Like every year shortly before Christmas, the new Deutsche Bahn timetable comes into force on December 10th. It brings improvements on some important routes. However, the railway still has major problems with punctuality. And the collective bargaining dispute with the GDL train drivers’ union is causing additional uncertainty as to whether the trains will actually run as planned in the coming weeks.
These are the most important changes:
New connections
More trains will run between Munich and Berlin in the future. There are two connections per hour during the day, around half of them fast sprinters, some of them in a super sprinter version: They complete the route in three hours and 46 minutes because there are no longer any stops between Nuremberg and the capital. The intercity connection from Nuremberg via Jena to Leipzig is also being expanded. Instead of one, there are five trips in each direction.
There are also shorter journey times and more places between North Rhine-Westphalia and Berlin: an ICE now runs every two hours from Cologne via Wuppertal and Hanover. The trains no longer have to be time-consumingly divided and coupled in Hamm; the journey time is shortened by up to ten minutes.
You save around half an hour between Berlin and Amsterdam, and the journey will take less than six hours in the future.
Deutsche Bahn still does not offer night train connections itself, but rather cooperates with the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB). New trains are between Berlin and Paris and between Berlin and Brussels. The offer is initially available three times a week. From October 2024, the Nightjet will operate daily.
New trains
Gradually, more and more ICE 3 Neos are being used, now also with a new interior design. According to Deutsche Bahn, it is intended to create a “living room feeling”, not because of the lengthy stay due to delays, but thanks to the wood decor and wool content in the textile fabric. Probably more important for the passengers anyway: Cell phone reception is better in the successor to the ICE 3 because the windows are transparent to cell phones.
The ICE 4 replaces the intercity trains on some connections to Austria.
New prices
With the timetable change, rail travel will become more expensive, especially for those who already pay the most: Flex prices without a train connection increase by an average of 4.9 percent. The prices in this ticket category are now also dynamic. If you book early you can save money. According to the railway, this is intended to better control the utilization of trains. Most Bahncards also cost more from December 10th, for example the Bahncard 25 costs 62.90 euros (previously 59.90 euros) for second class and 125 euros (previously 121 euros) for first class. With the My Bahncard 25 for young people under 27, it is now 39.90 euros in second class instead of 36.90 euros. The price for the Bahncard 50 remains unchanged.
There is also no change for saver tickets with a train connection. The starting price is still 17.90 euros for the super saver price and 21.90 euros for the saver price. With the latter, however, the city ticket for public transport at the start and destination is no longer included. Saver fare tickets for seniors aged 65 and over are now permanently part of the ticket program and are available from 15.90 euros.
The new ticket prices apply to all bookings from December 10th. If you buy your ticket a day in advance, you will still travel at the old price, even if the trip doesn’t take place for a few weeks.
New construction sites
On some routes, the new timetable shows significantly longer journey times. This is mostly due to construction sites. In 2024, the important route between Frankfurt and Mannheim will be renovated and temporarily completely closed. The long-distance trains will be rerouted and the regional trains will be replaced by buses. Starting on December 10th, construction will take place on the high-speed line between Kassel and Göttingen for three months; here too, the trains take a different route and therefore travel longer.
Punctuality is still a major issue for the railways: in October, less than two thirds, namely 58.6 percent, of long-distance trains reached their destination on time. For November the numbers look even worse at just 52 percent. According to Bahn, one of the reasons is the fact that “short-term construction activity” has increased significantly. The railway gives itself a certain amount of leeway when it comes to the term “on time”, namely counting all trains that reach their destination a maximum of five minutes late. Trains that are completely canceled are not included in the statistics at all. Incidentally, the group goal for 2023 was a punctuality rate of 70 percent.