The train is competing with domestic German air traffic: an ICE will soon be running from Bonn and Cologne to Berlin without stopping. The journey between the cathedral city and the capital should take less than four hours. According to the railway, a signal for a green traffic turnaround.
The Deutsche Bahn timetable change brings a new fast connection from North Rhine-Westphalia to Berlin. From December 12th, ICE trains will run three times a day in each direction from Bonn and Cologne to Berlin without stopping. Deutsche Bahn announced on Thursday in Düsseldorf that the new sprinter lines would be added to the existing service. From the metropolis of Cologne, Berlin can be reached in less than four hours.
Werner Lübberink, Deutsche Bahn’s representative for North Rhine-Westphalia, sees the Sprinter-ICE as a strong signal for a green traffic turnaround. Because the fast trains are on one of the most frequently used domestic German air routes and are “ideal for business travelers from politics and business,” he said.
From mid-December there will also be a new long-distance line from Frankfurt via Siegerland and Sauerland. The connection should be on the rails via Siegen to Dortmund or Münster, the railway announced. Cities such as Siegen, Altenhundem, Iserlohn-Letmathe or Witten have long-distance connections to Frankfurt as well as to Hamm, Dortmund and Münster every two hours, according to Deutsche Bahn. Double-decker intercity trains with nine bicycle parking spaces are to run on the route.
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New train timetable with more ICE connections to the Baltic Sea
With the upcoming timetable change on December 12th, Deutsche Bahn is expanding its train connections to popular Baltic Sea baths in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. In the future, it will be possible to travel daily with the ICE from Cologne via Hanover and Berlin to Binz without having to change trains. From Monday to Saturday, a pair of ICE trains will also operate on the Binz-Hamburg-Hanover-Frankfurt / M.-Karlsruhe route, the railway announced on Thursday. Day trips from Berlin to Binz are possible from spring on Saturdays with a morning train. The ICE starts at 7.46 a.m. at the main station, the return journey begins at 6.19 p.m.
In addition, there will be a daily intercity connection from Leipzig via Magdeburg and Schwerin to Rostock-Warnemünde all year round. So far, this has only existed in summer and on weekends, it said. From Berlin, the train offers additional ICE / IC trips to Warnemünde from the beginning of April to the end of October. For a day stay on the coast, it starts at 5.35 a.m. from the main station. The return tour starts in Warnemünde at 7:56 p.m. At lunchtime, an Intercity runs without a stop from Berlin to Rostock and Warnemünde, in the morning an ICE from Warnemünde via Rostock to Berlin and then without changing via Erfurt to Frankfurt / Main.
According to Deutsche Bahn, construction work on the route between Hamburg and Berlin will end with the new timetable, so that the train cycle can then be improved again. 60 trips per day would be offered. New are the travel options at 5:51 p.m. from Hamburg and from Berlin at 8:06 p.m. Due to the new route occupancy by a competitor, two existing IC trains with intermediate stops in Büchen, Ludwigslust and Wittenberge could not be implemented as planned. For this, two ICE trains would make additional stops.
The new timetable is valid from December 12th. Deutsche Bahn will sell tickets for the new period from October 13th.
New train timetable with more ICE connections in the southeast
From mid-December, rail customers in the south-east will be able to get to their destination more quickly and easily, at least in some cases. With the new timetable from December 12, Deutsche Bahn will be using more trains on some ICE routes – for example in the direction of southern Germany, as it announced on Thursday.
In the evening, for example, an additional Sprinter is to drive from Berlin to Munich, which only stops in Halle, Erfurt and Nuremberg. The plan is for the particularly fast ICE to stop in Erfurt at 9.47 p.m. and bring passengers to the Bavarian capital within two and a quarter hours. A connection in the opposite direction is planned from Munich at around 8 p.m.
Mondays to Saturdays there will also be an additional ICE trip from Munich via Erfurt, Halle, Bitterfeld and Berlin. On Sundays, this ICE is supposed to stop in Lutherstadt Wittenberg and Leipzig instead of Halle and Bitterfeld.
From Berlin there should be a fast direct connection to Dresden (9:07 p.m.) Mondays to Saturdays at 7.16 p.m. The late connection from 9 p.m. should only run on Fridays and Saturdays.
The railway is also promising individual improvements to its services from Leipzig. A late direct connection to Frankfurt am Main should replace an earlier connection with a change in Erfurt, said the railway.
Deutsche Bahn will sell tickets for the new period from October 13th.
New train timetable from December: faster from Bavaria to North Rhine-Westphalia
Deutsche Bahn promises travelers in Bavaria more long-distance trains – and also a faster connection to North Rhine-Westphalia. With the timetable change on December 12th, an ICE Sprinter line is to start in Munich, which runs twice a day to Nuremberg, Frankfurt Airport, Cologne and Düsseldorf and back again. The company announced that it would take less than four hours to get from Munich to Cologne with the ICE.
The offer for particularly fast connections to Berlin is to be expanded, another ICE is to start in Munich at around 8 p.m. and reach the capital in less than four hours. For trips to the Free State, a Sprinter connection also starts at around 8 p.m. in Berlin towards Bavaria.
In addition, the company wants to use larger ICEs with more than 900 seats on the route from Munich and Augsburg via Stuttgart, Frankfurt Airport to the Rhine / Ruhr conurbation, as it was said.
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