Frankfurt (Main) Südbahnhof

Frankfurt (Main) Süd S U
Through station
Entrance building
Location	Hedderichstraße 51, Frankfurt, Hesse Germany
Coordinates	50°5′58″N 8°41′10″E / 50.09944°N 8.68611°E / 50.09944; 8.68611Coordinates: 50°5′58″N 8°41′10″E / 50.09944°N 8.68611°E / 50.09944; 8.68611
Line(s)	Frankfurt–Hanau (north bank) (KBS 349, KBS 351, KBS 640) Frankfurt–Hanau (south bank) (KBS 645) Rhine-Main S-Bahn
Platforms	9
Construction
Architectural style	Jugendstil
Other information
Station code	1856
DS100 code	FFS
Category	2
Website	www.bahnhof.de
History
Opened	15 November 1873
Traffic
Passengers	22,500

Frankfurt (Main) Süd (German for Frankfurt (Main) South) or Frankfurt Südbahnhof is one of three railway stations for long-distance train services in Frankfurt, Germany. Unlike Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof it is not a terminus but a through station, and has 9 tracks with five platforms. It is a stopping station for some long-distance routes (ICE, IC) and for regional traffic (Regional-Express and RegionalBahn). It is also one of the major rapid-transit railway hubs in the city with S-Bahn and U-Bahn services.

The station is located in the district of Sachsenhausen south of the Main. From the station forecourt, the Diesterwegplatz, five streets radiate: Hedderichstraße to the southwest and northeast, Diesterweg to the northwest, leading to Schweizer Platz, Stegstraße to the north (leading to the Eiserner Steg—Iron Bridge—for pedestrians) and Brückenstraße to the northeast (leading to the Alte Brücke—Old Bridge). On Diesterwegplatz there is a market on Tuesdays and Fridays.

A block west of the station runs the Schweizer Straße, the main axis of Sachsenhausen. Immediately northeast of the station forecourt, between Hedderichstraße and Textorstraße was the old Sachsenhausen Tram Depot, which was closed in 2003 and has since been gutted and rebuilt. It now contains a large supermarket and an office of the Frankfurt city library. The southern exit from the station leads to the Mörfelder Landstraße.

The government of the Electorate of Hesse (Kurhessen) had begun building the Frankfurt–Bebra railway from Bebra in North Hesse to Fulda, Hanau and Frankfurt before its annexation by Prussia after the Austro-Prussian War of 1866. The project was completed by the Prussian state railways on 15 December 1868. Until the opening of the line south of the Main, trains from Bebra to Frankfurt had to use the North Main line and the Frankfurt City Link Line. On 15 November 1873 the new line south of the Main between Hanau and Frankfurt via Sachsenhausen and Offenbach was opened, including South Station (opened as Bebraer Bahnhof, "Bebra line" station) and Offenbach Hauptbahnhof. The South Main line is still the most important rail link connecting Frankfurt with Leipzig, Berlin and Hamburg.