Following Deutsche Bahn’s recently announced service suspensions for next year, there was unfortunately no particularly encouraging news at first. But that changed quickly, as FlixTrain now has exciting plans: The company aims to offer hourly service between Hamburg and Berlin sometime in 2027. The plan was announced on September 23, 2026, at the InnoTrans mobility trade show in Berlin.
This would allow travelers to take a direct FlixTrain between the capital and Hamburg much more frequently in the future. The announced travel time is particularly noteworthy. According to FlixTrain, the trains will cover the route between Berlin and Hamburg faster than Deutsche Bahn’s ICE connections in the future. However, the company has not yet specified a concrete new travel time for the planned hourly service. In the past, FlixTrain had cited a travel time of around 2 hours and 15 minutes for the fastest direct connections on the route.
Behind this expansion lies a comprehensive fleet initiative. FlixTrain plans to invest a total of approximately 2.4 billion euros in new trains and the expansion of its long-distance service . The company currently owns 16 trains. By 2028, the fleet is set to roughly double. To achieve this, the company will use, among other things, modernized used trains designed to offer greater comfort.
Starting in 2028, 65 new high-speed trains from the Spanish manufacturer Talgo are set to be introduced gradually. The so-called STAR trains are expected to reach speeds of up to 230 km/h. Plans include Wi-Fi, modern passenger information systems, accessible boarding, family compartments, and—for the first time—a premium section.
The expansion is not limited to the route between Berlin and Hamburg. FlixTrain aims to expand its German long-distance network overall and , in the future, provide better connections to smaller cities and regional centers as well. Starting in 2028, the Munich metropolitan area, among others, is set to be incorporated into the network, with a new connection to Berlin. Additional destinations are to be announced.
For Berlin and Hamburg, the planned hourly service is nevertheless particularly interesting because the route is already one of Germany’s most important long-distance transportation corridors. Deutsche Bahn currently offers direct ICE connections there. Following the major corridor renovation of the route, service was already expanded in 2026: FlixTrain operates in addition to the ICE connections.
