New train timetable: More long-distance trains between the north-west and the south

Deutsche Bahn wants to use certain long-distance connections more frequently and faster. Routes abroad and night train lines are also to be expanded. With the timetable change, however, the prices increase.

From the timetable change on December 11, long-distance trains are to run more frequently and faster on many important long-distance routes of Deutsche Bahn – especially between the north-west and the south of Germany.

This is made possible primarily by the completion of the new Wendlingen-Ulm line, which along with Stuttgart 21 is part of the Stuttgart-Ulm railway project. “With the new route, DB also connects the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria even faster and more frequently,” the group said.

The existing Dortmund/Düsseldorf-Stuttgart ICE route will continue via Cologne and Mannheim to Ulm, Augsburg and Munich. At 4:15 hours, the travel time is almost 15 minutes shorter than before. Together with the direct connections via Nuremberg or Stuttgart, passengers can travel twice an hour between Cologne and Munich without having to change trains.

More connections to Frankfurt Airport

There should also be more connections to Frankfurt Airport, especially from cities in the north. “The Basel-Cologne-Dortmund ICE line will be extended to Hamburg, which will further improve the quality of the axis between the cathedral city and the Hanseatic city,” said the railway.

Travelers from Münster, Osnabrück and Bremen will then be able to get to Frankfurt Airport even more frequently without having to change trains. It should also go faster and more frequently from Munich and Augsburg to the largest German airport. Here, Deutsche Bahn is expanding the number of seats by up to 60 percent.

Night train connections are to be expanded

The first trains of the so-called ICE 3 Neo are to be in service between NRW and Frankfurt from mid-December – a new train based on the well-known ICE 3, from which the railway will receive three dozen new vehicles in the coming year. According to the company, with 37 trains, it will have more new ICE trains than ever before. This means that the number of ICE seats will gradually increase by around 19,000 by the end of the year.

The group also announced further connections abroad, in particular to Switzerland and Poland. Night train connections are also to be expanded. These are usually operated by the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB). A new night train line with IC seating cars will connect Zurich with Berlin and will stop in Erfurt, Halle and Leipzig, among other places.

With the timetable change, the prices will also increase

With the timetable change, Deutsche Bahn is increasing the prices for long-distance train journeys. The so-called flex prices increase by an average of almost seven percent. The prices for the three Bahncard subscriptions (25, 50, 100) will increase by 4.9 percent.

As a reason for the higher prices, the group refers to the significantly increased energy costs, which also caused problems for the railways. In addition, DB announced further renovations to the rail network for the coming year. As a result, the offer on some connections had to be temporarily adjusted, it said.