Hi,
I will be travelling from St. Goar to Munich on June 3 and we have a train transfer in Frankfurt. According to the DB website we have to transfer from Frankfurt Hbf (tief) to Frankfurt (Main) Hbf in 10 minutes. I'm not familiar with the train station and am completely confused.
Is 10 min enough time to get from 1 spot to the other. Worst case senario we take a later train should we miss it but I'd like to know ahead of time. And what does tief mean??
Thanks!
"Tief" means deep in German. That term is used because all S-Bahn trains go through the Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof in the S-Bahn station, which is several stories (deep) under ground. You have to go up several floors on escalators to get to the main, above ground, part of the station.
Ten minutes is a little tight. What are you trying to catch in Frankfurt, the RE to Würzburg? If you think you won't make the RE, just go on to Hanau and catch the next RE there. Hanau is a much easier station to negotiate.
Or, try to make the Hbf connection, and if you don't, you'll have an hour's wait for the same one you would catch in Hanau. The train starts in the Frankfurt Hbf, so you will have plenty of time to get on.
Yes, RE is a regional express; that is not the same thing as an ICE. An ICE, Intercity Express, is the fastest of the long distance trains and probably doesn't even stop in Hanau.
Check the Bahn website for the timing of the ICE. You probably have have more time to make the connection.
If you are coming into Frankfurt Hbf Tief, you are undoubtedly coming from St. Goar on an RB (Regional Bahn = the slowest regional train, stops at every station) and changing to the S-Bahn (S8) at Mainz. It is probably possible to change somewhere (Bingen Hbf?) to an RE that goes all the way to the Hbf and comes in on the same level as the ICE leaves.
If you will PM me with the ICE number, time leaving Frankfurt and day of week (you don't have to give me the actual date, although the month would be useful), I'll check the schedules.
Hi, Thank you for the information.
I'm not hip with the train lingo as of yet. RE=Regional Express? We're taking an ICE according to the DB website. Is that the same thing?
What is Hanau (I assume another train station) and how far is it from the Frankfurt Hbf? If we only have to wait 1 hour for the next train I can survive staying in the station.
Thanks again!
Hanau is another town outside of Frankfurt. You might make the train, but 10 min. is rather tight. The Frankfurt train station is fun to roam around, lots of stores and places to eat, both upstairs and downstairs. Make sure you go outside and look at it from that viewpoint as it is really pretty, but massive. They just finished the renovation not too long ago.
