The A line is the north-to-south main line of the Frankfurt U-Bahn. It is the oldest and longest line of the U-Bahn system. Served by four routes (U1, U2, U3 and U8) starting at Südbahnhof Railway Station in Sachsenhausen, the A line runs through downtown Frankfurt up to Heddernheim Station in the north of the city, where it branches out to Ginnheim (U1 and U9), Oberursel (U3), Riedberg (U8 and U9) and Bad Homburg (U2). The U9 service between Ginnheim, Riedberg and Nieder-Eschbach does not use the central section and tunnels of the line, making it the only light rail service of the network that does not serve downtown Frankfurt. The Riedberg and Ginnheim branches were planned as parts of the future D line subway but are operationally part of the A line until the D line development and construction is finished.
History The Line A with its three connecting lines covers about half of the Frankfurt subway network and combines various upgrade standards, linking subway, elevated rail, railway and light rail sections.
The Line A is the most important north–south axis in city traffic and runs from the South Station through the city and the Eschersheimer highway to Heddernheim. There it divides into two branches, which lead to Oberursel (U3) and Bad Homburg (U2). The part of the line served by U1, U2, U3 and U8 has eight underground and six above-ground stops.
The routes to Bad Homburg and Oberursel originally belonged to the Frankfurt Lokalbahn. They run largely off the road network and have barrier-protected level crossings. Also, the piece between Oberursel station and Hohemark is a built according to light rail criteria former narrow-gauge railway line.
Between the stops Zeilweg and Wiesenau the Oberursel route branches off the subway again (U1) and goes on a newly built, partly underground route through the northwest city to Ginnheim. Between the stops Heddernheimer Landstraße (on the section to Ginnheim) and Wiesenau (on the section to Oberursel) forms a part of the D-route with the two routes a track triangle. In Niederursel, the D route then branches off in the direction of Riedberg.
The construction of the Line A began in 1963. Originally, it was planned to build the line from the city center to Eschersheim to station Weisser Stein in the tunnel. For financial reasons, however, only the southern tunnel section was built and the track north of the Miquelallee led over a ramp to the surface. In the further course the route lies at ground level on the central strip of the Eschersheimer country road. Despite the above-ground routing, the stations were built very complex and had spacious underground distribution bullets, isolated was also the ground-level access by traffic lights possible. For safety reasons, the track tracks were additionally fenced in on both sides; crossing the street has since then only been possible for pedestrians in a few places without traffic lights.
The first route led from the Hauptwache to the northwest city and was opened on October 4, 1968. It had five underground stations in the city center (Hauptwache, Eschenheimer Tor, Grüneburgweg, Holzhausenstraße and Miquel / Adickesallee) and the subterranean terminus Nordweststadt in the same large housing estate. The new service, called A1, drove vehicles of the type U2 (see below). As a depot of the subway served the depot of the municipal tram in Heddernheim. The old storage hall in Eschersheim from the times of the local railway was separated from the track network. The hall is still standing today, even if one no longer recognizes its original use.
At the same time, tram routes 23, 24 and 25 were relocated to the new tunnel. The vehicles of the U-tram services were made "tunnels", that is, they were widening the doors to bridge the gap between (too narrow) vehicle and platform. Unlike the subway, these subway trams did not end at Hauptwache, but returned to the inner city tram network via a ramp in Grosse Gallusstrasse.
From 1968, the following four services operated through the new tunnel: U-Bahn A1 Nordweststadt–Hauptwache (from Heddernheim to Hauptwache in Straßenbahnlinien 23 and 26, now U1) U-Straßenbahn 25 Bad Homburg–Hauptbahnhof/Heilbronner Straße (then Linie A2, now U2) 24 Oberursel Hohemark–Hauptbahnhof/Pforzheimer Straße (then A3, now U3) 23 Bonames–Neu-Isenburg (ehemalige Linie 8 Heddernheim – Riedhof, then A4).
In 1971, the previous tram route 25 was withdrawn in Bad Homburg to Gonzenheim. The "provisional" terminus of the new subway service A2 has survived until today.
In 1973, the underground was extended in the city center one station to the station Theaterplatz (since 1992 Willy-Brandt-Platz). A transfer station was created after the opening of the first section of the B-line in 1974.
In 1974, the tunnel in the northwest city was extended by one station to the station Römerstadt.
In 1978, the line was extended by an elevated section to the terminus of the tram in Ginnheim. In the same year, the Oberursel route of the former local railway was taken over into the underground network. The two new Taunus lines were now also operated with U2 class cars. The mixed operation with underground tram cars was abandoned, the tunnel ramp in the Great Gallus road shut down, the reinforcement service A4 accounted for. The tunnel-like tram vehicles were rebuilt again for tram operation.
In 1975, construction began on the southern extension of the A-line under the Main to Sachsenhausen. This section was put into operation on 29 September 1984 and contained two underground stations, Schweizer Platz and Südbahnhof. At Südbahnhof, after the completion of the S-Bahn tunnel under the Main (1990), another interchange between the two high-speed rail networks was built.
With the extension to Sachsenhausen the Line A network reached its extension until 2009. Apart from the merger of two stops and the establishment of a new one in Oberursel as well as the construction of the high station Niddapark to the Federal Horticultural Show 1989 there was no increase here.
In the 1990s and 2000s, construction on the A line was largely limited to matching platform heights. The goal is to bring all platforms to a uniform height of 80 cm above the rail. In the aboveground stations, this was connected to the installation of ground-level entrances (via pedestrian lights). Some stations of the oldest Frankfurt subway line were also renovated and redesigned (such as the stations Grüneburgweg, Heddernheim and northwest center) or provided with lifts (Holzhausenstraße).
On June 30, 2008, the construction of the D-IV section over the Riedberg began. Since the timetable change on December 12, 2010, the new housing development Riedberg has been connected with two new stops via a further branch of the A-line to the city center and to the northwest city. The 12.3-kilometer U8 service operates between Südbahnhof and Riedberg. It operates all stations of the U3 to Niederursel, before turning behind the station to the northeast and after the station Uni-Campus Riedberg reaches the new terminus Riedberg. The 10.3-kilometer U9 service starts at the terminus of the U1 in Ginnheim and travels with it to the station Heddernheimer Landstraße, before turning towards Wiesenau. She then drives together with the U8 to Riedberg and from there continues via Kalbach to Nieder-Eschbach. Between Kalbach and Nieder-Eschbach she travels together with the U2.
In Sachsenhausen, no further construction of the line ending there is to be expected in the coming years. Since 2007 it is planned to end the trains of the U2 service at the so-called Fürsten track in the station Bad Homburg. The route begins at today's terminus in Gonzenheim, which is to be demolished and rebuilt underground to the west of the Gotenstrasse. In place of the previous terminus, the urban railway line is to be lowered into a 350-meter-long tunnel and underpass the railway line Bad Homburg-Friedrichsdorf parallel to the Frankfurter Landstraße. Then they should be introduced to the railway embankment and parallel to the existing railway line on their level the Long Mile and the feeder road with the S-Bahn and the Taunusbahn cross. The planning approval decision was issued in January 2016. Nevertheless, it is unlikely that construction will start soon. According to a FAZ article, "Lord Mayor Alexander Hetjes (CDU) reacted cautiously to the news from Darmstadt. "That means nothing at first," he said, referring to the outstanding financing agreement. "And the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung:" If the planning approval decision becomes final and the financing agreement is in place, the plan is two years ahead of schedule and then two and a half This would mean that construction would start at the earliest in 2018 and completion is not expected before 2020.
Stretches
Sachsenhausen The A-line starts at the Südbahnhof in the district of Sachsenhausen. The South Station is an important hub of local and regional transport. Long-distance trains, the regional trains of the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund, the S-Bahn trains to Langen and Darmstadt, city and regional buses as well as the tram routes 14, 15, 16 and 19. The underground platform of the subway lies right under the platforms the railway and offers short transfer routes to the other rail transport. As a terminus of the A-line joins the platform tracks to the south of a three-prong turning and Abstellanlage, the outer tracks were provided for a projected continuation of the route in the direction Sachsenhäuser waiting (see new building projects).
The Südbahnhof is located in a vibrant, inner-city inner-city quarter, which offers retail and gastronomy facilities as well as numerous coveted apartments. The semicircular station forecourt, the Diesterwegplatz, is the center of this quarter and serves several times a week as a marketplace.
The tunnel of the subway runs from the South Station through the Diesterwegstraße to the Swiss Square and crosses the Swiss road there. The next subway station Schweizer Platz is located below the block of houses bordered by Swiss, Schneckenhof, Cranach and Gartenstraße. The Schweizer Platz station was the first station in Frankfurt to be completely mined (that is, without an excavation pit), as the construction of the Schweizer Platz did not permit the otherwise usual excavation without endangering the stability of adjacent buildings. Due to the special design – first the two tubes, then the connection by means of a third tube – conveys the three-aisled, arched platform hall a sacred impression of space and reminiscent of a Romanesque crypt.
The Swiss street, modeled after Paris Boulevard, is the main street of Sachsenhausen with its numerous shops and pubs.
North of it, the subway runs under three blocks, the German Museum of Architecture on Museumsufer and then, just west of the Untermain Bridge, the Main, whose underpass was also associated with very particular difficulties (see Tunneling).
City The subway passes, coming from the Main, the Nice and the Jewish Museum, in order to reach the level of the urban stages, the New Mainzer Straße. This North-Main continuation of the Swiss road is the main axis of the Frankfurt financial district, a worth seeing street canyon. Underneath the peace road branching off here is the subway station Willy-Brandt-Platz (until 1992 Theaterplatz). Its southern exit leads to the same, the northern to the imperial square. On Willy-Brandt-Platz can be changed since 1974 to the trains on the B-line, it is the oldest interchange station of the Frankfurt subway. From 1971 to 1984 he was the southern end point of the A-line. Also can be switched to the on the surface tram routes 11 and 12 here.