This could greatly change the image of the city center: Planning Department head Mike Josef and Transport Department head Klaus Oesterling have proposed that trams should once again run via the Hauptwache. The idea is not new, as for many decades until the mid-1980s the tram ran over the popular square on the Zeil. The goal of the idea, he said, is to revitalize the Hauptwache more and improve public transportation access to the city center. "The Hauptwache used to be the tram hub in Frankfurt," said head of transport Oesterling. "Since no tram runs through the Hauptwache anymore, the place has lost its attractiveness." He added that this distinguished the Hauptwache from the Konstablerwache, which was busy around the clock thanks to two tram lines and two bus lines.
Another reason in favor of a rail line along the Hauptwache was the fact that the northern city center was insufficiently determined by public transport. In contrast, the development of the southern city center by the old town line has developed continuously positive against all forecasts with now three tram lines.
Josef and Oesterling therefore make the proposal to expand the local transport offer in the city center by a new tram connection from Konrad-Adenauer-Straße via the street Vilbeler Straße - Klaus-Mann-Platz - Stephanstraße - Stiftstrasse through the northern city center to Eschenheimer Tor and from there via Große Eschenheimer Straße, Hauptwache, Roßmarkt and Friedensstraße to Willy-Brandt-Platz. In the past, this route had enjoyed enormous popularity among passengers, as this connection was the one with the highest traffic volume in Frankfurt's tram network before the construction of the subway. And in order not to change the square too much in terms of urban development, the Hauptwache - Katharinenkirche sequence could follow the example of modern French trams, such as in Bordeaux, without disturbing overhead lines in battery operation.
"I am sure that the new tram connection will be a success," said Oesterling, "because it will open up the city centre in a much more refined way and a large number of new direct connections can be created."
To think of downtown more as an area
Planing Director Josef sees the new development as a great opportunity to conceive of Frankfurt's city centre as much more of an area than just concentrated on the Zeil. In recent years, for example, a number of small-scale uses have established themselves along the new line that are only inadequately served by the S-Bahn and U-Bahn hubs at Hauptwache and Konstablerwache. These include, for example, the pub district in the Elefantengasse/Alte Gasse area, the uses in the Schäfergasse/Stiftstrasse area and the area between Hauptwache and Willy-Brandt-Platz, which has a very small-scale commercial structure. The Thurn- und Taxis-Palais and the "rear exit" of MyZeil could also be enhanced by a tram stop in Große Eschenheimer Straße.
"We need to understand the inner city in the future in a much more decentralized way than before," Josef said. "Downtown only has a chance in the future if we offer diverse and small-scale uses. This applies to shopping opportunities as well as to complementing them with a differentiated gastronomic offering. Only a few department stores are not enough to ensure the attractiveness of the city centre." He said the new tram link would lay the foundations for decentralising the use of the town centre.
What do you say to the proposals? Is there a need for a new streetcar service to revitalize downtown?
