Offenbach City Tunnel

The Offenbach City Tunnel is a railway tunnel on the Frankfurt Schlachthof–Hanau line in Offenbach am Main in the German state of Hesse. It is used by all of the eastern branches of the Rhine-Main S-Bahn (S1, S2, S8 and S9). It runs largely under Berliner Straße.

Offenbach City Tunnel
Offenbach-Marktplatz Station
Overview
Native nameCity-Tunnel Offenbach
LocaleHesse, Germany
Technical
Line length3.7 km (2.3 mi)
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification15 kV/16.7 Hz AC overhead catenary
Operating speed80 km/h (49.7 mph) (maximum)
Maximum incline4.0%
Route map

 end of Frankfurt City Tunnel
 Frankfurt-Oberrad
(planned)
 main line to Hanau
 Start of Offenbach City Tunnel
57.132
 Offenbach-Kaiserlei
57.949
 Ledermuseum
58.948
 Marktplatz
60.320
 End of Offenbach City Tunnel
 main line from Offenbach Hbf
60.5
 Offenbach-Ost
 to Rodgau Railway
 to Hanau
Source: German railway atlas[1]

Construction
Planning options considered, the most northerly route was chosen

Several options were considered and the current route was selected in 1983. Finance for the project was agreed on 4 December 1986, and planning approval was achieved at the end of 1990, allowing construction to begin. However, the symbolic beginning of construction was on 23 March 1988. Parts of the new line run along or below the route of the former Lokalbahn line.

Commissioning and subsequent changes

The line between Frankfurt-Mühlberg and Offenbach Ost was opened on 23 May 1995. This was linked with the extension of line S8 to Hanau, while line S1 only went as far as Offenbach Ost. Line S2—which had previously terminated at Muhlberg—was diverted to Frankfurt South station.

Following the completion of the upgrading of the Rodgau Railway as well as the route to Dietzenbach on 23 March 2001 lines S1, S2, S8 and S9 now run through the Offenbach City Tunnel. Limited capacity in the Frankfurt City Tunnel until 13 June 2010, meant that line S2—in contrast to the other lines—could only run every half-hour, while additional peak hour S2 trains could only operate between Dietzenbach and Offenbach Hauptbahnhof and between Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof and Niedernhausen rather than use the tunnel.

In the course of the Offenbach City Tunnel, S-Bahn trains stop at three stations: Kaiserlei, Ledermuseum (Leather Museum) and Marktplatz. All stations are very similar in construction.

Notes
  1. Eisenbahnatlas Deutschland (German railway atlas). Schweers + Wall. 2009. ISBN 978-3-89494-139-0.

References
  • Eisenbahnen in der Region Frankfurt RheinMain (Railways in the Frankfurt Rhine-Main region) (in German). Darmstadt: Hestra-Verlag. 2002. ISBN 3-7771-0304-7.
Offenbach Ost station

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