F Railways and Air Transport eatu 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 Copyright © 1999 EJRCF. All rights reserved. Japan Railway & Transport Review 19 • March 1999 31 Railways and Air Transport 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 ter- minals. 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 build- ing 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 impor- tant 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 exist- ing S-bahn underground airport train sta- tion, 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 Copyright © 1999 EJRCF. All rights reserved. Japan Railway & Transport Review 19 • March 1999 33 Railways and Air Transport 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.