page_title: Mannheim–Frankfurt railway
section_title: High-speed traffic
hierarchical_section_title: Mannheim–Frankfurt railway / History / High-speed traffic
caption_attribution_description: English: ICE-Train on the "Riedbahn" in Mannheim, Germany Deutsch: Ein ICE auf der westlichen Einführung der Riedbahn am Haltepunkt Mannheim-Handelshafen
context_page_description: Mannheim–Frankfurt railway is a German standard gauge, electrified railway line and runs in southern Hesse and northern Baden-Württemberg between Frankfurt and Mannheim. It is also called the Riedbahn. The line runs through an area called the Hessische Ried, hence the name. The term Riedbahn was originally used for the Darmstadt–Worms railway and the two lines share the central section between Groß-Gerau and Biblis.
  The Mannheim–Frankfurt railway is used by three Intercity-Express routes, connecting South Germany with Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne and Dortmund and regional services of the Rhine-Main transport union and Rhine-Neckar transport union. The line is one of the busiest line in Germany with 650 trains per day, although most freight uses the Main-Neckar Railway, which is further east and gives better access to the Mannheim marshalling yard.
  In order to overcome heavy congestion of the line and to accelerate train services, it is proposed to build a new line between Frankfurt and Mannheim. The planning approval process is expected to start in 2017.
context_section_description: Until the opening of the 9.5-kilometre (6 mi) long Western Entrance to the Riedbahn (westlichen Einführung der Riedbahn, WER) to Mannheim Hauptbahnhof in 1985, trains from Frankfurt came from the south to reach Mannheim and had to reverse to continue south towards Heidelberg or Karlsruhe on the Rhine Valley line. Some TGV and Intercity-Express (ICE) services continue to use the eastern branch of the Ried Railway to cross the Rhine without reversal. Almost all regional trains run on the new western approach; Mannheim-Käfertal station is currently operated by one Regionalbahn service each day. The eastern Ried Railway has 180 pairs of trains each day, mainly freight traffic.
  Already in the Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan (Bundesverkehrswegeplan) of 1973, the Ried Railway was planned as one of eight rail routes to be rebuilt as "upgraded" lines (Ausbaustrecken). In its successor, the Co-ordinated Investment Program for Federal Transport Infrastructure (Koordinierten Investitionsprogramm für die Bundesverkehrswege) of 1977, the track was included as one of six development projects. The development project was also included in the Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan (Koordinierten Investitionsprogramm für die Bundesverkehrswege) of 1980. The Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan of 1985 included the first stage of the route, which was essentially the new approach to Mannheim Hauptbahnhof, as part of the most urgently needed works. The second stage was included in the list of “further needs” in the same document. In the 1970s, a new line from Cologne to Gross-Gerau that would have connected with the Ried Railway in Gross-Gerau was planned; this project was later abandoned.
  The second stage should have been completed by the time of the full commissioning of the Mannheim–Stuttgart high-speed railway (1991). Due to delays in the project approval process, some measures were implemented later, especially the elimination of level crossings. By the end of 1989, four of the 27 crossings along the line had been removed. By early 1991, the planning approval process for four of the twelve sections had been initiated. In four of the eight sections work had largely been completed. Overall, 46 individual projects had been carried out by the end of 1989.
  The line was opened for ICE operations between Stockstadt and Waldhof on 2 June 1991. On the same section of line, capacity was increased from 240 to 280 trains per day. The Bürstadt railway bridge and four other bridge associated with the upgrade were rebuilt.
  In the early 1990s, preliminary planning also began for the construction of a connecting curve to connect Frankfurt Airport to the line (later realised as the Frankfurter Kreuz Tunnel, the first section of the Cologne–Frankfurt high-speed line).
  At the timetable change in May 1998, the maximum speed limit on a 15 km length of the southern section was raised to 200 km/h. The northern section from Groß-Gerau to Frankfurt was completed in autumn 1999 for high-speed operations. From 5 December 1999, the 3.3-km section from Leeheim to Dornberg could be operated at 200 km/h.
  As one of the major lines in Germany and the busiest line in southern Germany, the 78-kilometre (48 mi) long Frankfurt-Mannheim line between Zeppelinheim and Mannheim-Waldhof, the line's Linienzugbeeinflussung train control system is certified for speeds up to 200 km/h; although the maximum speed at the Biblis curve is about 90 km/h (56 mph). Most freight traffic runs over the parallel Main Neckar line because of its better connection to the Mannheim marshalling yard.
caption: ICE train on Riedbahn at Mannheim Handelshafen
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