Frankfurt West station

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.

Frankfurt (Main) West Frankfurt Westbahnhof
Through station
Elevated section
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
Website	www.bahnhof.de
History
Opened	1848
Services
Preceding station   DB Fernverkehr   Following station Friedberg towards Hamburg-Altona ICE 26 Frankfurt towards Karlsruhe Preceding station   DB Regio Mitte   Following station Frankfurt (Main) Hbf Terminus RB 34 Bad Vilbel–Glauburg-Stockheim railway Bad Vilbel toward Glauburg-Stockheim Friedberg toward Dillenburg RB 40 Mittelhessen-Express Frankfurt (Main) Hbf Terminus Preceding station   Rhine-Main S-Bahn   Following station Rödelheim toward Bad Soden Messe toward Darmstadt Hbf Rödelheim toward Kronberg Messe toward Langen Rödelheim toward Friedrichsdorf Messe toward Südbahnhof Eschersheim toward Friedberg (Hess) Messe toward Südbahnhof
Location
Frankfurt (Main) West Location within Frankfurt Frankfurt (Main) West Hesse Frankfurt (Main) West Location within Germany Frankfurt (Main) West Location within Europe

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.

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 Station 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 Station 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

The station is served by S-Bahn lines S3, S4, S5 and S6.

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.