Deutsche Bahn’s long-distance division, DB Fernverkehr, will strengthen its domestic and international long-distance offer when the new timetable comes into force on 13 December. Ticket sales for the new services opened on 14 October.
More ICE Sprinters
The ICE Sprinter high-speed service, which operates with no or very few intermediate stops, is to be expanded through the introduction of a new route and higher frequencies.
The main change is the creation of a new ICE Sprinter between Hamburg and Munich. It will run three times daily in each direction, calling only at Hannover and Nuremberg. Journey time will be 5 h 20 min, 20 minutes faster than a conventional ICE.
Between Berlin and Stuttgart, Sprinter services will increase from one to three daily in each direction. They will take 4 h 45 min, almost an hour less than the regular ICE via Frankfurt. With these additions, DB will operate around 70 ICE Sprinter services each day on the country’s principal corridors.
Domestic network improvements
Following completion of the line’s modernisation works this year, Berlin–Hamburg ICE services will return to a half-hourly frequency instead of hourly.
The Dresden–Berlin–Rostock InterCity will regain its two-hourly frequency as far as Warnemünde. In addition, one daily ICE in each direction will link Warnemünde with Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Munich via Berlin and Leipzig.
Other developments include:
- Jena will regain a direct connection with Berlin.
- Eastern Westphalia will receive a daily service to Munich.
- Offenburg and Baden-Baden will gain hourly services.
- Saarbrücken will receive its first direct connection with Hamburg.
- Halle and Erfurt will have two-hourly direct links with Switzerland, owing to engineering works.
International offer
DB will offer more than 320 international services daily, around 20% more than five years ago. According to the company, more than 200 cities in 14 countries will be directly accessible from Germany.
The changes by corridor are:
- Stuttgart–Paris, operated in cooperation with SNCF, will increase from 10 to 12 daily trains.
- Frankfurt–Nuremberg–Vienna, operated with ÖBB, will have 14 daily ICE services, two more than before the works between Nuremberg and Passau. A Vienna–Stuttgart overnight ICE will also be added.
- Hamburg–Copenhagen will have seven daily trains in each direction from March, with departures approximately every two hours from 07:00.
In addition, from summer 2027, Trenitalia’s Frecciarossa will operate in Germany for the first time, with a daily Munich–Innsbruck–Milan–Florence–Rome service.
Tickets and fares
DB will simplify cross-border ticket purchases through adoption of the OSDM (Open Sales and Distribution Model) interface standard. Tickets for National Rail, Eurostar, ÖBB, SNCF, SJ, SBB and Trenitalia will be available through its website and the Navigator app.
Furthermore, following its strong performance this summer, the family ticket will become permanent. It allows up to five people to travel in second class for €99 return. From 21 October, non-subscription monthly long-distance season tickets will be 25% cheaper.