According to FAZ — Rhein-Main, Frankfurt's U-Bahn line U5 will not run to Frankfurter Hauptbahnhof in 2027. Trains from Preungesheim will end at Konstablerwache instead. The reason is not a staff shortage, as with the emergency timetable of three years ago, but the connection of the Europaviertel extension to the existing tracks.
Why the change is needed
Two tunnel tubes, each 850 metres long, are being built under Platz der Republik toward Europaallee. The stub tracks at the Hauptbahnhof, where the tunnels will join, have so far served the U5 as a turning facility. Officials from the Stadtbahn Entwicklung und Verkehrsinfrastrukturprojekte GmbH (SBEV), together with transport commissioner Yannick Schwander (CDU), showed the works during a site visit. The tunnel lies 17 metres below one of the city's busiest junctions.
Progress on site
The site visit included the future deep-level station at Güterplatz, whose structure is almost finished, and the northern tunnel, where trains will later run toward the Europaviertel. According to FAZ — Rhein-Main, the platform slabs are currently being poured. Further along, a wall between the old and new tunnel was broken through last year. Rails on ballast and a roller shutter mark the boundary between the old and new sections.
Work planned for next year
Next year, the tracks up to the Hauptbahnhof will be removed and rebuilt. They must then be linked to the slab track of the new tunnel. About 85 cable types, with a total length of 60 kilometres, will also be laid to connect power, lighting, signalling and control systems to the existing station. Ten construction contracts have been awarded, some of which will run in parallel.
Opening date and costs
The opening was postponed to December 2029 because the construction market is tight, largely due to Deutsche Bahn projects. SBEV managing director Florian Habersack said that companies had been found for all contracts and that there was no reason for the current schedule to change. His colleague Ingo Kühn expects all structures to be completed by the end of 2028, leaving a year for commissioning, testing and driver training. According to the information released by SBEV, operation by the Verkehrsgesellschaft Frankfurt could then begin at the end of 2029.
Additional costs have been announced, and SBEV plans to present detailed figures to the committees next year. A lump sum of 72 million euros has been entered in the budget as a provisional amount. Habersack said the final figure is expected to be of a similar size. The project was previously estimated at 515 million euros.
The further extension beyond Europaviertel to Römerhof is still targeted for 2029. This depends on a development plan for the planned residential area being adopted. Schwander said that the U5 will run in 2029 in any case, at least as far as the newly planned Europaviertel West terminus.