Trains to and from Frankfurt Airport (FRA)

Frankfurt Airport trains can be boarded at two different train stations located underneath the Terminal 1 building. The regional and metro train links (S-Bahn) connect the airport with the city and some small towns and cities in close proximity to Frankfurt. The long-distance train station connects Frankfurt Airport with major cities in Germany and across the border in the Netherlands, Belgium and France.

At Terminal 1 passengers can take the S8 and S9 metro trains to reach the city centre and the main train station (Hauptbahnhof) in just under 15 minutes. Passengers can also board Frankfurt Airport trains to destinations as far away as Zurich in Switzerland. The long-distance train station at the airport allows onward travel to Cologne, Hamburg, Karlsruhe and Munich for example on some of Europe’s fastest high speed rail networks. European cities like Amsterdam, Brussels or Vienna can be reached via trains that make only one stop in Cologne before crossing the border.

Regional Frankfurt Airport trains serve the city of Frankfurt and major cities of the region such as Koblenz, Saarbrücken and Würzburg.

Tickets for long distance and regional trains from Frankfurt Airport can be purchased from ticket machines as well as from the DB Reisezentrum (German Railways travel centre) at the airport at Terminal 1, B concourse on Level 0. The regional train station is also accessible from this level. The long-distance train station can be accessed via Level 3 at the AIRail Terminal. The travel centre is open from 07.00 am to 10.00 pm daily. Ticket machines do take major credit cards and EC debit cards, but ATMs at Frankfurt Airport can also help out with cash.

Visitors who arrive by train at Frankfurt Airport can change from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2 by boarding the SkyLine trains, which link the two terminals. The train journey takes just 2 minutes and is free of charge for all passengers.

Domestic rail connections via trains from Frankfurt Airport also include Bremen, Bielefeld, Hannover and Münster in the North of Germany and Dresden, Berlin and Leipzig in the East of the country. In the South, Frankfurt Airport trains connect to Mannheim, Stuttgart, Saarbrücken, Nuremberg and Freiburg among many other major cities.

Frankfurt Airport trains on the metro or S-Bahn network also offer connections to Wiesbaden via Rüsselsheim and Mainz to the west of Frankfurt city and passengers can also board metro trains to Hanau in the east of the city, which travel via Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof (central station).

International rail connections via trains from Frankfurt Airport include Arnheim, Salzburg and Vienna in Austria, Basle and Bern in Switzerland as well as the Swiss ski resort Interlaken and Utrecht in the Netherlands. The long-distance train station at Frankfurt Airport closes at night, but the metro trains or S-Bahn underground services are available during the night and offer onward long-distance connections via Frankfurt’s central train station (Hauptbahnhof).

Long-distance trains from Frankfurt Airport travel at around 300 km or 190 mph and are divided into first and second class compartments with ample space for luggage at each entrance and exit of the wagons and in overhead lockers located above each seat. It is essential to book the seat with a seat reservation, which is only a few Euros more. The train connection to Cologne takes just short of one hour with an ICE train from Frankfurt Airport and at certain times of the year, when both Frankfurt and Cologne host major international trade shows, all trains experience shortages of seating.

The AIRail Service via Deutsche Bahn (DB – German Railway Company) also works in conjunction with major airlines such as Lufthansa, Emirates and American Airlines, which provides passengers with direct services to central train stations in major cities like Karlsruhe, Bonn, Leipzig, Mannheim, Munich, Nuremberg and Stuttgart for example.

Tickets for long distance trains are best purchased at the DB Travel Centre as Germany’s ticketing and discounting system baffles most Germans, let alone visitors from other countries! Great savings can be made by asking the staff at the travel centre for the cheapest possible connection to the city or town one wishes to travel to. The second class railway compartments are comfortable and clean, making it unnecessary to purchase the far more expensive first class tickets. Some long distance carriages do not allow the usage of mobile phones in the actual compartments – passengers wishing to enjoy an undisturbed, peaceful rail journey should look out for such carriages.

Regional train tickets from the machines at Terminal 1 are quite easy to purchase by following the onscreen instructions. At railway stations passengers with an enquiry can also get assistance at the information desks located on the station concourse.