Frankfurt and Offenbach want to get trams back on track

The tram from Frankfurt could soon go through Offenbach again. The planning for this is already in progress.

Update from Tuesday, March 9th, 2021, 12:53 p.m .: After yourself Frankfurt and Offenbach via a feasibility study of a tram agreed between the two cities, is also happy Frankfurt Head of Transport about this news. “This is a great moment in regional cooperation: Frankfurt and Offenbach are moving closer together,” said Klaus Oesterling.

The feasibility study that Frankfurt, Offenbach and the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund (RMV) want to commission together is to find out whether there is a Reintroduction of the tram in Offenbach and whether it can be connected to the Frankfurt network.

In the future, trams could run from Frankfurt to Offenbach again

Specifically, it is about the extension of the discontinued tram line 16 from the Frankfurt city limits to Offenbach city center. “I always considered the withdrawal of the 16 from Offenbach city center to the city limits to be a mistake,” said Oesterling. “The Oberräder and the Sachsenhäuser now have to change unnecessarily on the relatively short route, which makes the connection unattractive.”

From Frankfurt to Offenbach – will there be a tram in the future?

First report from Monday, March 8th, 2021, 4:21 p.m .: Offenbach – Drive out the trams Frankfurt soon also in Offenbach? Quite possible, even if it might take a few more years. At least the idea seems to be taking on concrete forms, as is evident from a communication from the city of Offenbach.

Accordingly, the city agreed with the city of Frankfurt and the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund (RMV) to expand a feasibility study. As Offenbach’s head of transport, Paul-Gerhard Weiß, and head of mobility, Sabine Groß, said, a study already started by the city of Frankfurt on the extension of the Frankfurt tram lines will also examine variants through parts of Offenbach’s urban area. The partners share the additional costs of 140,000 euros.

Tram in Offenbach: connection from the main train station and Bürgel

“This agreement is an important milestone for Offenbach’s traffic planning department, because after many comments on this topic, concrete action is now being taken by drawing up a feasibility study,” said Mobility Director Sabine Groß. Talks have been going on since August 2019, as Groß says.

Specifically, it is about examining a connection to the city center and Offenbach main station, but the focus is also on the Bürgel district. “For Bürgel we see the need to better connect the district to local public transport in the future. It was therefore important for the traffic planners to take such options into consideration, even if one looks far into the future with such a design, ”says Weiß.

Tram in Offenbach: focus on climate targets

Offenbach main train station is to be included in the considerations so that more people can switch to buses and trains and thereby achieve the climate targets. This is one of the reasons why Bürgel has been selected as an additional area for a possible tram connection in addition to the city center. “Bürgel is already heavily burdened by car traffic. That is why it was important to me that we not only examine the connection of a route that essentially connects Fechenheim and Oberrad, but also encompasses essential areas of our city, ”says Groß.

On April 18, 1884 a tram (with wooden wheels) of the then Frankfurt-Offenbacher Trambahn-Gesellschaft (FOTG) drove for the first time from the Old Bridge in Frankfurt to Mathildenplatz in Offenbach. The tram known at the time as the “bone mill” is long gone. Since June 1, 1996, the successor line to the first tram between Frankfurt and Offenbach, tram line 16, has only been running as far as the city limits. Passengers have to change trains, which is too cumbersome for many.

Citizens demand a return to the Frankfurt-Offenbach tram connection

In the east of Frankfurt as well as in Offenbach there have been repeated calls for a return to the connection between the two cities by tram. However, the planning is still at the beginning. Until a tram from Frankfurt actually crosses the Offenbach city limits again, a lot of water should still flow down the Main. (Erik Scharf)

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