Frankfurt (Main) Süd station

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 nine tracks with five platforms.[4] 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.

Frankfurt (Main) Süd U Tram
Through station
Entrance building
Location	Hedderichstraße 51, Frankfurt, Hesse Germany
Coordinates	50°5′58″N 8°41′10″E
Line(s)	Frankfurt–Hanau (north bank) (KBS 349, KBS 351, KBS 640) Frankfurt–Hanau (south bank) (KBS 645) Rhine-Main S-Bahn
Platforms	5
Tracks	9
Construction
Architectural style	Jugendstil
Other information
Station code	1856[1]
DS100 code	FFS[2]
Category	2[1]
Fare zone
Website	www.bahnhof.de
History
Opened	15 November 1873
Traffic
Passengers	22,500[3]
Services
Preceding station   DB Fernverkehr   Following station Frankfurt Airport towards Frankfurt Airport ICE 13 Fulda towards Berlin Ostbahnhof Preceding station   FlixTrain   Following station Darmstadt towards Stuttgart FLX 10 via Frankfurt (Main) - Erfurt Fulda towards Berlin Preceding station   DB Regio Bayern   Following station Frankfurt (Main) Hbf Terminus RE 54 Main-Spessart Railway Frankfurt (Main) Ost toward Bamberg RE 55 Main-Spessart Railway Offenbach Hbf toward Würzburg Hbf Preceding station   DB Regio Mitte   Following station Frankfurt (Main) Hbf Terminus RE 50 Kinzig Valley Railway Offenbach Hbf toward Fulda RB 51 Kinzig Valley Railway Offenbach Hbf toward Wächtersbach Preceding station   Hessische Landesbahn   Following station Frankfurt Airport long-distance toward Rüsselsheim Opelwerk RB 58 Main-Spessart Railway via Frankfurt Süd - Hanau Frankfurt (Main) Ost toward Laufach Frankfurt Airport regional Terminus RB 59 via Frankfurt Süd Frankfurt (Main) Ost toward Hanau Hbf Preceding station   VIAS   Following station Frankfurt (Main) Hbf Terminus RE 85 Odenwald Railway Offenbach Hbf toward Groß-Umstadt Wiebelsbach or Erbach Preceding station   Rhine-Main S-Bahn   Following station Lokalbahnhof toward Bad Soden Stresemannallee toward Darmstadt Hbf Lokalbahnhof toward Kronberg Stresemannallee toward Langen Lokalbahnhof toward Friedrichsdorf Terminus Lokalbahnhof toward Friedberg (Hess)
Other services
Preceding station   Frankfurt U-Bahn   Following station Schweizer Platz toward Ginnheim Terminus Schweizer Platz toward Bad Homburg-Gonzenheim Schweizer Platz toward Oberursel Hohemark Schweizer Platz toward Ginnheim
Location
Frankfurt (Main) Süd Location within Frankfurt Show map of Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt (Main) Süd Hesse Show map of Hesse Frankfurt (Main) Süd Location within Germany Show map of Germany Frankfurt (Main) Süd Location within Europe Show map of Europe

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	Interval
ICE 13	Berlin Ostbahnhof – Berlin Hbf – Berlin-Spandau – Braunschweig – Hildesheim – Göttingen – Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe – Fulda – Frankfurt Süd – Frankfurt Airport	120 min
ICE 22	Hamburg-Altona – Hamburg – Hannover – Göttingen – Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe – Frankfurt Süd – Darmstadt – Heidelberg – Stuttgart	One train (Fri)
IC 16	Heidelberg – Weinheim – Heppenheim – Bensheim – Darmstadt – Frankfurt Süd – Fulda – Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe – Göttingen – Berlin-Spandau – Berlin Hbf – Berlin Gesundbrunnen – Eberswalde – Prenzlau – Pasewalk – Anklam – Greifswald – Stralsund	One train (Fri)
EN	Moscow – Minsk – Brest – Warsaw – Poznań – Frankfurt – Berlin – Erfurt – Frankfurt Süd – Saarbrücken – Paris Est	One train pair
NJ	Düsseldorf – Cologne – Bonn – Koblenz – Mainz – Frankfurt Airport – Frankfurt Süd – Nuremberg – Augsburg – Munich – Kufstein – Wörgl – Innsbruck	One train pair
NJ	Düsseldorf – Köln – Bonn – Koblenz – Mainz – Frankfurt Flughafen – Frankfurt Süd – Nürnberg – Passau – Linz – St. Pölten – Wien Meidling – Vienna	One train pair
FLX 10	Berlin Hbf – Berlin Südkreuz – Halle (Saale) – Erfurt – Gotha – Eisenach – Fulda – Frankfurt Süd – Darmstadt – Weinheim – Heidelberg – Stuttgart	1–2 train pairs

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
RB 51	Frankfurt (Main) Hbf – Frankfurt South – Offenbach – Hanau Hbf – Langenselbold – Gelnhausen – Wächtersbach (– Bad Soden-Salmünster)	60 min
RE 54	Frankfurt (Main) Hbf – Frankfurt South – Maintal Ost – Hanau (– Aschaffenburg – Würzburg – Bamberg)	120 min
RE 55	Frankfurt (Main) Hbf – Frankfurt South – Offenbach – Hanau (– Aschaffenburg – Würzburg – Bamberg)	120 min
RB 58	Frankfurt (Main) Hbf – Frankfurt South – Maintal Ost – Hanau – Aschaffenburg	60 min
RE 85	Frankfurt (Main) Hbf – Frankfurt South – Offenbach – Hanau – Babenhausen – Groß-Umstadt Wiebelsbach (– Erbach (Odenw))	120 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 , , and the Ebbelwei Express. Tram line starts at the Südbahnhof/Schweizer Straße stop. 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 2020" [Station price list 2020] (PDF) (in German). DB Station&Service. 4 November 2019. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
2. Eisenbahnatlas Deutschland (German railway atlas) (2009/2010 ed.). Schweers + Wall. 2009. ISBN 978-3-89494-139-0.
3. "Zum Glück gibt´s den Markt" (in German). Frankfurter Rundschau. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
4. "Track plan of Frankfurt South station" (PDF) (in German). Deutsche Bahn. Retrieved 2 July 2012.