Paris and Berlin linked: High-speed train service launches with fares from €59

21.12.2024 - 03:01 / euronews.com / Angela Symons

Paris and Berlin are about to get a little closer.

A year after its nighttime counterpart hit the rails, the highly anticipated daytime high-speed train linking Paris and Berlin is ready to launch on 16 December, Germany’s Deutsche Bahn has confirmed.

The new route promises faster, direct and daily journeys between the two bustling capital cities, and at a competitive price.

Currently, travelling during the day between Paris and Berlin involves a connection and usually takes between nine and 10.5 hours.

The ÖBB Nightjet overnight train between the two capitals, meanwhile, takes around 13 hours and 15 minutes and only departs three times a week - on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

This overnight service also was suspended just eight months after it launched due to major works on the rail network. It resumed service in early November, about three months after it was paused.

The new direct train service will run daily and take around eight hours, departing Paris Gare de l’Est at 9.55am and arriving at Berlin Hauptbahnhof at 6.03pm.

In the other direction, the train will depart at 11.54am and arrive at 7.55pm.

According to the rail operators, it is the first to link the two capitals "from city centre to city centre".

The inaugural journey will set off from Berlin Hauptbahnhof at 12.02pm on 16 December, with dignitaries including François Delattre, the French ambassador to Germany, and Kai Wegner, the governing mayor of Berlin, in attendance.

The new high-speed ICE train sets off just in time for Christmas. It will stop in Strasbourg, Karlsruhe and Frankfurt along the way.

Tickets are on sale now, starting at €59 one way.

“This creation of a connection contributes to a common objective of our two countries: to promote carbon-free mobility,” managing director of TGV-Intercités Alain Krakovitch tweeted after announcing the new service in September.

“Compared to the plane, the [train] journey between Berlin and Paris generates only one hundredth of the CO2 emissions,” he added.

Germany’s reputation for punctuality has, in recent years, not extended to its trains. In both 2022 and 2023, over a third of long-distance trains were delayed, DB figures show.

Short-term construction works, rail repairs, staff strikes and extreme weather were the main reasons behind the delays.

The operator hopes to improve the situation in the coming year, in part by adding more long-distance services with fewer stops.

Since October, it has also allowed passengers to pre-book 12 months ahead, up from the current six.

As infrastructure improvements continue, DB hopes that delays will gradually ease over the next two years.