Frankfurt West station

Frankfurt (Main) West Frankfurt Westbahnhof
Through station
DBAG Class 423 approaching the elevated section
General information
Location	Kasseler Str. 7, Frankfurt, Hesse Germany
Coordinates	50°07′09″N 8°38′22″E
Line(s)	Main-Weser Railway (KBS 630)
Platforms	3 main line 2 S-Bahn
Construction
Architect	Julius Eugen Ruhl
Other information
Station code	1858
DS100 code	FFW
Category	3
Fare zone	: 5001
Website	www.bahnhof.de
History
Opened	1848
Services
Preceding station DB Fernverkehr Following station Friedberg towards Hamburg Hbf ICE 26 Frankfurt (Main) Hbf towards Karlsruhe Hbf Bad Nauheim towards Münster Hbf or Dortmund Hbf IC 34 Frankfurt (Main) Hbf Terminus Preceding station DB Regio Mitte Following station Frankfurt (Main) Hbf Terminus RB 34 Bad Vilbel towards Glauburg-Stockheim Preceding station Hessische Landesbahn Following station Friedberg towards Dillenburg RB 40 Frankfurt (Main) Hbf Terminus Friedberg towards Treysa RB 41 Preceding station Rhine-Main S-Bahn Following station Rödelheim towards Bad Soden Messe towards Darmstadt Hbf Rödelheim towards Kronberg Messe towards Langen Rödelheim towards Friedrichsdorf Messe towards Südbahnhof Eschersheim towards Friedberg (Hess)
Location Frankfurt (Main) West Location within Frankfurt Frankfurt (Main) West Hesse Frankfurt (Main) West Location within Germany Frankfurt (Main) West Location within Europe

Frankfurt (Main) West station (German: Bahnhof Frankfurt (Main) West or Frankfurt Westbahnhof) is a railway station for regional and S-Bahn services in Frankfurt, Germany, on the Main-Weser Railway, in the district of Bockenheim, near the Frankfurt Trade Fair grounds and the Bockenheim campus of the Goethe University Frankfurt.

History

Platform for S6 city-bound services

Platforms for regional and S6 city-bound services, looking north

Platform 1 on upper level

The station was opened as Bockenheim station in 1849 during the construction of the Main-Weser Railway from Frankfurt to Kassel. The then independent city of Bockenheim was until 1866 in the territory of the Electorate of Hesse-Kassel. The station building was built in a relatively elaborate Renaissance Revival style to a design by Julius Eugen Ruhl.

Elevated section with S-train-Electric multiple unit DB Class 420 in its original design

The first major change in the railways to affect Bockenheim station occurred in 1888 with the opening of the new Frankfurt Central Station. As part of this project a connection was opened on 10 May 1884 from Bockenheim to the Homburg Railway, a connection that could not be built fifteen years earlier during the Homburg line's original construction because the various small states involved failed to come to an agreement.

In addition, a sweeping curve was built for the Main-Weser line's northern approach to the new Central Station. The old ran from the old Main-Weser terminus to Am Hauptbahnhof (the square in front of the Hauptbahnhof) along the current Kaiserstraße and then turned north. Its abandoned path to Bockenheim was turned into a street, which was initially called Bahnstraße, and it is now a series of streets: Hamburger Allee, Friedrich-Ebert-Anlage and Düsseldorfer Straße.

Modern station

In 1913, the station was renamed Frankfurt West. The historic station building was destroyed in World War II. A modern functional building was built in 1961. During the building of the S-Bahn in the 1970s most of this station was demolished and replaced by a simple building, which seems to be tucked under the elevated S-Bahn line.

The current station has two levels. The ground level is used by regional trains and S-Bahn S6 trains towards the city on platforms 3, 4 and 5. The S-Bahn lines S3, S4 and S5 and S6 towards Friedberg use an approximately one kilometre long elevated section with a two-track elevated station (platforms 1 and 2).

Services

Line 17 of the Frankfurt tramway, which opened in 2003, touches the southern end of the Westbahnhof (Nauheimer Straße and Kuhwaldstraße stops). The tram stop on the forecourt of Westbahnhof was last served by the extended tram line 16 in July and August 2019 due to construction work on the tram network.

The M32 bus line runs from Westbahnhof via Frankfurt Nordend and Bornheim to Ostbahnhof. The M36 bus line connects Westbahnhof with Johann-Wolfgang-Goethe University and the city centre, and the M73 bus line connects the districts of Hausen, Praunheim and Nordweststadt. The planned ring tram will have a stop called Westbahnhof in the neighbouring Schloßstraße.

The regional express trains RE 30 Kassel - Marburg - Gießen - Frankfurt (Main-Weser-Express) and RE 99 Siegen - Gießen - Frankfurt (Main-Sieg-Express) as well as all through trains of the Niddertalbahn (RB 34) to Frankfurt Hbf stop mainly during rush hours. In addition, the Mittelhessen-Express (RB 40/41) always stops at this station.

Some ICE and IC trains in the direction of Kassel-Hamburg or Heidelberg-Karlsruhe (ICE 26/IC 26) stop at the station as scheduled. Double-decker IC trains serve Frankfurt Westbahnhof every two hours (IC 34).

References

• Landesamt für Denkmalpflege Hessen (Hesse State Conservation), ed. (2005). Eisenbahn in Hessen. Eisenbahnenbauten- und strecken (Railways in Hesse. Rail construction and lines) 1839–1939 (in German). Stuttgart: Theiss Verlag. p. 197. ISBN 3-8062-1917-6.
• Schack, Martin; Langner, Ulrich (2004). Neue Bahnhöfe : die Empfangsgebäude der Deutschen Bundesbahn 1948–1973 (New stations: station buildings of the German Federal Railways from 1948 to 1973 (in German). Berlin: Neddermeyer. ISBN 3-933254-49-3.