Travellers reach the platforms via escalators and lifts in the wings of the entrance hall, which lead to a northern and a southern subway under the tracks.

Lifts, escalators and a direction system for the visually impaired enable all travellers to reach the trains without assistance.

The station forecourt has stops for several tram and bus lines of Rhein-Neckar-Verkehr (the public transport operator of the Rhine-Neckar region), the Rhein-Haardt Bahn (RHB, an interurban running to the west), the Oberrheinische Eisenbahn (OEG, an interurban running to the east and the northeast) and the bus lines of Busverkehr Rhein-Neckar (a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn, operating over a large region centred on Mannheim).

Due to the substantial destruction during World War II and the subsequent reconstruction of the facade it was simplified again and rebuilt without decorative elements, but reminiscent of its previous form.

[8] With a total of 269 arrivals and departures of scheduled long-distance trains each day in Mannheim Hauptbahnhof in the timetable for the summer of 1989, it was the tenth most important node in the Deutsche Bundesbahn network.

[9] With 308 such arrivals and departures each day in the timetable for the summer of 1996, it had become the sixth most important node in the Deutsche Bahn network.

Investigators determined that the freight train had failed to heed a main signal which commanded 'halt' (a red light).

When he passed the main signal at danger, the PZB safety system was triggered and forced the freight train to stop immediately.

He assumed that the PZB action was due to the missing acknowledgement of the distant signal ('expect halt') at the same location, but even then permission to continue must be asked for.

[13] In September 2016, the driver was convicted for intentionally endangering railway operations and for bodily injury caused by negligence, because he had continued after the forced braking without permission from the traffic controller.

This would have substantially reduced the number of long-distance trains serving Mannheim, leading to massive resistance from the city and the region.

Due to the increasing number of passengers using the station forecourt at the interchanges to public transport (currently around 52,000 daily) an upgrade of the Hauptbahnhof tram/light rail stop is proposed.

Two versions are discussed: option 1, which includes four new platforms laid across the axis of the whole Kaiserring, is preferred by the city council.

Various high-speed routes bring major cities in Germany and in neighboring countries within a few hours away and thus provide an alternative to air travel.

[19][20] Mannheim Hbf – Mhm-Neckarstadt or Mhm-Neuostheim – Mhm-Waldhof – Ladenburg – Bürstadt – Biblis – Groß-Rohrheim In the station forecourt is the stop of the metre gauge trams of the Rhein-Neckar-Verkehr (RNV), served by line 4 of the Rhein-Haardtbahn (RHB) and line 5 of the Oberrheinische Eisenbahn (OEG) two interurban tramways, running over the tracks of Manheim's tram company (the MVV Verkehr AG) within the city limits.