Frankfurt Airport Pioneering Intermodal Air-Rail Developments Robert A

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Frankfurt Airport Pioneering Intermodal Air-Rail Developments Robert A. Payne

One could say that all routes—air, road, furt is strategically located in the middle rail, and water—lead to Frankfurt. In par- of the new Europe—one of the world’s Via Air, Road, Rail or Water ticular, Frankfurt Airport (international air- largest economic markets. And the Frank- port code FRA) is positioning itself as the furt/Rhine-Main region is one of Europe’s Frankfurt has excellent links to road, rail, world’s leader in air-rail intermodal trans- strongest and most dynamic economic and water networks. Located near the portation, both for passenger and cargo centres. Frankfurt is home to the power- confluence of the Rhine and Main rivers, r services. Long regarded as a pioneer in ful European Central Bank, established to Frankfurt is a major city along one of the intermodal travel, FRA is further enhanc- oversee the Euro launched on 1 January world’s most important inland waterways ing its lead by adding a new state-of-the- 1999. for passenger and freight traffic—some of

e art railway station designed exclusively for For over 1200 years, Frankfurt has been FRA’s aviation fuel is even delivered by long-distance services such as Germany’s an important crossroads of commerce and barge to a River Main dock and piped a InterCity Express (ICE) high-speed trains. trade in the heart of Europe. Money short distance to the airport’s fuel farm. Once the new AIRail Terminal Frankfurt ‘…makes the world go round…’, but a In 1992, the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal Airport is inaugurated on 27 May 1999, top-notch transport infrastructure is vital was opened southwest of Frankfurt, mak- FRA will have three railway stations: two in today’s fast-paced age of globalism. ing continuous water transport between for passenger services and one for cargo. Building on Frankfurt’s traditions, FRA has the North Sea and the Black Sea possible There are many reasons why FRA has be- helped turn the region into a global gate- via Frankfurt. Sightseeing cruises along come such an important European hub for way. There are few regions in the world the Main and Rhine rivers—now an offi- passenger and cargo traffic. Geography where the various modes of transporta- cial UNESCO World Heritage Site—are certainly plays a role. Glancing at a map tion are so concentrated, so well devel- popular with tourists from around the of Europe, one can quickly see that Frank- oped, and so well integrated. world.

Figure 1 FRA’s Passenger Terminals, Transport Links, and Site of New AIRail Terminal Trains to Frankfurt

S-Bahn B43 Federal Highway

A3 Autobahn New Railway Hall ICE

P DB Trains to Mainz, Wiesbaden A3 Autobahn

Sky Line P

ABCDE

Terminal 1 Terminal 2

Source: Adapted from Frankfurt Airport map

Autobahn on FRA’s Doorstep

Europe’s first and today’s busiest express- way cloverleaf interchange—the Frank- furter Kreuz—is at the northeast corner of the airport not far from the passenger terminals. This is where the A3 and A5 autobahns—the most important autobahns in Germany—intersect and allow quick access to the nation’s renowned autobahn network and other expressways throughout Europe. A major 5-year redevelopment to increase the capacity of the Frankfurter Kreuz is half-completed, including rail tunnels for the new high-speed railway line between Cologne and Frankfurt. Parking facilities for a total of about 15,000 vehicles are available at both passenger terminals of Aerial view showing model of new AIRail Terminal (DB AG) FRA. In addition, FRA has its own bus station for charter buses, tour coaches and day, more than 200 trains arrive at the air- Generally, travellers have to go to Frank- regional and intra-European bus services. port railway station beneath Terminal 1, furt Hauptbahnhof to take ICEs. But that’s making ‘rail and fly’ travelling convenient all about to change. and attractive. New Golden Age of Rail Initially, the station only handled local S- Bahn commuter trains to Frankfurt’s Flying on ICE Frankfurt has been an important rail cen- Hauptbahnhof, just a 12-minute ride away tre since the golden age of trains. and costing only a few D-marks. Today, Frankfurt Airport will soon become a Frankfurt’s central railway station, or the S-Bahn (S-8 line) provides regular vital hub for the trans-European high- Hauptbahnhof, is one of Europe’s busiest commuter service from the airport east- speed railway network. The ultimate goal stations and offers trans-European connec- wards to Frankfurt, Offenbach and Hanau, is to merge air and rail systems into a tions for those wishing to travel through and westwards to Kelsterbach, Raunheim, single easy-to-use service convenient for Europe by train. Many of Europe’s na- Rüsselsheim, Mainz and Wiesbaden. all travellers. On 1 October 1997, the tional railways have local offices near the Also, InterCity trains operated by DB AG foundation-stone for FRA’s AIRail Termi- Hauptbahnhof. stop regularly at FRA on their way to ma- nal Frankfurt Airport was laid, marking the For more than 25 years, Flughafen Frank- jor cities in Germany. advent of a new era in seamless travel ‘rail furt/Main AG (FAG)—the Frankfurt Airport Over the years, these services have been and fly’ services. company—has been developing air and expanded to other towns and cities in the rail facilities in cooperation with Deutsche region and eventually FRA became a Bahn AG (DB AG) and the airlines. The mainline station in DB AG’s InterCity net- First Phase story started in 1972 when FAG inaugu- work. Thus, all major German cities can rated Terminal 1 with an integrated rail- be reached by rail directly from FRA. The new AIRail Terminal is rapidly near- way station—a revolutionary concept at Trains from Austria and Switzerland also ing completion near Terminal 1 on a nar- that time. Frankfurt became one of the make regular stops. Until now, the miss- row parcel of airport-owned land located first airports in the world to have direct ing element has been high-speed services, between the A3 autobahn and the B43 rail links and even today, these connec- which, except for an occasional ICE train, federal highway and parallel to the tions are envied by many other airports cannot be handled at the existing airport Sheraton Hotel & Congress Center and the in Europe and around the world. Each railway station due to capacity limitations. Frankfurt Airport Center (FAC 1), an inter-

32 Japan Railway & Transport Review 19 • March 1999 Copyright © 1999 EJRCF. All rights reserved. side by baggage claim belts linked to the airport’s centralized baggage sorting and conveyor system. The connector building will feature moving walkways to speed travellers between the railway station and the centre of Terminal 1. The prime objective is to create a truly seamless travel system whereby ticketing, travel information, baggage and other elements are as integrated as possible, regardless of the transport mode.

Nine Million Passengers

On 30 May, the ICE terminal will enter regular service, allowing air travellers to transfer from their aircraft directly to high- Close-up of domed roof of railway hall and adjoining connector building that extends over autobahn to Terminal 1 speed ICE train, or vice versa. In the com- (DB AG) ing century, the new AIRail Terminal Frankfurt Airport will become an important link in the trans-European high-speed railway network. With about 10 ICE train departures planned per hour, DB AG is forecasting up to 30,000 passengers per day or about 9 million passengers annu- ally by the year 2010. Compared to the number of travellers now using the existing S-bahn underground airport train station, this will provide enough extra capacity roughly to quadruple FRA’s intermodal passenger volume and corre- sponds to passenger growth expected over the next 10 to 15 years. FRA will encourage a modal shift of many short-haul flights—particularly within a 400 to 500 km radius of the airport—to the high-speed rail network. Some 35 million people live within a 200-km Interior view of glass-covered dome roof of railway hall with escalators leading down to train platforms (DB AG) radius of FRA, a larger catchment than any other European airport, including London national office building. the cost. Abutting the south side of the Heathrow, Paris Charles de Gaulle, and The overall project involves two main ICE terminal, a 230-m connector facility Amsterdam Schiphol. This will have two stages: a first phase for the ICE railway ter- will extend out over the A3 autobahn to a immediate benefits for the environment: minal and its connection to Terminal 1; junction near Terminal 1 and then, in the there will be reduced road traffic to the then, sometime early next century, a year 2000, directly to Departure Hall B airport and the freed-up flight capacity can second phase for a build-over multi-use of Terminal 1. It will comprise a tube- be used to expand intercontinental air complex. The first phase cost DM410 shaped core flanked on one side by air- services. million with FAG paying more than half line check-in counters and on the other

travel port. In other words, it will be a • Plan Plus Faktor Entwicklungs- Shrinking Travel Times seamless system that is easy to use and gesellschaft mbH, Frankfurt that provides maximum convenience and • Tercon Immobilien Projektent- Currently, intensive construction work is comfort for passengers when they are wicklungs-GmbH, Munich in progress on the new high-speed rail- travelling by various transport modes. • Thyssen Bauträger- und Immobilien- way line along the A3 autobahn corridor entwicklungs-GmbH, Munich between Germany’s two most important • Walter Bau AG, Augsburg economic regions: the Frankfurt/Rhine- Second Phase The final winner, to be chosen in early Main Region and the Cologne-Düsseldorf/ 1999, will receive building rights to con- Rhine-Ruhr Region—Germany’s most The second phase calls for building a struct the superstructure. Private financ- densely populated region. By enabling 160,000-m2 multi-use complex costing ing will probably be needed for a project ICE trains to travel at speeds of about 300 DM750 million on the roof of the AIRail of this scale and nature. The real estate km/h, the new line will slice the travel Terminal. Here various activities, such as site in question covers 34,233 m2 and time between Frankfurt Airport and down- business, hospitality, leisure, entertain- extends over a length of 660 m and a town Cologne in half to just 58 minutes, ment and shopping, will be combined in maximum width of 65 m. This will allow making ICEs extremely competitive with an imaginative and attractive way. An in- a total of 160,000 m2 of space to be planes. In addition, several other exist- ternational design/concept competition is developed on seven levels. Thus, AIRail ing high-speed lines will bring ICE trains underway, with 7 companies selected to Terminal Frankfurt will be a place where from diverse destinations throughout Ger- submit a ‘planning intensification and fast air and rail services will converge, many directly to FRA (Table 1). submission of offer’ proposal. The short- where trans-European and global compa- With the future emergence of the trans- listed companies are: nies will congregate, where business and European high-speed railway network, • CBC Immobilienentwicklungs-GmbH, leisure travellers alike will enjoy seamless FRA is poised to become a key hub for Berlin travel and a wide range of services and high-speed trains travelling from • Depfa Immobilienmanagement AG, facilities right at the heart of continental neighbouring countries and perhaps Wiesbaden Europe’s most advanced and strategically farther afield: as far west as Britain via the • Köllmann Real Property Development located intermodal travel port. The Channel Tunnel, as far south as Italy via GmbH, Wiesbaden potential of this second phase makes the the Alps, as far north as Scandinavia, and, perhaps, as far east as Warsaw and Mos- cow. FRA’s high-speed rail project will be a further realization of FAG’s strategic vision to evolve into a full-service intermodal

Table 1 How ICE Trains to FRA will Reduce Travel Times

Travel Times From: Today 2002 Amsterdam (Holland) 4:45 3:00 Basle (Switzerland) 3:00 2:13 Bonn/Sieburg 1:48 0:39 Brussels (Belgium) 5:00 2:50 Hanover 3:15 2:15 London (UK) 7:30 5:30* Munich 3:55 2:58 Stuttgart 1:25 1:02 * by Eurostar

Connector building featuring airline check-in and baggage facilities close to train station (DB AG)

34 Japan Railway & Transport Review 19 • March 1999 Copyright © 1999 EJRCF. All rights reserved. ‘FRA—the World’s Leading Intermodal Travel Port’. FAG will be demonstrating the concept of sustainable mobility and the various aspects in delivering this concept. It is planned to offer these advanced intermodal concepts on the Frankfurt- Hanover route, in cooperation with DB AG and Lufthansa. Of course, FRA’s new AIRail Terminal for ICE trains will be a significant element of this project.

Sprinting Ahead Interior view showing ICE train arriving at AIRail Terminal Frankfurt (DB AG) FAG is also a pioneer in intermodal air airport’s investment in the railway station logical, and physical (e.g., the disabled cargo services with the launch of what is attractive in terms of future non-aviation and elderly) differences. Currently, there recognized as the world’s first regular air- revenues. are multiple solutions instead of one port intermodal cargo system. A new simple, integrated and intermodal con- DM2 million Rail AirCargo Station was cept. Thus, the EuroTraCS partners are opened at FRA’s CargoCity South devel- EuroTraCS Research Project investigating how to solve these problem opment on 25 September 1997. It is be- areas. The first stage—identifying ing used for the CargoSprinter train European Traveller Care Services intermodal problems—involves market operated by DB Cargo in partnership with (EuroTraCS) is a Frankfurt Airport-led re- and conceptual research. This will serve German-based freight forwarders Johann search project partially funded by the EU as the foundation for a second stage— Birkhart and Hellmann. CargoSprinters and aimed at making intermodal travel finding solutions—whereby prototype sys- shuttle daily between FRA and northern more efficient and convenient. Three rail- tems will be developed. Germany— from Hamburg and way companies: DB AG, Austrian Federal Osanbrück to Hanover where they link Railways (ÖBB), and French National up for the remaining trip to FRA. The Railways (SNCF), as well as GEC Alsthom, Route to Expo 2000 CargoSprinter is expected to be expanded a rail equipment manufacturer, have to link other major cities/airports in the joined FAG in this innovative project. On One of the premier international events future. It replaces some road trucking of the air side, FAG is joined by Aéroports commencing next century will be the Uni- cargo to the airport, thus making an de Paris (ADP), Air France, and Lufthansa. versal Exposition 2000 in Hanover, Ger- important contribution to environmental Today’s so-called travel chain is charac- many. The Frankfurt/Rhine-Main region protection. The high-speed passenger terized by insufficient coordination be- will serve as the international gateway for trains that will serve FRA from this May tween different transport modes, many people visiting Expo 2000. Frank- have the potential to be adapted to carry especially when it comes to baggage furt Airport has been registered as an offi- freight too. I transportation and the diverse information cial worldwide expo site under the motto and orientation systems available. An- other problem is that travellers can rarely obtain pre-travel information in an under- Robert A. Payne standable form. Intermodal travel book- ing is still complicated, with each carrier Mr Payne has been the International Press/PR Manager for Frankfurt Airport since 1991. He gradu- requiring its own ticketing and boarding ated in 1980 from Ryerson Polytechnical University, Toronto, Canada, and joined Evans Research Corp., Toronto, where he worked as Director of Research until 1988. He has published a number of documents. Also, information and orien- articles on FRA in Gateway Frankfurt, Airport Support, ICAO Journal. etc. He is the recipient of the tation systems along the travel chain do Mark Twain Travel Journalism Award in 1998. not sufficiently account for unique traveller groups with their cultural, psycho-