Main Railway
Overview
Native name	Mainbahn
Status	Operational
Owner	Deutsche Bahn
Line number	3520 (Mainz–Frankfurt Hbf) 3650 (Frankfurt Stadion–Frankfurt Süd) 3538 (drittes Gl. Gustavsburg–Bischofsheim)
Locale	Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse, Germany
Termini	Mainz Hbf Frankfurt (Main) Hbf
Stations	12
Service
Type	Heavy rail, Passenger/freight rail Regional rail, Commuter rail Intercity rail
Route number	471, 645.8, 645.9
Operator(s)	DB Regio, Rhein-Main S-Bahn
History
Opened	3 January 1863
Technical
Line length	37.5 km (23.3 mi)
Number of tracks	Double track
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	15 kV/16.7 Hz AC overhead catenary
Operating speed	160 km/h (99 mph)
Route map Legend West Rhine Railway from Boppard From rail bypass and Taunus line to Wiesbaden Line from Alzey From Mainz harbour 0.000 Mainz Hbf Mainz railway tunnel north (northbound) New Mainz tunnel (southbound) Mainz railway tunnel south (northbound) 1.800 Mainz Römisches Theater Former line from Mainz Hauptbahnhof Line to Ludwigshafen 3.076 South bridge (Mainz), border RP/Hesse Former train ferry Rhine-Main Railway Mainz-Gustavsburg harbour siding 4.580 Mainz-Gustavsburg Mainz rail bypass, from Taunus Railway 7.780 Mainz-Bischofsheim To Mainz-Bischofsheim Rhine-Main Railway to Darmstadt 9.560 Mainz-Bischofsheim Ültg II junction 11.206 Rüsselsheim-Opelwerk 12.220 Rüsselsheim 15.875 Raunheim 17.373 Raunheim Mönchwald junction Connecting curve to HSL to Frankfurt A 3 Frankfurt Airport–Cologne HSL 19.1 Raunheim Caltex & Ticona siding 19.349 Raunheim Brunnenschneise junction Connecting curve from HSL to Cologne Industrial sidings 23.812 Kelsterbach Frankfurt Airport loop 26.9 Frankfurt-Schwanheim[1] Frankfurt Airport loop 29.096 Frankfurt-Schwanheim Fernbahn junction A 5 Mannheim–Frankfurt railway to Riedstadt-Goddelau 31.375 Frankfurt (Main) Stadion bypass line via Forsthaus (see below) connecting line from Forsthaus 33.192 Frankfurt-Niederrad Old Niederräd bridge / new Niederräd bridge 34.250 Frankfurt-Niederrad Brücke Frankfurt City Link Line to Main-Lahn line to Frankfurt-Höchst Main-Lahn Railway from Frankfurt-Höchst to Taunus Railway to Frankfurt-Höchst line from Frankfurt-Griesheim 35.358 Frankfurt (Main) Gutleuthof (junction) Taunus Railway from Frankfurt-Höchst Homburg embankment from Mainzer Landstraße 35.360 Frankfurt outer yard to Galluswarte Main-Weser bridge – Galluswarte line 36.444 Frankfurt (Main) Hoch/Tief (station part) to the City Tunnel lines from Darmstadt and from Offenbach Main-Weser Railway from Gießen former line from Peace Bridge (see below) 37.508 Frankfurt (Main) Hbf (since 1888) Frankfurt western stations (until 1888) Originally part of route (now bypass line) line from Mainz (see above) 31.4 Frankfurt am Main Stadion current line via Frankfurt-Niederrad (see above) 33.2 Forsthaus (Frankfurt) (junction, former station) connecting curve to Darmstadt, Frankfurt Main-Neckar Railway from Darmstadt current line to Main-Neckar Bridge (see above) former Lokalbahn, Main-Neckar Railway 36.6 Frankfurt South South Main line to Hanau North Main line to Hanau City Tunnel to Frankfurt Hbf (underground) Peace Bridge (old Main-Neckar Bridge) former route of the Main-Neckar railway current bridge (see above) Frankfurt (Main) Hbf (since 1888) Frankfurt (Main) Hbf underground (since 1978) City Tunnel to South Station/Offenbach and ??.? Frankfurt western stations (until 1888) Source: German railway atlas[2]

The Main Railway (German: Mainbahn, pronounced 'mine barn') is a 37.5 km-long double-track electrified railway line, which runs on the south side of the river Main from Mainz to Frankfurt central station.

Immediately after the opening of the Rhine-Main Railway from Mainz to Aschaffenburg by the Hessian Ludwig Railway Company in 1858, it was anxious to also own a connection to Frankfurt. Therefore, it built the new line from a branch off the Rhine-Main line at Bischofsheim along the left (southern) bank of the Main to Frankfurt. It thereby put itself into competition with the parallel Taunus Railway, which runs on the right bank of the Main. The concession for building and operating the line was awarded by Grand Duchy of Hesse on 15 August 1861 and by the senate of the Free City of Frankfurt on 17 January 1862.

The building of the line took only one and a half years. A test run took place on 20 December 1862 and it was opened on 3 January 1863. The line originally ran through the former Forsthaus station and today's Friedensbrücke (Peace Bridge, now a road bridge) in Frankfurt across the Main to the former Main-Neckar station. This entry was replaced on 16 January 1882 by the current alignment through Goldstein station (later: Frankfurt-Sportfeld, now: Frankfurt (Main) Stadion), Niederrad station and the Niederräder Main bridge.

On 1 February 1897, it along with the rest of the Hessian Ludwigs railway became part of the Prussian-Hessian Railway Company. Electrification of the line was completed on 15 December 1958.

On 2 February 1990, one of the worst train accidents in the Rhine-Main area occurred near Rüsselsheim when a train from Frankfurt collided with one from Wiesbaden and derailed, killing 17 people and injuring over 80, some seriously.

Since 1999 the Raunheim Mönchwald–Raunheim Mönchhof connecting curve has provided a connection with the Cologne–Frankfurt high-speed rail line, allowing long-distance trains to and from on the Left Rhine line to use the Frankfurt Airport long-distance station.

The following structures are original and those marked are listed monuments:

The Main Railway is used by long-distance and local passenger services as well as freight traffic,

The line is used by "individual services" (not at regular intervals through the day) of ICE lines 20, 31, 50 and 91 as well as IC line 31.

The long-distance services depart from Mainz Hauptbahnhof, passing through Raunheim Mönchwald junction via the connecting line to the Cologne-Frankfurt high-speed railway to Frankfurt Airport long-distance station.

From here trains run non-stop to Frankfurt am Main Stadion station and via the current route to Frankfurt South station or via the current route to Frankfurt (Main) Hauptbahnhof. A few trains use the Mannheim–Frankfurt railway to Mannheim Hauptbahnhof.

Regional and Rhine-Main S-Bahn services run between Kelsterbach station and Frankfurt-Schwanheim Fernbahn junction over the Airport loop.

Line	Route	Frequency
RE 55	Frankfurt Airport regional – Frankfurt South – Offenbach – Hanau – Aschaffenburg	Individual services
RB 75	Wiesbaden – Mainz – Mainz-Bischofsheim – Darmstadt	60 min
RE 2/3	Koblenz or Saarbrücken – Mainz – Mainz-Bischofsheim – Frankfurt Airport regional – Frankfurt (Main) Hbf	60 min
	Wiesbaden – Mainz – Mainz-Bischofsheim – Kelsterbach – Frankfurt Airport regional – Frankfurt (Main) Hbf (underground) – Frankfurt City Tunnel – Offenbach City Tunnel – Hanau	30 min
	Wiesbaden – Mainz-Kastel – Mainz-Bischofsheim – Kelsterbach – Frankfurt Airport regional – Frankfurt (Main) Hbf (underground) – Frankfurt City Tunnel – Offenbach City Tunnel – Hanau	30 min

• Landesamt für Denkmalpflege Hessen, ed. (2005). Eisenbahn in Hessen. Eisenbahnenbauten- und strecken 1839–1939 (in German). Vol. 2 (1 ed.). Stuttgart: Theiss Verlag. pp. 302ff (line 018). ISBN 3-8062-1917-6.