The Hessian Transport Minister in a celebratory mood: Tarek Al-Wazir (The Greens) enthused on Monday that the additional track to Frankfurt Central Station was the third railway project that he had accompanied from start to finish: first the commissioning of the electronic interlocking for the The main tunnel route under Frankfurt city center, then the opening of the Gateway Gardens S-Bahn station and now the 180 million euro investment in the Gallus district, which goes by the name of “Homburger Damm” in railway jargon.

Al-Wazir can happily continue like this.

“The traffic turnaround can only succeed with good and attractive rail offers,” he said.

"We need more capacity."

Manfred Koehler

Deputy head of the regional section of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and editor in charge of the business magazine Metropol.

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This is exactly what the new track, the completion of which was celebrated on Monday, creates more capacity for rail traffic.

It could be described as a new right-turn lane from the main train station in the direction of Höchst.

The track runs along the north side of the extensive track apron, crosses Kleyerstraße and then runs in the direction of Nied to Mainzer Landstraße.

A dam had to be built for this, and a bridge was also necessary.

Five kilometers of track and 30 points were laid.

150 million euros from the federal government

This means that there will no longer be just one track available for the journey to and from Nied, Höchst and beyond, but two tracks. It took four years to build, and the federal government contributed 150 million euros. With the timetable change on December 12th, the track will go into operation. According to the calculations by Deutsche Bahn, 25,000 passengers a day should then benefit from the fact that, thanks to the additional track, the trains can be more punctual because they are less of a hindrance to each other. The departures in the main train station will also be better organized thanks to the new track. In future it should be even clearer that long-distance trains will depart on the southern tracks, i.e. on the side facing the long-distance bus station, and regional trains on the northern platforms.

The completion ceremony was so important to Deutsche Bahn that even Ronald Pofalla, the company's board member responsible for infrastructure, had traveled from Berlin. He recalled that things were going in quick succession at the railroad in Frankfurt. The “go-ahead” for the long-distance traffic tunnel under the city center was only given in June - at that time a study was presented that confirmed the feasibility of the project. Regarding the new track, Pofalla said that all the improvements in rail traffic in Frankfurt will benefit traffic throughout Germany because of its central location. Lord Mayor Peter Feldmann (SPD) added that anyone who wants to achieve the climate targets must invest in local public transport.

However, it will take some time before further tracks are put into operation again.

The tracks for the S-Bahn line 6 in the direction of Bad Vilbel are under construction, and the project to upgrade the lines south of the Main at the Stadion station is making progress.

In this context, a further bridge for two tracks is to be built over the Main in a few years.

The north Main S-Bahn to Hanau is still a dream of the future, even if it becomes apparent that its realization is getting closer.

Long-distance traffic tunnel in view

The upgrading of the Frankfurt railway junction is mentioned in the coalition agreement of the new traffic light alliance in the Bundestag; The focus is on the long-distance traffic tunnel, which will one day create a connection between the two major high-speed routes Frankfurt - Fulda and Frankfurt - Mannheim. In the case of the last-mentioned project, the planning approval procedure for the first construction phase from Zeppelinheim to Weiterstadt is about to begin. These major projects are coordinated with the German clock promoted by the outgoing Federal Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer (CSU); according to this, the ICE will in future run according to an easily memorable timetable, as travelers from Switzerland are familiar with. Al-Wazir picked up the name on Monday; who wants the Germany clock,must upgrade the railway infrastructure on a large scale.