Frankfurt, Germany (PROTEXT/ots) - With the inauguration ofmore InterCity Express (ICE) train services and a new high-speedrail line to Germany's most populated region, Frankfurt Airport(FRA) continues to strengthen its position as one of the world'sleading intermodal (the linking of different modes oftransportation) air/rail hub. Beginning August 1, the latestgeneration of Deutsche Bahn's ICE-3 trains will commence serviceon the newly completed line linking the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main andRhine-Ruhr regions. Initially, ICE trains will travel in shuttleservice from Frankfurt's central station (Hauptbahnhof) viaFRA's Long-distance Train Station (a.k.a. AIRail Terminal) todowntown Cologne and back. As a result, rail travel time betweenFRA and downtown Cologne will be cut in half to 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 bring morepassengers 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 joint venturelaunched by Deutsche Bahn, Fraport and Lufthansa in the springof 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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