The subway station "Eschenheimer Tor", an extremely highly frequented station in the city center, is now finally barrier-free. On March 23, the new elevators in the station were put into operation by Klaus Oesterling, head of the city's transportation department.
Took two years to convert the stations. A total of 33 specialist planners and various construction and planning companies were involved in the implementation. From now on, everything should run as smoothly as possible. Two lifts will make the station barrier-free: a cable lift running from the surface at the junction of Eschersheimer Landstraße and Bockenheimer Anlage to the inward platform, and a hydraulic lift running from the B-level to the outward platform. To reach this platform, a transfer is necessary because the above-ground crossing did not allow for the installation of a second continuous elevator.
The retrofitting of elevators in 50-year-old subway stations is expensive and complex. The VGF has invested around two million euros in the retrofit. The "Eschenheimer Tor" station is part of the "A line" and thus the oldest section of the Frankfurt underground. It was opened on October 4, 1968, and just like the "Holzhausenstraße" and "Grüneburgweg" stations, it was not barrier-free when it was opened 50 years ago. Elevators were put into service in the two stations mentioned in May 2008 and December 2009, respectively. All three stations are part of the elevator retrofit program launched by VGF in 2004. As part of this program, the stations "Kirchplatz", "Alte Oper", "Miquel-/Adickesallee" and "Schweizer Platz" were also retrofitted. An overview of the current status of the program can be found at <link https: www.vgf-ffm.de de aktuellpresse bauvorhaben aufzugsnachruestungen _blank>Https://www.vgf-ffm.de/de/aktuellpresse/bauvorhaben/aufzugsnachruestungen/
Retrofitting continues
The Eschenheimer Tor does not mark the end of the retrofitting program. It is followed by the station "Westend" (U6, U7), which was also opened without elevator in October 1986. Here, it was decided to install a lift leading from the street surface (Bockenheimer Landstrasse/Myliusstrasse junction) to the platform. Work on the project, budgeted at around €2.92 million, is due to start in spring 2019; commissioning is scheduled for early 2021.
Two other facilities are not yet barrier-free: firstly the "Niddapark" station, and secondly the "Römerstadt" station (both U1, U9). In these stations, the tracks have to be lowered, but this was taken into account during the construction of the stations. Elevators are available at Niddapark, but VGF has taken them out of service due to ongoing vandalism damage - and the associated high costs. Further plans are dependent on the four-track extension of the DB line to Friedberg, as in its train the construction of a "Ginnheim" S-Bahn stop is planned by 2022. This would turn "Niddapark" into an interchange station, which would increase passenger volume and reduce vandalism.
The "Römerstadt" station also only has stone steps and ramps at the entrances and exits. Plans by the VGF call for retrofitting by 2022. So there's still a lot to do - but with the completion of the "Eschenheimer Tor" station, another important step has been taken!
