Mainbahn

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Stations and structures
Route Number:	471/645.8/645.9
Line number:	3520
Legend 0,0 Mainz Mainz Tunnel/New Mainz Tunnel 1,8 Mainz Römisches Theater (formerly Mainz Süd) to Worms, Ludwigshafen, Mannheim Mainz south bridge (Rhine) 4,6 Mainz-Gustavsburg 5,6 Gustavsburg habour branch Bischofsheim – Kaiserbrücke Bischofsheim – Kaiserbrücke 7,8 Mainz-Bischofsheim Rhein-Main-Bahn 9,6 Mainz-Bischofsheim crossover 11,2 Rüsselsheim-Opelwerks 12,2 Rüsselsheim 15,9 Raunheim 17,4 Raunheim-Mönchwald branch: Cologne-Frankfurt high-speed line A 3 Cologne-Frankfurt high-speed line Connection to Caltex and Ticona 19,4 Raunheim-Brunnenschneise branch: Cologne-Frankfurt high-speed line Industrial branch, Kelsterbach 23,8 Kelsterbach Division of the lines Cologne-Frankfurt high-speed line Frankfurt-Schwanheim 1917–1972 29,1 Airport tunnel 2234 m long 11,4 Frankfurt Airport regional station Airport tunnel Division of the lines zur Riedbahn 31,4 Frankfurt stadium station Connecting triangle to Frankfurt south station 33,2 Frankfurt-Niederrad Niederräd Main Bridge (Main) to Main-Lahn-Bahn Taunus-Eisenbahn Main-Weser-Bahn goods line to Main-Neckar-Bahn Main-Weser-Bahn 37,5 Frankfurt central station

Original configuration of western Frankfurt stations 1863–1882
Legend from Mainz Kelsterbach Goldstein (from 1937: Frankfurt-Sportfeld, … … since 24 December 2005: Frankfurt Stadium) Forsthaus Main-Neckar-Bahn Frankfurt-Louisa Friedens Bridge (Main) Main-Neckar station

The Mainbahn (Main Line) is a 37.5 km-long double-track electrified railway line, which runs on the south side of the Main River from Mainz to Frankfurt central station.

[edit] History

Immediately after the opening of the Rhine-Main Line from Mainz to Aschaffenburg by the Hessische Ludwigsbahn railway in 1858, it was anxious to also own a connection to Frankfurt. Therefore it built the new line from a branch off the Rhine-Main Line at Bischofsheim along the left (southern) bank of the Main to Frankfurt. It thereby put itself into competition with the parallel Taunus railway, which runs on the right bank of the Main. The concession for building and operating the line was awarded by Grand Duchy of Hesse on 15 August 1861 and by the senate of the Free City of Frankfurt on 17 January 1862.

The Main-Neckar station in Frankfurt was the southernmost of three stations when it opened in 1863 in Gallusanlage (now Willy-Brandt-Platz)

The building of the line took only one and a half years. A test run took place on 20 December 1862 and it was opened on 3 January 1863. The line originally ran through the former Forsthaus station and today's Friedensbrücke (Peace Bridge, now a road bridge) in Frankfurt across the Main to the former Main-Neckar station. This entry was replaced on 16 January 1882 by the current alignment through Goldstein station (later: Frankfurt-Sportfeld, now: Frankfurt stadium station), Niederrad station and the Niederräder Main bridge.

On 1 February 1897, it along with the rest of the Hessische Ludwigsbahn railway became part of the Prussian-Hessian railway. The line was electrified in 1960.

[edit] Services

The following suburban services operate on the Mainbahn:

S-Bahn lines:

• S8: Hanau–City-Tunnel Frankfurt–Niederrad–Mainz–Wiesbaden
• S9: Hanau–City-Tunnel Frankfurt–Niederrad–Mainz-Kastel–Wiesbaden

RegionalBahn:

• RB 75: Wiesbaden–Mainz–Mainz-Bischofsheim, continuing to Darmstadt

RegionalExpress:

• RE/SE 80: Frankfurt–Frankfurt Airport–Mainz, continuing to Koblenz or Saarbrücken

[edit] Images

Southern bridgehead of the Mainz South Bridge of the …

… Mainbahn …

… seen from the Mainz side.

Coat of arms on the bridge building

[edit] References

• Eisenbahnatlas Deutschland – 2005/2006 edition, Vlg. Schweers + Wall, 2005, ISBN 3-89494-134-0 (German)
• Landesamt für Denkmalpflege Hessen (Hrsg.): Eisenbahn in Hessen. Eisenbahnenbauten- und strecken 1839–1939, 1st edition. Theiss Verlag, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-8062-1917-6, Bd. 2.1, S. 302ff (Strecke 018). (German)