The 13 km-long connection from Darmstadt Hauptbahnhof was considered structurally complicated, as several major roads and land formerly used by the US Army and areas protected under Natura 2000 have to be crossed. Compared to option V, the number of tracks has been reduced from two to one. Residents of areas next to the link feared additional noise and called for the construction of a station on the new line outside the centre of Darmstadt.
