Frankfurt 1979

Tramscape Tramway Photographs

Frankfurt am Main, Germany : September 1979

May 28th, 1978 saw the introduction of major changes to the Frankfurt tram system. Not only were routes reorganised and two relatively short branches closed, the central area saw the first stage of the planned "car-free city", the ultimate aim of Frankfurt's ruling politicians, as the S-Bahn was extended under the city centre and tram tracks removed from Zeil.

Zeil, Frankfurt's main shopping street became a pedestrian precinct and tram services rerouted, or in the case of route 17, truncated to a stub terminus at Hauptwache. The link beteeen Hauptwache and Konstablerwache would later become the deep-level S-Bahn and parallel running U5, but for the time being the S-Bahn was extended only as far as Hauptwache from Hauptbahnhof via Taunusanlage.

Trams were diverted south to the so-called Altstadtstrecke at Theaterplatz, or in the case of route 12, which served the northeastern part of the city centre, north via Schillerstrasse, Stiftstrasse and Stephanstrasse. The two abandoned branch lines were from Waldschulstrasse to Griesheim Bahnhof in the western suburbs and from near Industriehof to Roedelheim Bahnhof, in the north-west, thus concentrating traffic from these areas on to the S-Bahn.

Another change to the network involved Stadtbahn Line A, on which four routes ran into Frankfurt from the north-western suburbs along Eschenheimer Landstrasse, with the final part of the line in tunnel. Routes A1 and A2 from Roemerstadt and Gonzenheim respectively, which had been operated by Stadtbahn cars of the U2 series and which had run to an underground terminus at Theaterplatz, were joined at Theaterplatz by the routes from Hohemark and Bonames (A3 and A4), which had previously been operated by specially converted tramcars and which had run out of the tunnels on to Taunusanlage, running as traditional tram routes to Hauptbahnhof. A3 and A4 became operated by U-2 cars and the routes themselves were recast as U1, U2 and U3. Short workings to Bonames on the Gonzenheim line ceased. Line U1, at its northern end, was extended further, but in a loop back in the direction of the city centre, to Ginnheim, where an interchange was built with the tram network (with routes 17 and 19 now assigned to Ginnheim).

Tram routes, numbers and frequencies were recast to adapt to the new network and this was to become the first of a number of major changes representing retrenchment in the surface tram network as the undergound Stadtbahn system expanded further.

Photo 1 shows the stub terminus of route 17 at Hauptwache, 2 the diversionary route via Schillerstrasse and 4 the new interchange at Ginnheim.

Tracks at Hauptwache and Schillerstrasse were to remain only until the next major set of changes, as a result of which, the major casualty in the tram network was the link from Goetheplatz to Bockenheimer Warte along Bockenheimer Landstrasse and south from Goetheplatz via Theaterplatz and the Untermainbruecke to Schweizer-/Gartenstrasse. These routes fell victim to the opening of underground line U5 under Bockenheimer Landstrasse and the estension of the former A Line southwards under the river to Suedbahnhof in September 1984.

Frankfurt 1979.jpg

Location

Hauptwache

Schillerstrasse

Goetheplatz

Ginnheim

Bockenheimer Warte

Festhalle/Messegelaende

Hauptbahnhof

Theaterplatz

Stresemannallee/Gartenstr.

Heinrich-Hoffman-Strasse

Neu Isenburg

Louisa

Fritz-Tarnow-Strasse

View

Out

Dir

Out

Tram

643

699

742

697

691

702

737

Notes

Temporary terminus - view to the now pedestrianised Zeil (3/9)

Trams re-routed after closure of Zeil to trams (3/9)

(3/9)

Tram at terminus

Surface level tramway (2/9)

Underground line U5 (formerly B1) (2/9)

Deep level S-Bahn platforms and ET420 multiple-unit (2/9)

P8 type tram seen en route to the Untermainbruecke (2/9)

View from Muenchener Strasse on the Altstadtstrecke (2/9)

Underground Line U1/2/3, formerly the A Line (2/9)

Tram on route 19 to Ginnheim (9/9)

Cream livery tram turning into Gartenstrasse (9/9)

Tram en route to Schwanheim (9/9)

Tram at terminus (3/9)

Neu Isenburg reached by reserved alignment (3/9)

(3/9)

Line U1/2/3 on reserved track in Eschenheimer Landstrasse

Photographs by Gordon Stewart

Note: View: Photos show the view inwards "in" towards the city centre or outwards "out" towards the route terminus
Note: Dir: Photos show the tramcar travelling "in" towards the city centre or outwards "out" towards the route terminus.

Photographs copyright of Tramscape. Photographs are for personal use only.

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