Due to two major construction sites, rail passengers have to be prepared for considerable restrictions in and around Frankfurt during the Easter holidays. The Frankfurt City Tunnel for S-Bahn traffic is not passable for three and a half weeks, according to Deutsche Bahn. In addition, the S-Bahn line 6 between Frankfurt-West and Friedberg will be completely closed for two and a half weeks during the holiday weeks – as in the summer of last year. Alternatively, buses are used, train lines are diverted. The construction work in and around Frankfurt has an impact on long-distance traffic, in some cases the stop at Frankfurt Central Station is omitted.

Ralf Euler

Editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung, responsible for the Rhein-Main section of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.

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The city's central S-Bahn tunnel will remain closed from 31 March to 24 April between the Hauptwache and Offenbach-Ost or Frankfurt-Süd stations; the station Ostendstraße already from 27 March. Switches and nine kilometers of tracks would have to be renewed, also at the Offenbach tunnel stations will be worked, informs the railway. Replacement buses are to depart from Offenbach-Ost about every five minutes in the direction of Frankfurt-Süd, the airport or Konstablerwache; services on tram line 16 Offenbach–Frankfurt will be expanded. The S-Bahn lines 8 and 1 will be diverted to ensure a connection from the east to Frankfurt. In the city, the subways run at shorter intervals.

At the same time as the reconstruction work in the tunnel, the construction of the own tracks for the S6 between Frankfurt and Bad Vilbel will continue. For this purpose, the connection between Frankfurt-West and Friedberg must be interrupted from 31 March to 17 April; Trains are diverted, end prematurely or cancelled. In addition to the S-Bahn line, seven regional train lines are affected. In the last week of the Easter holidays, the trains to and from the north are then running according to schedule again.

Pilots are used

Between Friedberg and Frankfurt, replacement buses will be in operation during the route closure. Regional trains to and from Friedberg will be diverted via Hanau. Depending on the line, the journeys start and end in Hanau, lead to Frankfurt-Süd or Hauptbahnhof. In addition, trains run between Friedberg and Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof via Friedrichsdorf from Monday to Friday.

According to the railway, the construction work was moved to the holidays, because then fewer commuters and no students were on the road. In order to help passengers find their way around, Deutsche Bahn uses controllers at the central transfer points. In addition, passengers along the closed S-Bahn routes at 26 locations can borrow bicycles free of charge for 30 minutes as often as they like.

All connection options and the location of the replacement stops for buses are available in the electronic information media of the railway and the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund (RMV), such as www.rmv.de and www.bahn.de. A detailed overview of the timetable changes and replacement services during the Easter holidays is also available on the Internet at bahn.de/ersatzverkehr-rhein-main.