Deutsche Bahn plans new ICE line between Frankfurt and Mannheim

The planned high-speed rail line between Frankfurt am Main and Mannheim (57.8 km, up to 300 km/h) is meant to relieve the congested Rhine/Main-Rhine/Neckar corridor, which carried about 650 trains per day in 2007 (forecast 968 by 2030). The preferred route (Variant II.b, chosen in November 2020) runs along motorways A5/A67 via Einhausen to Mannheim-Waldhof with a link to Darmstadt main station; a new permitting application for the Zeppelinheim–Darmstadt section was filed in November 2024. No construction start date has been confirmed, and per the source the opening is planned "after 2030" at the earliest. Update (24 Jul 2026): On 6 July 2026 the Federal Transport Ministry sent the Bundestag its preliminary-planning report together with the evaluation of early public participation; parliament now decides on the premises for further planning. The government's briefing (21/7155) provides for a two-track new line for up to 300 km/h that serves fast long-distance trains by day and takes freight trains at night to relieve the Riedbahn; the recommended preferred route follows the A5 from Zeppelinheim and the A67 from Darmstadt, runs from the Einhausen area in a tunnel or underground through the Lorsch/Lampertheim forest to Mannheim-Blumenau, where it joins the Riedbahn, and connects Darmstadt via a northern and a southern link. Full commissioning is expected in 2037, the total value is EUR 8.05 billion and the benefit-cost ratio 1.1; the Federal Railway Authority considers the project goals met by the route (subject to the plan-approval procedure) and regards it as economical, and demands from the region that ask for more than the law requires are left aside. (LOK Report, 6 Jul and 24 Jul 2026; second source: German Bundestag, printed paper 21/7155)