Frankfurt, Germany 23.07.2002 (PROTEXT/ots) - With theinauguration of more InterCity Express (ICE) train services and anew high-speed rail line to Germany's most populated region,Frankfurt Airport (FRA) continues to strengthen its position asone of the world's leading intermodal (the linking of differentmodes of transportation) air/rail hub. Beginning August 1, thelatest generation of Deutsche Bahn's ICE-3 trains will commenceservice on the newly completed line linking the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main and Rhine-Ruhr regions. Initially, ICE trains will travelin shuttle service from Frankfurt's central station(Hauptbahnhof) via FRA's Long-distance Train Station (a.k.a.AIRail Terminal) to downtown Cologne and back. As a result, railtravel time between FRA and downtown Cologne will be cut in halfto about one hour.
From December 15, FRA's AIRail Terminal will be fullyintegrated in Deutsche Bahn's new rail timetable. Then, nine ICEtrains will be stopping per hour and per direction at FrankfurtAirport. Also from December onward, seven ICE lines will beavailable directly from Frankfurt Airport: Münster to Frankfurt,Dortmund to Frankfurt, Dortmund to Munich, Dortmund to Basel(Switzerland), Amsterdam (Holland) to Frankfurt, Brussels(Belgium) to Frankfurt, and Hamburg to Stuttgart. In addition,two regular-speed InterCity (IC) lines will be available:Hamburg to Vienna, and Wiesbaden to Munich.
Improving rail connections with the Rhineland will bringmore passengers from this densely populated region to FrankfurtAirport - visibly enlarging FRA's catchment area. The annualtraffic volume at the AIRail Terminal is expected to grow from3.3 million passengers in 2001 to over five million passengers in2003. Fraport AG Frankfurt Airport Services Worldwide has beenpioneering intermodal travel since 1972, when FRA inauguratedTerminal 1 and its integrated railway station. Today the airportfeatures two railway stations, one for regional trains and onefor long-distance trains.
The innovative AIRail Service pilot project - a jointventure launched by Deutsche Bahn, Fraport and Lufthansa in thespring of 2001 - provides a seamless intermodal service betweenStuttgart's central train station (ZWS - the station's three-letter code) and Frankfurt Airport (FRA). Tentatively in January2003, passengers will also be able to use a similar service atCologne's central rail station when taking ICE trains toFrankfurt Airport. For example, they would be able to check intheir baggage all the way through to their final destinationairport, such as New York or Hong Kong. For the Stuttgart AIRailService, passengers check in their baggage and also receive theboarding card for the airline portion of their journey. Uponarriving at FRA, they simply proceed to their appropriateLufthansa departure gate while their baggage is automaticallytransferred from the train to the plane. ots Original Text Service: Fraport AG Internet:http://www.presseportal.de For More Information, Please Contact: Fraport AG FrankfurtAirport Services Worldwide Attn: Robert A. Payne - ManagerInternational Press 60547 Frankfurt am Main, Germany Tel.: +49 69690 -78547 Fax: +49 69 690 -60548 E-Mail: r.payne@fraport.deInternet: www.fraport.com
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