Frankfurt (Main) West station (german: Bahnhof Frankfurt (Main) West or ''Frankfurt Westbahnhof'') is a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

for regional and

S-Bahn The S-Bahn is the name of hybrid urban-suburban rail systems serving a metropolitan region in German-speaking countries. Some of the larger S-Bahn systems provide service similar to rapid transit systems, while smaller ones often resemble c ...

services in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, 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.

History

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 Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range o ...

style to a design by Julius Eugen Ruhl. Mk Frankfurt S-Bahn Wbf

The first major change in the railways to affect Bockenheim station occurred in 1888 with the opening of the new

Frankfurt Central Station Frankfurt (Main) Hauptbahnhof, also called Frankfurt Central Station and Frankfurt Main Station, is the busiest railway station in the German state of Hesse. Because of its location near the middle of Germany and usage as a transport hub for lo ...

. As part of this project a connection was opened on 10 May 1884 from Bockenheim 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 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 World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. 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

* * {{Railway stations in Frankfurt Railway stations in Frankfurt Rhine-Main S-Bahn stations Railway stations in Germany opened in 1848