Editing AIRail Service

{{More footnotes|date=March 2020}}
[[File:Lufthansa - AirRail ticket Frankfurt-Köln Hbf - LH 6830 - 2008-07-26.jpg|thumb|AiRail ticket Frankfurt-Köln Hbf, 2008]]
'''AiRail Service''' is offered by [[Deutsche Bahn]] AG in cooperation with [[Lufthansa]], [[American Airlines]] and [[Emirates (airline)|Emirates]]. It is one example of several a dedicated [[air-rail alliance]]s currently{{when|date=February 2023}} operating worldwide.

AiRail Service is currently offered between [[Frankfurt (Main) Flughafen Fernbahnhof]] (the long-distance railway station of [[Frankfurt International Airport]]) and 26 cities in Germany which include the central railway stations of [[Köln Hauptbahnhof|Cologne]], [[Dusseldorf Hauptbahnhof|Dusseldorf]] and [[Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof|Stuttgart]].

Right after arriving at the long-distance train station at Frankfurt Airport, Lufthansa Express Rail customers can quickly and conveniently drop off their baggage and also check in for their flight in the nearby AiRail Terminal.<ref>{{Cite web |title=AiRail Check-in |url=https://www.frankfurt-airport.com/en/airport-guide/check-in-and-luggage/airail-check-in.html |access-date=2023-10-17 |website=www.frankfurt-airport.com}}</ref>

AiRail Service uses the [[Cologne-Frankfurt high-speed rail line]] (maximum speed of 300&nbsp;km/h) and between [[Mannheim–Stuttgart high-speed railway|Stuttgart and Mannheim]] (maximum speed of 250&nbsp;km/h), rendering the train service faster and more reliable than air transport on the same route.

AiRail Service was established as [[Lufthansa Airport Express]] in 1982, when [[Deutsche Bundesbahn]] (now Deutsche Bahn AG) established a direct connection between [[Düsseldorf]] and Frankfurt Airport using the [[DB Class 403 (1973)|DB 403 "Donald Duck"]] [[Multiple unit|EMU]] with [[tilting train|tilting technology]] in Lufthansa livery. In 1990 they established the Stuttgart-Frankfurt connection after the [[Mannheim–Stuttgart high-speed railway|high-speed train line between Stuttgart and Mannheim]] was opened. Both services were closed due to high cost in 1993.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-07-19 |title=Airport-Express der Lufthansa: Was wurde aus dem legendären Schnellzug? |trans-title=Lufthansa Airport Express: What happened to the legendary express train? |url=https://www.24rhein.de/leben-im-westen/verkehr/airport-express-flugzeug-lh-kult-zug-80er-90er-db-bahn-duesseldorf-frankfurt-stuttgart-lufthansa-92335296.html |access-date=2023-10-17 |website=www.24rhein.de |language=de}}</ref> In 2000 they re-established the service between Stuttgart and Frankfurt, now using only some seats in regular cars in standard ICE service.

== See also ==
* [[Air-rail alliance]]
* [[Intermodal passenger transport]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.bahn.de/international/view/en/prices/air_passangers/airail.shtml |author=Deutsche Bahn AG |title=Take off with the Train to the Plane |accessdate=2008-08-16 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080731234940/http://www.bahn.de/international/view/en/prices/air_passangers/airail.shtml |archivedate=2008-07-31 |url-status=dead }}

== External links ==
*[https://www.bahn.de/service/buchung/bahn_und_flug/rail-and-fly-english Rail&amp;Fly - the train to your plane]
[[Category:High-speed rail in Germany]]
[[Category:Transport in Frankfurt]]
[[Category:Intercity Express]]