![cover image](https://wikiwandv2-19431.kxcdn.com/_next/image?url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/32/DSC08757_Frankfurt_Rosa-Luxemburg-Stra%25C3%259Fe_und_U-Bahn_als_Hochbahn.jpg/640px-DSC08757_Frankfurt_Rosa-Luxemburg-Stra%25C3%259Fe_und_U-Bahn_als_Hochbahn.jpg&w=640&q=50)
Frankfurt U-Bahn
Stadtbahn system serving Frankfurt, Hessen, Germany / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Frankfurt U-Bahn is a Stadtbahn (premetro) system serving Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. Together with the Rhine-Main S-Bahn and the Frankfurt Straßenbahn, it forms the backbone of the public transport system in Frankfurt. Its name derives from the German term for underground, Untergrundbahn. Since 1996, the U-Bahn has been owned and operated by Stadtwerke Verkehrsgesellschaft Frankfurt am Main [de] (VGF), the public transport company of Frankfurt, and is part of the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund (RMV) transport association. The licence contract is up to 31 December 2031 and is renewable. The contracting authority of VGF is the municipal transport company traffiQ.
![]() | You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in German. (November 2011) Click [show] for important translation instructions.
|
Frankfurt U-Bahn | |||
---|---|---|---|
![]() Elevated route for motorway and subway at Rosa-Luxemburg-Straße, facing Ginnheim; Europaturm tower on the left | |||
Overview | |||
Owner | RMV | ||
Locale | Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany | ||
Transit type | Light rail[1] (Stadtbahn), rapid transit | ||
Number of lines | 9[2] | ||
Number of stations | 86[2] | ||
Daily ridership | 470,100 (2016)[3] | ||
Annual ridership | 132.2 million (2016)[2] | ||
Website | VGF | ||
Operation | |||
Began operation | 4 October 1968[4] | ||
Operator(s) | Stadtwerke Verkehrsgesellschaft Frankfurt am Main (VGF) | ||
Character | Mostly underground, with significant sections at-grade (including at-grade intersections), with some street running (U5 line) | ||
Train length | 50–105 metres (164–344 ft) | ||
Headway | 5-15 minutes (daytime) | ||
Technical | |||
System length | 64.9 km (40.3 mi)[2] | ||
Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge | ||
Electrification | 600 V DC from overhead catenary | ||
Top speed | 80 km/h (50 mph) | ||
|
The U-Bahn opened in 1968,[4] and has been expanded several times. It consists of three inner-city tunnels and above-ground lines in the suburbs. About 59% of the track length is underground.[citation needed] The network operates in a variety of right of ways typical of a light rail system, with above-ground sections operating on street and core sections running underground in the inner city.[1][5]
Like all public transport lines in Frankfurt, the system has been integrated in the Rhein-Main Verkehrsverbund (RMV) since 1995. From 1974 until the founding of the RMV, the Stadtwerke were shareholders in the predecessor group, the Frankfurter Verkehrsverbund (FVV; Frankfurt Transport Association).
The network consists of 86 stations on nine lines, with a total length of 64.85 kilometres (40.30 mi).[2] Eight of the nine lines travel through the city center (line U9 being the exception). In 2016, the U-Bahn carried 132.2 million passengers,[2] an average of approximately 361,200 passengers per day. Most recently, on 12 December 2010, two new lines were added, the U8 and the U9 (both part of the long-planned but only partially completed fourth route), which opened up the university campus area and the new development area on Riedberg.