Underground line A (Frankfurt am Main)

Basic route A of the Frankfurt subway
map
Route length:	35.1 km, of which 5.5  km tunnel
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Opening:	October 4, 1968 (1st part)
Lines:
Stations:	40 + 2 (connected to the D line)
Trunk line
7.65 Turning system Südbahnhof 7.9 Südbahnhof , regional / long-distance traffic 8.5 Swiss place Main Urban connecting railway 9.4 Willy-Brandt-Platz ( B-route ) Ramp Große Gallusstraße (closed in 1978) 10.0 Hauptwache ( C-line ) 10.4 Eschenheimer Tor 10.4 Parking facility Eschenheimer Tor 11.1 Grüneburgweg 11.5 Holzhausenstrasse 12.1 Miquel- / Adickesallee 12.4 End of the A tunnel (4.4 km) 12.7 Thorn bush 12.91 Connection of B-route 13.4 Fritz-Tarnow-Strasse 13.95 Hill road 14.6 Linden tree 15.1 0.1 White stone ( Eschersheim station ) Main-Weser Railway Maybach Bridge 0.85 Heddernheim 0.85 Heddernheim depot 1.1 -Stay branch to Gonzenheim (see below) 1.45 Zeilweg 2.04 - u. -Track branch to Ginnheim (see below) - u. - route branch to the Hohemark u. to Riedberg (see below)

The underground line A or A line is the oldest and longest of the three lines of the Frankfurt underground . The underground network of Frankfurt am Main consists of nine lines that are bundled into three basic routes in the inner city area and only branch out in the outer districts.

The A route is an important north-south axis and runs from the Südbahnhof via the city ​​center and the Eschersheimer Landstrasse to Heddernheim . There and at some of the following stations, it branches out into four branches that lead to the north-west town , to Oberursel , to Bad Homburg and to Riedberg, which is officially part of the D-route . It has 40 stations, nine of which are in the tunnel and four are open stations built according to metro criteria. Two more are on the Riedberg clasp. The A-route is used by the lines U1, U2, U3 and U8. The core of the A route is the oldest route on the Frankfurt U-Bahn, which opened on October 4, 1968, from the Hauptwache to the Northwest Center .

Course and route description

Line runs:

The A route can be divided into five route sections, which are used by the four lines U1, U2, U3 and U8. All lines start at the Südbahnhof and use the common inner-city trunk line to Heddernheim . Here the route divides into four branches that run via Nordweststadt to Ginnheim (U1), via Bonames and Nieder-Eschbach to Gonzenheim (U2), via Oberursel to Hohemark (U3) and, since 2010, via a connecting link to Riedberg (U8) . So it is basically a single stretch that branches into three branches in the northern outskirts with a connecting clasp between the central and eastern branch.

The U1 line has been running as the oldest Frankfurt underground line since 1968 until 1978 under the name "A1". The U2 line to Bad Homburg carried line number 25 from 1910 to 1971 as an overland tram of the Frankfurter Lokalbahn , after which it operated until 1978 as the “A2” subway line. The Oberursel route, now used by the U3 line, ran from 1910 to 1971 as tram line 24, then until 1978 as the “A3” subway line. In addition, from 1910 to 1971 a reinforcement line 23 ran on the Homburg branch from the city center to Bonames, from 1971 to 1978 as the "A4". Since the end of 2010, the new U8 line has been connecting the Riedberg district with the city center.

The distinction between the lines by letters results mainly from planning and construction documents, but - unique in Germany - they were adopted in the former line numbers A1 to A4, which ran on the route. This also applied to the former B1 (today's U5), which ran on the B underground line . How much the affinity to the planning and construction documents was in Frankfurt is evident from the fact that the intermediate level at the Hauptwache station is still popularly called "B-level" (A-level = ground, C-level S-Bahn and U -Bahn C-line with U6 and U7, D-level A-line).

Within lines A1 to A4, the red color was intended for line A1 and the green line for line A2. In the original design of the stops from Hauptwache to Heddernheim, both colored stripes were attached in the form of horizontal colored stripes of different lengths as a guide, while for example on Zeilweg, where only the U1 runs, only the red bar was to be found. The color scheme had existed in the station design for more than 30 years, but was not taken up any further and therefore remained unused.

Route sections

Officially, the A-route is not subdivided according to the lines, but according to construction phases. The sections of the main route are numbered with Roman numerals. The connecting lines have Arabic numbers, whereby the line to Riedberg officially belongs to the D line .

The following numbering applies in detail (from south to north and from west to east):

Part of the trunk line	AV	Neu-Isenburg - Südbahnhof	Realization not foreseeable
Part of the trunk line	A IV	Südbahnhof - Untermainkai	in operation U1, U2, U3, U8
Part of the trunk line	A II	Untermainkai - Willy-Brandt-Platz - Kaiserstraße	in operation U1, U2, U3, U8 ; the construction lot belonged partly to B I
Part of the trunk line	AI	(Ramp Große Gallusstrasse -) Hauptwache - Ramp Humserstrasse	Great Gallusstrasse ramp closed; remaining route in operation U1, U2, U3, U8
Part of the trunk line	A III	Ramp Humserstraße - White Stone	on the surface in operation U1, U2, U3, U8 ; Tunnel guidance no longer sought
Part of the main route and connecting route	A 1	White Stone - Heddernheim - Northwest Center - Ginnheim	in operation; to Heddernheim U1, U2, U3, U8 , Heddernheim to Gleisdreieck Niederursel U1, U3, U8 , from Gleisdreieck Niederursel U1, U9
Connecting line	A 3	Gleisdreieck Niederursel - Oberursel -Hohemark	in operation U3
(Part of the D route)		Riedberg clasp	in operation U8, U9
Connecting line	A 2	Heddernheim - Gonzenheim - Bad Homburg train station	to Nieder-Eschbach in operation U2, U9 , to Gonzenheim in operation U2 , from Gonzenheim in planning

In the following, all sections from south to north will be considered.

Main route Südbahnhof - Heddernheim

Sachsenhausen

Sweeping and parking facility at the Südbahnhof

U-Bahn tracks in the Südbahnhof with historical photos

Schweizer Platz underground station

The A route begins at the Südbahnhof in the Sachsenhausen district . The Südbahnhof is an important hub for local and regional transport . Here keep distance trains , the regional trains of the Rhein-Main-transport network , the S-track trains by Langen and Darmstadt , urban and regional buses and the tram lines 15, 16, 18 and 19. The platform hall subway located transversely below the platforms the railroad and offers short transfer routes to other rail modes of transport. At the end of the A route, the platform tracks to the south are followed by a three-track turning and parking facility, the outer tracks of which were intended for a planned continuation of the route in the direction of Sachsenhäuser Warte (see new construction projects ).

The Südbahnhof is located in a lively, Wilhelminian-style inner city district, which, in addition to retail and gastronomy facilities, also has numerous sought-after apartments. The semicircular station forecourt , Diesterwegplatz , is the focal point of this city quarter and serves as a market square several times a week.

The underground tunnel runs from the Südbahnhof through Diesterwegstrasse to Schweizer Platz and crosses under Schweizer Strasse there . The Schweizer Straße, modeled on Parisian boulevards , is the main street of Sachsenhausen with its numerous shops and bars. The Schweizer Platz underground station is located under the block delimited by Schweizer-, Schneckenhof-, Cranach- and Gartenstraße. The Schweizer Platz station was the first station in Frankfurt to be built entirely by mining, as the development of Schweizer Platz did not allow the otherwise usual excavation without endangering the stability of neighboring structures. Due to the special construction - first the two tubes, then the connection by means of a third tube - the three-aisled, vaulted platform hall conveys a sacred spatial impression and is reminiscent of a Romanesque crypt .

To the north of this, the subway passes under three more blocks, the German Architecture Museum on the Museumsufer and then, a little to the west of the Untermainbrücke , the Main , which was also very difficult to cross (see tunneling).

City

Hauptwache high-speed railway junction

The subway underpass, coming from Main, the Nice facilities and the Jewish Museum , to the level of the Municipal Theater , the Neue Mainzer Strasse reach. This North Main continuation of Schweizer Straße is the main axis of the Frankfurt banking district , a street canyon that is worth seeing. The Willy-Brandt-Platz underground station is located under the Friedensstraße branching off here (until 1992 Theaterplatz). Its southern exit leads to this , the northern to Kaiserplatz . At Willy-Brandt-Platz it has been possible to switch to the B-route since 1974 , it is the oldest transfer station of the Frankfurt underground. From 1971 to 1984 it was the southern end point of the A route. You can also change to tram lines 11, 12 and 14, which operate on the surface .

The route runs from Kaiserplatz through Kaiserstraße and Roßmarkt to the Hauptwache . Here, in the city center of modern Frankfurt, the A-route, C-route and the city ​​tunnel of the S-Bahn meet at the Hauptwache high-speed railway junction . Under the square is an extensive shopping and distribution floor , known in Frankfurt as the B-level . Below is the four-track shared station for the C line and the S-Bahn, and even lower across it - in the third basement - and finally the station for the A line. After the Frankfurt U-Bahn opened in 1968, it was the southern terminus of the first Frankfurt U-Bahn line, the A1 at that time, until 1971.

A relatively short tunnel leads from the Hauptwache through Große Eschenheimer Straße north to Eschenheimer Tor . During the construction of the Eschenheimer Tor underground station, the aim was not only to ban local public transport, but also to banish pedestrians underground in order to create maximum space for vehicle traffic on the surface: the historic square, as early as the early 20th century a large intersection, according to the plans of the 1960s, pedestrians should only pass under the distribution floor of the station. After a few years, however, pedestrian crossings at ground level were set up again.

Westend and Northrend

Holzhausenstrasse underground station

The Eschersheimer Landstrasse , the most important northern arterial road in the city, begins at Eschenheimer Tor . In its first section, it forms the border between the Wilhelminian-style inner-city districts Westend and Nordend and is comparatively narrow and winding. There are three structurally very similar underground stations here, the Grüneburgweg , Holzhausenstraße and Miquel- / Adickesallee stations .

The first-mentioned train station opens up Grüneburgweg , a shopping street in the Westend, and the University of Music and Performing Arts . The Holzhausenstrasse station serves the students of the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University on their way to the new Westend campus in the former IG-Farben building . The new police headquarters are at the Miquel- / Adickesallee train station . During the construction of this station was as constructed provisions a portion of a planned motorway tunnel at today's A 66 ( " Avenue tunnel built"), including underground bus station. This planning was later abandoned, the already built section has served as a pedestrian tunnel ever since.

The Miquel- / Adickesallee station was planned and built as the first station on the Frankfurt subway network. At 95 meters, the platform length is five meters shorter than the other stations because it was measured to be the length of a train made up of four cars from the U1 prototype, which is significantly shorter than the following series. In today's operations, this means that the last door of the train in the tunnel comes to a standstill on trains consisting of four railcars. An extension of the platform was waived for reasons of cost. Instead, the door in question is electronically locked when such a train approaches the Miquel- / Adickesallee station. The passengers are informed of this by an automatic announcement.

Dornbusch, Eschersheim and Heddernheim

Start of the alignment on the median at the ramp "Humserstraße"

Dornbusch: Underground access (with ceiling painting) to the station on the surface

According to the original planning, the A route from the city center to Eschersheim was to run in the tunnel. For financial reasons, however, “initially” only the southern section of the tunnel was built. To the north of Miquelallee , the route was brought to the surface via a provisional ramp and the tram to Heddernheim was expanded into a light rail line. It runs on a special track at ground level on the median of Eschersheimer Landstrasse with the above-ground stations Dornbusch , Fritz-Tarnow-Strasse , Hügelstrasse , Am Lindenbaum and Am Weißen Stein .

The tracks in the above-ground section between Dornbusch and Heddernheim were fenced in on both sides. There are seven level crossings for vehicle traffic: on Marbachweg , on Fritz-Tarnow-Straße out of town, on Hügelstraße, on Lindenbaum inward, on Höllbergstraße inward and two on Weißen Stein (out of town and inward). Underpasses should allow pedestrians to cross the street safely. One of them was artistically designed in 1992 by the Frankfurt architect Christoph Mäckler under the title "U-Bahnunterführung". The underpass is clad with bricks, which gives a different surface appearance depending on the location.

Up until the 1990s, no above-ground pedestrian crossings and platform access were provided; the platforms of the stations could only be reached via spacious underground distribution floors. The Dornbusch and Eschersheim districts were in fact cut in half. The Eschersheimer Landstrasse developed into a dangerous accident black spot. Over time, 10 above-ground pedestrian crossings secured by traffic lights were set up. Nevertheless, serious accidents between subway trains and motor vehicles or pedestrians continue to occur. Often passers-by walk to the platforms when the traffic lights are red or away from the pedestrian crossings. From 1968 to 2010, 32 people died on the section of the route.

The unsatisfactory urban development and operational situation cannot be remedied in the foreseeable future, as the expansion of the route would have to be financed by the city alone without federal subsidies. The “provisional” tunnel ramp on Humserstraße runs on steel stilts that can be removed when the tunnel is extended. An extension of the tunnel is currently not planned.

North of the station bush branches off to the east in the Marbachweg mostly single-track, road flush Operating distance to subway line U5 and Wagenhalle Eckenheim from. Until 1978 there was even an above-ground intersection between the A-route and a tram route that led from Eckenheim via Dornbusch and Hansaallee to Reuterweg. The tram was shut down in 1978 and the intersection was expanded.

To the north of the Weißer Stein station, the A line first crosses the cut in the terrain in which the Main-Weser-Bahn (S-Bahn line S6) runs, then on a bridge that runs parallel to the Maybachbrücke down the Nidda to the Heddernheim station . Between the Eschersheim train station and Heddernheim, the Maybachstraße lane leading out of town crosses the underground line. The Heddernheim station is therefore already north of the road. The station has three tracks and is above ground.

Immediately to the north of the station is the Heddernheim depot , where most of the vehicles on the A route are located. In Heddernheim, therefore, numerous trains are used, trains going into town are strengthened by coupling railcars , or trains going out of town are weakened by uncoupling. The older part of the depot is west of the main line, the newer part is east of the line. At the northern end of the depot, the line branches off into the branches to Ginnheim / Niederursel / Riedberg and Gonzenheim. The intersection is not “plan-free”, which occasionally leads to delays if a U2 from Gonzenheim has to wait for a U1 or U8 going out of town (or vice versa).

Heddernheim - Ginnheim U1

Northwest City branch (U1)
Nordwestzentrum underground station , platform 1, towards Ginnheim
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
from the trunk line 0.85 Heddernheim Heddernheim depot 1.1 U2 to Gonzenheim ( → see below ) 1.45 Zeilweg 2.04 U3 to Hohemark , U9 to Nieder-Eschbach ( → see below ) 2.4 Heddernheimer Landstrasse Northwest City Tunnel (1.1 km) 3.1 Northwest center 3.7 Roman city Nidda Bridge 4.75 Niddapark Main-Weser Railway Connection to the tram 5.28 Ginnheim

The line branch from Heddernheim to Ginnheim is served by the U1 and between the station Heddernheimer Landstraße and Ginnheim also by the line U9 belonging to the D-route . In contrast to the two branches of the U2 and U3 lines, this section of the route was rebuilt from the outset as a subway, while the other two emerged from interurban trams . It was part of the first Frankfurt underground line, which from 1968 onwards led from the Hauptwache to the large Nordweststadt housing estate built in the early 1960s .

Northwest town

The U1 line branches off at the Zeilweg station in Heddernheim from the Oberursel line to the south, where it meets the section coming from Riedberg. It runs a few 100 meters to the east parallel to Rosa-Luxemburg-Straße , a city motorway that, like the U1, owes its existence to the connection to the north-west of the city. The subway station of the same name is located on Heddernheimer Landstrasse, which is interrupted by the motorway. It opens up the northern part of the large estate, the “Wiesenau” district. Until its renovation, which was completed in April 2010, the station was badly damaged by decades of vandalism.

Immediately at the southern end of the platform, the underground tunnel begins under the north-west city. It initially crosses under Rosa-Luxemburg-Strasse at an acute angle and leads underground to the Nordwestzentrum underground station . The north-west center was originally not designed as a closed shopping mall, but as the center of the north-west city, and in addition to numerous shops also contained many social facilities and a campus of the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences . The current operator, who even paid for the renovation of the subway station, turned the Northwest Center into a large shopping center ; its catchment area now extends far beyond the Northwest City. In addition to the subway station, there is also a bus station at the northwest center , which is located within the building complex.

South of the train station, the tunnel swings back onto the axis of Rosa-Luxemburg-Straße and ends after around 600 meters on the median of the city motorway. The Römerstadt underground station is located directly at the exit of the tunnel , named after the Römerstadt settlement built by Ernst May on the site of the ancient city of Nida .

Roman city to Ginnheim

Elevated viaduct at Niddapark

To the south of Hadrianstrasse, the tram drives over a concrete area that is partially used as a parking lot. From here a path begins that leads from the underground station to the nearby Niddapark . The railway bridge is also moving closer to Rosa-Luxemburg-Strasse, as it has to pass a former air raid shelter there. After the bunker, the bridge ends and the Stadtbahn and Rosa-Luxemburg-Straße lead to a railway embankment . On the embankment there is a turning system between the tracks to Ginnheim. The western track is 155 meters long, so that six railcars can be parked in a row here. The eastern track is only 105 meters long and therefore only designed for four railcars. Mainly individual courses of the U1 line are parked here, which are no longer needed during late hours . Since the extension to Ginnheim, the turning system is normally no longer used for turning, with the exception of two cases: on the one hand, when the Römerstadt – Ginnheim section is closed, and on the other hand, when the U3 line cannot use the Wiesenau – Heddernheim section.

The earth dam ends behind the turning system and the tram crosses the Nidda on a bridge. The bridge also spans the “Am Ginnheimer Wäldchen” road south of the Nidda, which then joins Rosa-Luxemburg-Strasse. From here the Stadtbahn runs on a railway embankment together with Rosa-Luxemburg-Straße through Niddapark, a public park created after the Federal Garden Show in 1989 . The station built at the time, which is located on the edge of the railway embankment, opens up the park. Due to the low level of passenger use in the evening hours and the lack of social control, the station, which has been ravaged by countless vandals, is a sad picture today. Originally there was one elevator at the Niddapark station from the street to the distribution level and two inclined elevators to the platforms. Due to severe vandalism damage, the elevators were shut down again in the 1990s. As part of the expansion of S-Bahn line 6, it is planned to set up a transition between the S-Bahn and U-Bahn at Frankfurt-Ginnheim station. It is hoped that this will increase public traffic again, reduce the damage caused by vandalism and that the elevators can be put back into operation.

The city motorway then crosses the Main-Weser-Bahn and the Ginnheim district , the elevated railway branches out here to the south and finally reaches its terminus at Ginnheim , which is at ground level . It is also the terminus of tram line 16 coming from the south, which meets here with the U1 and U9 and shares a five-track community station. From the mezzanine floor of the Niddapark underground station, you can reach a footpath that runs along the underground route to Ginnheim. The entire section from Römerstadt station to Ginnheim is the only section on the surface that has been fully developed according to underground railway criteria.

Bad Homburg branch (U2)
U-Bahn in front of the Riedberg
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
from the trunk line 0.85 Heddernheim Heddernheim depot 1.1 16.1 U1 to Ginnheim ( → see above ), U3 to Hohemark ( → see below ), U8 to Riedberg ( → see below ) 16.5 Sandal mill 17.1 Riedwiese / Mertonviertel from the Riedberg route 18.9 Kalbach 19.4 Bonames center former turning loop (until 1978) Bonames East (pl.) 21.4 Nieder-Eschbach 21.4 Turning track Nieder-Eschbach (U2, U9) City limits ( Bad Homburg vdH ) 23.8 Ober-Eschbach Change of track 24.1 Bad Homburg-Gonzenheim Continuation (planned) Gonzenheim (planned) parallel to the Homburg Railway Bad Homburg station

Heddernheim - Gonzenheim U2

The branch leading to Gonzenheim and used by the U2 is older than the Frankfurt U-Bahn. It emerged from an overland route operated by the Frankfurt Local Railway , which had connected Heddernheim with Bad Homburg since 1910. Bad Homburg also had its own tram network from 1899 to 1935 , which was connected to the Frankfurt network via the local train . In Frankfurt and Homburg, the local railway also used the street-level tracks of the city trams, the part in between was laid out like a railway independently of the road network. The local railway lines were actually licensed not as trams but as small trains.

The former Homburg local railway line used today by the U2 begins at the Heddernheim station with the aforementioned depot and turns north. On the edge of the former site of the United German Metalworks , which closed in 1982 , the route leads north along Olof-Palme-Strasse. The Sandelmühle and Riedwiese stations open up the residential and commercial area that has been created here as the Mertonviertel since 1987 . At Marie-Curie-Straße the route swings in an easterly direction, crosses the A 661 below the Riedberg and then runs through undeveloped terrain. There it meets the route of the U9 to Riedberg and leads to the Bonames district , where the Kalbach and Bonames Mitte stations are located.

Gonzenheim terminus

After the Homburger Landstrasse level crossing, immediately after the Bonames Mitte station, whose name was only supplemented by the addition of “Mitte” in the early 1980s to avoid confusion with the S-Bahn station of the same name (which was renamed Frankfurter Berg a few years later) on the right the Friedrich-Fauldrath-Anlage, which is a relic of the former tram turning loop. Then the route follows a short stretch of Steinernen Straße , a historic old street from Mainz to Wetterau , and then turns towards Nieder-Eschbach , the last district before the city limits. Nieder-Eschbach has a turning system and has been the final stop for a number of trains since it was converted to automatic operation, as only every second train goes to Gonzenheim during the low-traffic times.

Between Nieder-Eschbach and Ober-Eschbach , the route crosses under the A 5 , which roughly follows the city limits between Frankfurt and Bad Homburg. In recent years, a dense residential area has developed around the Ober-Eschbach station that takes advantage of the convenient transport links. The following station, Gonzenheim, has been the terminus of the Homburg line since the switch to underground operation. The tram line, which used to continue from here to the inner city of Homburg, ran through narrow city streets in which underground subway operation was not possible on the surface. The terminus is one of the many long-term makeshifts on the Frankfurt U-Bahn, since it has been planned to extend the U2 since it went into operation in 1971. This failed partly because of objections from the residents, partly because of the FVV's concerns about parallel traffic; A tour in the tunnel was opposed to the high construction and operating costs.

In 2012, the planning approval procedure for the further construction began. The new line is to begin about 200 meters before today's final stop with a ramp, which will be followed by a 350-meter long single-track tunnel between the Erlenweg and Gotenstraße portals. The Gonzenheim stop will be moved 200 meters to the west and will be located in a lower position in future. At the western end, the tunnel will cross under the Homburg Railway in a tight curve . To the west of the railway crossing, the route ascends in a trough structure, crosses the Dornbach and the Lange Meile and then runs parallel to the railway to Bad Homburg station , where the U2 will end at platform 301. The entire new line is 1646 meters long, 550 meters of which is single-track. The planning approval notice was issued in 2016, against which two lawsuits were filed. On October 28, 2018, a referendum took place in Bad Homburg to extend the U2, in which 70.3% of voters voted in favor of an extension.

Route branch Oberursel (U3)
U3 from Oberursel to Frankfurt
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
from the trunk line 0.85 Heddernheim Heddernheim depot 1.1 U2 to Gonzenheim ( → see above ) 1.45 Zeilweg 2.04 0.0 U1, U9 to Ginnheim ( → see above ) Connection VDM (until 1983) 0.5 Wiesenau 1.05 Niederursel U8, U9 to Riedberg ( → see below ) Change of track City limits ( Oberursel (Taunus) ) 3.45 Weißkirchen Ost Change of track 4.5 Bommersheim 5.05 Bommersheim car shed Homburg Railway to Frankfurt 5.7 Oberursel train station 5.85 Turning / parking system Oberursel Bf ... ... with the former Gleisdreieck and ... ... transition to the Homburg Railway ... ... to Friedrichsdorf 6.3 Oberursel city center 6.9 Oberursel old town Wendeschleife (until 1977) Oberstedter Strasse (until 1989) 7.6 Lahnstrasse (since 1989) Connection to the Oberursel engine factory (until 1981) Engine factory (until 1989) Change of track 8.4 Glöcknerwiese 8.75 Copper hammer (single track from here) 9.3 Rose garden (since 1997) 9.75 Forest lust 10.15 Oberursel-Hohemark Turning loop (until 1986)

Heddernheim - Hohemark U3

The branch to Oberursel used by the U3 also comes from the Frankfurter Lokalbahn . The connection between Heddernheim and the (state) station Oberursel on the Homburger Bahn was also opened in 1910. The mountain railway that begins at Oberursel station was built in 1899. Today, after numerous renovations, both lines are part of the Frankfurt U-Bahn.

Niederursel, Weißkirchen, Bommersheim

Oberursel-Hohemark terminus

The Oberursel route leads from Heddernheim station in a westerly direction. After about one kilometer, the U1 line, opened in 1968, branches off to the south. The railway, which used to run through industrial areas and undeveloped terrain, now leads through a residential area that was created in the early 1990s as part of the Mertonviertel. Near the Zeilweg station there is a well-known kindergarten based on a design by the Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser . The railway crosses under Rosa-Luxemburg-Straße and initially follows the valley of the Urselbach. The stations Wiesenau and Niederursel are located here. After the Niederursel station , the U8 and U9 line branches off to Riedberg. Then it crosses under the A 5 and follows Frankfurter Landstrasse to the north. At the junction of Kurmainzer Straße is the Weißkirchen Ost station , which is already in the Oberursel city area, and at the junction of Bommersheimer Straße is the Bommersheim station .

Immediately thereafter, the railway line crosses Frankfurter Landstrasse and runs in a wide right-hand bend, independent of the city road network, under the Homburg Railway to Oberursel station. Shortly before crossing the state railway is the Bommersheim wagon hall , a former depot of the Frankfurt local railway now used by the underground . There are four sidings at Oberursel train station , but they have not been used for several years. In the past, there was also a track connection with the Homburg Railway, which was used for freight transport and for the delivery of new subway cars. The connection has since been broken.

The mountain railway

Waldlust stop

From the Oberursel train station, the route runs on a special track through Oberursel, first along Berliner Straße ( Oberursel Stadtmitte station ), then from Oberursel Altstadt station along Hohemarkstraße. The railway line and the stations Lahnstraße, Glöcknerwiese and Kupferhammer are located south of the street, after which it changes to the northern side of the street. The last section with the stops Rosengärtchen and Waldlust is single-track , the terminus Hohemark is double-track again. Here, at the beginning of the Taunus Nature Park , there is a large park-and-ride area next to the train station . The former turning loop was closed in 1986 and dismantled. By the Hessentag 2011 all platforms were rebuilt, usable for three-car trains of 75 m length and a platform height of 80 cm. The new U5 railcars were first used on this route.

Riedberg branch (U8, U9)
U9, from Nieder-Eschbach towards Riedberg
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
from the trunk line Heddernheim Heddernheim depot U2 to Gonzenheim ( (see above) ) Zeilweg U1 / U9 to Ginnheim ( (see above) ) Connection VDM (until 1983) Wiesenau Niederursel U3 to Hohemark ( → see above ) University campus Riedberg Riedberg Turning track Riedberg (U8) U2 → Südbahnhof (see above) Kalbach former turning loop Bonames center Nieder-Eschbach to Bad Homburg-Gonzenheim

Riedberg U8 and U9

Line U9 between Nieder-Eschbach and Riedberg

The connecting brace between the Oberursel and Homburg branches of the A route was originally planned as part of the D route , which was to form a second north-south axis alongside the A route. After that, the section between Ginnheim and Heddernheimer Landstraße would have become part of the connection from the main train station to the Niederursel university campus. The gap between the existing main train station - Bockenheimer Warte (line U4) and the Ginnheim terminus of the U1 line, for which planning was already in place, was rejected by the new coalition of CDU and the Greens after the local elections in 2006.

This made it necessary to connect the new district on the Riedberg to the underground network via the A route. A new track triangle was planned between the stations Heddernheimer Landstraße , Wiesenau and Zeilweg . This is where the completely above-ground new line across the Riedberg, built between June 2008 and December 2010, begins. Of the nearly four kilometers, 2.3 km were built as grass track and 1.5 km as conventional gravel track. In the area of ​​the new track triangle, the previous junction from Heddernheim to the northern portal of the Nordweststadt tunnel was swiveled slightly to the northeast and the Heddernheimer Landstrasse station was moved a few meters. Unlike originally planned, the Riedberg was thus given a direct connection to the city center. Only the planning designation D IV still reminds of the original plan.

The 12.3 kilometer long U8 line runs every quarter of an hour between Südbahnhof and Riedberg; In order to obtain the necessary timetable routes on the A route, the cycle of the U3 between Südbahnhof and Oberursel was also extended to a quarter of an hour. Behind the Riedberg station , a single-track turning system for the U8 line was built between the tracks in the direction of Nieder-Eschbach.

The 10.3 kilometer long U9 line has been running on the originally planned D route since December 2010. It begins in Ginnheim and initially travels together with the U1. Shortly after the Heddernheimer Landstrasse station , it turns off and meets the U3 and the new U8 in front of the Wiesenau station . While the U8 only goes to Riedberg , the U9 continues via Kalbach to Nieder-Eschbach on the U2 route. The U9 is the first Frankfurt underground line that does not touch the city center, as long as the gap in the D line between Bockenheim and Ginnheim remains.

The Ginnheim station is now a central transfer station between the tram line 16, the underground lines U1 and U9 and the bus lines 39 and 64 that operate there. As part of the four-track expansion of the Main-Weser-Bahn, a transfer option from the U. is to be added at the Niddapark station -Bahn to the S-Bahn line S6, which gets a stop there. Travelers coming from the north could then change to tram line 16 or the S-Bahn line S6 to get to the main station.

Instead of the originally planned 175 million euros, this variant, which was presented in December 2006 by Lutz Sikorski , the head of the transport department at the time, only cost 71 million euros. Of this, 70 percent are borne by the federal and state governments. It was opened for the timetable change on December 12, 2010.

history

The A route is the oldest in the Frankfurt subway network. It was opened in several stages from 1968 to 1984 and 2010. In the outskirts, she continues to use two much older small railroad lines that have been converted for subway operations.

Eschersheim Local Railway and Taunus Railway

→ Main article : Frankfurter Lokalbahn

On May 12, 1888, the Frankfurter Lokalbahn FLAG opened its first tram line, the Eschersheimer Lokalbahn . It ran from the Eschenheimer Tor over the Eschersheimer Landstrasse to the former municipality of Eschersheim to the level crossing on the Main-Weser Railway . The single-track route was around five kilometers long and was initially used by horse-drawn trams and then, after a few months, by steam trams . Today the nine stations from Eschenheimer Tor to Weißer Stein are on this section .

In July 1899 the mountain railway in Oberursel followed as the second FLAG line . It began at the Oberursel station on the Homburg railway and led through the town to the Hohemark . This route was also used by steam trains. Up to October 27, 1981 there was also freight traffic on this section.

The Eschersheim local railway was taken over by the municipal tram in 1901 , electrified in 1908 and expanded to double-track, and from then on it was used by line 23. On 1 October 1909, the line was on the Nidda away to Heddernheim extended, where the city built a tram depot, which today is used by the underground depot Heddernheim .

On April 1, 1910, the suburbs of Eschersheim, Heddernheim, Niederursel and Bonames were incorporated into Frankfurt. On May 4, 1910, the FLAG opened the regional tram from Heddernheim via Bonames to Bad Homburg vor der Höhe , which connected the Frankfurt tram network with the Homburg tram network . The line from Heddernheim to Oberursel followed on May 31, linking the mountain railway there with the Frankfurt tram network. The new lines 25 (Bad Homburg) and 24 (Oberursel) were jointly operated electrically by the FLAG and the municipal tram. They led from the two Taunus cities to Heddernheim and from there via Eschersheimer Landstrasse to the terminus at the theater . The course of the line thus largely corresponded to that of the underground lines U2 and U3, which between 1971 and 1984 also had their southern end point at what was then Theaterplatz .

On the Taunus lines, the FLAG and the city tram used two-axle type V railcars . They were much larger and stronger than the other Frankfurt tram vehicles and also had a compressed air brake to be able to transport up to three sidecars . Some of the V-cars remained in use until 1964. They were replaced by Duewag open- plan cars of the type  Lv and six-axle articulated cars of the type  Mv .

1968: first subway in Frankfurt

U-Bahn construction site at the Hauptwache in August 1966

On the basis of the decision taken by the city ​​council on July 4, 1961 to build an underground network, construction began on June 28, 1963 in Eschersheimer Landstrasse . The first station to be tackled was Miquel- / Adickesallee . The 3.2 km long tunnel between Hauptwache and Dornbusch was built using the cut-and-cover method . For years, the open excavation impaired traffic and the cityscape. For the trams running on Eschersheimer Landstrasse, a provisional diversion route was built in the parallel Bremer Strasse / Hansaallee.

At the Hauptwache , the Hauptwache underground station was the first of the underground Frankfurt express train hubs . For cost reasons, the decision was made to use the so-called Hauptwache large solution and, in addition to the station on the A route, also built the station structures for the S-Bahn , which opened in 1978, and the C-route , which opened in 1986, but initially only in the shell. Like the entire route, the Hauptwache station was built using the cut-and-cover method. For this purpose, the Hauptwache, rebuilt in 1954 with a simplified roof structure, was dismantled stone by stone in 1967 and reconstructed true to the original one year later after the completion of the railway stations and the underground shopping arcade. It also got its original baroque mansard roof back. In order to simplify access to the subway station and the traffic in the surrounding square, the building was moved a few meters from its original position.

On October 4, 1968, just in time two weeks before the local elections, the nearly nine-kilometer-long A1 subway line from the Hauptwache to the Northwest Center began operations. With a two-day festival, the start of operations of the Frankfurt subway was celebrated as the “third subway in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg, and as the 35th subway in the world”. The depot of the municipal tram in Heddernheim served as the depot of the underground.

Underground trams A2 to A4

In addition to the A1 subway line, tram lines 23, 24 and 25 continued to operate, so that there were now four routes:

• A1 Nordweststadt - Heddernheim - Hauptwache (replaced tram lines 23, 23E and 26 between Heddernheim and Hauptwache)
• 25 Bad Homburg Alter Bahnhof (today town hall) - Heddernheim - Hauptwache - Hauptbahnhof / Heilbronner Straße
• 24 Oberursel-Hohemark - Heddernheim - Hauptwache - Hauptbahnhof / Pforzheimer Straße
• 23 Bonames - Heddernheim - Hauptwache - Neu-Isenburg (replaced tram line 8 Heddernheim - Hauptwache - Riedhof)

The tram cars of the Mv series and the sidecars of the mv type had been converted for this purpose. They received a widening made of plastic on the door side (popularly called flower boxes ) to close the gap to the platforms designed for the 30 cm wider U2 railcars . In addition, the cars, now designated as the Mt and mt series , were given folding steps secured by light barriers so that they could also stop at tram stops without platforms. The three tram lines left the subway tunnel behind the Hauptwache via a temporary ramp in Große Gallusstraße and continued from there via Taunusstraße in the direction of the main station or via the Taunusanlage and Theaterplatz to Neu Isenburg.

Expansion during the 1970s

On December 19, 1971, the subway network was expanded for the first time. Tram line 25 was converted to underground operation and was given line number A2. The northern terminus from Bad Homburg's old train station (now the town hall) was moved back to the Gonzenheim district because the wider U2 railcars were not supposed to use the narrow city streets, and a large part of the operational facilities was quickly dismantled (especially the overhead line and the triangle on which the trams previously turned). For the Homburg city center, the new solution brought more disadvantages than advantages because of the compulsory transfer. The subway ends to this day in the suburb. This provisional solution is to be removed in the coming years through an extension. (see new construction projects ).

In 1973 the southern end of the tunnel was extended by one station from Hauptwache to Theaterplatz, which became the terminus of lines A1 and A2. Lines 24 and 23 were renamed A3 and A4 so that the network still comprised four lines:

• A1 Nordweststadt - Heddernheim - Theaterplatz
• A2 Gonzenheim - Heddernheim - Theaterplatz
• A3 Oberursel-Hohemark - Heddernheim - Hauptwache - Hauptbahnhof
• A4 Bonames - Heddernheim - Hauptwache - Hauptbahnhof

In May 1974, when the B1 line went into operation, Theaterplatz became the first transfer station for the Frankfurt U-Bahn. On September 29, 1974, the A1 line was extended to the northwest city by one station. The new terminus at Römerstadt is right at the end of the tunnel on the median of Rosa-Luxemburg-Straße .

End of tram operation

With the timetable change on May 27, 1978, the Rhein-Main S-Bahn was opened and the Frankfurt U-Bahn network expanded at the same time. The previous line A1 was renamed to U1 and extended to the tram terminus in Ginnheim .

The A2 line became the U2 , nothing changed in its routing. The A3 and A4 tram lines were abandoned and the tunnel ramp in Große Gallusstraße was closed. It was replaced by the new U3 line from Hohemark via Heddernheim to Theaterplatz, on which U2 series underground railcars also operated. The line to the Hohemark was expanded to two tracks (except for a short section), whereby the platform height remained limited to 32 cm due to the continuing freight traffic. The Mt tram cars  were subsequently dismantled and continued to be used in the Frankfurt tram network until 1998.

From 1978 onwards, the following lines ran on basic route A:

• U1 Ginnheim - Heddernheim - Theaterplatz
• U2 Gonzenheim - Heddernheim - Theaterplatz
• U3 Hohemark - Heddernheim - Theaterplatz

Freight traffic in the north

Freight locomotive 2020

A special feature was the freight traffic carried out on the northern part of the A-route. On the small railway lines, public goods traffic was carried out from Heddernheim on the one hand to Ober-Eschbach, on the other hand to Hohemark. Connection to the network of the DB railway existed at Oberursel station.

Due to the changeover to underground traffic, freight traffic on the Homburg branch ended in May 1971. It remained on the Oberursel branch for years. Until 1981 the engine factory in Oberursel and until 1982 still the main plant of VDM , a metal processing company in Heddernheim, were supplied with freight wagons via the U3 tracks . The public utility Frankfurt had for this purpose two freight locomotives, including one of the Frankfurter Hafenbahn acquired triaxial Akkulok and one of the Steinhude train acquired diesel locomotive of the type V 36 . Despite the diesel drive, this had a pantograph - just like the steam locomotives that existed until 1962 - but it was used exclusively for signal control on the single-track sections of the route. The V 36 is now in the Technology Museum in Speyer. When they failed, DB rented diesel locomotives helped out.

When the VDM plant in Heddernheim was shut down on March 31, 1982, freight traffic on the Frankfurt tram and underground rail network ended. When the VDM plant was expected to exist for a longer period of time, it was planned at times to run freight traffic on a special track parallel to the subway to Oberursel or on a new route to the Main-Weser-Bahn near Eschersheim.

The extension to Sachsenhausen

In 1975, construction work began on the southern extension of the A route under the Main to Sachsenhausen . This section was put into operation on September 29, 1984 and contained two underground stations, Schweizer Platz and Südbahnhof . The deepest point of the underground network is also located under the Main. After the completion of the S-Bahn tunnel under the Main (1990), another transfer point between the two rapid transit networks was built at the Südbahnhof . Since then, all three lines of the A route have ended at the Südbahnhof. Apart from the merging of two stops and the establishment of a new one in Oberursel and the construction of the Niddapark high station for the Federal Horticultural Show in 1989, there was no increase in the following 25 years.

Connection of the Riedberg

In December 2010, the new Riedberg district and the Riedberg University Campus were connected to Frankfurt city center and the Northwest Center with two new underground lines (U8, U9).

Four lines have been running on the A route since 2010:

• U1 Ginnheim - Heddernheim - Südbahnhof
• U2 Gonzenheim - Heddernheim - Südbahnhof
• U3 Hohemark - Heddernheim - Südbahnhof
• U8 Riedberg - Heddernheim - Südbahnhof

Alignment of platform heights

The freight operation and the parallel operation of the subway and tram were the cause of a long-term provisional in the Frankfurt subway network. The U2 railcar had a floor height of 97 cm above the top of the rails. In view of the parallel operation with the converted tram cars, however, the platforms were initially only allowed to be 56 cm high, since otherwise it would no longer be possible to safely board the narrower Mt cars. On the underground stations between Theaterplatz and Miquel- / Adickesallee, this was achieved by simple ballasting in the area of ​​the platforms. The above-ground stations had lower platforms from the start. To adjust the height, the U2 cars were delivered with fixed steps. After the parallel operation was discontinued, the stations were to be converted to a platform height of 87 cm or adjusted by lowering the ballast bed and the steps of the underground carriages removed.

This provisional solution was initially necessary even after the tram operation was discontinued, as the platforms between Heddernheim and Oberursel were held only 32 cm above the top of the rails, taking into account the clearance profile of the freight wagons. In addition, when the stations at Schweizer Platz and Südbahnhof were built using the mining method in the 1980s, the platforms were only 56 cm high; the later lowering of the ballast bed was not taken into account here.

After the cessation of freight traffic, the platforms on the Oberursel route were gradually increased to the uniform size of 56 cm. From 1994 to 1998, the 39 class U4 railcars were delivered, which had a floor height of 87 cm and managed without an additional step. Instead of the previous two platform heights with the same floor height for the vehicles, there was now a single platform height on the entire A route, but two types of vehicle with different floor heights: 97 cm with an additional step or 87 cm without a step.

Therefore, from 1999 onwards, in extensive construction work, all stations were gradually brought to a uniform height of 80 cm above the top edge of the rails, which enables stepless entry into the trains of the U4 series. The above-ground stations received completely newly built platforms, while the gravel beds at the tunnel stations could be lowered as originally planned. The platforms themselves only had to be raised at the Schweizer Platz and Südbahnhof stations that were not designed for this purpose. That is why the platforms of these stations are now around 24 cm higher than the foot of the stairs and escalators that lead down to the platforms. This difference in height was or is still compensated by ramps until the installation of new escalators.

As the U2 railcars could not be dispensed with for the time being, they were converted to the U2h type. The step was raised from 68 to 87 cm, with a step of 10 cm to the interior of the vehicle remaining in the doorway area. The U4 railcars and the U5 railcars that have been purchased since 2008 are, however, barrier-free at the converted stations. Since November 5, 2012, there have been no more U2h railcars in regular operation on the A route.

Some stations on Frankfurt's oldest underground line have also been renovated and redesigned, such as the Grüneburgweg , Heddernheim and Nordweststadt stations (since then under the name of Nordwestzentrum ).

Tunneling

Open construction pit at the Hauptwache in 1966

In the tunnel under the Main

Different methods have been used over the years to build the tunnels for underground line A. The easiest section was to build the section in the north-west of the city, since the subway line was taken into account in the planning and was built together with the other structures. The first construction phase (Alleenring – Hauptwache) and its later extension to Theaterplatz (today Willy-Brandt-Platz) were still completely open-plan . For this purpose, a correspondingly deep construction pit was dug and secured with the help of numerous steel girders and pile walls rammed into the ground (Berlin sheeting) .

The crossing under the Main required new techniques for the first time. The idea arose to freeze the area around the tunnel to be built. However, there were significant problems due to strong groundwater currents. Likewise, the removal of the ice did not go as planned after the tunnel was built, which resulted in deformations due to the high pressure.

In the Sachsenhausen area, the south station could again be built using the open construction method, but the station hall of the south station had to be demolished. In the area of ​​Schweizer Straße and Schweizer Platz, the use of an open construction method was impossible because of the narrow buildings. Here - unique on the A route - with the Schweizer Platz station, an entire station had to be mined. In some areas, the ground had to be consolidated with groundwater-neutral chemicals before construction work began, as some of the house foundations were too close to the facilities to be built. First of all, the two tubes in which the driveway is located were built in order to connect them to a third tube in the station area. The northern exit is through a transverse tube, also made by mining.

Due to the forced abandonment of an open construction method, other tunnel construction techniques such as shield driving and the New Austrian Tunneling Method were used for the first time on the A route in addition to icing .

A designation from the construction planning and time of the tunnel has survived to this day: the "B-level". The different levels were designated with letters in the plans (earth surface A, first basement B, etc.), according to planning, the A-line of the U-Bahn at the Hauptwache runs in the D-level, the S-Bahn and the C Line of the underground (U6, U7) in the C-level. While the other designations, with the exception of the buttons on the subsequently installed elevators, have disappeared, the term “B-level” has remained in common parlance to this day.

Opening dates

section	Opening date	Stations	Remarks
Oberursel Bhf - Hohemark (mountain railway)	October 2, 1899 Gv / November 1, 1899 Pv	...	FLAG steam tram line with passenger and freight services, electrified in 1910
Heddernheim - Gonzenheim - Homburg Rondell (- Homburg Market)	May 4, 1910	...	Electric small train of the FLAG, from the roundabout on the tracks of the Homburg tram
Heddernheim - Oberursel station	May 31, 1910	...	FLAG electric small train
Hauptwache - Heddernheim - Northwest City	4th October 1968	14th	first stretch of the Frankfurt subway
Heddernheim - Gonzenheim	19th December 1971	7th	Partial takeover of the Homburg local railway line into the underground network
Hauptwache - Theaterplatz	4th November 1973	1
Nordweststadt - Roman city	29th September 1974	1
Zeilweg - Oberursel - Hohemark	May 27, 1978	13	Takeover of the Oberursel local railway line and the mountain railway into the underground network
Roman city - Ginnheim	May 27, 1978	1
Theaterplatz - Südbahnhof	September 29, 1984	2	first Frankfurt main tunnel
Niddapark	April 23, 1989	1	Installation of a new elevated railway station in the existing route
Lahnstrasse station	1989	−1	Merging of the engine factory and Oberstedter Strasse stations to form Lahnstrasse station
Rose garden station	June 1, 1997	1	Installation of a new stop on the existing route
Niederursel - Riedberg - Kalbach	December 12, 2010	2	these two stations are officially part of the D line

New construction projects

bad Homburg

The underground extension to the center of Bad Homburg is for 30 years the request of the political majority and also in the land use plan included the Planning Association, however, a realization is still uncertain. An above-ground and therefore cheaper route has so far failed due to environmental concerns, but at the time also due to the contradiction of the FVV, which saw parallel traffic to the S-Bahn in the route. The current plans envisage a partially above-ground, partially tunnel-guided extension to the Kaisergleis in Bad Homburg station and a link with the planned West regional bypass .

For this purpose, today's terminus in Gonzenheim will be demolished and rebuilt underground to the west of Gotenstrasse. Instead of the previous terminus, the tram line is to be lowered into a 350-meter-long tunnel and parallel to Frankfurter Landstrasse to cross under the Bad Homburg-Friedrichsdorf line . Then it is to be brought up to the railway embankment and parallel to the existing railway line at the same level as the Lange Meile and the motorway feeder with the S5 S-Bahn and the Taunusbahn .

The consultation process began in March 2011 and ended in 2016 with a plan approval decision.

Two actions were brought against the planning approval decision at the Hessian Administrative Court. With regard to the financing, the state of Hesse has agreed to assume part of the costs. On October 28, 2018, a referendum took place on the expansion of the U2, in which more than 70% of the citizens voted in favor of the extension of the subway. Lord Mayor Hetjes then stated that the project should now be implemented quickly. Construction is to begin in 2023, and commissioning is scheduled for 2028. The estimated amount is 56 million euros.

Extension of the tunnel in Eschersheimer Landstrasse

Since the opening of the A-route, plans have been made to extend the tunnel under Eschersheimer Landstrasse from the “temporary” ramp on Dornbusch to Eschersheim. The ground-level guidance on the median of the street was originally only planned as a temporary solution. Since the line was opened, 33 people have died here in accidents with underground trains. Nevertheless, the extension of the tunnel is not considered financially viable at an estimated cost of around 300 million euros. Funding under the Municipal Transport Financing Act is very unlikely because of the likely negative cost-benefit factor , since the prognosis zero case , in contrast to a new tunnel would be assessed, would indeed reflect the current state, i.e. an already operated level route, and above all the economic benefit takes into account the travel time gain, which here could not outweigh the expected high construction costs.

Further construction in Sachsenhausen

"Fire brigade entrance" shaft shortly before the end of the tunnel ( ⊙ )

The plans for the underground extension of the A-route from the Südbahnhof to Sachsenhäuser Warte (with an intermediate station at Mailänder Strasse ) were well advanced at the end of the 1990s when the federal government withdrew its funding commitment. Since federal and state funding is essential for the financing, the project was postponed into the distant future. Beyond the Sachsenhausen observation point, a connecting route should have led through the city ​​forest to Neu-Isenburg . At the Sachsenhausen waiting should a huge park-and-ride - parking garage arise.

Now the tunnel ends at or under the playground in front of the day care center "Grethenweg" in Grethenweg 43 (or behind the building Darmstädter Landstrasse 104-106), with a final contact with the surface of the earth through a shaft marked as a fire service entrance in front of the house Grethenweg 21b.

Depot, parking facility

Heddernheim depot

The vehicles on the A route are stationed in the Heddernheim depot . It is located immediately north of the station of the same name, which historically and operationally plays a central role for the A lines. The depot was built in 1910 as a tram depot and was rebuilt for the subway in 1968 when it began operating.

The former FLAG depot in Bommersheim is now used as a storage facility for the U3 trains. There are additional parking facilities at the Oberursel and Südbahnhof stations.

There is still a siding between the Eschersheimer Tor and Grüneburgweg underground stations, which is currently only used at night for a train on the U2 line. This track can only be approached from Eschenheimer Tor out of town, from the track only the Eschenheimer Tor station can be reached, without changing direction in the station but only into town.

vehicles

Type U4 car

Two different vehicle types have been in use on the A route since the end of 2012, the U4 and U5 railcars . The vehicles are each 2.65 meters wide. The Frankfurt subway network is regular (1435 mm gauge ), the wheel flanges as well as the guide and groove widths correspond to tram dimensions. The contact line voltage of 600 volts direct current is supplied via an overhead line . The U4 series were built by DUEWAG and Siemens , the U5 series by Bombardier Transportation .

Previously, the lines of the A-route had been used with vehicles of the U2 series since the start of operations in 1968 . Up to 1985, a total of 104 units of this six-axle railcar had been delivered to Frankfurt. Due to the numerous different platform heights, the vehicles were initially equipped with a fixed step for platform heights of 320 and 560 mm (U2, no longer available), with the changeover to 800 mm high platforms, they were switched to the U2h variant with an entry height of 870 mm and one as a result conditional small step in the door area converted. Between 1966 and 1978, also two light rail were prototypes of Series U1 used sporadically on the A-line.

Initially, the vehicles were delivered in the Frankfurt city colors red and white. In the mid-1980s it was repainted in orange / ivory. Since the mid-1990s, it has been repainted in the new VGF corporate color “subaru vista blue” , a kind of turquoise.

From 1968 to 1978 converted M-cars of the tram, which were equipped with steps, were used on the lines A2, A3 and A4. These were known as Mt wagons.

The U4 series has been in use since 1995 and was procured exclusively for the A route. 39 vehicles of this type had been delivered by 1998. Until the opening of the Riedberg line in December 2010, they mainly ran on the U2 and partly on the U1 and U3, since then mainly on the U1 and U9 and partly as an amplifier on the U2.

The vehicles of the new U5 series have been in use on the A route since 2008. A total of 146 ordered vehicles will later be used in the entire light rail network. They can be coupled with the vehicles of the U4 series and can be used together in a train.

Since the delivery of type U5 vehicles, U2 railcars have been parked, most recently the U2 cars only drove on the U1 line. This mission ended on November 5, 2012.

Timetable

The timetable is not designed by the operator VGF, but by the local public transport company traffiQ .

line	Rush hour (HVZ)	Off-peak hours (NVZ)	Off-peak hours (SVZ)
	7½ minutes (8 trains per hour and direction)	10 min (6 / h)	15 min (4 / h)
	7½ min (8 / h)	10 min (6 / h)	15 min (4 / h)
	Every 15 minutes, outside of peak hours, on Saturdays and Sundays (exception every 30 minutes), only every second train runs to Gonzenheim , the rest ends in Nieder-Eschbach .
	15 min (4 / h)	15 min (4 / h)	30 min (2 / h)
	15 min (4 / h)	15 min (4 / h)	15 min (4 / h)
(A) - total	2½ min (24 / h)	3–4 min (20 / h)	<5 min (14 / h)
	On the basic route between Heddernheim and the Südbahnhof, the bundling of the four lines achieves a very dense cycle sequence.

The lines U3 and U8 form common courses and change the line number at the common line end point at the Südbahnhof. One circuit therefore consists of the following route: Oberursel Hohemark - Südbahnhof - Riedberg - Südbahnhof - Oberursel Hohemark .

See also

• Frankfurt subway
• Underground line B (Frankfurt am Main)
• Underground line C (Frankfurt am Main)
• Underground line D (Frankfurt am Main)
• List of Frankfurt underground stations

literature

• Dieter Höltge, Günter H. Köhler: Trams and light rail vehicles in Germany . 2nd Edition. 1: Hessen. EK-Verlag , Freiburg 1992, ISBN 3-88255-335-9 (contains a complete list of vehicles).
• Jens Krakies, Frank Nagel: Stadtbahn Frankfurt am Main: A Documentation . 2nd Edition. Frankfurt am Main 1989, ISBN 3-923907-03-6 .
• Frank Nagel, Monika Mutzbauer, Matthias Arning: Mobility for Frankfurt - 50 years of modern Frankfurt local transport . Ed .: Verkehrsgesellschaft Frankfurt am Main mbH (VGF) corporate communications . Societäts Verlag , Frankfurt am Main 2018, ISBN 978-3-95542-320-9 .
• Hans-Werner Runde, Günter Götz (collective of authors): Lexicon of metros of the world - history, technology, operation . VEB transpress , Berlin 1985, ISBN 978-3-613-01068-0 .
• Walter Söhnlein, Jürgen Leindecker: The Frankfurter Lokalbahn and its electric Taunus-Bahnen . GeraMond Verlag , Munich 2000, ISBN 3-932785-04-5 .
• Walter Söhnlein, Gerta Walsh: Clear the way! - Railways in the Taunus 1860–1910–2010 . Societäts Verlag , Frankfurt am Main 2010, ISBN 978-3-7973-1223-5 .
• City of Frankfurt am Main (ed.): Commissioning of the subway. Handover of the main guard and opening of the Northwest Center. Publicity of the Press and Information Office . Frankfurt am Main 1969.
• City of Frankfurt am Main (ed.): U-Bahn construction in Sachsenhausen . Frankfurt am Main 1984.
• Klaus Thomas Edelmann : U-Bahn line A1, pp. 122–129 in: Friends of Frankfurt, Wilhelm E. Opatz (ed.): Frankfurt 1960–1969. Architecture guide . Niggli Verlag, Zurich 2016. ISBN 978-3-7212-0943-3

Web links

Commons : A-line  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

• Website of the operator of the VGF. In: vgf-ffm.de
• traffiQ, local public transport company of the city of Frankfurt am Main

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Stadtvermessungsamt Frankfurt am Main (ed.): Portal GeoInfo Frankfurt , city ​​map
2. ↑ From the kilometer information in the stations it follows that the counting of the A trunk line starts with 10.00 at the intersection of the A tunnel with the C / S communal tunnel at the main station.
3. ^ Fritz-Tarnow subway underpass. In: Art in Public Space Frankfurt. Kulturamt Frankfurt am Main, accessed on October 8, 2017 . 
4. ↑ Christoph Mäckler, Heinrich Wefing: Die Rematerialisierung der Moderne , 2008, ISBN 978-3-7643-6273-7 , page 188
5. ↑ Hans Riebsamen: Frankfurts death street number one: "I did have a look". In: Frankfurter Allgemeine (faz.net). November 3, 2010, accessed October 8, 2017 . 
6. ↑ Georg Leppert: Accident at the Eschersheimer: U-Bahn runs over pedestrians. In: Frankfurter Rundschau (fr.de). April 15, 2010, accessed October 8, 2017 . 
7. ^ Station "Heddernheimer Landstrasse" is fully operational again ( Memento from February 12, 2013 in the web archive archive.today )
8. ↑ ^{a b} Explanatory report of the RP Darmstadt. Archived from the original on December 24, 2012 ; accessed on September 11, 2018 . 
9. ^ Citizens' decision U2 extension
10. ^ U-Bahn station "Rosengärtchen": renovation begins on March 21st ( Memento from May 1st, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
11. ↑ See OpenStreetMap
12. ↑ Hans Riebsamen: Rail transport: two underground lines to Riedberg. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine (faz.net). December 21, 2006, accessed October 8, 2017 . 
13. ^ Hans Riebsamen: U8 and U9: Two new tram lines in Frankfurt. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine (faz.net). December 13, 2010, accessed October 8, 2017 . 
14. ^ Hessenschau October 4, 1968 on YouTube
15. ↑ Line network map 1974. In: stadtregion.org. Retrieved November 26, 2017 . 
16. ^ Bernhard Biener: Extension of the subway approved. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . February 4, 2016, accessed February 4, 2016 . 
17. ↑ Torsten Weigelt: http://www.fr.de/rhein-main/bad-homburg-land-steig-bei-u2-ausbau-ein-a-1338624. In: Frankfurter Rundschau. August 28, 2017. Retrieved November 25, 2017 . 
18. ↑ Citizens vote for the extension of the U2 . In: Frankfurter Rundschau , October 29, 2018. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
19. ^ By subway to Bad Homburg . In: Frankfurter Allgemeine , May 5, 2020. Accessed August 24, 2020.
20. ^ Georg Leppert: 91-year-olds run over by the subway. In: Frankfurter Rundschau. August 23, 2010, accessed December 13, 2015 . 
21. ↑ Local traffic: Frankfurt's most dangerous death trap. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine (faz.net). September 20, 2006, accessed October 8, 2017 . 
22. ^ Fatal accident on the linden tree. (No longer available online.) In: Frankfurter Neue Presse. January 14, 2010, formerly in the original ; Retrieved January 14, 2010 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.    
23. ^ Report of the magistrate dated December 8, 2006 (B 521), PDF

This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on June 3, 2007 .