Recently, the train landscape in Germany has been looking much rosier again – even if there was initially cause for concern. First, the popular cultural train from Berlin to Poland was canceled, then the end of the ÖBB Nightjet service to Paris was announced. Fortunately, however, these cuts did not stop there. New train plans from Germany quickly followed: a new night connection with European Sleeper from Berlin to Paris is due to start as early as next year. A few years later, from 2040, new high-speed trains are also planned, which should significantly shorten travel times. In future, the connection from Berlin to Copenhagen could only take around four hours instead of around seven. But that’s not all – there’s more news: Eurostar and Deutsche Bahn have announced new high-speed connections from Germany to the UK. Specifically, this involves the cities of Frankfurt and Cologne, from where direct and comfortable connections to London are planned from 2030.
After the new train connections were initially hinted at last summer, they have now been concretized and officially confirmed with a signed letter of intent. While travelers currently still have to change trains in Brussels to get to London, they will be able to travel directly from Frankfurt and Cologne to the British capital on the Eurostar from the early 2030s. There is no word yet on a direct connection from London to Berlin.
Double-decker “Celestia” trains from Eurostar are planned for the project. Michael Peterson, Member of the Executive Board for Long-Distance Passenger Transport at Deutsche Bahn, emphasizes that the direct connection between Germany and the United Kingdom has “great potential”. Eurostar CEO Gwendoline Cazenave also sees this as an opportunity to make travel between the two countries more sustainable and easier. The project is made possible by the close cooperation between the two companies: Eurostar is contributing its many years of experience in rail transport through the Eurotunnel, while Deutsche Bahn is contributing its expertise as a high-performance network provider.
A promising project that we can already look forward to.