References

1. "Stationspreisliste 2016" [Station price list 2016] (PDF) (in German). DB Station&Service. 1 December 2015. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
2. "Zum Glück gibt´s den Markt" (in German). Frankfurter Rundschau. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
3. "Track plan of Frankfurt South station" (PDF) (in German). Deutsche Bahn. Retrieved 2 July 2012.