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The project for a tram from Neu-Isenburg via Dreieich to Langen takes an important step forward: on Friday, March 11, representatives of the three cities and the city of Frankfurt am Main signed the agreement for a feasibility study. By mid-2024, this should provide well-founded insights into route planning, passenger numbers, costs and funding opportunities.
The Lord Mayor of Frankfurt, Peter Feldmann, the mayors of the three cities, Martin Burlon (Dreieich), Herbert Hunkel (Neu-Isenburg), Prof. Jan Werner (Langen) and the Frankfurt Head of Department for Mobility, Stefan Majer, now clearly see the opportunity attractively expand environmentally friendly local public transport in the western district of Offenbach.
Last year, a potential study came to the conclusion that the tram extension is a promising project. In the study, the experts determined that the planned tram route is feasible. As the next step, the local public transport company in Frankfurt, traffiQ, recommends an in-depth feasibility study with a well-founded cost-benefit analysis, the result of which ultimately determines the provision of federal and state funding. According to the assessors, there are good chances of achieving eligibility for funding.
This feasibility study can now be commissioned. It includes traffic, urban design and economic issues. She will develop proposed solutions, particularly for the town centres, the large intersections and the crossing of the Dreieichbahn. In special modules, the connection to the Langen train station is examined, as well as a variant in which the tram has an end point north of the center of Dreieich.
Around 130,000 residents and around 90,000 jobs in the three municipalities can benefit from the tram connection. The daily passenger demand on the existing route, which previously ended at the Frankfurt city limits to Neu-Isenburg, would increase threefold compared to today as a result of the extension. The appraisers of the potential study reckoned with around 5000 new customers every day. Well over 50,000 car kilometers could be saved every day. A good 4,000 more passengers would switch from the S-Bahn, which runs in the western districts, to the tram, which would help to relieve the much-demanded S-Bahn connection towards Darmstadt.
Ecological management of traffic
For the four partners, the ecological management of traffic in the Rhine-Main metropolitan area plays an important role: “A tram connection from Frankfurt via Neu-Isenburg to Dreieich and Langen can be a forward-looking offer for the many commuters who today commute daily in the western district Offenbach are on the way or drive from there to Frankfurt. This e-mobile offer will also support the city of Frankfurt’s clean air goals enormously,” the city leaders jointly explain.
The costs for the feasibility study are expected to amount to 360,000 euros, which will be shared equally by the four partner municipalities. The lead management lies with the municipal Frankfurt local transport company traffiQ. Also involved is kvgOF, the public transport company for the Offenbach district.
Quotes:
Peter Feldmann, Lord Mayor of Frankfurt am Main
“As a modern means of transport, Frankfurt would be inconceivable without the tram. Our ambitious climate goals in particular cannot be achieved without the tram. And climate – that doesn’t just stop at the city limits. I am all the more pleased that our neighboring communities to the south are now emphatically setting out to benefit from this environmentally friendly means of transport as well. Clear message: We want to save 50,000 car kilometers per day with this.”
Martin Burlon, Mayor of Dreieich
“Without attractive local transport in the region, in which the tram plays a very important role, we will not be able to meet the challenges of mobility and climate change. In addition, an extension of the tram brings the people along the route together even more quickly in the truest sense of the word – the future belongs to fast, car-free journeys between the municipalities – and the tram is part of it.”
Herbert Hunkel, Mayor of the City of Neu-Isenburg
“The more attractive public transport is, the more people will use it. I am convinced of that. With the extension of the tram to Langen and with the Regionaltangente West, we are creating good conditions for more climate protection and a better quality of life in Neu-Isenburg. In addition, the tram as a footfall booster strengthens the Neu-Isenburg retail trade in the city center.”
Prof. Jan Werner, Mayor of the city of Langen
“Due to numerous new construction projects, the number of inhabitants in Langen will increase sharply in the coming years. In addition, a new technology park with many jobs is currently being built. It is therefore necessary to distribute traffic flows across as many mobility options as possible. The tram as a climate-friendly means of transport is an important and forward-looking factor. Another positive aspect for the population that speaks in favor of the route is an improved connection between the three cities in the western district of Offenbach and the Asklepios Klinik Langen.”
Stefan Majer, Head of the Department for Mobility and Health of the City of Frankfurt am Main
“Who would have believed a decade ago that a tram extension via Neu-Isenburg and Dreieich to Langen would have been seriously considered? The time is ripe for the commuter capital of Frankfurt to tackle the major traffic problems in partnership with its neighboring communities. The tram as an attractive means of transport brings relief for the people who sit in the train and who live next to it. It will increase the attractiveness of city centers. And it will make a significant contribution to climate protection.”
Dr.-Ing. Tom Reinhold, Managing Director, traffiQ Frankfurt am Main
“Passengers will have fast and direct connections that will take them directly to the centers of the three cities in the western district of Offenbach and to Frankfurt. Everyone will benefit from that.”
(Text: PM City of Frankfurt)
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