(Frankfurt Airport) Immigration, Luggage & S Bahn at Regional Bahnhoff
 

Hello,

I will be arriving at Frankfurt International Airport (Terminal 1) on 23rd September tentatively between 18:15 to 19:00 hrs (I have been tracking the punctuality of the specific flight for two months). From various forums, I understand that about 40 mins to 60 mins should be more than sufficient to clear immigration, collect baggage and reach the main airport area.

I needed to reach Hamburg-Harburg. So I booked a Bahn. Here are the train details:

Frankfurt(M) Flughafen Regionalbf-------> Frankfurt Hbf (tief) [S-Bahn S9]
(DEPARTURE @ 20:47 from Regio 1, ARRIVAL @ 20:58, platform 102)

walk 10 min.(from tief underground to Hbf above)

Frankfurt(Main)Hbf-------> Hamburg-Harburg [ICE 272]
(DEPARTURE @ 21:13 from Platform 9, ARRIVAL @ 01:25, platform 1)

From whatever I read online, this seams to be a feasible plan. However, I would nevertheless like to hear from those who are very familiar with navigating between Frankfurt International Airport and the Hauptbahnhoff. Your opinions are much appreciated!!

Thanks a lot!

PS:
Since the Regional Bahnhoff is below Terminal 1 where I will be arriving, I reckon, it wont be much of a problem reaching there... I'd appreciate it if anyone could give an estimate as to how long it might take one to reach Regional Bahnhoff Platform 1 from arrival at Terminal 1 ...

Is your flight scheduled to land at 18:25? If so then I would say you probably have enough time. We are leaving Sunday and flying into Frankfurt and then catching a train to Wurzburg. I have allowed about 2 to 3. Hours to catch our train as we want to have plenty of time to clear customs, get bags and have some breakfast at the airport before we board our train. Frankfurt airport is huge and there will be a lot of walking.
The 2 to 3hours is probably too much, but given that the flight might be late, the airport is huge, lines at customs, waiting for luggage, etc we feel we would rather have a good cushion time wise rather than be stressed.
Have a great trip!

What airline are you using? We are flying Lufthansa.

Now you arriving at the Franfurt Hbf and have 15 minutes to catch your next connection to Hamburg. If all goes well and they have not changed the platform on you and your train arrives on time into Frankfurt Hbf, this might be enough time but I personally would have liked to have about 30 minutes. The Frankfurt Hbf is HUGE so finding the right platform may take some time. Also you need to be first off the train and not get hung up waiting for others to navigate getting off with their bags.

IMHO the only way to be first off the plane is to sit at the front. Pushing past a long row of travelers maneuvering their carry-ons around isn't going to happen - and might cause an unpleasant conflict.

And customs isn;t the issue - that takes about one minute - just walk through the green line. What takes time is Immigration - and this is a function not just of your arrival time but how many other international flights land at the same time.

My understanding is that you can take any S-bahn on that ticket, so if you are done at the airport early, just take an earlier S-bahn so you have a greater connection time and the Hauptbahnhof. This connection is super easy on Sundays because the S-bahns come into the Hbf on the surface that day.

I doubt that you will have a platform change or difficulty finding the train, as the trains are all lined up in plain sight, 9 is somewhat in the middle.

what tom_mn wrote:

Even with a ticket restricted to specific long-distance trains, you can take ANY regional train, incl. S-Bahn.
So take any earlier S-Bahn from Frankfurt Airport that you can catch.

Thanks for the reply BillT, nytraveler, tom_mn & Cowboy1968. I appreciate it.

BillT, thanks and you have a great trip too!


nytraveler, thanks for input. I will look into the things that you have mentioned!


tom_mn & Cowboy1968, I was not aware that I could take any S-Bahn trains, in spite of a specific train being mentioned for the long-distance trains! That was a helpful information!

They are all correct, you can take the 1st S-bahn or Regional train that stops at track 1. They all go to the main station (Hauptbahnhof) and your ticket is valid on all of these trains.

Mainhattengirl,thanks for the reply. Really appreciate it.